We are excited to welcome Benedicta Ada Ottairoegbu and Reyhane Rastgoo to the Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program this fall 2024! Congratulations on receiving  2024-25 Diversity Fellowships! We look forward to your contributions and are excited to see the impact you will make in the IGC community.

 

Welcome Diversity Fellows!

IGC Fellow

Benedicta Ada Ottairoegbu 

2024 Diversity Fellow

PHD STUDENT,  BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Benedicta, a top graduate in Botany from the University of Lagos, conducted research on Costus spectabilis.  This experience drove her to want to understand how plants are able to adapt to their environments and how climate change affects these changes to ensure conservation and sustainable agriculture. For her PhD, she aims to explore how plants respond and adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions. 

Advised by Dr. Susan Whitehead.

IGC Fellow

Reyhane Rastgoo

2024 Diversity Fellow

PHD STUDENT,  FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION 

Reyhane's research focuses on human-wildlife interactions and the human dimensions of wildlife conservation. For her PhD she will be investigating the motivations behind longleaf pine landowners' participation in the Conservation Reserve Program. Through a mixed-methods approach, she aims to uncover the factors influencing landowners' decisions, as well as the barriers they may encounter.

Advised by Dr. Ashley Dayer.

Global Change Center Diversity Fellowships are awarded to incoming Ph.D. students from underrepresented communities, providing them with a 12-month assistantship and tuition. The aims of this fellowship are to engage students in difficult discussions of complex socio-environmental problems, learn from their diverse perspectives and life experiences, and equip them with the skills needed to drive change in communities of the U.S. and abroad. The focus of their research includes an emphasis on the social and/or environmental challenges associated with rapid global change, such as pollution, invasive species, climate change, and habitat loss.