Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science (DAPS), doctoral students Natalie Jones and Christian Tai Udovicic were selected for a fellowship in NASA’s program, Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST). FINESST provides research grants to graduate students working on projects relevant to interests of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
There were 32 fellows selected in Planetary Science this year (so, NAU had 2 out of 32). Last year, NAU students won 3 out of the 34 selections.
Over the past two years, students in our department have won 5 of these awards. This makes NAU number 1 in the country for FINESST planetary science awards over the past two years. Here are the rankings:
- NAU (5 winners)
- ASU (4 winners)
- Colorado, Maryland, Purdue, Arizona, UCLA, U Washington (each with 3 winners)
So, congratulations to our FINESST winners: Christian and Natalie from this year, and Ari, Anna, and Tony from last year.
Congratulations to their mentors: Christopher Edwards, Devon Burr, Edwards again, Steve Tegler, and Devon again, respectively.
Congratulations to Ty Robinson for his superlative mentoring of these proposers through his graduate proposal writing class, which also has resulted in a number of NSF GRFP winners. Congratulations to our department, college, and university for making such a mark with our still relatively new PhD program.
And congratulations also to the state of Arizona, which has won 12 out of 66 awards (that’s 18%) over the past two years.