Three AgChem PhD students received the 2024-2025 Jastro-Shields fellowship award for their research proposals on:

Zeke (left)– “Characterizing Microplastics Accumulation in Wild California Rockfish”

Eli (middle)– “ Investigating the Toxicity and Biodistribution of Pollutant-Adsorbed Nanoplastics (PANs) on Lung and Glial Cells ”

Angela (right)- “C14 as a Novel Method for Tracing Pesticide Mixtures in the Honey Bee Hive”

Zeke received the 2024 Dennis Salsbury & Patricia K. Salsbury Graduate Student Award for his proposal on “Fueling Coastal Microplastics Research with Community Engagement” to conduct research at Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Zeke received the 2024-25 Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship for his proposal on “Fueling Coastal Microplastics Research with Community Engagement” to conduct research at Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Zeke received the 2024-25 Donald Crosby Fellowship in Environmental Chemistry for his proposal on “Characterizing Microplastics  Leachate Accumulation in Wild Rockfish Along the California Coast” by the Annual Internal Fellowship Competition for Continuing Graduate Students.

Zeke was honored for his proposal on “Characterizing Microplastics and Microplastic Leachate Accumulation in Wild Rockfish Along the California Coast” by the 2024 NSF GRFP Competition. In the coming years, Zeke will be working on this project under the mentorship of Dr. Nicklisch and Dr. Pasparakis.

Angela received the UC LFRP 2023 AAUW In-Residence National Laboratory Graduate Fellowship which will allow her to collaborate with Dr. Bruce A. Buchholz at the AMS facility in LLNL. Her project was selected for two years of full scholarship.

Angela received the 2022-23 AAUW International Doctoral Fellowship award for her research proposal on chemical exposure effects on queen and worker bee gut microbiome structure and health.

PhD student Angela Encerrado received the 2022 Jastro-Shields fellowship award for her research proposal on metabolism of pesticides in honeybee colony members.

Angela received the highly competitive 2022 PAm-Costco USA Scholarship for outstanding scholars who are dedicated to making an impact on honey bee health and the sustainability of beekeeping. Her project won first place for 3 years of full scholarship.