Narragansett, RI -- May 16, 2002 -- URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) student Jennifer Miksis is a recipient of a 2002-2003 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology and the Office of Naval Research.

The Department of Defense offers NDSEG Fellowships to students who have demonstrated ability and special aptitude for advanced training in science and engineering. The three-year fellowships are awarded for study and research leading to doctoral degrees in mathematical, physical, biological, ocean and engineering sciences. In the thirteen years since the program started, approximately 1,600 fellowships have been awarded from more than 26,000 applications received.

"We were very pleased to learn about Jen’s receiving this very prestigious fellowship," said GSO Associate Dean John Merrill. "Her application was one of approximately 200 selected from more than 2,000 applications received by NDSEG this year. It is a testament to the quality of students at the Graduate School of Oceanography."

A native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Miksis received a B.A. in biology from Harvard University and an M.S. from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Under the guidance of her major professors, Dr. Percy Donaghay, URI Graduate School of Oceanography, and Dr. Jim Miller, URI Department of Ocean Engineering, her research interests include marine mammal cognition and communication. She is working on her doctoral dissertation entitled "Manatee Response to Habitat Variations and Human Activity: The Effects of Physical Environment Covariates."

GSO students Magdalena Andres of Narragansett and Douglas Mitchell of Cranston received NDSEG fellowships in 2000, and Jessica Hausman of Kingston received one in 2001.

Contact: Lisa Cugini, (401) 874-6642, lcugini@gso.uri.edu