Four students in the College of Engineering's Sustainable Water Development graduate program have been awarded 2018 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

They are:

• Amina Grant, who started in the program in Fall 2017 and is advised by Michelle Scherer, professor and departmental executive officer of civil and environmental engineering
• Rachel Smoak, who also started in Fall 2017 and is advised by Jerry Schnoor, professor of civil and environmental engineering
• Margaret Carolan, who is starting in Fall 2018 and will be advised by David Cwiertny, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Tori Forbes, associate professor of chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Sania Kamran, who also is starting in Fall 2018 and will be advised by David Cwiertny

The four are joining Erica Wiener, a Fall 2017 student member already in the program.  She is advised by Greg LeFevre, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Also, Monica McFadden, who started in the program in Fall 2017, received an Honorable Mention. She is advised by Greg LeFevre and David Cwiertny.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, Google founder, Sergey Brin and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

Fellows share in the prestige and opportunities that become available when they are selected. Fellows benefit from a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees (paid to the institution), opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education they choose.

To learn more about the University of Iowa's Sustainable Water Development Program, go to https://waterhawks.uiowa.edu/