{"id":230393,"date":"2025-05-22T07:30:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T11:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=230393"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:00:24","slug":"three-students-earn-national-science-foundation-graduate-research-fellowships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/05\/three-students-earn-national-science-foundation-graduate-research-fellowships\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Students Earn National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six students with ties to the University of Connecticut have recently earned National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (NSF-GRFP). The group includes one current undergraduate, two current graduate students, and three recent alumni, one of whom is currently enrolled in UConn\u2019s Research and Mentoring for Postbaccalaureate Program (RaMP).<\/p>\n

The oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the NSF-GRFP was first awarded in 1952. The program recognizes and supports outstanding students in NSF-supported disciplines who are pursuing research-based master\u2019s and doctoral degrees at accredited institutions in the United States. In addition to a three-year annual stipend of $37,000, plus another $16,000 paid to the student\u2019s home institution, fellows have access to a wide range of professional development opportunities over the course of their graduate careers.<\/p>\n

The Graduate Research Fellowships, always highly competitive, became even more so this year as the NSF drastically reduced the number of fellowships it awarded. Over the past decade, the NSF awarded approximately 2,100 fellowships per year out of an annual pool of nearly 14,000 applications \u2013 an acceptance rate of about 15%. In 2025, the NSF awarded just 1,500 fellowships.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly three quarters of a century after its creation, the NSF-GRFP remains the gold standard of graduate fellowships supporting advanced study in STEM disciplines,\u201d says Vin Moscardelli, director of UConn\u2019s Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships. \u201cFellows are recognized not only for their academic and scholarly promise but for their demonstrated commitment to making an impact beyond their research endeavors. Earning an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship this year \u2013 when the total number of awards was reduced by a significant margin \u2013 is a testament to the remarkable promise shown by all six of these future scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Three
UConn’s most recent National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship awardees Savanna Brown and Hailey Baranowski along with their faculty mentor ecology and evolutionary biology professor Elizabeth Jockusch. (Contributed photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fellowship recipient Hailey Baranowski \u201924 (CAHNR, CLAS)<\/strong> was a member of the RaMP program<\/a> and worked in the lab of ecology and evolutionary biology professor Elizabeth Jockusch. There they researched the developmental and morphological function of novel genes in red flour beetles.<\/p>\n

Baranowski will begin doctoral studies at the University of Illinois this fall and will continue research on bee health while pursuing a doctorate in entomology.<\/p>\n

\u201cBees are vital to food security and the beauty of our world,\u201d says Baranowski. \u201cThis fellowship allows me to pursue the questions that need to be answered to help save them and us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support I received from my connections at UConn made this possible. As an undergraduate, I completed my first research project using a SURF grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research<\/a> and worked with a wide variety of faculty and external collaborators who have continued to support me beyond graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savanna Brown<\/strong> is a second-year graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology and is also mentored by Jockusch. Her research focuses on treehoppers and leafhoppers \u2013 a group of charismatic and morphologically captivating insects that thrive in nearly every corner of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing awarded the NSF-GRFP is an incredible honor, especially during a time when the value of science and our work at research institutions is doubted by many,\u201d says Brown. \u201cAs a first-generation college student who has faced significant obstacles in my journey through academia, I feel profoundly grateful that this fellowship recognizes me not only for the value of my research, but more holistically as a human whose contributions to the scientific community go beyond intellectual merit alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jockusch, who is currently department head in ecology and evolutionary biology, described Baranowski and Brown as \u201ca dynamic duo in the lab this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSavanna is intellectually voracious. She is also a keen observer, self-starter and quick learner who embraces opportunities to be mentored and to serve as a mentor,\u201d says Jockusch. \u201cI\u2019m sure I have already learned as much from Savanna as she has from me. Savanna would probably say the same about Hailey, whom she mentors.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle about Hailey\u2019s UConn journey has been predictable. They’ve been a beekeeper, a student farmer, and a host of a WHUS radio show \u2018the Hive,\u2019 which features fun facts about bees along with music. Hailey\u2019s outsized enthusiasm for bees, along with their seemingly effortless ability to connect with people, makes them the glue of multiple communities, including this year’s post-baccalaureate research cohort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn different ways, Savanna and Hailey have both earned this honor and the freedom it brings to pursue their curiosity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Baranowski and Brown, UConn\u2019s other recipients are:<\/p>\n

Vatsal Bandaru \u201925 (ENG)<\/strong>, an Honors engineering physics major from Danbury, who will pursue a doctorate in electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Caroline Wexler \u201924 (CLAS),<\/strong> a geoscience and individualized (geoscience communication and visual media) major from Redding, who will pursue a master\u2019s in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences at the University of Maine.<\/p>\n

Madisyn Brooks<\/strong>, a second-year graduate student in physics, whose research focuses on the farthest galaxies detectable with the James Webb Space Telescope.<\/p>\n

Abigail Yu \u201920 (CLAS)<\/strong>, who earned her undergraduate degree in physiology and neurobiology, who is currently a graduate student at UCLA in the school\u2019s interdepartmental doctorate program for neuroscience.<\/p>\n

The <\/em>Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships<\/em><\/a> (ONSF) is a resource for students interested in learning more about the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and other prestigious scholarships and fellowships that support graduate study in all fields. ONSF is part of Enrichment Programs and is open to all graduate and undergraduate students at the University, including students at the regional campuses. For more information contact Vin Moscardelli, Director of UConn\u2019s <\/em>Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The program recognizes and supports outstanding students in NSF-supported disciplines who are pursuing research-based master\u2019s and doctoral degrees at accredited institutions in the United States<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":230460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2429,2224,2226,2459,2076,1875,2235,2227,2458],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2113],"class_list":["post-230393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards-scholarships","category-cahnr","category-clas","category-graduate-students","category-research","category-grad-school","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-undergraduates"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-14 02:50:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230393"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244116,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230393\/revisions\/244116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/230460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230393"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=230393"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=230393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}