BSOS Students Receive Prestigious Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards

Students in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences are the recipients of many prestigious scholarships, fellowships and awards announced in the spring of 2018. Read more about what’s in store for some of our outstanding students:

Boren Scholarship

The Boren Scholarship program provides up to $20,000 for two semesters of critical language study, and is a part of the Department of Defense's National Security Education Program (NSEP). In exchange for funding, Boren Award recipients agree to work in the federal government for a period of at least one year. Nationally, 794 undergraduate students applied for the Boren Scholarship this year, and 221 received awards, including:

Sofia Alsamadi, a Government and Politics major with International Development and Conflict Management (IDCM) and Arabic Studies minors. Sofia will study Arabic in Amman, Jordan. She is an alumna of the College Park Scholars International Studies program, and a member of Language House (Arabic cluster). She has participated in the Global Fellows Program, and has held internships with the US Dept. of State (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of South Central Asia and Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs), with Dept. of Homeland Security (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), and with the UMD-based National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). Sofia is also a GVPT ambassador.

Zachary Goldblatt, a Government and Politics and Arabic Studies double major with a Global Terrorism minor. Zachary will study Arabic in Meknes, Morocco. He is a member of Arabic Flagship Program and of Language House (Arabic Cluster), and is an alumnus of the Global Communities Program. Zachary has participated in the Global Fellows Program, and has held internships with Dept. of Homeland Security (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), with the US Dept. of State (Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of Press and Public Diplomacy) and with START. Zachary has also held roles as President and Treasurer of J Street U. 

Samuel Koralnik, a Government and Politics major, with IDCM and Global Terrorism minors. Samuel will study Indonesian in Malang, Indonesia. He has participated in the Global Fellows Program, and has held Internships with START and Search for Common Ground. He has performed research with Dr. Steven Weine at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and worked as a research fellow with START. Samuel also served as a project leader for the First-Year Innovation and Research Experience program's Risk Communication and Resilience Stream and a Student Government legislator for the South Campus Commons community.

Ari Rickman, a Government and Politics and History double major with a IDCM minor. Ari will study Portuguese in Maputo, Mozambique. He is an alumnus of the College Park Scholars International Studies program. Ari has held internships with the Center for International Policy, with the office of Congressman Alan Lowenthal, the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, and Mujeres 2000 (while studying abroad in Argentina). Ari is also director of Outreach for J Street U.

Griffin Riddler, a Government and Politics (IR concentration) and Economics double major. Griffin will study Chinese in Beijing, China. Heis an alumnus of the Honors Humanities program in the Honors College, and has participated in the Global Fellows program. Griffin has held Internships with the office of Congressman Ray Lujan, with the National Defense University, and the Maryland State Dept. of Education. Griffin is President of the Maryland Shakespeare Players. 

Bronwen Schriml, a Government and Politics and Geography double major. Bronwen will study French and Wolof in Dakar, Senegal. She is an alumna of the Honors Humanities program in the Honors College. She has participated in the Global Fellows program, and has held internships with the US International Trade Commission, the Dept. of Homeland Security, the Dept. of State (Intl Organizations Affairs Bureau), and the Embassy of Canada. Bronwen also studied abroad in Paris, France.

Joshua Silverman, a Government and Politics and Arabic Studies double-major. Joshua will study Arabic in Meknes, Morocco. He is a member of Arabic Flagship Program and has participated in the Global Fellows program. Joshua has held internships with the Federal Policy Office of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, and with Maryland's Center for Advanced Study of Language. He has also served as an Alternative Spring Break leader.

Image removed.Goldwater Scholarship

 

Congratulations toLillian Sun, a double major in Economics and Bio-engineering, for receiving the Goldwater Scholarship. The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation encourages students to pursue advanced study and careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics.

 

 

Sun has conducted extensive research during her time interning for the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine as well as the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. She has also co-authored two papers that have been published in the journal OncoImmunology involving her research at NIDOC.

 

 

Udall Scholar

Amelia Avis, a junior majoring in Government & Politics, is UMD's first Udall Scholar since 2012. The Udall Foundation highlights students of exceptional achievements and dedication to leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or to the environment.

Avis is currently working as an Environment News and Media Intern for the U.S. Department of State and her past internships include working at the Embassy of Canada, U.S. Forest Service, and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On campus she is involved in the SGA Student Sustainability Committee.

 

2018 NSF Graduate Fellowship

The National Science Foundation has awarded three BSOS students with graduate fellowships. They include: Nisha Chikhale, Economics major; Tomas James Breach, Economics major; Austin Leigh Boroshok, Psychology major. The aim of NSF is to support successful early-career scientists with their graduate research in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
 

2018-2019 Fulbright
 

Netherlands-- Rachel Herman, a senior double-majoring in Psychology and in Neurology has been awarded a 2018-19 Fulbright to research in the Netherlands. Her project title is: “The Role of Nucleus Accumbens in Context-Induced Relapse to Nicotine Seeking.”

Herman has been a participant in the Gemstone Program of the Honors College and Public Health Without Borders, as well as a recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Fellowship and the Banneker/Key scholarship.
 

Colombia-- Christopher Eyo, a senior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Spanish and music performance, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Colombia for the 2018-19 academic year.

Eyo has been a participant in the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program of the Honors College, principal flutist with the University of Maryland Repertoire Orchestra, a member of the Spanish “cluster” of the Language House Immersion program, and a recipient of the Banneker/Key Scholarship. He plans to take two years off before starting medical school. During that time, he will be a Teach for America corps member teaching high school biology in a bilingual school in New York City.

India--Saswathi Natta, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology, has been awarded a 2018-19 Fulbright for research in India. Her project title is: “Family Aspirations for Girls in India: What are motives for Growing Girls' Education?”

Natta will examine the paradox of increasing female education and decreasing female labor force participation in India. Her aim is to understand this recent development from a social structure perspective and examine families’ aspirations and motives for educating their daughters. She hopes that her findings will help inform Indian communities on how to facilitate female empowerment and labor force participation. Upon her return to the U.S., she plans to complete her dissertation and pursue a professorship.

 

2018 NOAA Hollings Scholar

The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance (up to $9,500 per year) for two years of full-time study and a 10-week, full-time paid ($700/week) internship at a NOAA facility during the summer. The internship between the first and second years of the award provides the scholars with hands-on, practical experience in NOAA-related science, research, technology, policy, management, and education activities. Awards also include travel funds to attend a mandatory NOAA Scholarship Program orientation and the annual Science & Education Symposium, scientific conferences where students present their research, and a housing subsidy for scholars who do not reside at home during the summer internship.

Madeline Beaudry - Madeline is majoring in Biology (Ecology and Evolution) and minoring in Geographic Information Systems. She is a member of the Honors College and the Gemstone program, and also works as a research assistant with Dr. Lea Johnson. Madeline has served as a counselor for summer programs at the Summit Bechtel Reserve, for which she designed and co-taught a Wilderness Survival Merit Badge curriculum to Boy Scouts.

 

 

 

Published on Wed, Apr 18, 2018 - 1:16PM