A Great Scientist in the Making

By Tiffany King

Within the past four months, Kayla Russo’s dreams have been coming true. First, she got early acceptance into her dream graduate school—Cornell University—where she will pursue a doctorate in geochemistry. Her research will have her travelling back and forth from Europe, starting her journey to becoming a citizen of the world. Next, she became a recipient of the highly prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), a highly competitive fellowship that grants graduate students funding for research. Students from the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation usually earn the fellowship, and Russo—a Camden County native who came to the College of Coastal Georgia through dual enrollment at the Camden Center—was named among students from institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, University of California-Berkeley, and Brown University.

GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period for graduate students who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education.

“When you apply, your whole goal is to convince the National Science Foundation that you’re going to be a successful graduate student, and that they should fund you because you’re going to be the next future scientist,” Russo said. “A lot of people who’ve been noble laureates have been recipients of it. There’s a lot of credit and merit behind it.”

It’s an intensive application process where one has to write a research proposal and personal narrative on their educational and research history. Russo said that the act of just applying demonstrates to graduate school advisors one’s dedication and effort.

“It’s such a hard scholarship to win. It’s heavily skewed towards a very few, big-named universities because they have departments dedicated to helping students get it,” she said. “They have faculty for the sole purpose of helping students write statements for the fellowship. If you don’t come from a large, ivy league research institution, there’s no expectation for you to get it.”

But she did, and with help too. Assistant Professor of Geology Dr. Robin McLachlan was a past recipient of the fellowship. She helped Russo understand what the judges were looking for and what content to focus on.

McLachlan described Russo as a stellar student and scientist whom she has watched grow with confidence.

“The NSF GRFP application is extensive and requires students to submit a research proposal for projects that the students formulate themselves, all the way from the original research questions to the novel methods, a task that can be daunting for many students—not Kayla,” McLachlan said. “Kayla’s mind goes into overdrive when she is presented with unlimited possibilities and opportunities for research. I am not surprised that she received this prestigious fellowship, and I am excited to see where Kayla’s ambition and scientific creativity takes her in graduate school and beyond.”

For the application, Russo proposed a project that involved K-12 students using satellite images to track changing vegetation over time. She made it simple enough where it could be implemented in schools to get students involved with STEM. She then wrote a personal statement about her personal journey and research experiences, independent projects, and other opportunities.

“I’ve had a lot of research experience because of the school that I was able to fall back on. That was probably a big boost in my favor. I still can’t believe I got it,” she said.

Students get one chance to apply for the fellowship while in undergrad, and a second opportunity while in graduate school. Russo said she did her best in order to get feedback and understand the process for when she would try again in graduate school. When the recipients were announced, Russo wasn’t notified of her win, so she thought she didn’t get it. She decided to check the list anyway and saw that the College of Coastal Georgia was listed. At first, she thought another student from Coastal was selected, but when she saw her name, she was speechless.

The funds give recipients the freedom to choose their own research project or contribute towards already planned research, and gives the college/university extra funds for hosting that student. Many institutions will compete for GRFP students and compare amongst themselves who has the most, Russo said.

“As a grad student, you have to do whatever your PI (primary investigator) or advisor has funded, but now I’m bringing in my own money,” Russo said. “I’ll still do the research that I wanted to do with her that’s already funded. Now, instead, I won’t be taking from that source of funds, which means those funds are opened up for other things, like traveling to other institutions. It makes it so there’s additional money for that project, or if I want to do an entirely different project with it. They funded me to basically do whatever I want in grad school.”

Russo’s project will focus on studying the silica cycle and clay precipitation. To gather and analyze samples is a hard process, Russo said, since the necessary machines are usually owned by one scientist for their lab group. Her research will require her to travel to Paris, France to use machines that are available for different lab groups to use. Now with the extra funding, Russo can gather and analyze her samples at other sites, like in Germany, and form collaborations with other people. Being in the fellowship opens more doors and opportunities, not only for Russo, but also for her advisor and department at Cornell.

About a year ago, Russo was questioning whether or not she had what it takes to be a scientist. With the encouragement of her professors to step outside of her comfort zone, she was able to see her dreams fulfilled.

“In my recommendation letter to Cornell, I bragged that the questions and hypothesis that Kayla comes up with within minutes are on par with those I would expect from graduate students and even faculty who have had months to years to develop their research topics,” McLachlan said.

Russo has more than once proven that she has what it takes to be the next great scientist.

Another Dream Comes True

If getting the GRFP wasn’t enough, Russo was also awarded the Deans Excellence Fellowship from Cornell. After being accepted into Cornell, her department nominated her for the fellowship. She will receive funding for one year and up to two years if she keeps her grades up—something Russo should have no problem doing. The GRFP plus the Deans Excellence Fellowship guarantees funding for Russo’s entire time in graduate school. Doctoral students are expected to teach classes in order to stay funded while in graduate school, however, Russo won’t be required to. She can choose whether or not she wants to teach—giving her more freedom to explore her research project.

“I do want to teach, because I want to be a professor one day, but it will be nice to teach when I want to. I won’t have to be forced because the funding is already there,” she said, still amazed at what happened. “It’s all so crazy.”

A Summer of Sci-Tech Fun

With her fall plans all in place, the only thing left is the 2022 summer—and Russo has got that figured out as well. She was just hired to be a summer instructor of 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy in Massachusetts. She will teach three two-week summer camp courses about marine science for young children and teens. She will have room and board, plus a salary.

“We’ll do a bunch of hands-on experiments and get them involved, which I’m very excited about because I love teaching kids science,” Russo said. “I got into science because I had someone who was cool and would give us things to do.”

Russo is eager to share her love for science and inspire future generations of scientists.

Finding the Sweet Spot

Russo said she wouldn’t give up her college experience for anything. Her original intention was to eventually transfer to another college, but when she saw the potential of the Department of Natural Sciences and its caliber of faculty, she decided to stay.

“I am fully glad that I stayed, and I am so grateful to the Dual Enrollment program and my decision to come to Coastal. I loved my time at the Camden campus and I loved my time in Brunswick—I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m very passionate about our school being the best school—you just wait,” she said. “The amount of opportunities here, paired with how good the faculty is, and how well they support you, makes this the sweet spot. You get great broad knowledge and all this experience. All that experience looks even better when you’re from a small college, because they know that you’ve gone out of your way to get it.”

Kayla will be graduating this May with a Bachelor’s in environmental science with concentrations in marine science and chemistry, and is minoring in geological science.