Sixteen ECU students have been awarded funding under the NASA National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program for the 2009-2010 academic year.
The awards are competitive and applications are reviewed by a committee on campus. Awards are in the form of scholarship and research stipends and range from $350 to $2,000 for the academic year.
Students receiving research stipends are Justin Gates of Sulphur, a junior biology major, and Stacey Halsey of Ada, a senior biology major.
Two sophomores received scholarships, Noelle Hurt of Stratford, in political science, and Shelby Sayre of Chandler, mathematics.
Recipients of scholarships and research stipends from the NASA National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program are Anita Bural (front row, from left), Rosa Denton, Jessica Pitts, Shelby Sayre, Felicia Goure, Bethany Beachel, Noelle Hurt and (back row) Matthew Payne, Amber Cannon, Kristen Thompson, Ann Watson, Lindsy Polk, Kellie Eiland-Wright, Natalie Isaacs and Justin Gates. Not shown is Stacey Halsey.
Junior scholarship recipients and their majors are Bethany Beachel of Henryetta, chemistry; Amber Cannon of Collinsville, cartography & geography; Rosa Denton of Porum, early childhood education; Jessica Pitts of Alton, Ill., mathematics; and Lindsy Polk of Hugo, biology.
Seniors receiving scholarships are Anita Bural of Norman, early childhood education; Kellie Eiland-Wright of Shawnee, mass communication; Felicia Goure of Holdenville, biology; Natalie Isaacs of Konawa, accounting; Matthew Payne of Wanette, physics; Kristen Thompson of Elmore City, physics; and Ann Watson of Pauls Valley, cartography/geography and biology.
Under the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, funding may go toward undergraduate research and scholarship, campus and community projects, conference travel, visits to NASA Centers of Excellence, and financial assistance.
The awards are not limited to specific academic disciplines but students must meet required criteria. Dr. Mark Micozzi, associate professor of cartography and geography and the institutional representative for ECU, said one of the requirements is an essay in which the reviewers look for evidence of creativity, initiative, motivation and other characteristics indicating the applicant's potential as a scholar and contributor to society.
In addition, the students discuss specific interests and how these interests and their discipline relate to NASA's overall mission. Students learn that all disciplines find space in NASA's world, Micozzi said.
The National Space Grant Program, mandated by Congress in 1987, consists of 52 state consortia in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Oklahoma is one of the 28 consortia at the "designated level." All carry out programs in education, research and public service.
The Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium includes four charter institutional affiliates (The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Cameron University and Langston University) and four regional institutional affiliates (ECU, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Nazarene University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University).
The consortium also includes two academic affiliates (Application Engineering Program, Center for Spatial Analysis), two industrial affiliates (Frontier Electronic Systems Corporation, Science Applications International Corporation), one city government affiliate (Norman Economic Development Coalition), and five informal science education affiliates (Kirkpatrick Air and Space Museum at Omniplex, STARBASE Oklahoma Inc., K20 Center, Space Explorers Inc. and Tom Stafford Air and Space Museum)
For more information, contact Micozzi at 580-559-5398. For more information about the Fellowship Program visit https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/spacegrant/home..." href="https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/spacegrant/home..." target="p" "="" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"># # #