Stacey Barnaby, FCRH ’11, Julianne Troiano, FCRH ’11, and current senior Rebecca Triano recently won National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships. These prestigious fellowships are awarded annually to foster scientific research and support outstanding graduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Fellows are awarded a three-year annual stipend of $30,000 along with $10,500 in education allowance toward the graduation institution of their choice. The allowance funds fellows’ tuition and fees, opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research.

Since its creation in 1952, the highly competitive fellowship has been awarded to less than 9 percent of more than 500,000 applicants.

“The fellowship award is based on intellectual merit, but also the broader impact of your research,” said Triano, a chemistry major. “They place emphasis on what you can do beyond the scientific community.”

For Triano, that broader impact is targeted toward helping the environment. As part of her application, Triano submitted a research proposal that combined research she conducted at Fordham and the University of California, Berkeley. Working with Amy Balija, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, Triano performed organic synthesis research on molecules that remove pollutants from water. Her research at UC Berkeley, meanwhile, focused on developing certain catalysts that help to convert methane into usable energy.

In her application, Triano proposed to use the molecules she develops in Balija’s lab to transform methane.

“For three students to win this prestigious award from the same, small undergraduate department in a single year is truly remarkable,” said Michael Latham, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. “It also speaks to the great generosity of our faculty in supporting students in undergraduate research.”

Both Barnaby and Troiano are currently pursuing their doctorate degrees at Northwestern University. Barnaby primarily researches macromolecular, supramolecular, and nanochemistry, while Troiano researches sustainable chemistry.

Triano will begin a doctoral program in organic chemistry at UC Berkeley in the fall.

Stacey Barnaby, FCRH ’11, Julianne Troiano, FCRH ’11, and current senior Rebecca Triano recently won National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships. These prestigious fellowships are awarded annually to foster scientific research and support outstanding graduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Fellows are awarded a three-year annual stipend of $30,000 along with $10,500 in education allowance toward the graduation institution of their choice. The allowance funds fellows’ tuition and fees, opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research.

Since its creation in 1952, the highly competitive fellowship has been awarded to less than 9 percent of more than 500,000 applicants.

“The fellowship award is based on intellectual merit, but also the broader impact of your research,” said Triano, a chemistry major. “They place emphasis on what you can do beyond the scientific community.”

For Triano, that broader impact is targeted toward helping the environment. As part of her application, Triano submitted a research proposal that combined research she conducted at Fordham and the University of California, Berkeley. Working with Amy Balija, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, Triano performed organic synthesis research on molecules that remove pollutants from water. Her research at UC Berkeley, meanwhile, focused on developing certain catalysts that help to convert methane into usable energy.

In her application, Triano proposed to use the molecules she develops in Balija’s lab to transform methane.

“For three students to win this prestigious award from the same, small undergraduate department in a single year is truly remarkable,” said Michael Latham, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. “It also speaks to the great generosity of our faculty in supporting students in undergraduate research.”

Both Barnaby and Troiano are currently pursuing their doctorate degrees at Northwestern University. Barnaby primarily researches macromolecular, supramolecular, and nanochemistry, while Troiano researches sustainable chemistry.

Triano will begin a doctoral program in organic chemistry at UC Berkeley in the fall.

Video update: Saturday, October 16, 2010.

Stacey Barnaby, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior majoring in chemistry, participated in “Hill Day,” in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, September 20, 2010, in which young scientists engage policymakers on current research challenges and communicate the importance of supporting scientific discovery.

“It is scientists who spend many hours in the laboratory and come up with leading breakthroughs toward the cure for a disease, or vaccines, or build new materials for solar cells, or biofuels, to perhaps one day make us independent of foreign oil,” said Barnaby, who met with the staff of U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-New York, among others. “The nation is at a turning point in its history and that it is natural for scientists to play leading roles in helping to determine what’s to come.”

The event, sponsored by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), featured undergraduate and graduate researchers from universities across the nation, including Fordham, Brown and Yale Universities, and New York Medical College. The ASBMB is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization with more than 12,000 members worldwide.

“This is one of our most important activities,” said Thomas Baldwin, dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, and a member of ASBMB’s public affairs panel. “Not only does it afford us an opportunity to talk with our elected representatives in Congress, which itself is a critically important activity, but it is an opportunity for young scientists to engage in the process of public debate. These are our scientific leaders of the future. Getting them involved now will pay dividends to the science community for years to come.”

Most ASBMB members teach and conduct research at colleges and universities. Others conduct research in various government laboratories, at nonprofit research institutions and in industry. The Society’s student members attend undergraduate or graduate institutions.