Amanda Hildebrand awarded a US Environmental Protection Agency's STAR (EPA STAR) graduate fellowship

Amanda Hildebrand, a second-year Ph.D. student in Julia Fan’s lab in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering,  has been awarded a US Environmental Protection Agency's STAR (EPA STAR) graduate fellowship. The EPA STAR program supports masters and doctoral candidates in environmental studies. Each year, students in the United States compete for STAR fellowships through a rigorous review process, and approximately 100 fellowships are awarded. The fellowship lasts up to three years for doctoral students, and benefits include: up to $12,000 per year for tuition and fees, $25,000 per year in a monthly stipend, and an annual expense allowance of $5,000. Amanda will work on developing a new biochemical route for biofuels production from cellulosic biomass under the support of this fellowship.