Four Chemistry Students awarded NSF's Graduate Fellowship Research Program
Congratulations to Kyla Grant, Marina Zapesochny, Rebecca Reagan, and Joshua McPherson for winning this prestigious fellowship, which provides an annual stipend and three years of financial support.
The National Science Foundation describes the fellowship as, "Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation’s technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large."
Fellowship recipients with ties to the University of Rochester are:
Kyla Grant is a first year PhD student in the Frontier group, and is researching [XXX].
Marina Zapesochny graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in 2025 and is a member of the Kephart Lab at Cornell University. During her time at the University of Rochester, she conducted research in Dr. Barnett's lab focusing on the synthesis and study of low-coordinate manganese complexes, and their transformation to high-valent species capable of C–H activation.
Rebecca Reagan graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in 2025 and is a member of the Chirik Lab at Princeton University. During her time at the University of Rochester, she conducted research in Dr. Kennedy's lab researching the structures and cooperative reactivity of dimeric nickel and copper pyridonate complexes, with a focus on how secondary-coordination-sphere interactions can be leveraged to enable carbon–heteroatom bond-forming reactions.
Joshua McPherson graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in 2024 and is a member of of the Su Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During his time at the University of Rochester, he conducted research in Dr. Matson's lab conducting experiments [XXX].
Congratulations again to these four students!
Four other University of Rochester graduate students were awarded honorable mentions, including Madeleine Whitsitt (Paton Lab), Aiden Ward (Partridge Lab), Sydney Prescott (Thorarinsdottir Lab), and Niav Chapman (Paradine Lab).