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Doctoral students named Frostic fellowsMay 1, 2009 KALAMAZOO--Two Western Michigan University doctoral students have been named recipients of the Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowships for 2009. Jamie McCandless, a history student, was awarded $4,000 to help him work on his dissertation "The Dominicans and Their Laity: Religious Culture in Late Medieval Germany." Using his language skills in medieval Latin and medieval German, McCandless proposed to travel to archives in Germany to study documents which will reveal the multifaceted connections between the laity and Dominican convents in late medieval Germany. His dissertation advisor is Dr. Robert F. Berkhofer III, associate professor of history. Julie Ryan, a biological sciences student, was awarded $4,000 for her dissertation work on "Individual, Population, and Community-Level Effects of Disease in a Predatory Fish." In her dissertation, Ryan will concentrate on Michigan trout streams and continue her research on the nature of interactions between microsporidian parasites and their invertebrate and fish hosts. This research represents one of the first attempts to quantify parasite effects on fish at the individual, population and community levels. Her dissertation advisor is Dr. Steven Kohler, director of WMU's Environmental Studies Program. Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowships The fellowships, given annually by WMU's Graduate College, are made possible by a generous endowment from the estate of the late poet, artist and naturalist Gwen Frostic, a 1929 alumna. These competitive fellowships assist doctoral students in all fields with dissertation expenses, including tuition and fees, materials and travel. Contact For more information, contact Dr. Julie Scrivener, WMU Graduate College, at julie.scrivener@wmich.edu or (269) 387-8208. Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu WMU News |
