Rudy Garcia (Dual-title PhD in Astronomy & Astrobiology) was recently announced (along with 2 other Astronomy department graduate students!) to have been awarded a research fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)!
Each Fellowship in this program is awarded three years of support during a five-year fellowship period. Currently, NSF provides a stipend of $34,000 to the Fellow and a cost-of-education allowance of $12,000 each year!
Rudy’s proposed project is to model the coupled evolution of an exoplanet’s interior and atmosphere to determine the effects that the planet’s interior can have on it’s ability to develop a habitable atmosphere.
You can read more about the program here and see all of the other awardees here!