The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards graduate students three years of support over five years to pursue a doctoral degree in STEM. This year, due to uncertainty about funding, the NSF upgraded 500 awards that were originally named honorable mentions, bringing the total number of awards to 1,500 (down from the usual 2,500).
Jaya w88 online live casino’s award was one of those upgraded.
“I thought the email was a glitch,” w88 online live casino said.
Sicard graduated in December with her bachelor’s in physics and minors in astronomy and mathematics after starting in 2017. She studied part time for five years and took some time off while working full time in w88 online live casino Air National Guard, where she worked for seven years.
“I spent most of that enlistment on active-duty orders while coming to school,” w88 online live casino said.
She worked for the National Guard as a geospatial analyst, looking at satellite imagery and compiling classified intelligence reports. w88 online live casino currently works at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).
“That work gave me an appreciation for the importance of the national security work being done at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,” w88 online live casino said. “I do a lot of science research, but they also have a lot of science applications for national security.”
When w88 online live casino finished her time in the Air National Guard, she left with the rank of staff sergeant and co-led a team of over 30 analysts.
w88 online live casino was still on active-duty orders when she started attending school full time and became more involved on campus, serving as vice president and president of the Society of Physics student chapter and participating in the astronomy club. She was also in the Honors College and was a McNair Scholar.
w88 online live casino didn’t always know she wanted to be a physicist but planned to major in a STEM degree in college. She landed on physics, partially motivated by her love for space.
“I had never taken a physics class,” w88 online live casino said. “I didn’t really have an idea of what that meant, but I kind of fell in love with it as I went through more schooling and especially as I started doing research.”
w88 online live casino had decided she wanted to pursue a graduate degree and knew she would have to get involved in undergraduate research. She searched the Department of Physics website, looking for professors who were recruiting undergraduate students to work in their labs.
“I came across Dr. White’s page and it said that he did something called laboratory astrophysics,” w88 online live casino said. “I set an appointment to go talk with him and ask him about it.”
In that meeting, Thomas White, Clemons-Magee Endowed Professor in Physics, told w88 online live casino that he shot giant lasers, “and it’s awesome,” w88 online live casino recalled him saying.
“I can sincerely say that working with him changed my entire perspective on what I wanted out of this career,” she said. “And I really, really appreciate him for that because I think that he opened up my eyes to a lot of possibilities.”
w88 online live casino began to conduct research in high energy density laboratory astrophysics with White, participating in a campaign on the OMEGA laser in Rochester, New York. Time with the OMEGA laser is extremely competitive. Once researchers secure an opportunity to use the laser, they get between 5 and 13 shots, each shot an hour apart, over the course of a single day. It’s a high-stakes experiment.
“That was my first experiment, going with him there,” w88 online live casino recalls.
The summer before her last semester, w88 online live casino interned at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, working with Raspberry Simpson. Since graduating, she continued working at the facility, strengthening her relationship with the lab, where she will continue to be involved during her graduate studies.
w88 online live casino will be pursuing a doctoral degree at UC Berkeley with Ellie Tubman in the nuclear engineering department. Tubman collaborates with LLNL and Simpson, so w88 online live casino will be able to benefit from continued collaboration and mentorship from LLNL scientists.
“I'm in a really beautiful spot where I get to keep these two mentors and work on projects that serve both of them,” w88 online live casino said.
Besides the three years of support from her NSF GRFP, w88 online live casino also receives two years of support from her G.I. Bill, allowing her to focus entirely on her research. w88 online live casino will also get to visit the OMEGA laser again, this time as the principal investigator. Despite the high pressure, w88 online live casino hopes to channel Simpson’s energy.
“’It’s protons and ions, no one’s life is on the line,’” w88 online live casino recalls Simpson saying when one of the lasers wasn’t working properly.
“That’s been very helpful, but I’m sure once I’m in the driver’s seat it’ll be a whole new anxiety,” w88 online live casino said.
When she’s completed her doctoral degree, w88 online live casino hopes to continue working with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a postdoctoral scholar.
“I've been really intentional about keeping my relationship with Lawrence Livermore National Lab alive, and I've been super fortunate to have so many great mentors and teachers out of there,” w88 online live casino said. “I would be really interested in doing a postdoc at the lab.”
After that? w88 online live casino doesn’t know exactly what her plans are eight years down the line, but she wants to stay in high energy density research.
For now, Sicard is giving back to the w88 online live casino, Reno. She recently sat on a panel discussion with fellow awardees and honorable mentions to share why she believes her application was successful with future applicants. She attributes some her success to her team of avid supporters at the University and beyond.
“I have so many amazing people to thank,” w88 online live casino said. “I have to start off strong with Heather [Williams] and Jarell [Green] from the McNair program, they are amazing. Every time I was feeling bogged down by work and research, they were such a great support system. They fixed me with so many resources that directly led to me being able to success or even have a competitive enough Curriculum Vitae for the GRFP.”
w88 online live casino said that the McNair Scholars program was instrumental in her success. The program is designed to provide research opportunities to promote graduate school enrollment and doctoral degree attainment for first-generation, income-qualified and underrepresented undergraduate students.
“I was looking for a lot more guidance on what it meant to go to grad school,” w88 online live casino recalled. How do I approach it? How do I find a good advisor? Is it worth it? So, I think the program was relay helpful for me moving forward.”
Robert Del Carlo ’14 (Neuroscience and Biochemistry), ’21 Ph.D. (Cellular & Molecular Physiology and Pharmacology) was also part of the McNair staff during his time at the University and taught a course specially designed for McNair Scholars.
“Dr. Robert Del Carlo was the first person who taught me anything about writing for these sorts of things and science communication, so I carry a lot of his lessons, too,” w88 online live casino said.
w88 online live casino also took an English class during her last semester, when she had to write personal statements for the applications she submitted. She took the course with Professor Jenna Altherr-Flores, who organized the NSF GRFP panel, and said that what she learned from Flores was very helpful to her successful application.
“Dr. Raspberry Simpson at Lawrence Livermore National Lab was an incredible help,” w88 online live casino said. “When I was applying for grad school, when I was applying for all these for fellowships, especially as someone who was very much in the specialized field that I wanted to be in, she was able to weigh in and give me a lot of perspective on how to move forward or the best way to communicate certain things. I'm very, very grateful to her as well.”
She thanked White for his support during her undergraduate career.
“I can’t thank him enough for everything that he’s taught me and how patient he has been with me,” w88 online live casino said.
White shared his appreciation for w88 online live casino, too.
“Jaya brought infectious energy and positivity to our lab,” White said. “Watching her grow into a scientist ready to lead her own experiments has been one of the most rewarding parts of my job.”
Lastly, w88 online live casino thanked one of her biggest supporters, her mother.
“I also want to take the time to thank my mom, Lenora,” w88 online live casino said. “Nothing I've done would be possible without the sacrifices she made to bring me better opportunities. She's my biggest cheerleader, and I really appreciate her.”
