-Magdalen Lindeberg
The School of Integrative Plant Science is pleased to announce that Mia Howard, PhD student in the Field of Plant Biology, has been awarded the Sellew Family Excellence-in-Mentoring Fellowship for 2019-2020. Howard works in the program of André Kessler, investigating how soil microbes can provide resistance to herbivores, with a focus on goldenrod (Solidago altissima). Her application materials reflect a long-standing enthusiasm for mentoring, beginning during her own undergraduate years, and particular interest in providing research opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds.
The Sellew Family Excellence-in-Mentoring Fellowship is supported by a current use fund of $50,000 from Mark ‘78 and Lisa ‘79 Sellew and was created to highlight the valuable role that graduate students play in contributing to the educational experience of Cornell undergraduates.
Howard has mentored nine undergraduates during her time in the Kessler program, personally securing funding for several of them through small grants programs to graduate students can apply. A current mentee, Christian Muñoz, has worked under Howard’s supervision for three semesters, and will continue his research with her this coming summer, extending Howard’s findings on microbiome-based herbivery protection to crop species such as tomato, maize, and lettuce. Muñoz commented on his experience, “…she has taken me under her wing and has worked with me constantly to make sure I have a good understanding of her field and a good foundation for some beneficial research techniques… I honestly don’t know where I would be without her guidance and unwavering support throughout my time here at Cornell.”
The Sellew Family Excellence-in-Mentoring Fellowship is being awarded to a student in a different SIPS graduate field for each of five years. Grant Thompson in the SIPS Horticulture Section and Mike Fulcher in the SIPS Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section were the Sellew Family award recipients for 2017-2018 and 2018 – 2019, respectively. In subsequent years, the awardee will be selected from the Fields of Soil and Crop Sciences and Plant Breeding and Genetics.