The Graham Sustainability Institute is pleased to announce the 2011 Graham Graduate Fellows, an exclusive group of six University of Michigan (U-M) doctoral candidates, each of whom will receive $50,000 over two years to support their interdisciplinary research related to environmental sustainability.

Now in its sixth year, the Graham Graduate Fellowship Program provides financial support and academic collaboration for U-M doctoral candidates pursuing interdisciplinary research concentrating on environmental sustainability. Issues of particular focus to the Institute and the Fellowship Program include: Energy; Freshwater and Marine Resources; Human Health and Environment; Biodiversity and Global Change; Sustainable Infrastructure, Built Environment, and Manufacturing; Environmental Policymaking, and Human Behavior. To date, 36 U-M doctoral students have been awarded this prestigious fellowship (including the new cohort).

U-M faculty nominated an impressive lot of 46 Ph.D candidates this year, according to members the Graham Institute Executive Committee, who were charged with making fellowship selection decisions. Committee members applied the following criteria to determine fellowship recipients: 1) potential for scholarly and practical impact, 2) degree of cross-disciplinary focus, 3) demonstrated scientific merit and 4) quality of prior research.

2011 Graham Graduate Fellowships have been awarded to the following Ph.D. candidates, whose academic units, research topics, and faculty advisors are also highlighted:

• Tara Clancy, College of Engineering: “Biological drinking water treatment for arsenic removal: Spanning regulatory frameworks and borders” (Prof. Lutgarde Raskin)
• Irem Daloglu, School of Natural Resources and Environment: “Diffusion of Innovations, an application to agriculture with an emphasis on comparing policy alternatives” (Prof. Don Scavia)
• Amanda Logan, Rackham Graduate School- Anthropology: “Long-term perspectives on food security and change: a case study from west central Ghana, AD 1000-present” (Prof. Clara Sinopoli)
• Daniel Miller, School of Natural Resources and Environment: “Coping with Conservation: The legacy of biodiversity aid on a West African frontier” (Prof. Arun Agrawal)
• Baruani Mshale, School of Natural Resources and Environment: “Community based forest management (CBFM) in a changing world: The case of Kilwa District, Tanzania” (Prof. Rebecca Hardin)
• Nicholas Rajkovich, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning: “Adding adaptive capacity through resilient residences: a case study of Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio” (Prof. Larissa Larsen & Prof. Dick Norton)

“We really are supporting some of the best and brightest Ph.D. students who are dedicated to making advances in environmental sustainability,” says Professor Donald Scavia, Director of the Graham Institute. “And the fact that these emerging scholars represent such a diverse cross-section of disciplines and research approaches is key for successfully addressing this complex and critical issue from all sides.”

As part of a broader goal to cultivate a “Community of Scholars” through the program, Graham Fellows are given multiple opportunities to engage with one another through monthly seminars, annual retreats, research workshops, and other activities. The 2011 Graham Fellows will officially join the broader community of Graham Fellows in late January 2011.

For more information about the Graham Graduate Fellowship Program, visit the Graham Sustainability Institute website at graham.umich.edu.