Clemson students receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Published: April 14, 2011

CLEMSON — Eight Clemson University students have received Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and nine others received honorable mention in the national competition.

Fellows receive three years of support for their graduate studies: an annual stipend of $30,000, a $10,500 allowance for tuition and fees and opportunities for international research and professional development. The program recognizes and supports outstanding students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

Clemson’s 2011 awardees are:

• Toni Bloodworth, a computer science graduate student from Anderson;
• Michael Esposito, a civil engineering senior from Prospect, Ky.;
• James Grayson, a civil engineering graduate student from Okatie, S.C.;
• Jennifer Ann Johnson, a civil engineering senior from Hilton Head Island;
• Kristina Kesel, a biochemistry senior from Charlotte;
• Laila Roudsari, a bioengineering senior from Charleston;
• Kemper Talley, a physics senior from Easley; and
• Daniel Triebwasser, a graduate student in plant and environmental sciences from Fort Mill.

 Honorable mentions went to:

• Natasha Bell, a biosystems engineering senior from Clemson;
• Sarah Cisewski, a bioengineering graduate student from Isle of Palms;
• Jaclyn Ellerie, an environmental engineering and science graduate student from Boca Raton, Fla.;
• Michael Juang, an electrical engineering graduate student from Clemson;
• Elizabeth Lange, a biological sciences graduate student from North Tonwanda, N.Y.;
• William Martin, a civil engineering graduate student from Anderson;
• Wesley Salandro, an automotive engineering graduate student from Latrobe, Pa.;
• Christie Sampson, a biological sciences graduate student from Clarkston, Mich.; and
• Jacklyn Wilkinson, a materials science and engineering graduate student from Fountain Inn.

Bruce Rafert, dean of the Graduate School at Clemson, said the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program is highly competitive. Last year, he noted, the program received 12,000 applications and granted 2,000 awards, for a 17 percent success rate.

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