Each year, on behalf of the University of Connecticut, the Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships nominates students to compete nationally for the prestigious Udall Scholarship.  Named for Representative Morris K. Udall and his brother, Secretary Stewart L. Udall, this $5,000 undergraduate scholarship is awarded to high-achieving students from any discipline who are either passionate about the environment or  are Native American students committed to tribal healthcare or tribal policy, following legacy of the Udalls, who supported legislation to protect both the environment and Native American interests.  Recipients are also invited into a strong network of committed environmentalists and Native American advocates.  If you are a UConn student and want more information about the scholarship and how to seek nomination, start here.

 

Nicholas Russo (CLAS ’18) is an Honors Student and STEM scholar majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in ecology, with a focus on ornithology and forest community ecology. Since his freshman year, Nick has been working in the lab of Dr. Morgan Tingley, conducting research on the potential for birds to disperse hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that devastates eastern hemlock forests. Nick received an IDEA Grant in summer 2016 to monitor adelgid carrying rates of birds in hemlock forests, and presented this research, and his Holster Scholar research, at the national Wilson Ornithological Society meeting in March, 2017, where he received the Nancy Klamm Best Undergraduate Student Oral Paper Award. In November 2016, the results of his Holster Scholar research on adelgid transfer rates between hemlock branches and birds were published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Entomology.  As president of the UConn Birding Club and a representative of ECOalition, Nick takes a strong interest in citizen science and environmental awareness. As part of these organizations, he is working to implement a university general education requirement in environmental literacy and sustainability, and undertake a Connecticut Ornithological Society-funded project to ensure continued management of the Mansfield Community Garden for migratory birds. A University Scholar for 2017-18, Nick received the Stewart L. and Morris K. Udall Scholarship in 2016, and received Honorable Mention for this award in 2017. Nick works at the Writing Center, and in his spare time, he likes to bird, run, swim, and speak French.

Each year, through the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace offers approximately 12-14 one-year fellowships to uniquely qualified graduating seniors and individuals who have graduated during the past academic year. They are selected from a pool of nominees nominated by several hundred participating universities and colleges. James C. Gaither Junior Fellows work as research assistants to Carnegie’s senior scholars. Please reach out to UConn’s nominating official, Ms. LuAnn Saunders-Kanabay, to learn more about the college application process and please see their FAQ for eligibility requirements.

 

Emilyn Tuomala (CLAS ’19) is a senior Honors student from New Milford, CT, majoring in International Security and Political Science with a History minor.  She is an able German, Arabic and Spanish speaker and loves learning about other countries around the globe. Emilyn is passionate about military history and security strategy, particularly how it applies to nuclear proliferation and technological innovation. During her time at UConn, Emilyn served two years as vice president for UConn Model UN, spent four years in the marching band, was on the executive board for UConn’s Love146 to End Human Trafficking chapter, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa her junior year. A two time New England Scholar, Emilyn completed an internship with the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance in Alexandria, VA before her senior year and and is currently an intern in Congressman Joe Courtney’s office. Her time as an Alan R. Bennett Research Assistant with the political science department inspired her to write a senior thesis on the growth of the U.S. missile defense program, with the help of Dr. Evan Perkoski. Attending George Washington University for a Masters in Security and Nuclear Studies in the fall, Emilyn is thankful for the opportunities UConn has provided her. She would like to one day become a nuclear treaty and strategy analyst and support our Armed Forces in helping to protect the globe.

 

To learn more about this and other nationally-competitive scholarship and fellowship opportunities, visit the Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships and click “Talk to an Advisor.”

 

The National Collegiate Honors Council’s John and Edythe Portz Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship provides students in good standing in honors programs of NCHC member institutions support to conduct creative and innovative research that crosses boundaries. The fellowship program invites applications from individuals who wish to undertake cross-disciplinary research or from a team of two students from different disciplines who propose a single collaborative project. The project will be funded for a period of up to 18 months with the expectation that upon its completion the Fellowship recipient will make a presentation of the research at the annual NCHC conference.  UConn’s NCHC Portz Nominee is chosen each spring from the pool of University Scholars.

 

Rebecca Hill (’18 CLAS) is a junior Honors student and University Scholar from Middlebury, CT.  She is double majoring in English and Economics and she aspires to be a novelist.  A former Holster Scholar, Rebecca currently serves as the co-Fiction Editor of the Long River Review, UConn’s award-winning literary magazine. Her University Scholar project, The Western Madwoman:  A Feminist History and Economic Study in Novel Form, conducted under the direction of English Professor Ellen Litman, combines her diverse scholarly and intellectual interests into a novel that examines two feminine literary archetypes of mental illness, anorexia and hysteria, and the socio-economic contexts in which they exist. In the spring of 2016, Rebecca won the Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Fiction, which is awarded each year by the UConn English Department. Outside of her literary interests, Rebecca’s commitment to social justice has led her to participate in a wide range of community outreach alternative service breaks in locations ranging from Birmingham, AL to New York City.  In recognition of these and other efforts, she will be representing the Honors Program at the NEW Leadership New England program at St. Anselm’s College in Vermont this summer.  When she is not busy writing or trying to change the world, she enjoys rock climbing.

 

The National Collegiate Honors Council’s John and Edythe Portz Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship provides students in good standing in honors programs of NCHC member institutions support to conduct creative and innovative research that crosses boundaries. The fellowship program invites applications from individuals who wish to undertake cross-disciplinary research or from a team of two students from different disciplines who propose a single collaborative project. The project will be funded for a period of up to 18 months with the expectation that upon its completion the Fellowship recipient will make a presentation of the research at the annual NCHC conference.  UConn’s NCHC Portz Nominee is chosen each spring from the pool of University Scholars.

 

Susan Naseri (CLAS ’20), from Queens, NY, is pursuing a double major in Political Science and Human Rights. In addition to being a student in the Special Program in Law and the Honors Program, Susan is President of the Middle Eastern Student Association, a member of the 2018 Leadership Legacy cohort, and a recipient of the Cohen Student Leadership Scholarship. As a Bennett Research Assistant and recipient of the SHARE grant, she documented cases of violence against women and girls across the world for Dr. David Richards, and this research was then cited in his book, Exploring The Consequences Of The Normative Gap In Legal Protections Addressing Violence Against Women. Additionally, Susan served as the Research and Evaluation Intern at the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund in Spring 2018. As a Holster scholar, Susan conducted qualitative interviews with the administrative heads of four NGOs across CT, to determine if their policies and programs offered to Middle Eastern refugees were focused more on acculturation or assimilation. With a love for learning and travel, Susan was named a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholar and Fund for Education Abroad Scholar which allowed her to study in France and travel through Europe during the Summer of 2018. In the Fall 2018 semester, she served as the Human Rights Intern at UConn Law’s Asylum and Human Rights Clinic, where she documented country conditions research to corroborate the claims of their clients who were seeking asylum in the United States. Building on this passion to help asylum seekers and refugees, Susan is conducting research through literature reviews and qualitative interviews regarding the lived experiences of Middle Eastern refugee youth in Chicago, San Diego, and Dallas through her IDEA grant. As a University Scholar, she will be continuing similar research with NGOs and refugees in Amman, Jordan. In addition to research, Susan works as a tutor at the Writing Center, as a Student Programming Assistant for the Honors Department and previously, as a Resident Assistant on campus. In the future, she aims to create her own non-governmental organization dedicated to providing legal aid and helping refugees integrate into society.  Susan was also nominated for the Truman Scholarship.

 

To learn more about these and other nationally-competitive scholarship and fellowship opportunities, visit the Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships and click “Talk to an Advisor.”

 

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is awarded for graduate study towards careers in public service to approximately 55 students nationally based on their academic achievement, leadership, and public service records. Students must apply in their junior year.  Each year, universities may nominate up to four juniors for this competition.  For more information about UConn’s nomination process and the scholarship itself, click HERE.  Nominees are selected for their strong academic records, demonstrated commitment to public service and exceptional leadership skills.   Also vital is the support of faculty mentors and professionals in their chosen fields.  This year’s nominees submitted their applications to the national competition in February.  Congratulations to these outstanding students on their nominations!

Elizabeth Charash (’18 CLAS) is a history major at UConn. She is an avid reader, consumer of political satire and tea connoisseur. She is from Newtown, CT, where she was involved with gun violence prevention advocacy following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary her junior year in high school. She has studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa where she worked with community members in an area with high levels of gun violence. Her time in Cape Town in combination with her high school activism have shaped the research she is currently conducting on the differences in urban and suburban gun violence prevention policy and activism. Elizabeth has interned in the offices of Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty and Senator Chris Murphy. She is also founder and president of UConn Against Gun Violence, where she seeks to inform her community about the complexities of gun violence.  Winner of the 2016 Newman Civic Fellowship, Elizabeth is also the recipient of an IDEA grant to continue her ongoing research on “Faces of the Gun Violence Prevention Movement in Connecticut” with Sociology Professor Mary Bernstein.  Upon graduation, she plans to continue to address the inequities presented by gun violence with a JD and masters or Ph.D continuing her current research.

Rebecca Kaufman (CLAS ’18), from Mansfield, CT, is an honors student double majoring in political science and human rights who aspires one day to lead legal efforts on behalf of the victims of environmental injustice.  An avid runner, Rebecca has interned for U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, worked with local leaders in rural Guatemala through the Social Entrepreneurship Corps, and studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa where she interned at the Economic Justice Network. As a spring 2016 IDEA Grant recipient, Rebecca used her funding to analyze the policy outcomes and increased female empowerment promulgated by women in local government in the Asia-Pacific region. In spring 2017, she was awarded the Augusta H. Gerberich Scholarship, which is given annually to a junior or senior majoring in political science whose special field of interest is international relations.  She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received an Alan R. Bennett Research Assistantship in fall 2014.  In the spring of 2016, Rebecca and three other students co-founded the Student Coalition for Social Justice, which conducts sustained, intersectional social justice campaigns in order to incite positive social change on the UConn campus and beyond.