Northeastern Huskies selected for the 2025 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education.  NSF actively encourages submission of applications from the full spectrum of diverse talent that society has to offer, which includes underrepresented and underserved communities.

Each Fellowship provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period. For each of the three years of support, NSF provides a $37,000 stipend and a $16,000 Cost of Education allowance to the graduate degree-granting institution of higher education for each Fellow who uses the support in a fellowship year.  The Fellowship is portable and can be transferred to a different institution of higher education if a Fellow chooses to transfer to another institution after completing the first Fellowship year.  While the Fellowship is offered to the individual, the Fellowship funds are awarded to the institution of higher education at which a Fellow is enrolled and the institution is responsible for disbursement of the stipend to the Fellow.

This year, we are pleased to announce that 12 Huskies were recognized as NSF GRFP Recipients and 36 were selected as Honorable Mentions.

NSF-GRFP Recipients:

Matthew Coughlin, COE’25, Mechanical Engineering
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: AJC Merit Research Scholar, PEAK Summit Awardee, PEAK Shout-It-Out Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Fund Awardee, Knight-Hennessy Nomination 2025

Maya De Los Santos, COE’25, Electrical and Computer Engr
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Human Computer Interaction
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: AJC Merit Research Scholar, PEAK Trail Blazer Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Fund Awardee, Rhodes, Marshall, and Knight Hennessy Nomination 2025, Goldwater Nominee 2024

Marco Franco, COS’22, Mathematics
Graduate Institution: Harvard University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Neurosciences
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Jacob M Ginesin, Khoury’25, Comp Sci/Mathematics
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Formal Methods, Verification, and Programming Languages
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern:  PEAK Summit Awardee, PEAK Shout-it-Out Awardee

Stephanie Krueger, COS’21, Marine Biology
Graduate Institution: University of Chicago
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Organismal Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Elisabeth Leung, Khoury’24, Data Sci/Ecology & Evol Bio
Graduate Institution: University of California-Riverside
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Evolutionary Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: Dean’s Distinguished Award graduate award recipient; NSF GRFP applicant; Making a Grad School Plan participant

Dominic G Pizzarella, COE’25, Chemical Engineering
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Chemical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Base Camp Awardee, PEAK Ascent Awardee, PEAK Summit Awardee, Knight-Hennessy Nomination  2025

Madeline Szoo, COE’25, Chem Engineering/ Biochemistry
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Bioengineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: AJC Merit Research Scholar, PEAK Base Camp Awardee
PEAK Ascent Awardee, PEAK Summit Awardee, PEAK Shout-It-Out Awardee, PEAK Trail Blazer Awardee

Dario Tagliaferri, COS’20, Cell and Molecular Biology
Graduate Institution: University of California, San Francisco
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Bioengineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Ffion Titmuss, COS’21, Biology/English
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Ecology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: URF Conference Travel Fund Application

Diana Turrieta, COS’25, Biochemistry
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Other (specify) – Structural biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: AJC Merit Research Scholar, PEAK Trail Blazer Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Fund Awardee, Fulbright Nominee 2025

Conrad Zimmerman, Khoury’PhD’29, Computer Science
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Formal Methods, Verification, and Programming Languages
Undergraduate Institution: Brown University

Honorable Mentions:

Lina R Abu-Absi, COE’24, Chem Engineering/ Biochemistry
Graduate Institution: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Chemical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Summit Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee

Carly M Becker, COS’24, Ecology & Evolutionary Biol
Graduate Institution: University of Connecticut
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Environmental Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Andrew D Benincasa, COE PhD’29, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Wired and Wireless Networking
Undergraduate Institution: SUNY at Binghamton

Manogya Chandar, COS’22, Environmental Science
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Ecology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Yuhan Cheng, COS’19, Behavioral Neuroscience
Graduate Institution: University of California-Los Angeles
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Psychology – Other (specify) – Learning and Behavior
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Brian Cho, COE’ 23, Chem Engineering/ Biochemistry
Graduate Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Bioengineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Summit Awardee, URF Scholars Graduation Recognition Award

Amanda Dee, COE’23, Bioengineering
Graduate Institution: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Other (specify) – Plant Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Ascent Awardee, PEAK Summit Awardee, PEAK Trail Blazer Awardee, Goldwater Nominee 2022

Laura B Godfrey, COS’21, Behavioral Neuroscience
Graduate Institution: Hofstra University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Psychology – Developmental Psychology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Brooke A Goggins, COE PhD’29, Civil & Environ Engineer
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Environmental and/or Ecological Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Pennsylvania State Univ, University Park

Jessica Healey, COE’24, Mechanical Engineering
Graduate Institution: University of California, San Diego
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Base Camp Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee

Carolyn Huey, COE’24,  Mechanic Engineer/Physics
Graduate Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Nicholas Hurley, COE’24, Comp Engineer/Physics
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Quantum Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Ascent Awardee

Jonah Jaffe, Khoury’25, Comp Sci/Mathematics
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Ocean Maritime Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Base Camp Awardee, PEAK Ascent Awardee,  PEAK Summit Awardee

Emerson Johnston, CSSH’23, Politics, Philosophy, Econ
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Social Sciences – Communications
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Summit Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee, Gilman Scholarship  2021, Knight-Hennessy Recipient 2023

Tobias O Jonson, COE’24, Bioengineering/Biochem
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Proteomics
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee

Cerina Karr, COS’23, Biology
Graduate Institution: Stanford University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Microbial Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee, Churchill Nominee  2023

Jasmine C Liu, Khoury’24, Data Science/Mathematics
Graduate Institution: Brown University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Graphics, and Visualization
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

George V Neville-Neil, Khoury’90, UG Day and PT Engineering
Graduate Institution: Yale University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Computer Systems
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Karenna Ng, COS’23, Biology/Mathematics
Graduate Institution: The Scripps Research Institute
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Artificial Intelligence
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Kelly O’Rourke, COS’20,  Biology
Graduate Institution: Vanderbilt University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Biochemistry
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Victoria Paradise, COS’21, Biology
Graduate Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Cell Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Smeet Patel, COE’24, Mechanical Engineering/Physics
Graduate Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Nuclear Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee

Ariana M Patterson, COS’23, Environmental Science
Graduate Institution:
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Geosciences – Biogeochemistry
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Kaitlyn Ramesh, COE’25, Bioengineering
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: AJC Merit Research Scholar, PEAK Ascent Awardee, PEAK Summit Awardee, Goldwater Recipient  2024

Diandre Sabale, Khoury PhD’29, Computer Science
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Data Science, Data Mining, Information Retrieval and Databases
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington

Claire Schlesinger, Khoury’25, Computer Science
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Comp/IS/Eng – Artificial Intelligence
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee

Nathaniel Shepard, COS’20, Biochemistry
Graduate Institution: Northwestern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Neurosciences
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor Awardee, PEAK Shout-It-Out Awardee

Brian Shim, COS’23, Cell and Molecular Biology
Graduate Institution: Harvard University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Systems and Molecular Biology
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Ascent Awardee, PEAK Summit Awardee, PEAK Trail Blazer Awardee

Alex Storrer, COE’24, Mechanical Engineering/Physics
Graduate Institution: Stanford University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Shout-It-Out Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee, Knight-Hennessy Nominee  2024

Kyle Thieringer, COS’21, Behavioral Neuroscience
Graduate Institution: University of Washington
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Life Sciences – Neurosciences
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Vincent Ton, COE MS’25, Mechanical Engineering
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: University of California-Irvine

Marena Trauger, COE PhD’28, Chemical Engineering
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Chemical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Pennsylvania State University

Lanny Tseng, COE’25, Electrical Engineering/Physics
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Other (specify) – Radio Frequency Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Summit Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee

Andes Willemsen, COS’23, Chemistry
Graduate Institution: Brown University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Chemistry – Macromolecular (including Polymer Chemistry), Supramolecular, and Na
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Victoria Williams, COE PhD’28, Bioengineering
Graduate Institution: Northeastern University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Engineering – Biomedical Engineering
Undergraduate Institution: University of Massachusetts Lowell

Grace Yang, COS’23, Biochemistry
Graduate Institution: Trustees of Boston University
NSF GRFP Field of Graduate Study: Chemistry – Macromolecular (including Polymer Chemistry), Supramolecular, and Na
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University
At Northeastern: PEAK Ascent Awardee, PEAK Summit Awardee, URF Scholars Graduate School Awardee