Two CEPCEB graduate students, Erin Brinton and Jessica Diaz, were awarded three-year fellowships of approximately $40,500 per year as part of the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).

Erin Brinton, a graduate student in the lab of professor and geneticist Julia Bailey-Serres, received a fellowship for her project titled “Genetic Approach to Improving Submergence Tolerance in Maize.” Jessica Diaz’s research project, titled “Dissection of Shoot Architecture in Rice,” will be conducted in the lab of associate professor and geneticist Patricia Springer.

The GRFP fellowships are the oldest graduate awards of their kind and have served as key indicators of future academic and professional leaders. The two students were among 17 outstanding UCR graduate students in science and engineering who will receive annual stipends of $30,000, along with educational allowances of $10,500 and opportunities for professional development and travel, for three years. In addition, another 14 UCR graduate students received honorable mention awards and will be provided access to supercomputer capabilities to augment their research goals. Among these, Nolan Ung from IIGB/CEPCEB director Natasha Raikhel’s lab, received an honorable mention for his project titled “Quantifying Cellular Biological Phenomena Using Video Bioinformatics.”

The Institute congratulates all UCR recipients of GRFP fellowships and honorable mention awards!