The Walbridge Fund Graduate Award for Environmental Research is administered by the High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI) to provide research funding to Princeton University graduate students pursuing innovative research on climate science, energy solutions, environmental policy or, more broadly, on other environmental topics. Projects from a broad range of disciplines are eligible.
Application Information for 2021
Important Dates
Applications for 2021 are closed. Recipients are listed below with an announcement to be posted soon.
Funding Support
In the 2021-2022 academic year, awards up to $10,000 will be available for dissertation support. Funds may be used for a range of purposes, including fieldwork, travel, conference participation, equipment purchases, and costs associated with data analysis and facilities use. The funds cannot be used for tuition support or indirect costs. Awards are for one year and are nonrenewable.
Eligibility
To be eligible, applicants must be regular, full-time Ph.D. candidates (post generals) at Princeton University. Eligibility status is viewed as pertaining to the student’s status in the upcoming academic year. Students who are entering or are currently in DCE are not eligible to apply.
Application Materials
Applications should include the following. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
- Completed Walbridge Fund Application, available on the Student Activities Funding Engine (SAFE)
- Official graduate transcript(s)
- Two letters of recommendation emailed to Amber Lee (amberlee@princeton.edu).
Award Selection
A committee of Princeton faculty will conduct a formal review and selection process, with conflicts of interest taken into account. The award(s) will be selected based on the quality of the proposed research, strength of faculty letters of recommendation, proven student accomplishments (peer-reviewed publications and awards), and financial need for independent research.
Award Recipients
| Year | Recipient | Dept. | Adviser(s) | Ph.D. Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Maria Curria | CEE | Claire White | Performance of Ca-based Layered Double Hydroxides as Sorbents for Low-Temperature Carbon Capture |
| 2021 | Ipsita Dey | ANT | Rena Lederman, João Biehl | Investigating Indo-Fijian Spiritual Relationships with Sugarcane Landscapes: Hindu “Eco-Bhakti” Theologies in Practice |
| 2021 | Yuki Haba | EEB | Lindy McBride | Predicting How Climate Change will Shift the Distribution of Disease-Vector Mosquitoes Using Population Genomic Data |
| 2021 | Shannon Hoffman | CHE | José Avalos | Optogenetic Control of P. pastoris for Sustainable Production of Animal-Free Dairy and Meat |
| 2021 | Xiaohan Li | CEE | Ian Bourg | Wettability of Black Carbon and Its Impact on Radiative Forcing: A Comparative Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation and Experimental Study |
| 2021 | Sayumi Miyano | POL | Helen Milner, Rebecca Perlman, Kosuke Imai (Harvard University) | Politics of Energy and Climate Information by International Organizations |
| 2021 | Jose Montano Lopez | CHE | José Avalos | Harnessing Microbial Evolution for High-Level Isobutanol Production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| 2021 | Devan Nisson | GEO | Tullis Onstott | Abiotic Organic Chemistry in an Ancient Hypersaline Brine: Evaluating Bioenergetic Support for Microbial Life Inhabiting 3.2km Deep Fracture Fluid in South Africa |
| 2021 | Don Noh | ECO | Motohiro Yogo, Wei Xiong | Optimal Design of Markets for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) |
| 2021 | Michael Soskind | ELE | Gerard Wysocki | High Power, Narrow Linewidth Laser Source for Fugitive Trace-Gas Sensing and Localization |
| 2021 | Einara Zahn | CEE | Elie Bou-Zeid | Seeing the Trees for the Forest: Partitioning Ecosystem Fluxes into their Vegetation and Soil Contributions |
| 2020 | Danielle Chase | MAE | Howard Stone | Fluid-Driven Fracturing in Porous Media |
| 2020 | Nicolas Choquette-Levy | SPI | Michael Oppenheimer, Simon Levin | How Do Smallholder Farmers Form Perceptions About Climate and Livelihood Risks? |
| 2020 | Zachary Garvin | GEO | Tullis Onstott | Cycling of Trace and Greenhouse Gases by Chemolithotrophic Communities Around Hot Springs in the Chilean High Andes |
| 2020 | Julie Tierney | EEB | Lars Hedin | Understanding Ecosystem Function Through Plant Evolutionary Strategies in a Unique Neotropical Forest |
| 2019 | Hannah Bradley | ANT | Rena Lederman | Managing Changing Landscapes in the “Last Frontier” |
| 2019 | Makoto Lalwani | CBE | José Avalos | Dynamic Control of Microbial Consortia for Sustainable Chemical Production |
| 2019 | Katja Luxem | GEO | Xinning Zhang | Stable-Isotopes Studies to Evaluate the Biogeochemical Role of Methane Production by Nitrogenase |
| 2019 | Ian Miller | EEB | C. Jessica Metcalf | How Will Climate Change Drive Plant-Pathogen Evolution? |
| 2019 | Liana Wait | EEB | Andrea Graham, Andrew Dobson | Risk of Parasitic Infection in Raccoons Across a Rural-Urban Gradient |
| 2019 | DJ Rasmussen | SPI | Michael Oppenheimer | The Political Appraisal of Climate Adaptation “Megaprojects:” Has Environmental Protection Prevented Coastal Flood-Defense Infrastructure from Breaking Ground in New York City? *
* This project was funded by The Karl F. Schlaepfer ’49 and Gloria G. Schlaepfer Fund, which is awarded periodically to support graduate research and travel related to environmental studies. |
| 2018 | Kai Gong | CEE | Claire White | Mechanisms of Sulfate-Induced Chemical Degradation in Sustainable Cements |
| 2018 | Sarah Hammer | CBE | José Avalos | Metabolic Engineering of Yeast for the Production of Branched-Chain Higher Alcohols as Renewable Fuels |
| 2018 | Kalyani Jayasankar | SOC | Mitchell Duneier | At the Water’s Edge: Coping with Climate Change in Mumbai and Miami |
| 2018 | Arjun Potter | EEB | Robert Pringle | Plant Traits and Large Mammal Herbivory in a Seasonally Flooded Ecosystem |
| 2018 | Danielle Santiago Ramos | GEO | John Higgins | Reverse Silicate Weathering and its Role in Maintaining Earth’s Habitable Climate: A Novel Stable Isotope Approach |
| 2018 | Danielle Schlesinger | GEO | Satish Myneni | Organohalogen Production and Halomethane Emissions from Brazilian Mangroves and Their Impact on the Global Climate Model |
| 2017 | Yifeng Chen | ELE | Gerard Wysocki | Remote Natural Gas Emission Detection Using Novel Balanced Heterodyne-Enhanced Chirped Laser Dispersion Spectroscopy |
| 2017 | Vinicius de Aguiar Furuie | ANT | João Biehl | Assessing Climate Change Impact on an Amazonian River Economy |
| 2017 | Bryan Kudisch | CHM | Gregory Scholes | Ultrafast Spectroscopy at 25 Tesla Disentagles Coherent Electron Transfer in P3HT:PCBM Nanoparticles |
| 2017 | Kaia Tombak | EEB | Daniel Rubenstein | Parasite Exposure Dynamics and their Impacts on Zebra Populations in a Landscape with Changing Water Distribution |
| 2017 | Evan Zhao | CBE | José Avalos | Optogenetic Regulation for Metabolic Engineering |
| 2016 | Cara Brook | EEB | Andrew Dobson | Climate Change, Seasonal Resource Scarcity and Emerging Fruit Bat Zoonoses in Madagascar |
| 2016 | Victor Charpentier | WWS | Sigrid Adriaenssens | Manufacturing support for “Adaptive Building Skin to Enhance Interior of Buildings” |
| 2016 | Jennifer Kasbohm | GEO | Blair Schoene | Testing Climate Sensitivity to Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: A Case Study from the Miocene |
| 2016 | Anna Trugman | AOS | David Medvigy | Assessing Forest Growth, Resilience and Carbon Accumulation in the North American Boreal Forest: Integrating Remote Sensing and Field Measurements with Models |
| 2016 | Yuzhen Yan | GEO | Michael Bender | Window into the World with 40,000-Year Glacial Cycles from Climate Records in Million Year-Old Ice from Blue Ice Areas in Antarctica |
| 2015 | Rachel Baker | WWS | Michael Oppenheimer | Climate Change, Employment and Migration: What Can We Learn from Historic Climate Variations? |
| 2015 | Cleo Chou | EEB | Stephen Pacala and Lars Hedin | Plant Allocation and Mechanisms of Tropical Forest Nutrient Limitation |
| 2015 | Qixing Ji | GEO | Bess Ward | Nitrous Oxide Production in Marine Environments using Stable Isotope Approach |
| 2015 | Tim Treuer | EEB | David Wilcove | Sequestering Carbon with Orange Peels and Birds: Patterns and Processes in the World’s Largest Tropical Forest Restoration Project |
| 2014 | Stephanie Debats | CEE | Kelly Caylor | Understanding smallholder Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa Under Climate Change and Population Growth |
| 2014 | Phillip Hannam | WWS | Robert Socolow, Michael Oppenheimer, Robert Keohane | “Race to the Bottom” in Global Energy Development? The Case of China’s Emergence in the Developing World |
| 2014 | Lisa McManus | EEB | Simon Levin | Investigating the Effects of Climate Change on Larval Dispersal and the Persistence of Coral populations |
| 2014 | Igor Rubinov | ANT | João Biehl | Unested Waters: Developing Climate Resilience in Tajkistan |
| 2014 | Eric Zhang | ELE | Gerard Wysocki | Nitric Oxide Isotopic Ratiometery for Hitrogen Cycle Studies |
| 2013 | Michael Campanell | PPL | Igor Kaganovich | Simulation of Plasma-Surface Interaction with Secondary Emissions in a Grazing Magnetic Field for Fusion Energy Applications |
| 2013 | Paul Elsen | EEB | David Wilcove | Improving Climate-based Species Distribution Models by Incorporating Competition and Habitat Variables |
| 2013 | Molly Schumer | EEB | Peter Andolfatto | An Investigation of the Role of Hybridization, Habitat Disruption, and Climate Change in the Survival of the Freshwater Fish, Xiphophorus malinche |
| 2013 | Travis Shaw | CHM | Andrew Bocarsly | Sonoelectrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide for the Direct Synthesis of Multi-Carbon Products |
| 2012 | Minghui Diao | CEE | Mark Zondlo | Ice Supersaturation and Cirrus Cloud Formation by Global In-Situ Aircraft Observations and Relationships with Anthropogenic Emissions |
| 2012 | Kaiyu Guan | CEE | Eric Wood | Scaling Up Plant Water Stress of an African Savanna Ecosystem Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Based Sensing |
| 2012 | Annette Trierweiler | EEB | Lars Hedin | The Response of Tropical Nitrogen-Fixing Trees to Phosphorus and Molybdenum Limitations, Nitrogen Deposition at Pre-Industrial, Present Day, and Elevated Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Levels |
| 2011 | Matthew Aardema | EEB | Peter Andolfatto | The Influence of Climate on Patterns of Gene Flow between Ecologically Divergent Populations |
| 2011 | Josephine Anastasia Elia | CBE | Christodoulos Floudas | Discovery and Operation of Hybrid Coal, Biomass, and Natural Gas to Liquid Energy Processes: Optimization Frameworks for Strategic Planning Under Uncertainty |
| 2011 | Matthis Paul Hain | GEO | Daniel Sigman | Carbon Cycle Analysis |
| 2010 | Kevin Loutherback | EE | James Sturm | Reducing the Cost of Biofuel Algae with High Throughput Microfluidic Separations |
| 2010 | Dalin Shi | GEO | François Morel | Effect of Ocean Acidification on Iron Availability and Requirements in Marine Phytoplankton |
| 2010 | Ann Carla Staver | EEB | Simon Levin | Temporal Dynamics of Savanna-Forest Transitions Along the Kalahari Transect |
| 2009 | Trenton Franz | CEE | Kelly Caylor | Quantifying Soil Moisture Patterns at the Spatial Scale of Hillslopes in the Central Kenya Highlands |