Alyssa Crittenden/Anthropology
Area of Research: Cooperative child rearing and the nutritional composition of the diet of the Hadza tribe of Tanzania, one of the last hunting and gathering tribes on earth.

"Neither one of my parents graduated from college so I've had to work very hard to put myself through school. I worked full-time as an undergraduate but when I reached graduate school I was able to focus on my research because I was given several fellowships. If I had not received this support I wouldn't have been able to pursue a graduate career and achieve my dream of becoming an anthropologist."

Danke Xie/Cognitive Science
Area of Research: Computational modeling of the brain with large-scale neural networks based on behavioral, neural anatomical and physiological information.

"I came from China to the United States to study the brain—probably the most complex and mysterious structure in the universe. My work attempts to construct a fundamental theory/model for understanding the working memory system for information maintenance and manipulation. Fellowship funding affects me greatly because it enables me to meet and interact with other scientists here. I have benefited significantly from this opportunity to work together."

Jericho Burg/Communication
Area of Research: Famine early warning systems in Ethiopia. These large-scale information systems incorporating weather, food production, market and public health data have become a major part of famine prevention efforts since the 1970s but have not succeeded in reducing famine occurrence.

"During my time at UCSD, I've been fortunate to receive several fellowships, which have been critical to the successful completion of my Ph.D., enabling me to complete essential coursework and conduct international research, as well as providing me with valuable writing time."