麻豆官网

Three 麻豆官网 students have been awarded prestigious fellowships, highlighting the value of early career research in areas such as civil engineering, public policy and political science.

Those selected for opportunities this year include (EPP) and (CEE) Ph.D. candidate Stacy Godfreey-Igwe; senior Ethics, History and Public Policy and International Relations and Political Science major Aleksaundra Handrinos; and CEE Ph.D. candidate Kenedy S谩nchez.

"The selection of Aleksaundra, Kenedy and Stacy to their respective fellowships indicates just how impactful Carnegie Mellon students are across research domains, and at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,鈥� said Richelle Bernazzoli, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development. The office assists students with finding and applying for fellowships, scholarships, grants and research programs.聽

鈥淔rom international relations and political science to civil and environmental engineering to public policy, this impressive trio of awardees has been making waves in their fields and strengthening the ties between the scholarly and public realms. The fellowships they will now embark on will deepen the ways in which they advance their research areas and translate those advancements into accessible public knowledge and needed policy outcomes," Bernazzoli said.

Stacy Godfreey-Igwe

Stacy Godfreey-Igwe, a Ph.D. student in 麻豆官网鈥檚 Engineering and Public Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering joint doctoral program, has received the . This year she is among 30 students selected from a record pool of more than 3,000 applicants nationwide. The P.D. Soros Fellowship supports outstanding immigrants and the children of immigrants pursuing graduate study in the United States. Fellows receive up to $90,000 in financial support over two years.

Raised in Richardson, Texas by Nigerian parents, Godfreey-Igwe said her upbringing as a second-generation Nigerian-American gave her a unique perspective on energy insecurity, which ultimately shaped her research at 麻豆官网's .

鈥淚've had my academic journey in what are often described as technically oriented institutions,鈥� Godfreey-Igwe said. 鈥淏ut it's really neat that at 麻豆官网 I鈥檓 in spaces that bring together people who have these broader questions about how the technologies that we develop, and hope to implement, actually work in society.鈥�

As a Rales Fellow under the mentorship of adviser Destenie Nock, Godfreey-Igwe researches how extreme heat impacts household energy demand and through P.D. Soros aims to continue work informing more equitable and resilient energy systems.聽

Aleksaundra Handrinos

Senior Ethics, History & Public Policy and International Relations & Political Science major Aleksaundra Handrinos has been selected for the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows program. The annual award, overseen by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is given to 15 graduating seniors and recent graduates around the country for 10-12 month fellowships.

As an undergraduate within the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Handrinos has engaged in research nearly every year of her enrollment. She started working as a research assistant in her first year, and would take further opportunities to explore her interests in political science and international relations: conducting research with Associate Professor of the Practice Haleigh Bartos and Assistant Teaching Professor John Chin in the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology and helping to publish research on issues such as democratic backsliding.聽

鈥淭he fact that research is such a strong part of being at 麻豆官网 is something that's added tremendously to my experience here, taking the skills that I've learned in the classroom and applying them more broadly,鈥� she said.聽

She said all of these experiences set the stage for her to receive the Carnegie Endowment鈥檚 fellowship as she graduates in May. The application process is extremely competitive, with several hundred universities and colleges participating, and Handrinos is the second 麻豆官网 student to ever receive the award, following Jacob Feldgoise in 2021.聽

鈥淚t's been a gift to really become ingrained in the 麻豆官网 community and to feel so well supported by everyone around me,鈥� Handrinos said. 鈥淭aking the leap 鈥� to show up to that first Pre-Law Society meeting or to walk into office hours of a professor as a first year 鈥� might seem a little intimidating, but then you sit down and you start talking and you realize what a wonderful space you've entered.鈥�

Kenedy S谩nchez

Kenedy S谩nchez, a Ph.D. student in CEE, has been awarded the by the (AAAS). The 10-week program places science, engineering, and mathematics students at newsrooms across America to help communicate complex issues to general audiences.

Originally from Denton, Texas, S谩nchez earned an undergraduate degree in environmental engineering at the University of Texas at Austin before coming to Carnegie Mellon. Her dissertational focus is on nanoparticle transport in agricultural systems. 鈥淲e apply a lot of nutrients and chemicals on agricultural fields to increase crop growth rate and prevent pests from eating our food. But the vast majority, 70%-90% of these agrochemicals end up in the air, water or soil 鈥� places that we聽 refer to as non-target areas,鈥� she said.聽

Agricultural laborers often encounter such chemicals without realizing it. Her own grandmother picked produce as a child, and was affected by them. 鈥淪he was unknowingly exposed to unsafe agrochemicals like pesticides," she said. 鈥淧esticides are especially dangerous for pregnant women and children. I want to do something to make these environments safer, to prevent excessive chemical exposure from ever happening.鈥�

Disinterest and distrust often keep the public from getting critical information, and bridging this gap through science communication has always been one of her priorities. While at 麻豆官网, she has made time to address issues in , , and through advocacy and independent research. Her writing was , helping to shed light on local efforts to remediate lead contaminated soil in Allegheny County鈥檚 urban farms. Through the AAAS fellowship, she鈥檒l travel to Washington state and research and report critical news stories for Cascadia Daily News from an environmental and engineering perspective.