Endowed Fellowship Award Ceremony
University of South Florida's College of Marine Science
St. Petersburg, FL

Sixteen graduate students at the College of Marine Science received endowed fellowships in an awards ceremony Aug. 31.

“The annual fellowship award ceremony honors the outstanding graduate students our faculty has selected to receive our prestigious fellowships,” said Peter Betzer, dean of the College of Marine Science who acted as emcee. “Many of the fellowships have been made available by the generous contributions of St. Petersburg’s business community and citizens who have wanted to make a difference in the lives of students, in the community and in the future. The fellowships are an incredible legacy provided by a host of wonderful people.”

Betzer noted that the first endowment was the Gulf Oceanographic Trust Fellowship created in 1983. Since that time, the endowments - not only for graduate student fellowships but endowments aimed at hosting eminent scholars, establishing the Oceanography Camp for Girls and creating the GK-12 program to send graduate students into the school system to teach marine science - have grown to unexpected proportions.

Graduate students who received fellowships included:

James Locascio, Elsie and William Knight, Jr. Endowed Fellowship Bryan McClosky, St. Petersburg Progress Endowed Fellowship in Coastal Science

Elon Malkin, John and Katharine Ann Lake Endowed Fellowship

Jennifer DuPont and Camille Daniels, Gulf Oceanic Trust Fellowship

Ivan Orlic, Paul Getting Memorial Endowed Fellowship

James T. Patten, C.W. Bill Young Fellowship

Digna T. Rueda-Roa, Robert M. Garrells Fellowship

William Noland Elsaesser, Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club Endowed Fellowship

Rebekah Baker, Alexa Ramirez, Desiree Trujillo, Cheska Burleson, Von Rosenstiel Fellowships

Elizabeth Tyner, Wachovia Bank Fellowship

Kristine DeLong, Carl Riggs Endowed Fellowship

Bridgit McCrickard, Tampa Bay Parrot Head Endowment

Betzer cited the efforts of USF faculty members Ashanti Johnson Pyrtle (College of Marine Science) and Shekar Bhansali (College of Engineering) in establishing and continuing USF’s participation in the Bridge to the Doctorate program that pays tuition, fees, a stipend and other support for qualifying minority students. Only 22 universities nationwide have been selected to participate in the program, noted Betzer.

Attending the event, Steven R. Bohlen, president of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, commented on the reality of “too few minority participants” in ocean sciences and the steps being taken to change that reality. He pledged JOI’s financial support to the College in the amount of a $20,000 per year, for five years for the Bridge to the Doctorate program, the National Science Foundation’s program that encourages and supports minority students in their pursuit of the Ph.D. in science or engineering.

Parallel to the NSF program is the link to the Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. Two leaders of that program, Ralph Turner and Byron Green, were in attendance. Finally, Betzer told attendees that marine sciences graduate and entrepreneur Michael Morris, of Ocean Optics, Inc., and his collaborator, CMS professor Luis Garcia-Rubio, donated $15,000 and $50,000 respectively, to the Bridge to the Doctorate program’s endowment. The latter gift completed a $600,000 campaign that will generate an additional $300,000 in state matching monies.

“Our college is blessed to have such magnificent support from our community,” Betzer said. “Our evolution into a major marine research complex that is attracting young scientists from around the globe could never have happened without their active involvement.”

-Report courtesy of Randolph Fillmore

Ms Camille Daniels - pictured above with Steven R. Bohlen (JOI), Amy L. Castner (JOI), and Peter Betzer (USF) - was a recipient of a Gulf Oceanic Trust Fellowship.