The American Society for Microbiology has selected Yainitza Rodriguez from UGA as a 2006-2009 award recipient of the Robert D. Watkins Graduate Research Fellowship. Rodriguez was awarded a $19,000 annual stipend for up to three years to conduct research.
The Watkins Fellowship seeks to increase the number of graduate students from underrepresented groups completing doctoral degrees in the microbiological sciences. The program is aimed at highly competitive students who are enrolled in a Ph.D. program and have completed their graduate coursework in the microbiological sciences. Fellows and their mentors are required to be members of ASM.
This year, 28 applications were received and five were awarded. Michelle Momany, associate professor in the plant biology department, is Rodriguez’s mentor. The title of the research is “Branching in Aspergillus nidulans.” A. nidulans is a filamentous fungus that has been an important research organism for more than half a century.
The ASM, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest and largest single biological membership organization, with more than 40,000 members worldwide.
