Two students receive ESPP fellowships

The Environmental Science & Policy Program (ESPP), with the financial support of The Graduate School, awarded two dissertation completion fellowships for the 2004-2005 academic year. Vaneet Aggarwal and Laila Racevskis are the recipients of the latest round of fellowships administered by ESPP, the MSU-wide environmental program.

Aggarwal is a doctoral student in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, working under the guidance of Associate Professor Brian Teppen. Aggarwal's dissertation is entitled: "Integrating molecular simulations with experiments to study organic pollutant interactions with clay minerals."

Racevskis is a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural Economics. Associate Professor Frank Lupi serves as her graduate advisor. Racevskis' dissertation is entitled: "Preferences and Nonmarket Values for Multiple Attributes of Forest Ecosystems in Michigan's Central Upper Peninsula."

The purpose of these fellowships is to allow students who are well along in their dissertation work to devote two semesters to complete their dissertation.

"The competition for these dissertation completion fellowships was very fierce," said ESPP Director Tom Dietz. "Being awarded a fellowship speaks very highly of these two students' accomplishments to date and the research in which they are engaged."

Two dozen doctoral students from 16 departments across the MSU campus applied for ESPP's dissertation completion fellowships.