ASCENT scholarships fund graduate students’ international research

Four atmospheric science graduate students received scholarships this year from a department fund established to enrich the graduate experience. Jingyuan Li, Rung Panasawatwong, Kathryn Moore and Michael Cheeseman all are applying their Assisting Students, Cultivating Excellence, Nurturing Talent (ASCENT) awards to international research opportunities.

Li, a Ph.D. student in Professor David Thompson’s research group, used her funding to travel to Bergen, Norway, for two months this fall to work in large-scale atmospheric dynamics at the University of Bergen Geophysical Institute and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, two of the top climate institutes in the world. She investigated relationships between midlatitude circulation and surface temperature variability, especially in relation to extreme heat events.

“My experience has been great – meeting new people, sharing ideas, presenting my work and getting exposed to the research being done in Bergen,” Li said. “This will be greatly beneficial in my Ph.D. research.”

Read the full article, “ASCENT scholarships fund graduate students’ international research.”

Photo at top: ASCENT scholarship recipients, from left to right, Kathryn Moore, Rung Panasawatwong and Jingyuan Li are using their funding for international research. Not pictured: Michael Cheeseman.