Four graduate students from the College of Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology have been selected as the first recipients of the Community Engagement Graduate Fellowship. The fellowship, supported by a donation from Google, provides each student with up to $5,000 for a one-year research project in partnership with local organizations. The aim is to foster stronger communities through civic engagement, community-based research, and outreach to K-12 students.
Lewis A. Wheaton, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of the Center for Programs to Increase Engagement in the Sciences (C-PIES), said, “It has been a pleasure for the Center for Programs to Increase Engagement in the Sciences (C-PIES) to collaborate with Google and the College of Sciences Advisory Board to bring this fellowship, which will positively impact our community and highlight how science can align with public good.”
The four inaugural fellows—Aniruddh Bakshi, Katherine Slenker, Miriam Simma, and Nikolai Simonov—were chosen based on their project proposals. Each fellow’s work addresses one of three priority areas: civic and policy engagement, community-engaged research, or K-12 outreach.
Ph.D. student Aniruddh Bakshi focuses his research on drug delivery at the intersection of organic chemistry, biochemistry, and immunology. His project involves working with local hospitals and nonprofits to launch a social media series titled “A Day in the Life of a Ph.D. Student.” The goal is to connect scientific research on drug delivery and vaccine design with broader public issues while encouraging interest in scientific careers.
Bakshi stated: “Science has the power to solve urgent problems, but only if people understand and trust it. Through this fellowship, I will use my research and outreach efforts to help strengthen that trust — showing how discoveries in drug delivery and vaccine design can make a real difference in people’s lives.”
Katherine Slenker studies wildlife ecology in Atlanta’s urban environment. Her fellowship project will compare wildlife monitoring data from Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve and Stone Mountain Park while expanding collaboration among metro Atlanta researchers. She aims to support development of ecological corridors that help reduce human-wildlife conflicts.
Slenker explained: “Conservation ecologists have long recommended that the movement of wildlife could be eased through the creation of ‘ecological corridors,’ which connect greenspaces and wildlife populations. Determining the movement patterns of wildlife, and where such corridors may be best situated, requires that we first understand what species reside in the metro Atlanta area as well as how they are expected to disperse.”
Miriam Simma plans an outreach program introducing protein crystallography—a field important for understanding protein structures—to high school students through hands-on classroom activities and presentations at public events like the Atlanta Science Festival at Georgia Tech.
Simma said: “My vision is to make structural biology research accessible, so everyone can engage with cutting-edge scientific research — fostering curiosity and interest in STEM careers. Long term, I will synthesize these activities into a chemical education article that introduces K-12 students to protein structure and function.”
Nikolai Simonov works with Lilburn Middle School’s GoSTEM Club—a weekly afterschool program supported by Georgia Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing—which serves many students from underserved backgrounds. He leads graduate student volunteers who mentor club members on science fair projects.
Simonov shared: “I assembled a team of 10 Tech graduate students who could explain complex scientific concepts in approachable ways for middle school students. Through this fellowship, we are excited to enrich the GoSTEM Club with an ongoing mentorship program and materials for more ambitious science fair projects.” He added: “By sharing their stories and connecting scientific ideas to real-world applications, our mentors aim to show students that STEM is not only accessible but a path toward a fulfilling life.”
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