Western Geology Alum Receives an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for 2023

Western geology alumnus Katherine Stelling has been announced as a winner of a 2023 Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP) scholarship from the National Science Foundation; Stelling is now a doctoral student at Oregon State University.

Stelling graduated from WWU in 2022, and at OSU she is continuing her research on the Cordilleran Ice sheet, which extended into Washington during the last glacial period. Stelling uses the chemistry of microfossils called foraminifera from samples of marine mud that were past historic patterns of warming and cooling.

“This presents an awesome opportunity for me to build my research on how oceans, ice sheets, and global climate interacted as the Earth transitioned from the last ice age to the current warm period in two different regions,” said Stelling.

This summer Stelling will collect oceanic sediment cores that will be used in her research over the next 4 to 5 years.

The GRFP is a five-year fellowship with three years of financial support. This round of fellows was granted a $37,000 stipend for each of those three years and a $12,000 cost of education allowance in lieu of tuition or other mandatory student fees.

The purpose of the fellowship is to ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. A GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high-achieving scientists and engineers early in their careers.

To learn more about the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowships, visit nsfgrfp.org.