{"id":65797,"date":"2022-04-06T09:39:06","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T16:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=65797"},"modified":"2022-04-06T09:39:06","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T16:39:06","slug":"garthwaite-grfp-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/garthwaite-grfp-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Master\u2019s student wins prestigious NSF fellowship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NAU continued its streak of graduate students winning one of the most prestigious fellowships in the country this week.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Iris Garthwaite<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, a second-year master\u2019s student in environmental sciences and policy, was selected for the National Science Foundation\u2019s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The award provides an annual stipend and an education allowance as well as mentoring and networking opportunities, all of which allow STEM graduate students to be more independent in their research and branch out from grant-funded projects.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NAU alumna <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Stephanie Gastelum<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, who is now a doctoral student at the University of Arizona, also was selected for the GRFP. Four NAU graduate students were selected for honorable mentions:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Melissa Rose<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, Ph.D. in informatics and computing<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Emma Reich<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, Ph.D. in informatics and computing<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Emma Lathrop<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, Ph.D. in biology<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Zoe Marie Klein<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, master\u2019s in environmental science and policy<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThese fellowships are among the most significant ways that the NSF invests in the next generation of scientific talent,\u201d said Vice President for Research <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Jason Wilder<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. \u201cStudents who are selected have identified exceptionally interesting and important questions to focus on as they pursue their graduate degrees, and these fellowships provide them with the financial resources to support and enhance their studies.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Garthwaite, who is originally from the Bay Area, uses common gardens to study genetic diversity in Fremont cottonwoods and to characterize their responses to novel climates. Studying plants in extreme landscapes has become the major focus of her research as an undergraduate and in her two years at NAU.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cMy passion for adventure and community service led me to live and work all around the globe,\u201d she said. \u201cI returned to the western U.S. to support community connections to local landscapes and learn about conservation.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Amid the increasing effects of climate change, more landscapes are becoming extreme, or at least are changing enough that native species may struggle to adapt and can become endangered. Garthwaite\u2019s research is aimed at understanding how to conserve cottonwood trees, which form riparian forests that can thrive along streams in the arid landscapes of the desert Southwest. This work matters in terms of maintaining biodiversity, enhancing restoration outcomes<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> and for the people who enjoy the shade of an old cottonwood tree on a hot day in the American West.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cMany people value the clear water, the cool shade and the biodiversity that these ribbons of green provide,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to produce research that can provide insights about how cottonwood trees will respond to a hotter, drier and more variable climate. If we understand that some trees from certain regions cope with periods of drought better than others, we may be able to use those trees in riparian restoration projects to enhance restoration outcomes.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">During her time at NAU, Garthwaite has worked as a research assistant for assistant professor <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Rebecca Best<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> in the Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes. Best said Garthwaite\u2019s love of plants and people makes her a valuable contributor to conservation science. She is skilled at articulating questions, devising new methods to address those questions and finding ways to co-create learning opportunities with community partners.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cShe is also deeply committed to leadership that connects people from diverse backgrounds to experiences in science and in nature,\u201d Best said. \u201cIris put together a fantastic original research proposal as well as a plan to provide outdoor education opportunities for kids in multiple Arizona communities and to collaborate with land managers. Given her background in education outside of academia, her excitement about science and her sensitivity to equity and access issues, she is going to have a really positive impact in her field in a lot of different ways.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Garthwaite defends her master\u2019s thesis next week. She will move onto a Ph.D. program in the fall.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"search-results-excerpt-link\" href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/garthwaite-grfp-2022\/\">NAU continued its streak of graduate students winning one of the most prestigious fellowships in the country this week.\u00a0 Iris Garthwaite, a second-year master\u2019s student in environmental sciences and policy, was selected for the National Science Foundation\u2019s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The award provides an annual stipend and an education allowance as well as&hellip;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":65798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}