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The Graduate School has announced that five graduate students have recently been named the recipients of three fellowships. Students interested in applying for these or any other graduate fellowships should contact Heidi Bauer-Clapp in the Graduate School Office of Professional Development.
 

Aubain, Mirzaie and Onuh receive 2025 Switzer Fellowship

Jonisha Aubain, mechanical and industrial engineering, Nargis Mirzaie, environmental conservation, and Timothy Onuh, chemical engineering, are among 19 awardees to receive a 2025 Switzer Fellowship, which provides a $17,0000 cash award to each recipient. Each awardee also receives leadership training to support their education and career development at universities in New England and California. These competitive fellowships are awarded based on leadership potential and commitment to environmental problem-solving.

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Aubain researches the design, construction and techno-economic analysis of tidal energy technology for application in isolated island communities. Her goal is to increase technical opportunity for enhancing local energy systems with emphasis on community involvement and independence. Aubain is also an ELEVATE Fellow in the UMass Energy Transition Institute, a graduate training and research program focusing on technical, equity and climate challenges in the energy transition. 

Mirzaie studies the impacts of climate extremes—particularly droughts and floods—on communities and water systems. Her research focuses on understanding hydrological changes, improving drought assessment tools, and promoting equity in climate adaptation and water resource planning. Mirzaie is an ex-officio student member of the Status of Women Council in the Faculty Senate.

Onuh researches innovative approaches to improve the removal efficiency of nanoparticles – an emerging contaminant – from wastewater systems and promote sustainable water treatment. He strives to integrate his research with policy advocacy, with the overarching goal of practically translating science and engineering principles into socially and environmentally responsible policies. With three other graduate students from UMass Amherst, Onuh attended the Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering (CASE) workshop, held this past spring in Washington, D.C. 

The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation identifies and nurtures environmental leaders to create positive environmental change. The foundation awards academic fellowships and project grants, sponsors professional development activities, and fosters the Switzer Network, a vibrant community of environmental and social change leaders. For more information on the fellowship, visit www.switzernetwork.org.
 

Chakraborty receives Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship

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Debadatta Chakraborty, a doctoral candidate in sociology, has received a Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. This fellowship helps doctoral candidates, primarily in the humanities and social sciences, complete their dissertations by supporting research focused on ethical or religious values, whether in philosophy, history, literature, politics, culture or other fields. 

Chakraborty’s project looks at how young people of Indian heritage in the U.S. think about Hindu nationalism—a political movement from India. It explores how their views are shaped by growing up in a multicultural and diverse society, and how the movement tries to influence them, whether they choose to support it or push back against it.

More information can be found here.
 

Silva receives 2025 Mellon/ACLE Dissertation Fellowship

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Letícia Fernanda Carvalho Silva, a doctoral candidate in the Department of African American Studies has been awarded a 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship. Silva was one of 45 awardees, out of nearly 900 applicants for the fellowship, which supports early-stage doctoral students in the humanities and interpretive social sciences who are designing truly innovative dissertation research. Supported by the Mellon Foundation and administered by ACLS, this fellowship is intended to intervene before major writing begins and nurture original, methodologically diverse scholarship. 

Silva’s research uncovers the real-life stories of enslaved Black women in Brazil, whose identities were distorted in Tarsila do Amaral’s famous painting “A Negra.” By treating Amaral’s painting as a kind of overlooked historical record, the project brings attention to the voices and experiences of Black women in Rafard and Capivari, São Paulo—voices that have long been ignored or silenced. Instead of accepting the painting’s romanticized and harmful image, the study challenges it. Using interviews, community stories, and museum work, the project centers Black people—especially women—as the ones who should tell their own histories. It blends art, history, and activism to shift the focus away from a colonial perspective and toward a more honest and empowering one.

More information about the fellowship programs offered by the ACLS can be found here.