Four East Central University students were awarded funding under the NASA National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program for the 2015-2016 academic year.
Kylee Boydstun, a junior biology major from Ada; Morgan Mackey a junior molecular biology major from Choctaw; Brandon Postoak, a senior biology major from Allen and Heather Wright, a junior biology major from Antlers were the four award winners from ECU.
Awards are in the form of $2,000 research stipends for the academic year. Undergraduate research gives students the necessary academic and life skills needed for graduate school, research positions or public and private sector STEM employment.
The National Space Grant Program, mandated by Congress in 1987, consists of 52 State Consortia in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. There are 28 consortia at the ‘designated level,’ with Oklahoma one of them. All carry out programs in education, research and public service.
The Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium includes one lead institution (The University of Oklahoma), three charter institutional affiliates (Oklahoma State University, Cameron University, Langston University), four regional institutional affiliates (ECU, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Nazarene University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University), two academic affiliates (Application Engineering Program and Center for Spatial Analysis), two industrial affiliates (Frontier Electronic Systems Corporation and Science Applications International Corporation), one city government affiliate (Norman Economic Development Coalition), and two informal science education affiliates (Stafford Air and Space Museum and STARBASE Oklahoma, Inc.)
Dr. Mark Micozzi, professor of cartography & geography, is the institutional representative for ECU. Under the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, funding for undergraduate research and scholarship, campus and community projects, conference
travel, graduate application and exam fees, visits to NASA Centers of Excellence, NASA professional development and internships and other financial assistance involving workforce development are some examples in which funds may benefit undergraduates at ECU.
For more information, please contact Micozzi at 580-559-5398. For more information about the NASA Fellowship Program visit https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/spacegrant/home/index.html.
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