Miami students awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

George Daly, a doctoral student in geology, and Taylor Tuscherer, a doctoral student in psychology, have been awarded fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program. They join Allie Brandriet, doctoral student in chemistry education research.

They are three of 2,000 students nationwide to receive the award, which recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.

“Having three of our students in a broad range of disciplines selected as NSF Graduate Research Fellows is a strong indicator of the excellence of our graduate programs, the faculty researchers that mentor these students, and the students themselves who will become the next generation of outstanding teachers and scholars from Miami University,” said Jim Oris, professor of zoology and associate dean for research and scholarship.

The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) offers three years of support with a $30,000 annual stipend and a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance.

Daly’s graduate adviser is Eilsabeth Widom, professor of geology. His dissertation research involves the application of radiogenic isotopes — an important radiometric dating tool — and other geochemical indicators to determine the pre-eruptive processes and timescales of magma formation and evolution beneath volcanoes in island environments, specifically in the Lesser Antilles and the Azores.

"This award represents a culmination of George's involvement in multiple NSF REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) programs studying volcanology in the Lesser Antilles, and provides an outstanding opportunity for him to develop new strengths through state-of-the-art geochemical studies of this region during his Ph.D. research," Widom said.

Tuscherer’s adviser is Heather Claypool, assistant professor of psychology. His research focuses on the behavioral consequences of witnessing social exclusion, elucidating the differences among different forms of social exclusion (e.g., being ignored versus being rejected), and the role that lay theories of race have in the perception and memory of cross-race faces.

“These fellowships are given to the best and brightest in the country, so Taylor’s receipt of one is an amazing accomplishment,” Claypool said. “It signals that leading experts in the field feel that he will be an innovative and productive scholar.”

Brandreit is a member of adviser Stacey Lowery Bretz’s chemistry education research group. Her dissertation research focuses on investigating student misconceptions about chemistry and improvement of chemistry education curriculum design.

This is the first year that graduate students in STEM education and learning research have been eligible to apply for the prestigious fellowship, according to Lowery Bretz. Brandriet is one of seven recipients of the GRFP fellowship nationwide in science education research.