National Science Foundation Selects 29 Caltech Students, Eight Alumni for Research Fellowships

This year, the National Science Foundation has selected 29 current Caltech students and eight recent undergraduate alumni to receive its Graduate Research Fellowships. Those selected for a fellowship will receive support for three years of graduate study in a research-based master’s or doctoral program in science or engineering.

The Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP) part of the NSF’s strategy to develop a workforce necessary to ensure the nation’s leadership in advancing science and engineering. The selection criteria used to identify NSF fellows reflect the potential of the applicant to advance knowledge and benefit society.

Caltech’s awardees for 2021 are seniors Alexander Zlokapa, Cameron Voloshin, Rachel Sun, Daniel Asad Neamati, Eric Anton Moreno, Liana Merk, Krystyna Renate Maruszko, Erich Liang, Qixuan “Alice” Jin, Elisabeth Theresa Gallmeier, Sergio Escobar, and Molly Crotteau.

Caltech graduate students in this year’s class are: Samantha Chloe Wu, Samuel Lee Varner, Leah Elizabeth Stevenson, Joseph Komron Shayegan, Michelle Dena Qian, Kim Pham, Eshaan Salim Patheria, Nina Mohebbi, Yakov Landau, Ravi Goel Lal, Noel Vincent Csomay-Shanklin, Nicolas Henry Christianson, Maria Camarca, Steven Patrick Bulfer, David Bonan, and Scott Bollt.

Additionally, nine alumni of Caltech’s WAVE program were awarded NSF fellowships this year. The WAVE program aims to increase participation of underrepresented minority students in science and engineering PhD programs by offering them a chance to conduct research as a visiting scholar at Caltech. WAVE fellows selected for an NSF fellowship this year are Devin Dean, Juan Lazaro, Alan Maida, Rachel Tham, José A. Lasalde-Ramírez, Daniel Mukasa, Conor Larison, and Laura Guerrero.

Kim Pham and Daniel Mukasa are both currently graduate students at Caltech and are alumni of the WAVE program.

Caltech alumni selected this year are: Ariel Stiber (BS ’20), Skye Reese (BS ’20), Hamza Hussain Raniwala (BS ’20), Walker Bruce Melton (BS ’19), Christopher Long (BS ’20), Noelle Unyoung Davis (BS ’20), Sarah Josephine Crucilla (BS ’20), and Nadine Claire Bradbury (BS ’19).

Lauren Stolper, director of fellowships and study abroad, says that most of this year’s class of NSF Graduate Research Fellows made use of resources and opportunities available to them through the Fellowships and Study Abroad office.

“It is always exciting to see Caltech students and alumni do so well in the GRFP competition,” Stolper says. “GRFP workshops will be held virtually this summer, and individual advising appointments and essay review are available in the fall.”

For more information on applying for the GRFP, visit fasa.caltech.edu.