Current and Past Fellows

The IODP-USIO has been pleased to award fellowships to the following students:

2009 – 2010 Fellows
	Ms. Bejonty Richardson, an undergraduate student in the School of Engineering, Science and Technology at Virginia State University, was the first HBCU Fellow to sail aboard the JOIDES Resolution on an Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition. During her Fellowship, Bejonty worked with the IODP Expedition 327, Juan de Fuca education/science communication team and alongside scientists and engineers from IODP member nations to help achieve critical shipboard science objectives such as developing and implementing innovative ways to bring scientific ocean drilling to students and teachers (particularly at HBCUs and other minority serving institutions) and to the general public. The IODP Expedition 327, Juan de Fuca expedition installed subseafloor observatories (“CORKS”) and included an intensive course on marine geology and geophysics, with an emphasis on seafloor hydrogeology. For information about IODP 327 expedition go to: http://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/expeditions/juan_de_fuca.html Also visit the JOIDES Resolution website at www.joidesresolution.org to read bios and blogs about this expedition, watch videos, play games, and more. To listen to an Ocean Gazing podcast featuring Bejonty and several of her fellow outreach shipmates go to http://coseenow.net/podcast/2010/07/joides1/

	In Spring 2010, Ms. Sophia McKenzie, a graduate student in the Marine and Environmental Science program at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), was awarded a one year Fellowship. She worked on a research project under the guidance of Dr. Nasseer Idrisi (faculty mentor at UVI) that included studying the patterns of water circulation and chemistry of Hurricane Hole – U.S. Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, and the characterization and inventory of corals and sponges in this bay. The findings from her research may help explain the high species richness and apparent resistance to coral bleaching and disease observed in some mangrove ecosystems in the National Monument and could lead the National Park Service to provide even greater protection for marine communities in Hurricane Hole.
2008 – 2009 Fellows
	Ms Sanya Compton, an undergraduate student in the Marine Science Program at Savannah State University (SSU) in Georgia researched the density, distribution, and stable isotopic composition of live benthic foraminifera in estuarine to outer-shelf waters of the South Atlantic Bight in Georgia. Her research mentor was Dr. Carol Pride from SSU. The HBCU award allowed Sanya to present the cumulative data from her research at the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society (SEERS) conference in March 2009. This presentation received the Best Undergraduate Poster award.
2007 – 2008 Fellows
	In Spring 2008, Ms. Nicole Abdul was awarded a one semester Fellowship extension that allowed her to complete her research regarding the upwelling history of the Benguela Current System over the past 300,000 years and generate the necessary data to successfully complete her thesis and graduate with an M.S in Marine Science from Savannah State University in May 2008.

	Ms Daria Godfrey was an undergraduate student at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, TX. Over the 2007/08 academic year Daria worked with Dr. Katharine Ellins at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work focused on assisting in the implementation of the Earth Science Revolution Workshops, a professional development series for teachers and teacher mentors provided by UT’s Institute for Geophysics.
2006 – 2007 Fellows
	Ms Nicole Abdul was a graduate student in the Marine Science Program at Savannah State University. Working with Dr. Carol Pride and using core samples retrieved during Leg 175 of the Ocean Drilling Program, Nicole’s research seeked to reconstruct paleo-upwelling and delivery of organics to the seafloor and water column stratification in the Benguela Current System, with the goal to characterize the history of ventilation and nitrate usage within the region.

	Ms Elda Auxiliaire was a graduate student at Howard University. Working with JOI Learning, (now Deep Earth Academy), Elda designed and implemented an education outreach program with the Washington D.C. Public Schools. In partnership with Tree of Life, a Washington, D.C. public charter school, Elda’s project introduced ~50 seventh and eighth grade students to scientific ocean drilling through in-classroom activities developed by JOI Learning. The project engaged two scientists, Dr. David Hastings of Eckerd College, Dr. Lahini Aluwihare of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and a doctoral student, Ms Dana Brown of Georgia State University, all of whom guided the students through the classroom activities, talked about their careers as scientists and educators and responded to student questions. See Elda’s presentation of her day at Tree of Life!

	During her second year as a fellow, Ms Quinn Conyers switched gears to focus her attention on increasing Earth system science career awareness among minority students. Working closely with Ocean Leadership, Quinn developed the foundational pieces of a plan for a Career Brief Project. This work required researching careers in the ocean and Earth sciences, identifying potential interviewees, and developing an field-testing an interview questionaire.
2005 – 2006 Fellow
	Ms Quinn Conyers was the IODP-USIO’s very first HBCU Fellow. Hailing from Howard University’s graduate program in Mass Communication and Media Studies, Quinn worked with Ocean Leadership’s communications team for IODP on a range of outreach related projects. She worked most closely on promoting the USSSP-sponsored Distinguished Lecturer Series, an initiative that supports researchers who are selected to give ocean drilling-related lectures at institutions and universities nationwide.