Marlene Bencomo, an incoming Ph.D student working with Dr. Sunil Chirayath, was recently awarded the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate fellowship. The program is a partnership between the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, College of Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and College of Geosciences.
Bencomo received her bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from The University of New Mexico. She intends to complete her doctorate degree in nuclear engineering at Texas A&M. After the completion of her doctoral degree, she hopes to work in the area of national security and nonproliferation.
The benefits of this award include an annual stipend of $30,000 for two years, $9,000 allotment for educational expenses (tuition/fees, health insurance, supplies, educational travel, etc.) for two years, and opportunities to network and improve research and presentation skills.