From top: Goldman, Syskine, Pekerti
Three current Rausser College of Natural Resources students have received prestigious 2025 Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and eight have been recognized with honorable mentions.
First awarded in 1952, the five-year NSF fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding master’s and PhD students who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or STEM education. Each recipient receives three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $37,000, as well as access to professional development opportunities.
This year’s fellowship recipients are PhD students Annelise Goldman, Yarrow Syskine, and Dakota Pekerti. Goldman, a student in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, studies how methanogenesis fuels nitrogen fixation in methanogenic archaea.
Syskine, a graduate student in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, researches how to improve the social-ecological resilience of California’s dryland forests under climate change.
Pekerti, a first-year master’s student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), is examining strategies to address the intersection of mobility and emerging clean energy technologies to advance an equitable transition to cleaner transportation, while mitigating the adverse effects of rapid economic development on low-income and frontline communities in Southeast Asia.
“This essential program recognizes the outstanding accomplishments and potential of Rausser College’s students,” said Dean David Ackerly. “The recognition supports students as they advance fundamental research and pursue groundbreaking discoveries central to addressing the climate crisis, promoting ecological and economic sustainability, and improving human health and well-being.”
The program, which normally receives more than 13,000 applications from students across the United States, awarded 1,000 Fellowships in 2025, less than half as many as last year. More than 3,000 applicants received honorable mentions.
PMB graduate students Jason Avalos, Amanda Dee, Cierra Ord, and Aspen Pastore were named honorable mentions, as were ERG graduate students Adriana Gonzales, Clara Larson, and Cello Lockwood.
Learn more about the fellowship at the program website.