2019 Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP) Awardees

The Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) is pleased to announce the awardees of the 2019 Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP). Through this flagship program, fellowship awards are offered to provide opportunities for graduate students, predoctoral students, and postdoctoral and senior investigators to conduct research in association with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff, and to utilize the resources of SI. They are key to the Smithsonian’s aspiration to discover, create, innovate and diversify.

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

Balaswaminathan, Sowparnika, University of California San Diego, Passage from India: Intimacy, Politics, and Curatorial Practice during the Cold War, at the National Museum of Natural History with Joshua Bell from 09/09/2019 to 09/08/2020.

Barve, Sahas Sharad, Old Dominion University, Do Himalayan birds wear a down jacket? Adaptation for plumage thermo-insulation in montane birds, at the National Museum of Natural History with Carla Dove and Helen James from 06/01/2019 to 05/31/2020.

Branco, Cristiana Castello, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional (MN/UFRJ), Filling a critical knowledge gap on deep-sea ecosystems by characterizing the distribution and diversity of deep-sea sponges of the NW Atlantic, at the National Museum of Natural History with Allen G. Collins from 06/01/2019 to 05/31/2021.

Buhe, Elizabeth, Fordham University, Sam Francis: Reparative Painting, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with Melissa Ho and Sarah Newman from 10/29/2019 to 02/28/2020.

Castellanos Galindo, Gustavo A., Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Marine fish invasions across the Panama Canal: what factors influence passage success?, at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute with Mark Torchin and D. Ross Robertson from 04/30/2019 to 04/29/2021.

Donelan, Sarah, Northeastern University, Using parental and early life effects to improve oyster performance in response to interacting environmental stressors in Chesapeake Bay, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center with Matthew Ogburn and Denise Breitburg from 05/15/2019 to 05/15/2020.

Evans, Scott, University of California, Riverside, The role of oxygen in the evolution and extinction of Ediacaran animals, at the National Museum of Natural History with Douglas Erwin from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2020.

Ficek, Rosa Elena, University of Puerto Rico-Cayey, The Hurricane María Archive: Shaping Collective Memory in Puerto Rico through Community Participation, at the National Museum of American History with Margaret Salazar-Porzio from 06/01/2019 to 05/31/2020.

Galvez, Dumas, University of Panama, Environmental disturbance and its effect on the immune competence of an insect, at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute with Sabrina Amador and William Eberhard from 10/04/2019 to 10/13/2020.

Gignoux-Wolfsohn, Sarah Annalise, Northeastern University, The Case for Biodiversity: Testing the Dilution Effect on Oyster Diseases, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center with Greg Ruiz and Katrina Lohan from 08/01/2019 to 07/31/2020.

Gleisser, Faye Raquel, Indiana University, Guerrilla Tactics: Art and the Cultural Domestication of Militancy in America, 1967-1987, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with Sarah Newman and Melissa Ho from 09/10/2019 to 05/16/2020.

Guice, George, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Constraining Archean geodynamic regimes in the São Francisco and Amazonian Cratons, Brazil: an integrated field, petrographic and geochemical approach, at the National Museum of Natural History with Michael Ackerson from 05/31/2019 to 05/30/2020.

Hodel, Richard, University of Michigan, Combining phylogenomics and collections-based deep learning technologies to resolve phylogeny, assess polyploidy, and infer biogeography in Prunus, at the National Museum of Natural History with Jun Wen and Elizabeth Zimmer from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2020.

Junqueira Cunha, Tauana, Harvard University, The predictive power of life history strategies in the dispersal capacity of marine gastropods, at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute with Rachel Collin, Harilaos Lessios, Vanessa González from 08/01/2019 to 07/31/2021.

Kallal, Robert James, The George Washington University, Big heads and fast jaws: characterizing cheliceral and carapace morphology of araneoid spiders in the genomic age, at the National Museum of Natural History with Hannah Wood from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2021.

Korasidis, Vera Alexandra, University of Melbourne, Terrestrial pollen carbon isotope record and ecology across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, at the National Museum of Natural History with Scott L. Wing from 08/31/2019 to 08/31/2021.

Lin, Audrey, University of Oxford, Evolution of human antiviral genes, at the National Museum of Natural History with Logan Kistler and Sabrina Sholts from 10/19/2019 to 10/19/2020.

Linhoff, Luke Jack, Florida International University, Investigating pathogen tolerance, variation and heritability in endangered Panamanian frogs, at the National Zoo and STRI Panamawith Brian Gratwick and Roberto Ibáñez from 03/01/2019 to 03/01/2020.

Martinez Aguillon, Camila, Cornell University, Revealing the origin of the most intensively studied tropical forest in the world: Barro Colorado Island, at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute with Carlos Jaramillo from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2020.

Noonan, Michael James, University of Maryland, Balancing the budget: scale-free estimation of habitat time budgets from animal tracking data, at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute with Justin Calabrese and Roland Kays from 08/01/2019 to 08/01/2020.

Papazian, Sabrina, Stanford University, Connecting Through Heritage: Analyzing Armenian-American Diaspora and Homeland Relations at the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage with Halle Butvin and Sojin Kim from 09/01/2019 to 09/01/2020.

Probolus, Kimberly, The George Washington University, Separate and Unequal: The Rise and Implementation of Gifted and Talented Programs, at the National Museum of American History with Peggy Kidwell from 07/01/2019 to 06/30/2020.

Ragni, Anna Jacquelyn, Richard Gilder Graduate School, Life history and environmental correlates to mammalian trabecular bone, at the National Museum of Natural History with Sabrina Sholts from 10/15/2019 to 10/15/2021.

Rasmussen, Daniel, Columbia University, The long and short of run-up: Insights into the timing of volcanic eruption from a study of Volcán Arenal, at the National Museum of Natural History with Elizabeth Cottrell and Benjamin Andrews from 10/15/2019 to 10/14/2020.

Schroeder, John Will, University of California, Santa Barbara, Do arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities mediate the relationship between plant-soil feedback strength and host abundance?, at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute with Allen Herre and Kirk Broders from 05/15/2019 to 05/15/2020.

Sims, Theresa, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, School of Art + Design, Zulu Figurative Art and Colonial Engagement, 1860-1920, at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art with Kevin Dumouchelle and Amy Staples from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2020.

Speer, Kelly, Richard Gilder Graduate School, Role of the microbiome in the evolutionary transition to blood feeding, at the National Museum of Natural History with Anna Phillips and Carly Muletz-Wolz from 10/01/2019 to 09/30/2020.

Tamburini, Diego, The British Museum, Exploring the transition from natural to synthetic dyes in the production of 19th-century ikat textiles from Central Asia, at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery with Matthew Clarke and Blythe McCarthy from 08/31/2019 to 08/30/2020.

Taylor, Benton Neil, Columbia University, The hidden half of symbiotic nitrogen fixation: How the diversity of endosymbiotic bacteria influence nitrogen fixation rates, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center with Kimberley La Pierre from 08/01/2019 to 07/31/2020.

VanAllen, Adrian, Musee du Quai Branly, Remaking Museums in a Time of Extinction: Amazonian Birds and Featherwork as Cultural and Ecological Heritage, at the National Museum of Natural History with Torben Rick and Joshua A. Bell from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2020.

Viswanathan, Rashmi Meenakshi, New School University, Receiving the Global Modern: Private Politics of Interest in Post-War United States, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with Melissa Ho; Debra Diamond from 01/15/2020 to 05/15/2020.

Yu, Leqi, University of Pennsylvania, Xia Yong and the Jiehua Traditions in Yuan China (1279-1368), at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery with Stephen D. Allee and Jan Stuart from 01/01/2020 to 06/30/2020.

PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

Austin, Rita, University of Oklahoma, A Cross-Institutional Investigation of Dental Calculus: Determining Substrate Origins and Differential Biomolecular Recoverability, at the National Museum of Natural History with Sabrina Sholts from 05/20/2019 to 05/19/2020.

Bartley, Meridith L., Pennsylvania State University, Data fusion methods for migratory bird conservation: Combining citizen-science eBird data with Migratory Bird Center satellite tracking data, at the NZP/SCBI/Migratory Bird Center with Autumn-Lynn Harrison and Justin Calabrese from 06/01/2019 to 05/31/2020.

Campo Rosillo, Alba, University of Delaware, Artistry and Industry: The Portraiture of George Peter Alexander Healy, 1830-1865, at the National Portrait Gallery with Robyn Asleson and Dorothy Moss from 09/02/2019 to 08/28/2020.

Chou, William, Ohio State University, at the National Air and Space Museum with Martin Collins and Joyce Bedi from 06/01/2019 to 05/31/2020.

Fernandez-Barkan, Davida, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The Mural at a Crossroads: The Paris International Exposition of 1937, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with Virginia Mecklenburg and E. Carmen Ramos from 08/22/2019 to 08/21/2020.

Garnier, Christine Renee, Harvard University, Amalgamating the West during the American Silver Age, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with Karen Lemmey and Shannon Thomas Perich from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2020.

Gulkis, Bronwen Star, Harvard University, Ways of Knowing in Mughal India: Literary and Visual Expressions of Modernity in Mughal Albums, at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery with Debra Diamond Massumeh Farhad and Simon Rettig from 09/01/2019 to 06/30/2020.

Min, Kyungso, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Post-translational Belonging: The Languages of the Future in Transnational New Media Art After 1984, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum / Asian Pacific American Center with Saisha Grayson (SAAM) and Adriel Luis (APAC) from 07/15/2019 to 07/14/2020.

Raia, Natalie, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Progressive dehydration of subducted oceanic crust and the oxidation state of arc magmas: A global iron redox study of metamorphic terranes from 30 to 70 km depth, at the National Museum of Natural History with Elizabeth Cottrell from 09/01/2019 to 12/06/2019.

Rider, Alexis, University of Pennsylvania, Temporal Ice: Deciphering Deep Time in the Cryosphere, 1840-1970, at the Smithsonian Institution Archives with Pamela Henson and Scott Wing from 06/01/2019 to 01/30/2020.

Schwartz, Lindsey Cate, The University of South Carolina, Differential Gene Expression and Physiology of Thermal Tolerance in Mytilus Mussels and Their Hybrids, at the National Museum of Natural History with Ellen Strong and Vanessa Gonzalez from 09/02/2019 to 05/29/2020.

Sease, Kasey Marie, College of William & Mary, Marketing Agencies for Science: Nonprofits, Public Science Education, and Capitalism in Modern America, at the Smithsonian Institution Archives and National Museum of American History with Pamela Henson and Harold Wallace from 09/01/2019 to 08/15/2020.

Stricklin, Krystle Elaine, University of Pittsburgh, Grave Visions: Photography, Violence, and Death in the American Empire, 1898-1913, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with Eleanor Harvey and John Jacob from 08/01/2019 to 07/31/2020.

Vieyra, Natalia Angeles, Temple University, Tropical Intransigents: Camille Pissarro and Francisco Oller in the Atlantic World, 1848-1898, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with E. Carmen Ramos and Eleanor Harvey from 09/01/2019 to 08/31/2020.

Wagner, Courtney Lyn, University of Utah, Magnetofossils of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, at the National Museum of Natural History: Mineral Sciences with Ioan Lascu from 05/01/2019 to 08/15/2019.

Wellman, Hannah, University of Oregon, Using archaeology to understand Native American use of sea otters and whales in Oregon prior to European contact, at the National Museum of Natural History with Torben Rick from 06/15/2019 to 12/15/2019.

Willert, Madison, Georgia Institute of Technology, Anthropogenic-Mediated Shifts in the Trophic Structure of Reef Fishes, at the National Museum of Natural History with Carole Baldwin and Christine France from 06/01/2019 to 05/31/2020.

Zhang, Yanzhuang, The Ohio State University, Image-Making and Intermediality in China (1683-1839), at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery with Jan Stuart and Stephen Allee from 08/01/2019 to 07/31/2020.

TEN-WEEK GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIP AWARDS 

Adams, Julia, University of California, Riverside (UCR), Lichen Symbiont Diversity Across Environmental Gradients in the Mojave Desert, at the National Museum of Natural History with Eric Schuettpelz and Manuela Dal Forno from 06/24/2019 to 09/01/2019.

Andrys, Janine, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, Creation of continental crust through progressive fractionation of a wet, oxidized, basaltic parent magma, at the National Museum of Natural History with Elizabeth Cottrell from 09/09/2019 to 11/15/2019.

Boyer, Axelle, UC Santa Cruz, The Arts of Queenship, at the National Museum of African Art with Christine Kreamer and Mary Jo Arnoldi from 07/01/2019 to 08/31/2019.

Carrier, Tyler J., University of North Carolina at Charlotte, The Panamanian Isthmus: evolution of bacterial associations by geminate species pairs, at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute with Harilaos Lessios from 08/01/2019 to 10/15/2019.

Francis, George, University College London, Evolutionary Implications of Anthropogenic Effects on Non-Human Primates, at the National Museum of Natural History with Sabrina Sholts and Andrea Eller from 06/01/2019 to 08/07/2019.

Keady, Mia, George Mason University, Following your gut: how gut microbes affect infertility of captive African and Asian elephants, at the National Zoological Park with Carly Muletz Wolz and Janine Brown from 06/03/2019 to 08/16/2019.

Knorek, Zofia, UNC-Chapel Hill, Assessment of boring sponge and oyster population structures in restored Chesapeake Bay oyster reefs, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center with Matthew Ogburn from 06/03/2019 to 08/09/2019.

Loiselle, Hope, University of Washington, Integrating Sea Lion Archaeogenomics with Archaeological Data to Understand Human-Marine Ecosystem Interactions and Democraphic Shifts in the Kuril Islands, at the National Museum of Natural History with Logan Kistler and Torben Rick from 06/24/2019 to 09/01/2019.

Matson, Tanner Alex, University of Connecticut, Investigating Nearctic Stamnodes: Answering Taxonomic Questions, Asking Ecological Questions, at the National Museum of Natural History with Bob Robbins from 06/01/2019 to 08/10/2019.

Musser, Grace, The University of Texas at Austin, Resolving the evolutionary radiation and phenotypic evolution of basal Neoaves: Total evidence phylogenetics and macroevolutionary patterns in core-Gr, at the National Museum of Natural History with Helen James from 06/09/2019 to 08/18/2019.

Raczka, Nanette Christine, West Virginia University, Quantifying the response of key microbial traits in tidal marsh sediments to elevated CO2 and N fertilization, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center with Patrick Megonigal from 06/01/2019 to 08/12/2019.

Rana, Jignasha, George Washington University, Investigate drivers of diversification in a widespread species complex nested within the continental adaptive radiation of the turtle ants genus, at the National Museum of Natural History with Ted R. Schultz and Seán Brady from 06/03/2019 to 08/13/2019.

Sorensen, Amanda Hardt, University of British Columbia, Motivations to Make: Fr. Lindesmith and his ‘Blanket Leggings’, at the Museum Support Center/National Museum of Natural History with William Billeck and Gwyneira Isaac from 06/03/2019 to 08/09/2019.

Watkins, Jorrell Myer Spencer, University of Iowa, Juke to Boom: The Next Sociopolitical Voice of the Black American Music Tradition, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture with Nancy Bercaw and Kevin Strait from 06/17/2019 to 08/17/2019.