UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Seventeen graduate students from Penn State have been awarded research fellowships and six undergraduate students from the commonwealth have been awarded scholarships for 2024 from the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium (PSGC).
PSGC is one of 52 NASA Space Grant programs across the country that are part of the NASA-run initiative to support educational initiatives in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Each year PSGC receives funds from the national NASA Space Grant Project to develop and implement student fellowships and scholarships programs. Through this funding PSGC administers the Graduate Fellowship Program and Undergraduate Scholarship Program.
Graduate Fellows
Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellowships annually provides a one-year fellowship of $5,000 to outstanding Penn State students pursuing graduate study leading to masters or doctoral degrees in STEM fields that promote the understanding, assessment, and utilization of space and contribute to NASAs Mission Directorates. In keeping with the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program goals, scholars agree to participate in mentoring or educational outreach activities for a minimum of ten hours per semester.
The following students are the 2024 graduate fellowship recipients:
College of Education
- Emily Olson, curriculum and instruction
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
- Nancy Huang, materials science and engineering
- Sophie Lelei, geography
- Adam Stone, geosciences
College of Engineering
- Olivia Cook, engineering science and mechanics
- Nathan Kizer, engineering science and mechanics
- Carter Paprocki, acoustics
- Victoria Vasquez, electrical engineering
College of Information Sciences and Technology
- Jeffrey Schulman, informatics
College of the Liberal Arts
- Laura Perez, anthropology
- David Schillinger, industrial/oganizational psychology
- Christine Ta, anthropology and microbiome science
- Megan Veltri, anthropology
Eberly College of Science
- Laura Duffy, astronomy and astrophysics
- Bryan Hendricks, physics
- Niana Mohammed, astronomy and astrophysics
- Francesco Pecere, chemistry and astrobiology
Undergraduate Scholarships
The Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Scholarship annually provides a $4000 award to full-time undergraduates attending an accredited Pennsylvania college or university for one academic year. The PSGC Undergraduate Scholarship is awarded to students with outstanding academic records who will be juniors or seniors in the fall semester. Students must be U.S. citizens, enrolled in science, engineering, or mathematics and likely to pursue a career in an area of interest to NASA with demonstrated potential for graduate study. In keeping with the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program goals, scholars agree to participate in mentoring or educational outreach activities for a minimum of 10 hours per semester.
The following students are the 2024 undergraduate scholarship recipients:
- Sadie Beers, biology major in the cellular biology and molecular genomics concentration at the Mansfield campus of the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania
- Nathaniel Carey, biotechnology, Penn State
- Angelina Estadt, physics and astronomy and astrophysics, Penn State
- Gillian Leeds, astrophysics and mathematics, Franklin and Marshall College
- Jared Levin, electrical engineering, Temple University
- Marvens Ravix, Biology, Mansfield campus of the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania
For 35 years, the Pennsylvania Space Grant College and Fellowship Program has been working to expand opportunities in Pennsylvania for citizens to learn about and participate in NASA programs by supporting STEM education, training, research, and public understanding while promoting multi-faceted diversity among project participants.