{"id":77648,"date":"2026-04-13T16:38:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=77648"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:00:29","slug":"grfp-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/grfp-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Lumberjacks awarded NSF\u2019s prestigious graduate fellowship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Seven\u00a0students with ties to NAU\u00a0received awards from the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), a\u00a0competitive\u00a0National Science Foundation program that funds graduate work in STEM disciplines at institutions throughout the country.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The\u00a0five-year\u00a0GRFP award provides\u00a0an\u00a0annual stipend,\u00a0an education allowance\u00a0and\u00a0mentoring and networking opportunities,\u00a0giving\u00a0grad\u00a0students\u00a0the support\u00a0they need to conduct high-impact research\u00a0that\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0tied to\u00a0grant-funded projects.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Five\u00a0current graduate students received the\u00a0award, as did\u00a0two\u00a0students who\u00a0recently graduated from NAU and are starting Ph.D. programs elsewhere:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Hunter Brooks<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a Ph.D. student at the University of Toledo who graduated from NAU in 2025 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in astronomy and planetary science\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Henry Garland<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, a Ph.D. student at Yale University who received his bachelor\u2019s degree in chemistry from NAU in 2025<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Anna Kang<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a first-year master\u2019s student in the Department of Biological Sciences\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Ivy Knudsen<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a Ph.D. student in astronomy and planetary sciences\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"5\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Kayla\u00a0Bobbitt (n\u00e9e\u00a0Ramirez)<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a 2024 NAU graduate and current Ph.D. student in\u00a0chemistry at Boston University\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"6\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Jackson Truitt<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"7\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Marlee York<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a Ph.D. student in informatics and computing<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;GRFP awards are an incredible honor and vote of confidence in scientists at an early stage of their career,&#8221; said NAU Vice President for Research<strong> Jason Wilder<\/strong>. &#8220;Moreover, they have become increasingly competitive in recent years. We are so proud to have these talented students as members of the NAU community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Brooks graduated from NAU last May and is now a graduate student in physics and astronomy at the University of Toledo. While at NAU, his research focused on\u00a0identifying\u00a0dwarf and subdwarf stars in the solar system.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Garland, now a graduate student at Cornell, received his bachelor\u2019s degree from NAU in December. As an undergraduate, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/henry-garland\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Garland fell in love with solid-state physics<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0and became particularly passionate about molecular beam epitaxy, a process used to build materials that help power computers, renewable energy grids and more.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Kang,\u00a0a new master\u2019s student in the Department of Biological Sciences, came to NAU after graduating from the University of Mississippi.\u00a0Their interests span vector competence, disease ecology, microbiomes,\u00a0ecophysiology\u00a0and comparative immunology. They are passionate\u00a0about\u00a0investigating host-pathogen interactions, particularly the physiological and ecological factors that shape disease dynamics.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Knudsen, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, came to NAU from the University of Colorado Boulder. Knudsen helps manage NAU\u2019s part in the\u00a0Research and Education Collaborative Occupation Network, a national citizen science research\u00a0program dedicated to observing occultations, in which an asteroid passes in front of a background star.\u00a0\u00a0She\u2019s\u00a0also conducted research involving\u00a0the Moon, Mars,\u00a0Pluto\u00a0and large-scale telescopic observations.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Bobbitt, who spent her undergraduate years at NAU, is now a\u00a0Ph.D. student focused on\u00a0synthetic and medicinal chemistry at Boston University.\u00a0While at NAU, she was an\u00a0Honors\u00a0College student and served as president of the Heshima Bioethics Society. As an undergraduate research assistant\u00a0in\u00a0the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Bobbitt studied different bacteria to understand how pathogens traveled and how to stop their spread in Arizona and beyond.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Truitt is a Ph.D. student in bioengineering at NAU. After graduating from Wichita State University, he came to the\u00a0Biomechatronics\u00a0Lab, where he works with associate professor\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Zach Lerner<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0and other students to create wearable devices that improve mobility for people with muscular and skeletal disabilities.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">York\u00a0is a Ph.D. student in informatics and computing\u00a0in\u00a0the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at NAU. Her research focuses on\u00a0using statistical and machine learning to better understand the patterns and drivers of carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. She received her bachelor\u2019s degree from George Washington University, where her research helped characterize the high-magnitude exchange of carbon during extreme climate events.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In addition to the GRFP winners, six NAU students and recent\u00a0grads\u00a0received honorable mentions for their GRFP applications:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"7\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Claire Asmussen<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a 2023 graduate in environmental science who now works as a biologist at\u00a0CTL|Thompson\u00a0in Denver<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"7\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Katie Breeland-Newcomb<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a Ph.D. student in astronomy and planetary science<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"7\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Jack Kohm<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a 2025\u00a0physics\u00a0and astrophysics graduate who is now\u00a0a graduate student\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0University of Washington<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"7\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Aiden Kriel<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a graduate student in astronomy and planetary science<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"7\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"5\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Margo\u00a0Moceyunas<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a Ph.D. student in astronomy and planetary science<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"7\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"6\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Ani Smith<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u00a0a 2025 biomedical sciences graduate who is now pursuing her Ph.D. at Ohio University<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:180,&quot;335559739&quot;:180}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-56007\" src=\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/NAU_primary-281_3514.png\" alt=\"Northern Arizona University Logo\" width=\"134\" height=\"95\" srcset=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/402\/2019\/06\/NAU_primary-281_3514.png 905w, https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/402\/2019\/06\/NAU_primary-281_3514-300x213.png 300w, https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/402\/2019\/06\/NAU_primary-281_3514-768x546.png 768w, https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/402\/2019\/06\/NAU_primary-281_3514-600x426.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 134px) 100vw, 134px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\"><br \/>\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications<br \/>\n(928) 523-2282 | <a href=\"mailto:jill.kimball@nau.edu\">jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"search-results-excerpt-link\" href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/grfp-2026\/\">Seven\u00a0students with ties to NAU\u00a0received awards from the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), a\u00a0competitive\u00a0National Science Foundation program that funds graduate work in STEM disciplines at institutions throughout the country.\u00a0 The\u00a0five-year\u00a0GRFP award provides\u00a0an\u00a0annual stipend,\u00a0an education allowance\u00a0and\u00a0mentoring and networking opportunities,\u00a0giving\u00a0grad\u00a0students\u00a0the support\u00a0they need to conduct high-impact research\u00a0that\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0tied to\u00a0grant-funded projects.\u00a0 Five\u00a0current graduate students received the\u00a0award, as did\u00a0two\u00a0students who\u00a0recently graduated&hellip;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":77650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77648","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\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}