Bioastronautics Student Awards (2002-present)

2011: Sarah Over, aerospace MS student, received an American Association of University Women (AAUW) Selected Professions Fellowship

2011: Heather Hava, aerospace MS student, received an American Association of University Women (AAUW) Selected Professions Fellowship

2011: Luis Zea, aerospace PhD student, received the aerospace engineering sciences Graduate Student Service Award.

2010: Jonathan Metts, aerospace PhD student, received the Aerospace Department’s John A. Vise Graduate Student Excellence Award

2010: Jonathan Metts, aerospace PhD student, received a first place award in the student poster competition held during the 40th Annual International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), an AIAA forum held from July 11-15, 2010 in Barcelona, Spain. His poster was titled ‘Electrochromic Radiator Impact on Apollo Sublimator Water Consumption.’ This was the third year in a row that he placed in the ICES poster competition!

2010: Jennifer Mindock, aerospace PhD student, received a Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship for the 2010-2011 academic year.

2009: Ryan Kobrick, aerospace PhD student, received the Aerospace Department’s John A. Vise Graduate Student Excellence Award

2009: Jonathan Metts, aerospace PhD student, received a second place award in the student poster competition held during the 39th Annual International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), an AIAA co-sponsored event, in Savannah, GA from 12-16 July 2009. His poster was titled ‘Electrochromic Radiators for Space Suits: Preliminary Testing Results .’

2009: Jennifer Mindock, aerospace PhD student, was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Research Program fellowship for her proposal titled, "Defining a Failure Mode-based, Multivariate Risk Index to Assess Human Spacecraft Safety and Reliability."

2009: Jennifer Mindock, aerospace PhD student, received an Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship

2009: Ryan Kobrick, aerospace PhD student, received an Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship.

2009: Jonathan Metts, aerospace PhD student, received an Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship.

2008: Kennda Lynch, MS aerospace 2008, received a NASA Harriet Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship.

2008: Jonathan Metts, aerospace PhD student, received 4th place recognition in a student poster competition held at the 38th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) in San Francisco in July for his poster titled ‘Application of Electrochromic Materials for Active Space Suit Thermal Control’.

2008: Jonathan Metts, aerospace Ph.D. student, received a Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant.

2007: Andrea Hanson, aerospace Ph.D. student, received a Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant.

2007: Ryan Kobrick, aerospace PhD student, received a NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) Fellowship.

2007: Jonathan Metts, aerospace PhD student, received a NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) Fellowship.

2007: Kevin Higdon, aerospace PhD student, received a NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) Fellowship.

2006: Ryan Kobrick, aerospace PhD student, received the AIAA John Leland Atwood Graduate Award which provides a $10,000 stipend. His research involves development of Advanced Space Suit Technologies with an emphasis on lunar dust mitigation strategies.

2005: James Russell, aerospace PhD candidate, received the AIAA John Leland Atwood Graduate Award.

2005: Steve Chappell, aerospace PhD candidate, received an AIAA Graduate Fellowship Award.

2004: Michael Benoit, aerospace PhD student, received the Aerospace Department’s John A. Vise Graduate Student Excellence Award

2004: Vanessa Aponte, aerospace Ph.D. student, received a NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) Fellowship for her thesis research titled 'Development of a Novel BioMEMS Sensor for Minimally Invasive Astronaut Immune System Monitoring'. Vanessa also works part of the year as a co-op in the Biological Systems Office at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

2004: Jackson Lee, aerospace MS student, was awarded an NSF EAPSI fellowship to Japan this summer. He will be working at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan, on research related to his MS thesis entailing various aspects of microbial recycling bioprocesses for a Lunar or Mars base.

2004: Jackson Lee, aerospace MS student, recently received a Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant of $500 to purchase lab equipment needed for his thesis work.

2004: Heather Howard, a first year MS student, received a NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) Fellowship from the Johnson Space Center for her research titled 'Systematic Characterization of Antibiotic Effectiveness Under Altered Gravitational Environments (simulated 0g to centrifuged 10g)’.

2003: Juniper Jairala, aerospace Ph.D. student, received a Graduate Assistantship in Biosciences from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Initiative for Minority Student Development.

2003: Mike Benoit, aerospace Ph.D. student, received an Honorable Mention Award in the student competition for his poster titled 'Computational Modeling of Extracellular Mass Transport' presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology (ASGSB) held in November in Huntsville, AL.

2003: Mike Benoit, aerospace Ph.D. student was elected President of the ASGSB Student Chapter.

2003: Mike Benoit, aerospace PhD student, was awarded the AIAA Foundation Graduate Award for Studies in Cellular Dynamics and Growth in Space. The award provides $5000 for research support and a travel stipend to attend the 42nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno NV, January 2004.

2003: Tom Hatfield, aerospace Ph.D. candidate, was awarded the AIAA Foundation Graduate Award for Studies in Ultrasonic Physiological Measurement and Technology. The award provides $5000 for research support and a travel stipend to attend the 42nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno NV, January 2004.

2003: Jim Russell, aerospace Ph.D. student and BioServe RA, received a 'Grant-in-Aid of Research' award from the Scientific Research Society, Sigma Xi. The award will be used to help support his thesis work involving development of a non-invasive biosensor for use in space and ground-based cell culture research. This is a highly competitive process with only approximately 20% of applicants receiving funding.

2003: Juniper Jairala was awarded a fellowship from the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. (GEM) to support her MS studies at CU in Aerospace Engineering Sciences (http://www.gemfellowship.org). This award will provide her with full tuition/fees and a minimum $10,000 stipend over 3 semesters, along with summer internships by the employer sponsor, in this case, NASA Dryden.

2002: Melissa Sampson, aerospace Ph.D. student and BioServe RA, was selected as an Amelia Earhart Fellow by Zonta International for the second year in a row. The awards, established in 1938, are granted annually to women pursuing graduate degrees related to aerospace sciences or engineering and provide $6,000 to be used for tuition, books and fees, or living expences. Melissa's research focuses on biochemical responses of plants to space flight, including applications involving engineering payload design. More information on the Amelia Earhart Fellowships is available in pdf format, and notably, Melissa's photo was selected for use on the poster.

2002: Tom Hatfield, aerospace Ph.D. student, was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) fellowship from the Johnson Space Center. His thesis involves using quantitative ultrasound technology to study the effects of space flight on bone and muscle physiology.

2002: Jim Russell, aerospace Ph.D. student, was awarded the AIAA Foundation Graduate Award for his research involving biomass monitoring under the simulated microgravity conditions achieved in a Rotating Wall Vessel (RWV) Bioreactor. The award provides $5000 for research support and a travel stipend to attend the 41st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno NV, January 2003.

2002: Travis Liggett, who is working on a research project under the McNair Scholars Program, was awarded a Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant. The Beverly Sears Grant provides a stipend of $995 to be used towards expenses incurred in his research involving vibramyography techniques for mitigating bone loss in astronauts. His proposed novel approach of this application has been recognized by leading researchers in this field at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, where Travis plans to visit in July to discuss details of his experimental approach.

2002: Mike Benoit, aerospace Ph.D student, was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) Fellowship through the John H. Glenn Research Center. His thesis involves application of engineering numerical modeling techniques to problems pertaining to gravitational biology.

2002: Ken Stroud received a NASA Graduate Student Researcher Program (GSRP) Fellowship from the Johnson Space Center. His thesis work involves studying how the neurovestibular system responds to space flight and developing countermeasures to help minimize the consequential detrimental impact to crew health and performance.

2002: Ken Stroud was selected as this year's recipient of the AIAA Willy Z. Sadeh Award in Space Sciences and Space Engineering. The Sadeh Award provides a $5,000 grant for graduate research, plus a travel stipend to attend the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno, Nevada in January 2003, and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Congress in October 2003 to be held in Bremen, Germany.

2002: Kirsten G. Carpenter, Aerospace M.S. student, awarded the NASA Special Achievement Award because "Kirsten Carpenter has done an outstanding job supporting the Cargo Integration and Operations Branch (DO5) by demonstrating exceptional initiative and integration skills ...." Kirsten joined NASA Johnson Space Center as a permanent employee in the same branch after her graduation.