Success Stories

Heather Chamberlain-Irwin, a doctoral student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program, has received both a National Science Foundation's Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award and a Wenner-Gren Fieldwork Award. These awards were granted so Heather can further the groundbreaking archeological research she is doing for her doctoral degree. Heather’s research is interdisciplinary, combining archeological and maize genetics, and explores ancient DNA of maize in Peru. Funding from the awards will help Heather collaborate with Peruvian institutions and conduct ancient DNA research in a specialized laboratory in Vienna, Austria. Heather worked with the CCE to prepare and polish her applications:

“I would personally like to thank Kristin for her assistance in understanding the criteria for the applications and organizing my ideas in a way that expresses how unique the project is. I work with CCE staff often to continually improve my writing, but what was unique about Kristin was that she went above and beyond by also supplying words of wisdom and encouragement. I would highly recommend anyone who would like to be competitive on awards to reach out to the CCE.”

Erika Ibarra-Garibay, a doctoral student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, was awarded the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) Fellowship. The FFAR Fellow Program is a three-year program that provides doctoral students studying food and agriculture sciences with training, professional development, and opportunities to engage with industry and government leaders. Erika stands as one of the first Iowa State students to receive this distinguished fellowship. Erika’s research focuses on understanding the impact of pesticides on crucial species, specifically wild and managed bumble bees. Under this fellowship, Erika’s investigation aims will be to uncover the intricate relationship between bee health and modern farming methods. By developing insights into how pesticides affect bees, Erika aspires to contribute to the adaptation of more sustainable farming practices while promoting the welfare of pollinators. Erika thanks Ella, Amy, and Chris for helping her craft her statement of interest for the FFAR fellowship:

“The CCE team was incredibly supportive and provided invaluable guidance throughout the entire process. Ella, Amy, and Chris assisted greatly in refining my statement of purpose and polishing my CV. Their input significantly bolstered my narrative, instilling in me the confidence that my statement of purpose was already strong, requiring only the added touch of brilliance. Thank you, CCE!”

Wei Chen, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Geology and Environmental Science, was recently honored with the 2023-2024 Brown Graduate Fellowship. Wei's outstanding credentials have positioned her as one of six  students from the entire university who are being honored with this prestigious award.This recognition comes with a $10,000 grant to support her graduate research at Iowa State University, which focuses on estimating the impact of urbanization and climate change on building energy use and heat emissions.Throughout the application process, Wei received invaluable guidance from Kristin Terrill, the Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultant at the CCE. With Kristin's assistance, Wei was able to craft a compelling fellowship application that effectively showcases her academic excellence, research significance, and dedication to the community.

“Kristin Terrill has played an instrumental role in enhancing the structure and effectiveness of my cover letter. Step by step, Kristin walked me through the key evaluation criteria, inspiring me to delve deeper into my own strengths and potential. As an international student pursuing a Ph.D. in the United States, I initially had little knowledge of how to write application materials for fellowships and awards. Over the past four years, Kristin and I have collaborated on four national competitive fellowship proposals and numerous personal statements for scholarship and award applications. I consider myself fortunate to have had Kristin as my consultant throughout my Ph.D. journey in the U.S. She excels at teaching me how to fish rather than simply giving me a fish. As a result, I have developed the ability to craft application materials that have garnered two awards from the ISU Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS), along with six awards from the American Association of Geographers. The CCE has proven to be an invaluable resource, and I extend my sincere gratitude to the entire team.”

Daniel Moraes, a Ph.D. student in Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, received funding for two grant proposals he submitted with his fellow Field Epidemiology teammates at Iowa State University. One proposal funded in late 2022 was granted by the Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program, a program developed to assist with the spread of disease in the U.S. pork industry and enhance overall swine herd health. In early 2023, a second proposal Daniel and his group submitted was funded by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, an organization supporting the scholarship of students, faculty, and veterinarians in the swine industry. Daniel consulted with two consultants from the Center for Communication Excellence, Kristin and Agata, while drafting the proposals:

“For both grant proposals, I consulted with Agata and Kristin to improve the writing in some specific parts. Discussing the ideas with consultants who have been working on proposals and are an external audience from my area was very helpful. It was great to refine some details and organize the ideas, and it was good to hear their thoughts. I had also taken the CCE course Communications in Science (GR ST 566), taught by Dr. Sarah Huffman, and it is a great way to improve my skills for communication. We have valuable resources at ISU, and the CCE provides so many opportunities to improve your writing skills when submitting proposals.”

Angelos Lagoudakis, a Ph.D. student in the Economics department, was recently awarded the 2022 Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) Science Communication Scholarship. This specific scholarship is awarded to graduate students who focus on careers in agriculture or food sciences and are interested in communicating science with nonscientific audiences. Angelos, also a member of the National Science Foundation Research Trainseeship DataFEWSion program, conducts research focusing on food and health economics and consumer and producer behavior. He employs applied microeconometrics and experimental economics methods to answer questions relevant to applied economists, data analysts, and policymakers. Angelos was enrolled in the course Communications in Science (GR ST 566), taught by Dr. Sarah Huffman, Assistant Director of the Center for Communication Excellence, at the time he applied for and received the scholarship:

“The Communications in Science class has been key to improving my science communication skills in multiple communication genres. With Dr. Huffman’s feedback and support, I am now able to express myself better when presenting to non-academic audiences. I have also improved my writing and public speaking and learned a lot about the importance of dialogue and democratic engagement in science communication.”

Sungmoon Choi, a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering minoring in Computer Science, was selected to participate in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) educational program NASA Proposal Writing Evaluation and Experience (NPWEE), performing outstandingly well in the team competition. The program involved writing a technical proposal to solve NASA’s current technical issues. Sungmoon suggested an idea regarding orbital mechanics, his research area, which was adopted as his team’s proposal topic. As the principal investigator, Sungmoon led 11 team members from different disciplines, and their proposal placed in the top 5 among 32 teams. This marked a huge accomplishment to be involved in the NASA program as an international student. Sungmoon worked closely with Tom and Agata, CCE speaking and writing consultants, in preparing materials for the program applications:

“During the application process, I consulted Agata and Tom about how to emphasize my skills and experiences. Although they were not familiar with the space engineering field, they listened to what I studied and tried to think of good expressions to describe it. They provided me with additional help aside from the consultation hours. Tom gave me feedback on my application even right before a flight. Thanks to their help, I learned not only how to describe how well-prepared I was for the program, but also how to effectively communicate to audiences outside of my research field. This communication skill I obtained from the CCE allowed me to convey my ideas to other team members from different majors, which led our team to rank in the top 5 among 32 teams.”

Sebnem Kurt, a Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program of the English Department, received two scholarships. The first was an ISU Women’s Club award recognizing the academic, personal, and community accomplishments of an ISU female student who demonstrates qualities of leadership and character that contribute to the university and/or community life and further international understanding and friendship. The second scholarship was the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Student Grant, an award intended to aid outstanding international women conducting stellar scholarship and planning work in education. Sebnem worked closely with Agata, the Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultant, in preparing materials for her scholarship applications:

“For both of these scholarships, I consulted with Agata to improve my written communication skills. She was very patient with my countless drafts and always made me think more critically about my work. With her guidance and assistance, I was able to better express myself in writing. I also received the CCE’s help multiple times for different reasons in the past, all with impactful outcomes.”

Amro Hashish, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Mohamed El-Gazzar’s lab in ISU's Veterinary Diagnostic Production Animal Medicine Department, was recently awarded the 2022 Reed Rumsey Award from the American Association of Avian Pathologists. The award recognizes outstanding achievement from an individual dedicated to the advancement of avian medicine across the U.S. Dr. Hashish received this award in the basic research category related to his research that aims to resolve one of the major infectious challenges for the egg-layer industry in Iowa and beyond. As the award recipient, Dr. Hashish is invited to present his work at the AAAP 2022 (Philadelphia, PA) annual meeting. Dr. Hashish consulted with CCE Postdoc Writing Consultant, Kim Becker, while preparing his application materials for the award:

“Kim was incredibly helpful during the application process for me to develop high-quality application materials that would impress the award selection committee. Meeting with Kim helped me make huge improvements in my application, and for that, I am sincerely grateful. Kim is always very responsive and reviewed my application more than once. As the ISU Postdoc Consultant, Kim always goes above and beyond to help me and all other postdocs. Kim is phenomenal, and enthusiastic and wants you to succeed. There is no doubt that she is a valuable asset to the CCE as well as to all ISU postdocs looking to improve their writing and communication skills for career development. I owe this success to many available resources available to ISU postdoc through the CCE.”

Natalia V. Rios Martinez, a senior in political science, international studies, and public relations, was selected as one of 58 U.S. undergraduates to be named a 2022 Truman Scholar. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the premier U.S. graduate fellowship for those pursuing careers as public service leaders. Natalia is the ninth scholar at Iowa State University and the first Hispanic woman to receive the scholarship at the institution. She is currently a research assistant at the Department of Sociology, researching legal deserts in rural America. Natalia is also a government contracting assistant at the Procurement Technical Assistant Center and is interning at the U.S. Department of Justice. Through the application process, Natalia worked closely with Kristin and Agata, Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultants in the CCE:

"When I first met Agata, I had a rough draft of a general idea for my policy proposal. Agata helped me organize my ideas and come up with a clearer structure, and I ended up with outstanding, well-written essays. Agata addressed my concerns and gave me the necessary tools to implement the suggested revisions. One of the most useful things I gathered from this experience was that Agata took the time to explain the logic and the reasoning behind her suggestions. Kristin helped me tremendously near the end of the writing process. She provided a new and different perspective, gave clear directions, and always looked out for my best interest. Their expertise helped me become a better writer, which is important to me as a non-native English speaker. Both of them were an essential part of my success. Meeting with them made all the difference in my application, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Thanks to this scholarship, I will be able to pursue a career in public service as a lawyer fighting for social justice."

Nethmi W. Hewage, an ISU junior majoring in chemistry and minoring in mathematics, received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships in natural science, mathematics, and engineering. This year, 2022, 417 Goldwater Scholars were selected based on academic merit from a field of more than 5,000 applicants nationwide. Nethmi conducts research in Dr. Kovnir's lab at Iowa State University, where she focuses on developing novel materials for energy applications. She plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry or materials science with the goal of becoming a professor and conducting research to find alternative solutions for the world's energy crisis. In the application process, Nethmi met with Agata, a CCE Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultant:

"Agata was continuously helping me with the essays in the application. She helped me to make a cohesive story that shows my motivation, skills, passion, and experience and helped me to logically structure the essays. We met multiple times to discuss and review the essays and, every time, Agata's feedback was very helpful. She is very enthusiastic and wants you to succeed. Because of Agata's help, I was able to polish my essays and have an outstanding application." 

Tim Kochem, doctoral candidate in Applied Linguistics and Technology, was awarded a doctoral dissertation grant from The International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF) in August. TIRF has been offering this highly-competitive award for 20 years to doctoral students whose research impacts often under-represented or under-resourced languages and/or communities from around the world. Tim, one of fifteen international recipients this year, received the award for his project entitled "Second Language Teacher Cognition Development in an Online English Pronunciation Pedagogy Course: A Quasi-Experimental Study." Through this project, he had the chance to interact with over 2,000 language professionals from 60+ countries as they participated in his eight-week asynchronous online course in English pronunciation pedagogy. While putting together his grant proposal, Tim worked closely with his faculty mentor and major professor, Dr. John Levis, and with CCE Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultant Kristin Terrill.

"While Dr. Levis and I were able to put together a very good draft of the grant proposal, we're both pronunciation researchers, so we have a lot of background knowledge that may have been implied in the proposal without being explicitly stated. Having Kristin as an outside reader, who's also a trained consultant in competitive awards writing, was invaluable. She was not only able to point out all of these implied messages, but she was also very helpful and knowledgeable about crafting explicit examples and descriptions to clear any confusion caused by those implied messages. In the end, I truly believe that these explicit details were the difference maker in being awarded the grant, and I will absolutely bring any future proposals to Kristin!"

Amber Baughman, a recent graduate with a Master’s degree in Nutritional Sciences, won the Iowa State 8th annual Graduate and Professional Student Senate Research Conference (GPSS) in April. In the GPSS competition, ISU graduate students highlight their work with a poster presentation or 10-minute oral presentation. Amber, one of three winners in the competition, gave a 10-minute oral presentation titled “Comparing the Effectiveness of a SNAP Simulation Given to Dietetics Students in the Classroom versus on the Computer,” in which dietetics students completed a simulation that placed them in the role of a family experiencing food insecurity. Her thesis was quickly accepted to ProQuest, the thesis submission system. While working on the presentation and her thesis, Amber consulted with CCE Writing Consultants Kelsey and Kristin:

“Both Kelsey and Kristin have been phenomenal to work with! Kelsey helped me to make my thesis more concise and clearer. She also assisted me with four presentations, and her fantastic ideas took each presentation to the next level! I truly believe her guidance and support helped me win the $150 cash prize for the GPSS competition. Kristin also was very easy to work with and met with me not once, but twice, to help me perfect the formatting of my thesis. I was shocked to receive an email from the Dean of the Graduate college congratulating me on my flawless thesis document, all thanks to Kristin! I am so grateful for Kelsey, Kristin, and everyone else at the CCE for going above and beyond in helping me in all of my endeavors at ISU! I am excited to continue using the communication skills I learned from them as a clinical dietitian!”

Emmanuel Nsamba, doctoral candidate in Genetics and Genomics, has become the first PRISM recipient from Iowa State University to be offered a Postdoctoral Fellowship position at Stanford University. The Postdoctoral Recruitment Initiative in Science and Medicine (PRISM) is a Stanford program aimed at increasing the representation of scholars from minority backgrounds in the sciences and medical disciplines and targets students who seek careers in academia. After two rigorous interviews with PRISM program coordinators, Emmanuel received an offer from a renowned Stanford professor to begin work in her lab in the Spring of 2021; due to COVID-19 delays, he will begin in the summer. Emmanuel initially prepared for the interviews while attending a CCE Peer Review Group (PRG) led by CCE Writing Consultant Suzanne Leonard. To fine-tune his resume and research and diversity statements, Emmanuel then met with CCE Writing Consultant, Kristin:

“Since 2019, I have been an active member of a PRG every semester. During the sessions, I received feedback from fellow graduate students in diverse research disciplines that significantly improved my skills explicitly communicating my research to a diverse audience. Additionally, Suzanne introduced me to various writing resources available at the CCE. Kristin was invaluable with grammar, logic, and knowledge of competing for national awards. From PFF to CCE PRGs and writing consultants, I was able to prepare a nationally competitive application."

Arpa Ghosh, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Bioeconomy Institute, won the Postdoctoral Scholar Excellence Award for Teaching and Mentoring Students at Iowa State University. This award honors postdoctoral scholars who have made innovative and significant contributions to training future scientists and who exemplify excellence in the teaching and learning mission of Iowa State. Recipients of the award reflect excellence in either classroom teaching or in supervision of undergraduate or graduate students in research. In addition, this award has helped Arpa secure four faculty job interviews, with two leading to final round interviews in the last year. Arpa consulted with CCE Postdoc Writing Consultant Kimberly while preparing her job application materials, which helped immensely in taking her application to the next level:

“Kim has been incredibly helpful in shaping my writing into high quality application materials in order to draw attention of the reviewers at ISU as well as faculty search committee at various U.S. and Indian institutes. She always had me read my own writing aloud with her listening on the side to let me 'hear it as they would.' This practice helped me a great deal in understanding how an idea, with the right choice of words and sentence structuring, can communicate the intended meaning on paper effectively. Kim also has become a friendly face from the CCE and, as a Postdoc Consultant, she is a valuable asset to the CCE as well as to all ISU Postdocs looking to hone their writing skills for career development.”

Ramya Srinivasan, a master's student in Aerospace Engineering who specializes in composite material research, recently won the People's Choice Award in Iowa State University’s annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. In the 3MT competition, graduate students from across campus cultivate academic, presentation, and research communication skills by explaining their research in three minutes or less to a non-specialist audience with the visual support of one static slide. Ramya, one of seven finalists for this year's competition, presented “Cooling Football Helmets,” addressing the problem of dangerous heat buildup in football players's heads and associated heat-related illness. Her thesis employs cooling components that include polymer phase change material and aluminum honeycomb inside a copper pouch that attaches to the inside of the helmet. Ramya consulted with CCE Speaking Consultant Erik Goodale prior to the event to hone her presentation skills.

"Erik patiently listened to my presentation several times during the consultation session and gave recommendations on what areas needed improvement. He provided me tips and suggestions to improve my pronunciation of certain words for listeners to understand clearly. He asked me to add my projected results on the slide to make my conclusion and results stronger. I am grateful for his consultation.”

Emmanuel Tetteh, a doctoral candidate in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering specializing in Human Factors and Ergonomics, was recently awarded a Principal Graduate Scholarship from the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering.This scholarship is awarded to outstanding students in the department whose research relates to finance and/or use of linear quadratic discriminant anlyasis techniques and who demonstrates involvement in leadership on and off campus. Emmanuel is currently in the process of developing predictive models that will be used to inform how exoskeleton interventions could be deployed in the operating room to reduce muscle fatigue and work-related musculoskeletal disorders in surgeons.

"Kim has always been amazing with help on my writing. She always lets me read my text aloud and that helps me to realize what needs to be improved. She asks probing questions such as ‘What do you want to communicate to your reader with this sentence.’ Furthermore, she is very conversant with the writing resources of the CCE and she helped me to find specific words that helped to communicate my ideas better. The CCE does a great job helping students with their communication needs and I am excited to complete my own writing consultant training in the coming weeks and potentially assist other students be better communicators.”

Ivana Rehman, a PhD candidate in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program of the English Department, was awarded a National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Association (NFMLTA) dissertation support grant. This competitive award helps support graduate students in the fields of applied linguistics and language education at the dissertation writing stage. Thanks to this award, Ivana will be able to fund a part of the data collection process for her dissertation, which focuses on testing a computer-assisted pronunciation program designed for vowel production training. While working on the application materials for the NFMLTA grant, Ivana worked closely with Kim Becker, a CCE Writing Consultant:

"While working on polishing my application materials for the NFMLTA grant, I actively engaged with the CCE and it has been a wonderful learning opportunity. Kim Becker provided extremely useful feedback, and she was able to inspire me to find the best language to express my thoughts on paper. The especially challenging part of this application process was putting a major part of my dissertation on only two pages, and Kim did great in helping me condense the material while preserving the main message. The skills I gained during this process will be remarkably useful throughout my career in academia and beyond."

Andrea Flinn, PhD student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program of the English Department, was recently awarded a Critical Language Scholarship to study Arabic in Meknes, Morocco.The Critical Language Scholarship provides summer study abroad opportunities for American university and college students to learn foreign languages in immersive environments. Because recent global events will prevent Andrea from traveling internationally this summer, she will instead be studying stateside at Middlebury College. Andrea notes that she would not have received or even applied for the scholarship if it were not for the encouragement of her classmates and instructors, especially colleague Jeanne Beck and Dr. John Levis, both of the English Department. 

"The CCE was incredibly supportive and encouraging throughout the application process. I’m grateful that I can continue working with Nationally Competitive Award consultant Kristin Terrill when I reapply. She has a real talent for improving essays’ organization. I’m not sure I understood the value of getting a second pair of eyes on a paper until I went to one of her writing consultations."

Juan Bibiloni-Rivera, a senior in Mechanical Engineering at ISU, has been selected as a 2020 Truman Scholar, becoming the first Truman Scholar at Iowa State in 14 years. In selecting Truman Scholars, the Harry S. Truman Foundation chooses extraordinary students who are highly motivated and high-achieving and present a passion for and dedication to public service. Becoming a Truman Scholar will allow Juan to pursue his dream of a career in public service to create public transit and infrastructure policy to enhance the lives of marginalized populations in the U.S. Through the application process, Juan worked closely with Laura Good, Assistant Director for Nationally Competitive Awards, and Kristin Terrill, the Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultant in the CCE.

"My written application would not have been successful in moving me forward to being named a 2020 Truman Scholar if not for the incredible guidance and help of Kristin Terrill from the CCE. My campus application was rough and in need of a lot of revising before I submitted it nationally. As an engineering student, this represented an especially difficult challenge for me. Nonetheless, Kristin went over every word with me to understand what message I wanted to communicate, and then discuss options for how I could communicate that message even better. Every week leading up to the application deadline, I would make an appointment with Kristin at different stages of my writing, and she always knew exactly how to structure our sessions to fit my ever-changing needs."

Cimone Wright-Hamor, a PhD candidate majoring in Computer Engineering, was recently granted the 2019 John and Mary Pappajohn Scholarship. This award recognizes students who are establishing their own business or are participating in the entrepreneurship programs on campus. With the funding, Cimone will investigate how the combination of courses impacts student attrition. This project is designed to help students matriculate through a bachelor’s degree while providing departments with a more accurate student headcount for future classes. Cimone received assistance from the CCE writing consultants to compose a compelling scholarship application.

"Working with the CCE on improving my application material has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Mitch, an Interdisciplinary Writing Consultant, prompted me with questions, which exposed hidden assumptions I made in regards to the topic. His inquiry about the subject encouraged me to restructure my application to be more cohesive, revealing my experiences and goals for the product. In addition, Mitch evaluated if I answered each question in the application. He pushed me to think deeper about the advantages of the product and how to strategically include them in the application. His feedback and constructive suggestions provided me with the guidance necessary to produce a comprehensive application. The CCE consultations have taught me how to polish application materials and significantly diminished my fear of feedback. I also use the CCE to polish my research papers and hold myself accountable to deadlines. The CCE is an excellent resource!"

Chase Krug is an Agronomy major in his sophomore year at Iowa State and was recently named among the top four recipients of the National FFA Proficiency Award in Plant Science. Chase, a former Borlaug-Ruan International Intern (2018), is also a 2019 John Chrystal Award recipient and recently published an article on the “Importance of Protecting the World’s Agricultural Genetic Diversity” on the World Food Prize organization blog. In October, Chase travelled to Indianapolis, Indiana to compete at the National FFA Convention, during which he received this distinguished proficiency award and ranked as one of the top awardees in the nation. Chase thanks Kristin Terrill, the Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultant in the CCE, for her assistance in helping him write the blog post for the World Food Prize John Chrystal Award.

"Kristin provided valuable feedback on my National FFA Proficiency Award in Plant Science. The application required the use of different writing styles, and Kristin helped me create a cohesive story that highlighted the most important features of my research and provided individual feedback on how to improve multiple sections of the application. Over multiple sessions, we were able to revise all portions of the application. Kristin was extremely helpful in generating ideas and topics that made my application stand out."

Martha Broadnax, a Political Science major in her senior year at Iowa State, has been named a finalist for the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. Marshall Scholarship candidates are recommended for the award by an appointed university committee based on the student’s dedication to and demonstrated experience with scholarship, leadership, and service. Martha’s investment in local and campus community improvement, enthusiasm for resolving issues of social injustice, and work in local, state, national, and international political spheres has earned her this outstanding opportunity. If awarded the scholarship, Martha will join fewer than 50 U.S. students who will go on to study at an academic institution in the United Kingdom and work to build valuable ties among the British and American communities and institutions. In preparing her application package, Martha worked closely with Laura Good, the Assistant Director for Nationally Competitive Awards, her faculty mentor, former Marshall Scholar Dr. Richard Mansbach, and Kristin Terrill, the Nationally Competitive Awards Writing Consultant in the CCE. Speaking of the CCE’s support, Martha says:

"I credit the success of my essays to the CCE and Kristen Terrill. I came in with rough idea of what I wanted to present in my application, but Kristen really helped me polish my essays. This experience was more than just having someone edit my application. Kristen made it a point to ask what was most important to me and what I wanted to convey to the selection committee and helped me create my own voice. The CCE not only helped me create a strong personal statement that reflected who I was, but also helped me gain the confidence to apply for other Nationally Competitive Awards."

Lin Meng, a Ph.D. candidate majoring in Geology and Environmental Science, was recently granted the 2019 Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) award. This award recognizes proposals for graduate student-designed research projects that contribute to NASA’s science, technology, and exploration goals. With the funding, Lin will investigate how light pollution and urban heat island impact tree growth in U.S. cities using remote sensing images. This project helps to answer one of the key questions in the global change field: how the terrestrial ecosystem changes under the changing world. Lin received much help of her advisor Dr. Yuyu Zhou, her collaborators, and CCE writing consultants to compose a compelling application.

"Working with the CCE on improving my application material has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Kim Becker assisted me in structuring my personal statement in a more straightforward and effective manner that shows my academic excellence by revealing my goals, experiences, attributes, and academic achievements. She walked me through the standards for evaluation one by one and pushed me to think more and deeper about my own advantages and potential by asking me questions. Her feedback helped me produce a refined and concise personal statement, which is one crucial part of the application package. The whole process taught me how to polish a strong application material, which will be useful for my future career. I also worked with Liberato Silva dos Santos in polishing my research papers and got great feedback! The CCE is a definitely fantastic resource and big thank you to you all!"

Jenny Phan was awarded the F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health. Jenny is a doctoral candidate in Human Development and Family Studies. Her NRSA-funded dissertation research focuses on puberty and autism. Her current training focuses on a window of human development - puberty. Jenny bridges her previous research work examining the interplay of biomarkers and behavioral outcomes with neurotypical and autistic adolescents. In her future postoc work, Jenny will examine trajectories of health outcomes in the autism population and their families to identify buffers and strategies and to mitigate caregiver burnout. Jenny's inspiration for this research comes from her children and from parents caring for autistic adolescents who need fact-based information.

Acknowledging the mentorship from her professors, Jenny is also grateful for the assistance she received from CCE: "With the help of Hardeep, an interdisciplinary writing consultant at the CCE, who was also a Predoctoral Fellow with NIH, I felt more at ease taking on a huge writing goal such as a national competitive fellowship grant. I met with Hardeep to go over my training plan and research strategies, specifically targeting language use, organization of content, and flow of information. With a first-hand experience as an awardee herself, Hardeep helped me understand and follow the grant application guidelines as well. I also want to credit the CCE for the years of experience I gained as a writing consultant because the continued education I have received from the Center really strengthened my writing abilities ."

Collin Powell was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for the 2019 to 2020 academic year and is ISU’s first Fulbright student winner since 2014. Collin, who is currently studying in the Master’s program in Interior Design, will be heading to Vienna, Austria for his Fulbright stint to take classes, teach English, and conduct research on how the Viennese public housing system effectively serves a diverse population that includes recent migrants. With the help of Anne Grevstad-Nordbrock (Fulbright-Student advisor), Laura Good (Assistant Director for National Awards), and writing consultants like Mitch Stephenson in the Center for Communication Excellence (CCE), Collin was able to craft a compelling application.

“Working with the CCE on the application process has been a dream. I hadn't seriously considered applying for a Fulbright until Laura Good convinced me otherwise and sent me directly to the CCE to meet with Mitch. The consultants at the CCE are experts at helping you take your raw ideas and filter them into a cohesive and cogent response that strengthens your goals and makes your application shine. In fact, working with the writing advisors has shifted my perspective on graduate school and helped me to hone my research interests, giving me better direction in both my academic and personal life. The CCE is a fantastic resource and their encouragement and support have helped me stay committed throughout this journey.”

Min Zhang, a Ph.D. student majoring in Statistics, received an offer from Google to be a Data Scientist intern in the summer of 2019. This position requires a solid background in quantitative methods, strong skills in statistical modeling, and demonstrated intellectual merit. Min’s role at Google will involve working with large, complex geographical data sets to solve non-routine analysis problems by applying advanced analytical methods. The first screening round for applications is incredibly competitive, so Min deeply appreciates the generous help with her application materials provided by Mitch Stephenson, a CCE writing consultant, and Karin, the Graduate Career Services coordinator.

“I was quite unsure about my internship application for the position of Data Scientist, and this offer from Google was in fact beyond my expectation. Mitch and Karin provided generous help with my application materials, including the curriculum vitae and cover letter. They gave me some professional suggestions that were quite useful for my preparation this time, and will also be useful for my future career. My consulting experience proved that they are excellent at digging out a candidate’s potential to match the employers’ needs. The CCE is definitely a great resource for job/intern hunters, because shining your selling points to others is, to some degree, an art of language, and the CCE is really good at this.”

Iowa State University alumna Majd Abdulghani, a student in the Genetics and Genomics M.S. program, was named the recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, becoming the first ever Rhodes scholar from Saudi Arabia and the first Iowa State Rhodes scholar since 1995. While a student at ISU, Majd applied for the Rhodes Scholarship, a prestigious scholarship for individuals who are eager to enact and show enormous potential to affect positive change in the world. Rhodes scholars receive a fully funded education at Oxford University for two to three years in the field of their choosing. Majd completed her Rhodes Scholarship application with the help and encouragement of the ISU Honor's program staff, namely Laura Good and Dr. Svitlana Zbarska, and the Center for Communication Excellence (CCE), especially writing consultant Mitch. Majd remarks:

“I barely dared to dream of even making it to the finalist stage, but here we are! Without Mitch's help, I doubt that I would have reached this stage as smoothly as I did. Mitch is a superb person to work with: easy to talk to, encouraging, and has a really good grasp of what scholarships like the Rhodes are asking for. Beyond helping me make my writing and my application stand out, he helped me better understand and articulate myself and my goals. These things have not only been beneficial for scholarship applications, but benefited my professional skills in general. Thank you to everyone in the CCE! You guys are awesome!”

Elizabeth Lee is a Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program at Iowa State University (ISU). She awarded the 2018-2019 Brown FellowshipAward, an award granted to deserving recipients aiming to enhance their research in their disciplinary area. With the funding, Elizabeth will devote much of her time to evaluating a diagnostic reading test given to non-native English speakers at ISU. Her project addresses a substantial missed opportunity in ESL reading assessment and pedagogy. Her research will reinforce the strength of using mixed methods to evaluate the validity of local language assessments and will also set an example for conducting systemic functional linguistic analysis in the realm of language assessment and evaluation.

Elizabeth extends a huge thanks to the CCE, and especially CCE writing consultant Mitch Stephenson, for helping her create a compelling fellowship application.

Hardeep Obhi is a doctoral student majoring in Gerontology and an Interdisciplinary Writing Consultant for the Center for Communication Excellence. She was awarded a prestigious F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute of Aging in the National Institutes of Health. In her proposal, titled Biopsychosocial Reserves and Dementia: Identifying Life-span Protective Factors, she plans to utilize longitudinal data and interdisciplinary techniques to assess life-span protective factors against cognitive decline and dementia. Hardeep will augment training available to her at Iowa State University with support from this grant by partaking in rotations with mentors across the U.S., learning about the epidemiology of dementia, understanding biological underpinnings of cognitive dysfunction, and refining her analytical prowess. Results of her project will contribute to the understanding of life-span biopsychosocial reserves to promote cognitive health in later life as well as having implications for developing interventions and preventions for cognitive decline. We extend a big congratulations to Hardeep in this incredible achievement.

Liberato Silva dos Santos is a PhD student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program at Iowa State University (ISU) and works as an English Writing Consultant in ISU’s Center for Communication Excellence. Liberato was selected for an eight-week Summer Pre-Doctoral Research Experience Program at Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, NJ taking place in the summer of 2018. As an ETS SPRE intern, Liberato will assist ETS researchers who work on the National Assessment of Educational Progress program by addressing a key subject or technical need within NAEP or K12. He will assist his research mentor with investigating a business research issue specific to the project and will produce beginning plans for an innovative business-driven project. Liberato will also present his work in a public forum at ETS and gain exposure to research and working within a testing and assessment organization.

“My current research and future dissertation is on language assessment and testing, so I could not be happier having the opportunity to be a research intern at ETS. I credit part of my success to the high quality, straightforward, "eagle-eye" input and feedback I received from fellow CCE writing consultants in a series of on-site and online consultations I attended. The combined feedback I received from consultants Angelica, Mitch, Angie, and Idée made my job application materials go from OK to excellent. My thanks also go to Sarah Huffman and Elena Cotos for providing such quality training to all CCE writing consultants and for bringing together such a diverse group, coming from different departments and fields of expertise. I believe this diversity was also crucial in enhancing my job application materials. So, this is a big thank you to all of you GPMs and supervisors at the CCE who helped me get here.”

Mohamed Elkashef, a recent PhD graduate from the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU), was awarded the ISU Graduate College's 2018 Karas Award, an award recognizing an outstanding dissertation that provides an original and unusually significant contribution. Elkashef was also awarded an honorable mention for the Zaffarano Award, which acknowledges superior performance in publishable research. Mohamed is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis. Elkashef shares his experience working with our writing consultants and how it helped him throughout his studies.

“The ability to disseminate my research findings was crucial to my success. For many graduate students, writing up their research is a daunting task that can be more challenging than conducting the actual research. I had the chance to work with Sarah and Monica, CCE writing consultants, who provided me with invaluable feedback on my writing. They also guided me to a number of online resources available through the CCE thatproved very helpful to me. Working with the CCE allowed me to produce well-written manuscripts that required little editorial assistance from my faculty advisor and co-authors and progressed quickly through the publication process. As a graduate student, I had an excellent publication record, which earned me two Research Excellence Awards from the Graduate and Professional Student Senate and the Graduate College at ISU. Upon graduation, I received the Karas Award and an honorable mention on the Zaffarano Award. I owe this success to the many resources and facilities available to me at ISU, and the CCE was one of the greatest resources that majorly contributed to my success.”

Reetam Das is master’s student in the Mechanical Engineering department. Reetam was awarded a fellowship by the Trinect program, a program run by ISU in partnership with Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Trinect program aims to support 3rd to 5th grade elementary school teachers and student teachers to inspire K-12 students to take up a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As a Trinect fellow, Reetam will act as a resident engineer in a triad with a student teacher in training and a cooperating teacher to help with planning and supporting enhanced learning of math and science and to act as a role model in the field. In the process of applying for this fellowship, Reetam worked with Jenny, our Interdisciplinary Writing Consultant, to build his application essay.

“Jenny assisted me to structure the essay in a manner that helped me convey my thoughts in a more impactful and concise manner. Her input helped me improve the quality of my work drastically, and that helped me immensely to secure this fellowship. In my opinion, the CCE is a very valuable resource available to the students of ISU and I look forward to working with the writing consultants in the future as well.”