Bates students, alumni net at least six top fellowships
In the 2005-06 academic season, at least six Bates students and alumni have received prestigious graduate fellowships. Most worked with the Bates Graduate Fellowship and Watson Committees to prepare their applications.
Kelton McMahon ’05 was awarded the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship to study ecological geochemistry at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as he works toward his Ph.D. in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Biological Oceanography. The fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in the form of a $30,000 stipend and $10,500 educational allowance.
Joel Anderson ’05 was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to enroll in the University of Oslo’s “Norse Viking and Medieval Culture” Master’s program in Norway. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers opportunities for recent graduates, postgraduate candidates, and developing professionals and artists to conduct career-launching study and research abroad. Currently, the U.S. Student Program awards approximately 1,000 grants annually and operates in over 140 countries worldwide.
Jason Rafferty ’05 received the Jack Kent Cooke Fellowship to study at Harvard Medical School. Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Program awards approximately 35 scholarships to support up to $50,000, each to college seniors or recent graduates for up to six years. His is the second Cooke fellowship for a Bates alum in as many years, as Matteo Pangallo ’03 earned one in early 2005.
Christopher Laconi ’05, who is attending Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to pursue a master’s in public policy, was awarded a merit-based Dean’s Fellowship at the Kennedy School — full tuition for two years and a $10,000 stipend for each year.
Amanda Harrow ’06 and Andrew Stowe ’06 were awarded Thomas J. Watson Fellowships. Each Watson Fellow receives $25,000 to support a year of purposeful postgraduate study and travel abroad, in pursuit of a plan of his/her own design.
Harrow will examine the role of governments, indigenous practices, religious communities, and non-governmental organizations in protecting children from familial violence in New Zealand, Peru, Sweden, and Uganda to gain insight into the variety of strategies that can be used to keep children safe.
Stowe will follow the Arctic Tern on its migratory path, a circular route that passes through the North and South Poles and four continents in between to learn more about the species and the effect of environmental policies.
The Bates Graduate Fellowship and Watson Committees works with students and alumni as they compete for top competitive graduate fellowships. Many of the competitive fellowships that the Graduate Fellowship and Watson Committees work with are by invitation only, meaning that Bates has been invited to recommend and send forth their most qualified applicants. This year, the Churchill Foundation has added Bates to their list of participating schools.
