The Graduate College at Arizona State University awards fellowships that provide substantial support for students pursuing graduate degrees. These are merit-based awards and are the most prestigious form of funding because they enable students to focus full time on their studies and research projects.
Twenty-eight students were awarded one of the following fellowships for the 2008-2009 semesters: Reach for the Stars, Doctoral Enrichment, or Dissertation. Here are some examples of the outstanding research and goals of our Graduate Colllege Fellows.
For more information on these and other Graduate College Fellowships: graduate.asu.edu/gcfellowships.html
GC Dissertation Fellows
Graduate College Dissertation Fellowships support highly meritorious doctoral students who are in the final stages of post-candidacy doctoral work.
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Upper row from left: Brigitte Hogan, Littisha Bates, Caley Orr, Patricia Roeser, Naomi Bellot
Lower row from left: Jennifer Arney, Michael Jensen, Cathryn Meegan, Elizabeth McCullum, Lindsey Sutton
Not shown: Karen Chao Butterfield, Jaime Cardoso, Martha Dudek, Sherry Harlacher, Tyler Wall
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Jennifer Arney, School of Social and Family Dynamics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Ph.D. Sociology: Arney's dissertation "Direct to Consumer Advertising of Psychotropic Medications: Effects for Consumers, Physicians, and Society at Large" examines current drug advertising regulations with insight into the benefits and consequences of direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of antidepressant medications.
Littisha Bates, School of Social and Family Dynamics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Sociology) Bates's dissertation "Racial and Ethnic Differences in Educational Trajectories: The Role of Parental Involvement, Families and Schools" looks at racial and ethnic differences in education.
Naomi Ruth Bellot, School of Justice and Social Inquiry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Justice & Social Inquiry) Bellot's dissertation "Dominica's Indigenous Carib Women: Investigating Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes toward HIV/AIDS" focuses on indigenous Kalinago (Carib) women's lives in regards to ethnicity, family, socio-economic status, power relations, and globalization, including their ideologies regarding infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS.
Karen Chao Butterfield, Harrington Department of Bioengineering, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
(Ph.D. Bioengineering) Butterfield's dissertation is titled "Chondroitin Sulfate-Based Physical Networks for Tissue Engineered Blood Vessels" and examines biomaterials for tissue engineering.
Jaime Cardoso, School of International Letters and Cultures, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Spanish) Cardoso's dissertation "Essays and Articles in the Nationality and Identity Debate" examines how concepts of identity and nationalism have changed in the official and scholarly discourses in Mexico and the immigrant community in Arizona.
Martha Dudek, School of Materials, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
(Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering) Dudek's dissertation "Microstructure, Mechanical and Oxidation Behavior of Novel RE-Containing Pb-Free Solders" concerns the development of new Pb-free alloys for use in microelectronic applications.
Sherry Harlacher, School of Art, Katherine K. Herberger College of the Arts
(Ph.D. History and Theory of Art) Harlacher's dissertation "Picturing the Dhammakaya: Word and Image in Late Colonial Sri Lankan Manuscripts" studies late colonial Buddhist manuscript culture in Sri Lanka.
Brigitte Hogan, School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Biology) Hogan's dissertation "Effects of Plateau Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) Disturbance on an Alpine Meadow Ecosystem" focuses on the ecology of an Alpine meadow.
Michael Jensen, Department of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Political Science) Jensen's dissertation "Practicing What You Preach: The Gap between Words and Deeds in Counterinsurgency" examines military innovation and change in the realm of counterinsurgency.
Cathryn Meegan, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Anthropology) Meegan's dissertation "Nutritional Stress and the Dissolution of the Lower Salt River Valley Hohokam" researches the potential contribution of nutritional stress to the depopulation of major villages in the Lower Salt River Valley by the end of the 14th century AD.
Elizabeth McCullum, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Chemistry) McCullum's dissertation "Biophysical and functional Investigation of Alternative Nucleic Systems and In vitro Selection of Translational Enhancing Messenger RNA Sequences" studies alternative nucleic acid systems & de novo evolution using mRNA display.
Caley Orr, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Anthropology) Orr's dissertation "Three-dimensional Morphometrics and Arthrokinematics of the Anthropoid Wrist and the Evolution of Knuckle-walking in the Hominidae" analyzes the form and function of the wrist in several species of primates to understand how the wrist is adapted to the various hand postures used by primates during locomotion, with implications for revealing how human bipedality evolved.
Patricia Roeser, Department of History, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
(Ph.D. History) Roeser's dissertation "Silent No More: The Bunker Hill Monument, 1818-1919" explores issues of historical memory, nationalism, and community identity at the Bunker Hill Monument.
Lindsey Sutton, School of Geographical Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Geography) Sutton's dissertation "The Rio Sonora Valley: Changing Forms of Agricultural Livelihoods in the Mexican Borderlands" studies economic development using qualitative analysis that combines social network analysis with Geovisualization.
Tyler Wall, School of Justice and Social Inquiry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Ph.D. Justice Studies) Wall's dissertation "The Fronts of War: Everyday Life, Military Presence and the U.S. Heartland" examines the relationships between military presence and the practice of everyday life in the rural Midwestern U.S., including military recruiting, the activities of a local military base and the effects of a local military deployment to Iraq on citizen-soldiers and their families.
Reach for the Stars Fellows
Reach for the Stars Fellowships are designed to promote the diversity of the graduate student population by providing ASU's most promising undergraduate students with a pathway to graduate school and the tools and resources for their success.
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| Reach for the Stars fellows Shantel Meek and Joseph Eschrich. Not pictured: Natalie Cole, Joaquin Rios, Hubert Ross |
Natalie Cole, pursuing Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience
Cole graduated Summa Cum Laude in her undergraduate studies and now intends to investigate the behavioral and neural mechanisms of drug abuse. She plans to teach a "brain awareness" seminar to elementary students next year. After graduation, she hopes to obtain a faculty position at a research university.
Joseph Eschrich, pursuing Ph.D. in Gender Studies
With a goal of a career in academia, Eschrich's primary area of study is manhood and masculinity in popular culture, especially mainstream film and popular music. He is now in his first semester of graduate school and works at the ASU Office of University Initiatives.
Shantel Meek, pursuing Ph.D. in Family and Human Development
Through her research into the social and behavioral deficits in autism, Meek hopes to improve the quality of life for children with autism and their families, find ways to improve the performance of autistic children in the classroom, and design school-based interventions that could successfully integrate children with autism with typically developing peers in classrooms. She received the ASU Provost Scholarship while completing her undergraduate degree, and is now working as a therapist using Applied Behavior Analysis for children with autism. She also volunteers with the FRIENDS Playground program.
Joaquin Rios, pursuing a Juris Doctorate
With an interest in jurisprudence and public interest law, Rios plans to enter the legal profession. He is motivated to serve the interests of social justice, combined with a continued commitment to political advocacy on behalf of disenfranchised populations. Rios serves as Community Outreach Coordinator for the Attorney General's Satellite Office at the College of Law and as a representative for the Chicano/Latino Law Students' Association.
Hubert Ross, pursuing M.S. in Communication Disorders/Speech-Language Pathology
One of Ross' goals is to work at an adult clinic that caters to speech disorders caused by traumatic brain injuries, strokes, tumors, progressive neurogenic disorders (such as Alzheimer's disease), or other lesions in the brain that result in a speech/language deficit. He is on the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's List and has received a number of scholarships and awards, including the Graduate College Pathways Award. Ross has also done clinical work at the ASU Speech and Hearing Clinic, Banner Baywood Hospital, and is currently giving speech therapy to preschool children at the Infant Child Research Group (ICRP) preschool.
GC Doctoral Enrichment Fellows
Graduate College Doctoral Enrichment Fellowships are designed to enhance recruitment of high quality doctoral students who will contribute to the achievements of diversity in our graduate student population.
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From left: Tamela Smith, Christopher Martinez, Isa Rodriguez-Soto, Arifa-Raza. Not pictured: Jose Aguayo, Victor Diaz, Hector Garza, Laquitta Smith, Kyle Yazzie
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Jose Aguayo, Harrington Department of Bioengineering, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
Aquayo is pursuing Ph.D. in Bioengineering. His research focuses on better understanding how the activity of neurons in the brain contribute to muscle activity during specific tasks.
Victor Diaz, College of Education, Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies
Diaz is pursuing Ph.D. in Sociology, focusing on ways to empower youth of color. His goal is to create or improve educational programs for teachers and students in low-income urban and rural areas.
Hector Garza, Theatre and Performance of the Americas, Katherine K. Herberger College of the Arts
Garza is pursuing Ph.D. in Theatre, exploring border issues as depicted in theatre in both Spanish and English on both sides of Mexico/U.S. border.
Cristóbal / Christopher Martinez, Arts, Media and Engineering Program, Katherine K. Herberger College of the Arts/Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
Martinez is pursuing Ph.D. in Media, Arts and Sciences, constructing interactive digital places for social gatherings that can support art-making, learning, play, support group rehabilitation, storytelling, and the development of sustainable cross-cultural partnerships. Cristóbal is a founding member of the interactive art company urbanStew and the Edson Student Entrepreneurship Initiative Grant.
Arifa Raza, School of Justice and Social Inquiry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Raza is pursuing Ph.D. in Justice Studies, with a focus on globalization and transnationalism.
Isa Rodriguez Soto, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Soto is pursuing Ph.D. in Social Sciences and Health, concentrating on how physical environment affects people's health and how people cope and adapt to those stressors. She plans to focus particularly on air quality and its effect on community health.
Laquitta Smith, School of Social and Family Dynamics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Smith is pursuing Ph.D. in Sociology, studying family processes and trends, particularly among African Americans. She is also researching demography, urban sociology and the sociology of gender.
Tamela Smith, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Smith is pursuing Ph.D. in Anthropology with an emphasis on bioarchaeology. She is studying infectious diseases in past populations to gain a better understanding of how and why these diseases spread in modern populations.
Kyle Yazzie, School of Materials, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
Yazzie is pursuing Ph.D. in Materials Science, focusing his doctoral research on the mechanical shock and vibration fatigue behavior of environmentally-benign solder alloys.
