Mayrolin García, an Auburn University master’s student studying under the direction of entomology assistant professor Nathaniel Hardy in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, has been awarded a prestigious 2016 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
She is one of seven current and former Auburn University students and one of 2,000 students nationally to receive a 2016 fellowship. Recipients were selected from almost 17,000 applicants.
García holds a B.S. degree in marine biology from Brown University and enrolled in Auburn’s graduate program fall semester 2014. She will receive her master’s in May and begin her doctoral studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst this fall.
In her master’s research, García has investigated the diversity and evolutionary ecology of plant-feeding insects and, specifically, the impact that natural enemy pressure has on the diversity of the insect population.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period and carries a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 education allowance to the graduate institution. The program’s purpose is to help ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce in the U.S. by recognizing individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements.
