A recent study published in Current Biology and covered in the New York Times and on CNN, estimated that from 1999 to 2015 more than 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost due to natural resource extraction. Didik Prasetyo, a co-author of the study and doctoral student in the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University, is eager to learn more about the decline and find ways to conserve their habitats and populations.

Prasetyo’s general research interests focus on orangutan conservation and began when he mapped the genome of orangutans in a region of Borneo, Indonesia. He’s also studied their nesting behavior to better understand how they are structured to provide protection during the rainy season. His doctoral research, specifically, investigates the development of flanges in male orangutans. The flanges are enlarged, padded cheeks that frame the face and develop as orangutans mature and are associated with dominance. Some male flange development is slower than others, and Prasetyo wants to better understand why by studying the orangutans’ diet and hormone levels.

“Orangutans can adapt to different situations,” Prasetyo said. “When the forest changes from primary (old growth) to secondary (regenerated), they can adapt. Why not protect them in that forest and they can survive? We just need to make sure there’s no hunting.” To learn more about Didik’s work visit the Rutgers University website.

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Photo Credit: Erin R. Vogel/Rutgers University–New Brunswick

It’s been more than 550 years since the Great Plague, also known as the Black Death, resulted in the death of at least 100 million people in Eurasia and reduced the world’s population by roughly 20%. Even with all the biomedical advances and research, fundamental questions about one of the deadliest diseases remain unanswered. As a doctoral candidate at Colorado State University in biology, biosecurity and infectious diseases to be specific, David Markman hopes to provide some insight.

Markman’s research demonstrates the ability of the bacteria that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, to survive and multiply inside the single-celled amoeba commonly found in soil and water. Under normal circumstances, bacteria eaten by amoebae are destroyed. However, according to Markman, “there’s a growing catalog of bacteria that are found to be resistant to being digested by these amoebae.” The danger is the potential for these pathogens to be used as biological weapons. If Markman’s research proves the possibility, his next step will be research that focuses on how to stop it.

Markman has received numerous fellowships and scholarships, including from the U.S. Department of Defense. Once he completes his PhD, he hopes to work in bio-defense. “Combining science and business in an ethical and responsible way is something that really appeals to me,” Markman said. To learn more about David’s work visit the Colorado State University website, and read his paper “Yersinia pestis Survival and Replication in Potential Ameba Reservoir” for a deep dive into his research published in the CDC journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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Photo Credit: Colorado State University

Madison Heslop, a doctoral student in history at the University of Washington, is on her way to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the academic year to research its history. As a 2018-2019 Fulbright Fellow, Heslop is interested in the connected histories of Vancouver and Seattle during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Located just 118 miles apart but in different countries, Vancouver and Seattle have some shared history.

For nine months, Heslop will be at the University of British Columbia working towards her dissertation project, which explores how the relationship between these two places developed. Specifically, she will examine these, “places where the various Pacifics of transpacific Asian migrants, Canadian and US officials, and a range of Indigenous peoples from the North American continent and Oceania bump up against one another.”

“I am thrilled by the opportunity a Fulbright Grant has offered me to develop an intimate familiarity with the lands and waters of Vancouver, both historical and contemporary, and to contribute to local communities there," Heslop said. To learn more about Madison’s work visit the University of Washington website or her personal website.

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Photo Credit: University of Washington

As a doctoral student in geology at Oregon State University, Ellen Lamont studies mountains. As a 2018 Fulbright scholarship recipient Lamont will be studying, conducting research, and teaching with the Himalayas as her backdrop. In Lamont’s words, “If I’m going to study mountains, I figured I might as well start with the crème de la crème of mountains, where it’s complicated and crazy and impressive and majestic!”

Lamont will collaborate with the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology for her research, sampling and mapping fault exposures in the foothills. Her work will specifically focus on how mountains are formed, and which geological force is most important: climate or tectonics. Lamont and her advisor, Dr. Andrew Meigs, believe the process will be better understood by studying the foreland of mountain ranges. “We think we can look at the foreland in a new way,” Lamont explained. “What we want to know is, when did the foreland grow, and how was growth divided among individual faults? When did the faults develop, in what order, and how do they vary spatially?”

By analyzing the timeline, Lamont hopes to find some answers. “If we see that the foreland has been developing more recently than the hinterland, we’ll know that tectonics is likely the dominant force. If it’s the other way around, climate is likely dominant,” Lamont said. To learn more about Ellen’s work visit the Oregon State University website.

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Photo Credit: Oregon State

After an undergraduate course in gender studies, Lindsay Toman’s role as an LGBTQ advocate was cemented. Now a doctoral student in sociology at Wayne State University, Toman wants to better understand the relationship between health care providers and the LGBTQ community. She began hosting focus groups with participants from Corktown Health Center to assess how comfortable health care providers were with serving their LGBTQ patients.

“A lot of medical students who identify as LGBTQ started coming to my focus groups, which was indicative of a need in the space. The students seemed torn between the two identities. There are certain professional expectations on how doctors go about their day, which may not necessarily cater to LGBTQ individuals.” Toman used her research to create LGBTQ and You, a training manual to help health care providers understand the unique needs of their LGBTQ patients.

Toman recently received the Eugene V. Perrin Memorial Scholarship in Health and Science and Peace. She presented her research at the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) Annual Meeting in August 2018. To learn more about Lindsay’s work visit the Wayne State University website.

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Photo Credit: Christine Nyawag/Wayne State

As a member of the selective Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco, Theo Roth seeks out challenging problems. Roth is currently working on his doctorate in Biomedical Sciences as part of a dual MD/PhD program and researching new treatments for various cancers and other diseases. Roth’s recent research breakthroughs resulted in a first-authored paper in the July 19 issue of Nature and coverage in The New York Times.

Roth’s research focuses on the burgeoning field of genome editing. Research and experimentation with genome (or gene) editing is a relatively new phenomenon, and one that holds tremendous promise. Previous research focused on using viruses as carriers for the new genetic material, but that has a number of drawbacks, including difficulty pinpointing the exact spot for insertion. Roth and his co-authors, under the supervision of Alexander Marson, discovered a new way using electrical fields that speeds up the process and allows for more targeted delivery.

This research was arduous but rewarding. Roth made his discovery by running thousands of tests. "It took time and effort to get that pipeline up and running, but once it was, we could rapidly iterate through conditions, and focus in on the protocol alterations that were yielding greater numbers of live, correctly edited cells," Roth said. To learn more about Theo’s work visit the University of California, San Francisco website.

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Photo Credit: Noah Berger/UCSF

Finding ways to encourage medical professionals to choose to practice in underserved communities is a critical issue in the U.S. As a result, there has been an increasing focus on policies aimed to attract and retain physicians in rural and underserved areas. Teresa Zhou, a recent PhD in economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, spent her doctoral work focused on which policies are the most effective.

One of her most important findings is that, “an increase in the reimbursement rate, or a simulated 5 percent increase in average wages for all rural physicians, increases the average stay in the same rural county by 1.34 years.” She also found that rural areas with increases in registered nurses are more likely to experience significant increases is the amount of time physicians live in the area. Dr. Zhou received a UNC-Chapel Hill Graduate School Impact Award in recognition of her outstanding research.

"Teresa's work quantifies the impacts of important economic determinants — including compensation, medical care market characteristics and local amenities — that define concerns about our state's physician maldistribution," said her adviser Donna Gilleskie. To learn more about Teresa’s work visit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill website.

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Photo Credit: UNC-Chapel Hill

On July 24, Democrats on the House Education and Workforce Committee unveiled the “Aim Higher Act” proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA), the comprehensive law that drives policies and programs impacting students and institutions. A stark contrast to the Republican-backed PROSPER Act (H.R. 4508), which also outlines a path for HEA reauthorization, the Aim Higher Act proposes additional investments in student financial aid programs but would increase regulatory reporting requirements for institutions. 

Several of CGS’s policy principles on HEA reauthorization are reflected in Aim Higher, including improving procedures so that students can make more informed financial aid decisions, supporting programs that increase degree completion, and extending Pell Grants to graduate studies. Noting that the bill would strengthen support for certain federal student financial aid and loan repayment options, CGS President Suzanne Ortega stated “We are encouraged to see additional investments in programs that ensure students, including those pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, are successful. A workforce that propels the nation as a global competitor begins with strengthening the higher education pipeline.”

Provisions related to graduate education in the Aim Higher Act include:

 Borrowing, Repayment, & Loan Counseling 

• Does not cap graduate student borrowing
• Eliminates origination fees on all federal student loans
• Requires annual student loan counseling, tailored to the type of aid borrowers receive
• Simplifies the federal student loan system by replacing the numerous existing repayment plans with one fixed repayment plan and one income-based repayment plan
• Preserves and extends the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program

Student Aid Programs

• Increases the annual Pell Grant award by $500 and allows students to exhaust the full amount on graduate studies following completion of a bachelor’s degree
• Preserves Federal Work Study for graduate students
• Restores the Perkins Loan Program for graduate students
• Increases funding for TRIO programs, which includes the McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program
• Maintains and extends the TEACH Grant program and protects recipients from unintended grant-to-loan conversion
• Reauthorizes Title VI programs and provides an increase of $60 million

Given that time remaining on the Congressional calendar is limited and the likelihood of securing the minimum number of votes is low, the bill is not expected to pass.However, CGS remains committed to working with Congress in a bipartisan manner as efforts to advance HEA reauthorization continue.

Growing up in Oahu, Noah Patterson Hanohano Dolim developed an interest in Hawaiian history at a young age. Dolim, of Native Hawaiian and African American descent, is now doing research on Native Hawaiian travel in the 19^th century while he earns his doctorate in history at the University of California, Irvine. He’s interested in the contrast of themes between native authors and colonial authors and how those descriptions affect the way Hawaii has been exoticized.

Dolim is a recent recipient of the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, which provides support for students committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level. The program is administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties. Dolim plans to use his funding to conduct research at UCI and back in Hawaii.

“As a student and a professor, eventually, I want to be a conduit of diversity through teaching, educational outreach and community works,” Dolim says. “Living and researching from the other side of the Pacific has provided me with opportunities and new ways of thinking that I never could have imagined. I can’t wait to share my passion for Hawaiian history throughout my academic career, at home on the islands and beyond.” To learn more about Noah’s work visit the University of California, Irvine website.

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Photo Credit: Steve Zylius / UCI

Hailey Hughes, a master’s student in English at the University of West Georgia, has been an advocate for the disabled community for years. During high school, she became involved in an online forum for cerebral palsy and remained active through her undergraduate years at Marshall University. This experience inspired her aspiration to develop a transatlantic storytelling group for able-bodied and disabled communities.

Hughes’ desire to build this community led her to apply for a Fulbright scholarship in 2017 while she was finishing her bachelor’s degree. She made it to the semifinals but didn’t give up on her dream. While in her first semester of graduate school at UWG, Hughes prepared to reapply. Her persistence paid off, and Hughes received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to study creative writing in Ireland beginning Fall 2018. The Fulbright mission is to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” Hughes is one of roughly 1,900 U.S. citizens to receive this honor for the 2018-2019 academic year.

“I believe in the mission and love creative writing,” she concluded. “The idea that underpins this all is that it’s not about cultivating a voice. It’s about amplifying a voice that’s already there. The larger implication is that this can allow people with disabilities to develop self-advocacy and life skills.” To learn more about Hailey’s work visit the University of West Georgia website.

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Photo Credit: UWG News