The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program named CSU students Daniel Hueholt (left), Shady Kuster and Tamara Layden NSF Graduate Research Fellows.
Three Colorado State University students were recently awarded one of the country’s top STEM fellowships from the National Science Foundation.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports high-performing graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
This year’s fellows from CSU include Daniel Hueholt, studying atmospheric science, Shady Kuster, studying cell and molecular biology, and Tamara Layden, studying ecology.
The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost-of-education allowance of $12,000 to the institution. Since 2016, the NSF has awarded 44 Graduate Research Fellowships to CSU students.
The CSU Graduate School, the Office for Scholarship and Fellowship Advising, and the Office for Undergraduate Research and Artistry played a key role in the process.
NSF Graduate Research Fellows from CSU
Daniel Hueholt is a second-year master’s atmospheric science student at CSU in the research groups of Professor James Hurrell, the Scott Presidential Chair of Environmental Science and Engineering, and Associate Professor Elizabeth Barnes. Hueholt holds a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and mathematics from North Carolina State University. Hueholt works on climate intervention — the study of potential methods to intervene in the Earth system to counteract climate change. In his master’s program, he has focused on analyzing the global and regional climate responses to stratospheric aerosol injection using output from Earth system models, to identify potential benefits and risks of this method.
Shady Kuster, a first year Ph.D. student in the cell and molecular biology program, is part of Associate Professor Dan Sloan’s lab, where she studies evolutionary interactions between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Kuster, who received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical science from Tarleton State University, sparked her research career path when she studied population genetics of pocket gophers inhabiting the southern U.S. Additionally, she developed an interest in computer science, which led her to pursue a minor and participate in a computational biology REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates). As a member of the Sloan Lab, she said she has expanded her computational skill set and will continue to do so.
Tamara Layden, an ecology master’s student in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at CSU, is passionate about advancing ethical collaborations in ecological research, including the weaving of academic and Indigenous sciences to support community-centered conservation. Layden aspires to cultivate a broad understanding of wildlife monitoring and ethical participatory methods to increase the accessibility and impact of ecological science for the benefit of wildlife, community and culture.
NSF Graduate Research Honorable Mentions
Fifteen CSU students received Honorable Mentions from the National Science Foundation. This significant national academic achievement provides access to XSEDE, a cyber portal that scientists can use to interactively share computing resources, data and expertise.
Kaydee Barker
Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
Warner College of Natural Resources
Caroline Blommel
Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
Warner College of Natural Resources
Amanda Bowden
Atmospheric Science
Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Danielle Demateis
Statistics
College of Natural Sciences
Christine Folks
Ecology
Intra-University
Spencer Jones
Atmospheric Science
Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Samuel Lewis
Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
Warner College of Natural Resources
Luke MacHale
Chemistry
College of Natural Sciences
Pablo Maldonado
Cell and Molecular Biology
Intra-University
Caitlin Miller
Ecology
Intra-University
Katrina Puffer
Chemistry
College of Natural Sciences
Anna Shampain
Ecology
Intra-University
Victoria Simons
Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
Warner College of Natural Resources
Emily Storck
Chemistry
College of Natural Sciences
Emma Svatos
Ecology
Intra-University
About NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program was developed to promote diversity in science and engineering in the United States.
Since 1952, the NSF has funded more than 50,000 Graduate Research Fellowships, with 42 fellows going on to become Nobel laureates and more than 450 becoming members of the National Academy of Sciences.
CSU students interested in applying for the fellowship can contact Mary Swanson, program director of the Office for Scholarship and Fellowship Advising, at mary.swanson@colostate.edu.
