Eight Alumni Receive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships
Eight recent Middlebury graduates have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Seven additional alumni received honorable mention.
The highly selective NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awards fellowships to outstanding students pursuing full-time, research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM fields, including the natural, social, behavioral, and economic sciences, and STEM education.
Gabriella Roelofs ’24, a PhD student in earth system science at Stanford University, will use her NSF GRFP award to study enhanced rock weathering (ERW)—a carbon-removal strategy that spreads finely ground silicate rocks on agricultural soils to accelerate natural weathering, improve soil health, and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“I am very grateful to my Middlebury professors and mentors for fostering my interest in soils, analytical chemistry, and sustainable agriculture, and for teaching me how to become an independent researcher,” said Roelofs, an environmental studies and chemistry major at Middlebury whose senior thesis examined the effects of road salt on Vermont stream water quality. She credits Molly Costanza-Robinson, professor of chemistry and environmental studies, with supporting both her research and NSF application.
“Ella (Gabriella) is a phenomenal scientist who believes that scientific solutions that benefit people and the planet will only come from integrated, interdisciplinary thinking,” said Costanza-Robinson, who wrote a recommendation for Roelofs’s NSF GRFP application. “Her tenacity, curiosity, self-reliance, and intuition are truly outstanding. I would easily place her as the top researcher out of the nearly 70 research students I have mentored in my lab during my 21 years at Middlebury.”
Recipients of the NSF GRFP receive a three-year annual stipend of $37,000, a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance paid to their institution, and professional development opportunities.
Claire Ellerbrook ’26, a biology major at Middlebury, plans to use her award to study interactions between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, focusing on diet subsidies and nutrient fluxes in ecology, evolution, and marine biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She says her work builds on her research and senior thesis at Middlebury on carnivore diet in Vermont. She credits her advisor, Alexis Mychajliw, assistant professor of biology and environmental studies, with inspiring her to pursue graduate research.
Allison Brewster Suddaby ’21.5 will use the NSF fellowship to support dissertation research at the University of Pittsburgh, where she is pursuing a PhD in ecology and evolution while studying host-associated microbiomes. She says David Allen, associate professor of biology, who served as her mentor during her senior independent research, helped her develop, carry out, and critically evaluate original research, laying the foundation for her current work.
This year’s Middlebury recipients of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships include:
- Jack Barnhart ’25.5, Biology
- Max Chalfin-Jacobs ’25, Environmental Studies and Biology
- Isabelle Edmondson ’23, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Claire Ellerbrook ’26, Biology
- Gardner Olson ’22, Biology and Education Studies
- Gabriella J. Roelofs ’24, Environmental Studies and Chemistry
- Allison Brewster Suddaby ’21.5, Biology
- Spencer Grady Welsh ’24, Biology
The following were named honorable mention:
- Lisa Brady ’23, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Asha Kannan ’26, Biology and Earth and Climate Science
- Adelaide L. Mahler ’23, Biology
- Aiden Pape ’24.5, Computer Science
- Kayley Jane Porter ’25, Biology
- Matia Whiting ’19, Environmental Studies and Biology
- Max K. Zeltsar ’24.5, Biology
For more information about the NSF GRFP and other fellowship opportunities, visit the Middlebury Fellowships Office.