KU News Release

NSF awards research fellowships to two KU students and two recent graduates

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas students and two recent KU graduates have won National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Seven honorable mentions were given to KU alumni and students coming to KU to conduct research.

Regarded as one of the premier awards in the sciences, the fellowships provide a $30,000 stipend each year for three years of graduate study plus an allowance of $10,500 to the institution for research expenses.

NSF fellowship winners from KU are:

— Joel Abrahamson, spring 2006 graduate in chemical engineering from Grand Forks, N.D., to study chemical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
— Kristi N. Bond, Lawrence master’s degree student in linguistics
— Allison S. Doores, Lawrence doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology, specializing in paleobotany
— Miles Alexander Garrett, spring 2006 graduate in physics and philosophy from Newton, Wichita and Harrisburg, Pa., to study sociology at Cornell University in New York

Four KU alumni received honorable mentions: Alan M. Dibos, 2006 graduate from Lenexa, now a student at Harvard University; Stephen N. Floor, 2006 graduate from Lawrence at the University of California-San Francisco; John H. Teeple, 1997 graduate from Overland Park at San Jose State University; and Holly Worthen, 2002 graduate from McPherson at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Two honorable mentions went to KU students in ecology and evolutionary biology: Andrea Romero, doctoral student from Jonesboro, Ark., and Katherine A. Roach, master’s degree student from Redwood Falls, Minn.

Two more honorable mentions were for students planning to attend graduate school at KU: Amy M. Schneider, currently a graduate student at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Elizabeth A. Wommack, an undergraduate at the University of Puget Sound.

The NSF graduate education division in Arlington, Va., announced 910 fellows for the 2007-08 academic year selected from more than 8,339 applicants.

NSF fellowships are intended for individuals in the early stages of graduate study. Fellows must be working on research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in the mathematical, physical, biological, behavioral or social sciences; engineering; the history of science; or the philosophy of science; or research-based doctoral degrees in science education.

For this highly competitive award, applicants must submit research proposals, which are reviewed by expert scientists in their field. NSF fellowship recipients as well as honorable mentions represent the best among young scientists in the United States.

All fellows and honorable mention candidates are listed at the NSF Web site.

Brief biographical information about KU alumni and current graduate students receiving the fellowships and honorable mentions is listed below.

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Lawrence
Kristi N. Bond, KU master’s degree student in linguistics, received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with teacher certification in 1994 from Harding University in Searcy, Ark. Her recent research in linguistics has focused on syntax, neurolinguistics and second-language acquisition. As an NSF fellow, she will study whether native speaker proficiency can ever be reached by a learner of a second language. Using both behavioral measures as well as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, she will examine what role age of acquisition and proficiency play in determining whether or not second language learners process the second language like native speakers.

Stephen N. Floor, 2006 KU graduate in physics and in computer science, received an honorable mention. Floor was a 2004 Goldwater scholar at KU. Floor is a Coca-Cola Merit Scholarship recipient and a member of honor societies for engineers and for physicists. He worked as a disc jockey for KJHK, the student radio station, and as a research assistant for the KU cosmology group. He attended Free State High School in Lawrence and has a GED. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Erik Floor of Lawrence.

HARVEY COUNTY
From Newton, Wichita and Harrisburg, Pa.
Miles Alexander Garrett, son of James Garrett of Wichita and Karen Baker of Harrisburg, Pa., graduated from KU in spring 2006 with highest distinction with bachelor’s degrees in physics and philosophy. His parents are former Newton residents. He is a Hesston High School graduate. Garrett is graduate student in sociology at Cornell University in New York. At KU, he was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies and of the University Scholars mentor program. His faculty advisers at KU included Robert Antonio, professor of sociology; Dave Besson, professor of physics; Mohamed El-Hodiri, professor of economics; and Mary Klayder, lecturer in English.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Lenexa
Alan M. Dibos, 2006 graduate in mathematics and in physics, received an honorable mention. At KU, Dibos received a honorable mention as Goldwater competitor in 2004 and was a Chancellors Club scholar, a National Merit finalist and a 2004-05 Kansas/Asia scholar. He is a Shawnee Mission South High School graduate. He is the son of Heidi Dibos of Lenexa.

From Overland Park 66212
John H. Teeple, fall 1997 graduate in geography, received an honorable mention. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Teeple and is a Shawnee Mission South High School graduate.

MCPHERSON COUNTY
From McPherson
Holly Michelle Worthen, a 2002 KU graduate in English and international studies, received an honorable mention. She is a graduate student in geography at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. At KU, Worthen was a 2001 Udall scholar and a 2002 Fulbright grant recipient. At the 2002 commencement ceremony, Worthen received a Class of 1913 Award for superior academic achievement and community service. She is the daughter of David and Joanie Worthen and is a graduate of McPherson High School.

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Wichita, Newton and Harrisburg, Pa.
Miles Alexander Garrett. SEE HARVEY COUNTY

ARKANSAS
From Jonesboro 72404
Andrea Romero is a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology at KU. She earned an honorable mention. She is working in the systematic, macroevolution and biodiversity graduate program with Robert Timm, associate professor and associate curator in the Natural History Museum. She received a bachelor’s degree from Carlton College in 2005.

MINNESOTA
From Redwood Falls
Katherine A. Roach is a master’s degree student in ecology and evolutionary biology. She earned an honorable mention. James H. Thorp, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is her thesis adviser. She has a bachelor’s degree from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, and plans to study life sciences at Texas A&M University.

MISSOURI
From Parkville
Allison S. Doores is a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology, specializing in paleobotany at KU. As an NSF fellow, she will be studying leaf hairs on squashes and their relatives (Cucurbitaceae) in living plants as well as hairs on 250 million-year-old fossil species in an effort to determine their paleoecological role. Leaf hairs, and the chemicals they contain, are important components of plant defenses against insects and other herbivores. She received a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. Thomas Taylor, KU’s Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is her dissertation adviser.

NORTH DAKOTA
From Grand Forks
Joel Abrahamson, son of Harmon and Julie Abrahamson of Grand Forks, N.D., graduated from KU with highest distinction with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in spring 2006. He is an NSF fellow and a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He will transfer to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this summer. Karen J. Nordheden, KU associate professor of chemical engineering, was an honors adviser for Abrahamson. He was a National Merit Scholar.

PENNSYLVANIA
From Harrisburg and Newton and Wichita, Kan.
Miles Alexander Garrett. SEE HARVEY COUNTY

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