A total of five Hope College graduating seniors or recent graduates have received recognition through the prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship program of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Senior Lisa Savagian of Bloomfield received a fellowship through the program, and senior Monica Ohnsorg of Chanhassen, Minnesota, received honorable mention.
In addition, 2015 graduate Caitlin Kozack received a fellowship, and both 2015 graduate Lisa McLellan and 2012 graduate Ingrid Slette received honorable mention. McLellan and Slette had also each received honorable mention last year.
Hope students or graduates have received fellowships or honorable mention through the program every year for more than 20 years, and this is the ninth year in a row that multiple graduating seniors or recent alumni have been recognized. The NSF awarded 2,000 of the fellowships nationwide this year, and recognized another 2,997 applicants with honorable mention. There were nearly 17,000 applicants.
The awards are for students pursuing a research-based master’s or doctoral degree in science or engineering. The fellowships are for up to three years, and pay a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance.
Savagian is completing a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, and has conducted
collaborative research both at Hope and off-campus. She worked as a freshman with
Dr. Graham Peaslee, who is the Elmer E. Hartgerink Professor of Chemistry and a professor
of geology and environmental science at the college; participated in the NSF IREU
program in the United Kingdom in 2014, working with Dr. Peter Skabara, professor of
pure and applied chemistry at the University of Strathclyde; was a 2015 Massachusetts
Institute of Technology CMSE Summer Scholar, working with Professor Paula Hammond
at the MIT Koch Center for Integrative Cancer Research; and spent the fall 2015 semester
conducting full-time research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with Dr. Lynn Boatner
in the Materials Science and Technology Division. She intends to pursue graduate
study in materials science and engineering with an emphasis on polymers and nanomaterials.
Ohnsorg is completing a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, 
and has conducted collaborative research at Hope with Dr. Mary (Beth) Anderson, assistant
professor of chemistry and Towsley Research Scholar. She intends to pursue graduate
study in polymer chemistry and biomaterials.
Kozack graduated from Hope with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. She is pursuing graduate study in chemical catalysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While at Hope she conducted collaborative research with Dr. Elizabeth Sanford, professor of chemistry, and Dr. Kenneth Brown, associate professor of chemistry and department chair, on making organic coatings for electrodes; and with Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, associate professor of chemistry, on carbon-carbon bond activation.
McLellan graduated from Hope with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. She is pursuing graduate study in microbial biology at Washington University in St. Louis. While at Hope, she conducted collaborative research with Dr. Aaron Best, who is the Harrison C. and Mary L. Visscher Associate Professor of Genetics, and former biology faculty member Dr. Aaron Putzke, as well as with Dr. Christina Stallings at Washington University.
Slette graduated from Hope with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. She is pursuing graduate study in ecology at Colorado State University. While at Hope, she conducted collaborative research with Dr. Greg Murray, professor of biology, and former chemistry faculty member Dr. Michael Short.