Congratulations to Joyce Chery, 4th year Graduate Student at UC Berkeley, who was awarded a 2018-2019 Dissertation Year Fellowship. The University of California Dissertation-Year Fellowship is given each year to select, outstanding doctoral students who demonstrate strong potential for university teaching and research with backgrounds, life experiences, and/or work that contribute to diversity. The fellowship award provides funding that allows doctoral students to prioritize and focus on completing their dissertation during their 5th year.
Joyce was a Chancellor’s fellow at UC Berkeley during her first year and received funding from NSF as a Graduate Research Fellow for three additional years. In addition to focusing on her research, Joyce also served as a Mentor for the McNair program and was awarded an outstanding GSI award for her excellence as a Graduate Student Instructor in IB 160 (Evolution). Joyce has also received funding through the NSF Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) enabling her to conduct research on Barro Colorado Island at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and to collaborate with Sapindaceae expert Dr. Pedro Acevedo and wood anatomy expert Dr. Marcelo Pace at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.
Thanks to this fellowship and her current trajectory combining research and writing, Joyce hopes to complete her dissertation work this coming year. She is using a novel combination of techniques to investigate the evolution of vascular cambia associated with the liana (woody vine) habit in the Sapindaceae, including systematics, comparative phylogenetics, and detailed anatomical studies. This funding may also enable Joyce to visit us in Cornell and spend some of her final year in Specht Lab East! Joyce completed her undergrad at Cornell and was a student of Dr. Melissa Luckow, so we would be welcoming her home!!