In 2023, FIU graduate students secured several prestigious fellowships including the Quad Fellowship, the Fulbright-Hays–Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad award, the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship, and the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty of the Future award. Congratulations to our students!
Melinda Paduani
PhD Student, Earth and Environment
Project Title:
The Ecological Role of Mangroves in Sequestering Microplastics and Implications for Management.
Project Description:
The goal of my research is to understand if and how coastal wetlands store microplastics and use that information to inform plastic management and policies for maintaining water quality. My dissertation consists of 3 parts: 1) Launching a new citizen science program to sample microplastics in Biscayne Bay called Miami Plastic Patrol, 2) Conducting a field experiment to test if microplastics are being stored within coastal mangrove forests, and 3) Interviewing stakeholders in the plastic/waste management and Everglades restoration fields to discuss solutions for microplastics.
Award:
Quad Fellowship: August 20, 2023 – July 20, 2024
What would you advise other graduate students who are considering applying to external fellowships?
Applying for lots of external fellowships and grants has greatly improved my writing skills, honed my research focus, and opened the door to many other opportunities. I’ve gained so much, even from the applications that were unsuccessful, and I highly recommend that all graduate students try to apply for as many as they can.
Gremaud Angee
PhD Student, History
Project Title:
From Liberation to Prosperity: The Peak and Decline of Progressive Catholic Lay Movements and the Rise of Neo-Pentecostalism in São Paulo, Brazil, 1964–1985.
Project Description:
My research seeks to understand the relationship between the rise and decline of progressive Catholic lay movements and the rise of Neo- Pentecostalism in the peripheries of São Paulo, Brazil, under the country’s military dictatorship (1964–1985). My project explores how progressive São Paulo’s Catholic movements and Neo-Pentecostal churches, sought to draw on their faith and theological beliefs their own system of moral values that would help them to address worldly issues like building democracy, welfare, and/or social mobility.
Award:
Fulbright-Hays–Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad: January 15 – July 15, 2024
What would you advise other graduate students who are considering applying to external fellowships?
Create a notification plan of the grants that most closely match your topics. Check your faculty emails; periodically, emails arrive from graduate program directors with external scholarships that may be of interest to you. Lastly, always talk to your classmates about possible grants; some have information that can help you, as in my case.
Alfredo Escudero
PhD Student, History
Project Title:
The Land is the Laboratory: Indigenous Labor, Land Inspections and the Engineering of the Colonial Andes
Project Description:
My dissertation is a study of how, in the documentary genre known as “visitas” (land inspections) Spanish colonial inspectors and Andean Indigenous peasants engaged in the task of transforming qualitative, in-person observation into quantitative, paper-based information. This project engages in an interdisciplinary interrogation of knowledge production, including the history of science and technology, indigenous studies, the new history of capitalism, and the history of state formation in Latin America. With the support of the Mellon/ACLS Innovation Fellowship, this dissertation is expanding into visualization and data analysis with digital mapping and interaction with contemporary peasant experts who engage in experimentation with varieties of crops in their villages.
Award:
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship: Fall 2023 – Summer 2024 (August 7, 2023 – August 2, 2024)
What would you advise other graduate students who are considering applying to external fellowships?
I would advise three things. First, make enough time to prepare and improve your application before the deadline. The first time I looked at the Mellon/ACLS Innovation Fellowship, I was not sure how to prepare a successful application since I considered my research to be methodologically “traditional”. It took me a few weeks to realize what was the potential of my project to be considered “innovative” according to the expectations of ACLS. Second, make sure the proposal fits with the expectations of the institution of your interest. Look at the website and previous projects, talk to previous winners, and, very important, attend the webinars —other people have the same questions than you. Share this draft with your professors, especially your advisor, and other peers, and ask them how you can improve it. Finally, your very first draft of the application will often be bad, do not surrender and keep working on it.
Mekdelawit Deribe
PhD Student, Earth and Environment
Project Title:
Equitable and Sustainable Use of the Nile River Basin: Design of Alternative Water Use Pathways for an Uncertain Future
Project Description:
The Nile River is a transboundary river shared by 11 countries in the Northeastern part of Africa. Close to 500 million people depend on the Nile water to meet their basic needs. Unequitable historical wateruse arrangements have limited the use of the Nile to the two most downstream countries, Egypt, and Sudan. This has led to a strong push for a more equitable use by upper Nile basin countries. Moreover, demand for water is rising in all Nile basin countries because of population and economic growth. Climate change also affects the amount and timing of Nile water flow, making the availability of water even more uncertain. Without an equitable and sustainable water use framework the Nile River basin will not be able to cope with the growing water demand in the basin. This project aims to develop a framework for equitable and sustainable use of the shared resource for the period from 2030- 2050 by accounting for natural(climatic), socio-economical, and political uncertainties in the basin. The study aims to bridge the gap between science, law, politics and diplomacy in transboundary water management, highlighting the role science and data can have in addressing questions of equitable water sharing, informing, and supporting legal and political negotiations on transboundary water use.
Award:
Schlumberger Foundation Faculty of the Future: January 1 – December 31, 2024
What would you advise other graduate students who are considering applying to external fellowships?
What really helped with my applications was setting aside a dedicated time for fellowship application and giving myself enough time to curate a good profile and application. The application process takes time so give yourself enough time to produce a competent application. I also recommend using the services offered by UGS and your peer and extended network to help make your application progressively better so it can stand out. Also fellowships open doors for more fellowships so keep applying.
Dafrosa Kataraihya
PhD Student, Earth and Environment
Project Title:
Project Description:
Coastal cities worldwide are experiencing more frequent flooding due to rising sea levels. The US Atlantic and Gulf coasts are particularly affected as they are experiencing an increase in high tide flooding during normal sunny days, causing significant disruption and damage to infrastructure. This phenomenon is caused by several factors, such as ocean currents, winds, and low-lying elevation. My research aims to assess the contribution of meteorological and oceanographic factors to coastal flooding and develop a short-term forecast. These models will assist in proper risk planning, mitigation, management, and early hazard warning.
Award:
Schlumberger Foundation Faculty of the Future: January 1 – December 31, 2024
What would you advise other graduate students who are considering applying to external fellowships?