Do What You Love, Help the Planet
Need support to advance your Ph.D. research on the environment or sustainability? The Wrigley Institute can help.
We provide summer funding for graduate students working along environment and sustainability themes, or at the intersection of environment and society. Applications from all disciplines are welcome!
For more information about funding opportunities, contact Wrigley Institute Executive Director Dr. Jessica Dutton, or see below for information on eligibility, application deadlines, and other details.
Choose the Right Opportunity for You
The Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellowship provides professional development activities and research funding for USC Dornsife Ph.D. students. The Visiting Graduate Researcher Program is open to graduate students from any institution. It supports field research conducted at our WMSC campus on Catalina Island. Expand the items below for full eligibility information, deadlines, and application links for each opportunity.
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Eligibility: All USC Dornsife Ph.D. students whose work intersects with the environment or sustainability. Awardees must be in residence at USC during the spring semester of their award year.
Award: Spring-semester professional development program, plus a $6,000 summer stipend to support research in Los Angeles, on Catalina Island, or elsewhere in the U.S. or the world.
Fellows may also have the opportunity to mentor students from the Wrigley Institute’s REU program.
Applications for the 2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellowship are now closed. Please check back in late 2025 for the next award cycle.
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Eligibility: USC and non-USC graduate students seeking to conduct environmental or sustainability research on Catalina Island (this program does not fund sabbatical-type experiences)
Award: Full waterfront privileges, shared lab space, and shared housing with kitchen facilities at the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island for a 3-month period between June and September
Priority Deadline: Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 (Applications will be reviewed after the priority deadline if space is still available)
One Fellow’s Experience
Rucha Wani’s graduate fellowship helped fund her field research on the ecological impacts of ocean-based carbon sequestration.
“I am grateful for the support provided by the Wrigley Institute Fellows program. This opportunity has been monumental to my research progress. With the uncertainty of future climate change brewing anxiety within us, it is motivating to create work that brings us closer to finding solutions.”
2025 Graduate Fellows
Josh Beckelhimer
English
Advisor: Devin Griffiths
Project: “Ecological Cosmologies: Literature for Building Unlikely Collaborations in the Climate Crisis”
Jenna Blyler
Psychology
Advisor: Joe Árvai
Project: “How language, power, and trust influence risky environmental decision-making”
Victoria Cassady
Earth Sciences
Advisor: Frank Corsetti
Project: “Not so boring: The potential of endolithic microboring by cyanobacteria and algae to transform carbonate mineral fabric in microbial sediments entering the fossil record”
Raquel Delerme
Sociology
Advisor: Brittany Friedman
Project: “Set Ablaze: Incarcerated Women as Firefighters on the Frontlines of California’s Climate Crisis”
Jenna Dilworth
Biological Sciences
Advisor: Carly Kenkel
Project: “Identifying research and management priorities for coral reef restoration in the Caribbean”
Madison Fette
Chemistry
Advisor: Travis Williams
Project: “Chemical Recycling of Thermoset Composite Materials”
Mia Franks
Biological Sciences
Advisor: Noelle Held
Project: “Quantifying Nutrient Limitation of Microbes at the San Pedro Ocean Time Series”
Andy Kampfschulte
Spatial Sciences Institute
Advisor: Jonathan Tan
Project: “Spatial and Statistical Considerations in Environmental Health”
Bradley Mackett
Biological Sciences
Advisor: David Hutchins
Project: “Seasonal Variability in Toxic Algal Blooms: A Comparative Analysis of Fall and Spring Events and their Susceptibility to Climate Change”
Catherine Odendahl
Earth Sciences
Advisors: Seth John
Project: “Modeling the Impact of Iron Regeneration Dynamics on Carbon Sequestration During Ocean Fertilization”
Tyeshia Sapp
Chemistry
Advisor: Megan Fieser
Project: “Gaining Value from Waste Poly(Vinyl Chloride) with Silylium Ions”
Kimberly Schoenberger
Biological Sciences
Advisor: Suzanne Edmands
Project: “Gene expression and disease susceptibility of the Channel Island fox”
Priyanka Soni
Earth Sciences
Advisor: David Bottjer
Project: “Forecasting Future Mollusk Invasions: Insights from late Pleistocene Community Dynamics in Southern California”
Zohaib Suhail
Chemistry
Advisor: G. K. Surya Prakash
Project: “An Integrated Methanol Fuel Cell Process for Green Hydrogen Production with a Commercial Heterogenous Catalyst”
Bernadeth Tolentino
Biological Sciences
Advisor: Sergey Nuzhdin
Project: “Enhancing Thermal Tolerance of Giant Kelp with Bacterial Inoculation”
Jason Vu
American Studies and Ethnicity
Advisor: Adrian De Leon
Project: “Afterliving: Development in the Ruins of Vietnam”
Previous Graduate Fellows
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Zak Breckenridge
Wrigley Institute Fellow
English
Advisor: Devin Griffiths
Project: Pedagogies of Wonder: Ecology, Aesthetics, and Modern Conservation
Yan Yin “Jenny” Cheung
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Laura Melissa Guzman
Project: Connecting ecological theory to observational biodiversity data: How does ecosystem stability change across space and time?
Blog: Unraveling the Mysteries of Biodiversity: My Journey into Metacommunity Theory
Maggie Davis
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Sociology
Advisor: Andrew Lakoff
Project: Tracing Contours of Risk: Environment and Economy in Appalachia’s Natural Gas Extraction Landscape
Jacob Denova
Bertics Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Suzanne Edmands
Project: Does exposure to sublethal heat and salinity stress increase thermal tolerance in a dynamic environment?
Blog: Feelin’ hot hot hot… How zooplankton survive increasing temperatures
Daria Di Blasi
Bertics Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Jed Fuhrman
Project: Exploring the Marine RNA Virosphere and its Potential Role in Carbon Flux
Blog: RNA Viruses in the Ocean
Aidan Diamond
Sonosky Fellow
Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture
Advisor: Natania Meeker
Project: “For a Better Future”: Narrative and Hope at the End of the World
Maya Gomez
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Carly Kenkel
Project: Disentangling determinants of growth, calcification and branching in a stony coral
Jaden Morales
Wrigley Institute Fellow
American Studies and Ethnicity
Advisor: Juan De Lara
Project: Techno-Ecologies of Debt, Disaster, and Dispossession in Puerto Rico
Blog: Petro-States: Race, Fossil Fuels, and Disaster in Puerto Rico and Diaspora
The Struggle for Energy Sovereignty in Puerto Rico’s Gubernatorial Election (Op-ed)
Clarissa Olivar
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Travis J. Williams
Project: Converting Wind Turbine Waste into Pharmaceutically Relevant Molecules
Juliann Panehal
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Earth Sciences
Advisors: Jan Amend, Roman Barco
Project: Oil Spill Impacts on Marine Microbial Ecosystems in Southern California
Blog: Don’t be Crude – Oil Spill Impacts on Marine Microbial Ecosystems in Southern California
Juliana Pinillos
Sonosky Fellow
Economics
Advisor: Paulina Oliva
Project: The Impact of Slum Upgrading on Natural Disasters’ Vulnerability
Blog: The Long-Term Impact of Slum Upgrading on Vulnerability to Natural Disasters in Medellín
Amber Santoro
Sonosky Fellow
History
Advisor: Bill Deverell
Project: Environmental Racism, Displacement and Transportation in L.A.
Blog: Anti-Freeway Fervor in California: Can History Point Us in a More Equitable Direction?
Maxwell Shiller
Sonosky Fellow
Classics
Advisor: Christelle Fischer-Bovet
Project: The Rhodian Epicenter: Tracing Relationships between the Rhodian Earthquake (c. 227 BCE) and Hellenistic History
Blog: Ancient Energy: Earthquakes, Floods, and Food in the Hellenistic World
Rachel So
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Earth Sciences
Advisor: Sarah Feakins
Project: Temperature and hydroclimate change in Utah over glacial cycles of the last 200,000 years
Yeshvi Tomar
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Surya Prakash
Project: Improving upon iron electrodes for rechargeable alkaline batteries
Blog: Harnessing the Power of Iron: A Promising Future for Clean Energy Storage with Iron-Air Batteries
Guanyizhuo Yao
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Anthropology
Advisor: Nancy Lutkehaus
Project: Tar Pits and Time: Unveiling Los Angeles from the Depths of the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene
Blog: Oil, Mammoths, and Museums: Cross-Cultural Insights into Petroleum’s Legacy
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Teagan Baiotto
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine & Environmental Biology
Advisor: Laura Melissa Guzman
Project: “Modeling the role that rapid, adaptive evolution can play in conservation decision making under climate change”
Nancy Bush
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Megan Fieser
Project: “Understanding dechlorination of PVC plastic: applications to polymer upcycling”
Inessa Chandra
Bertics Fellow
Marine & Environmental Biology
Advisors: Andy Gracey, Sergey Nuzhdin
Project: “The extrinsic and intrinsic signals of aging in giant kelp”
Vanshika Fotedar
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Economics
Advisor: Paulina Oliva
Project: “Energy policy of states: A welfare analysis of preference”
Justin Gaffney
Bertics Fellow
Marine & Environmental Biology
Advisor: Jim Moffett
Project: “Sensing stress in seaweeds”
Kyla Kelly
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine & Environmental Biology
Advisor: Dave Hutchins
Project: “Identifying signs of light stress as a tool to survey marine ecosystem health in two globally important marine cyanobacteria”
Lauren Kelly
Wrigley Institute Fellow
History
Advisor: Bill Deverell
Project: “Troubled Waters: A Post-1930 Environmental History of the Owens Valley”
Charles Lehnen
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Biological Sciences, Anthropology
Advisor: Craig Stanford
Project: “Tortoise Terraforming: Can Introduced Galapagos Tortoises Restore Santa Fe Island’s Ecosystem?”
Gaea Morales
Sonosky Fellow
International Relations
Advisor: Wayne Sandholtz
Project: “Agents of Mass Construction: Cities Bridging Local and Global Environmental Governance”
Adib Mustofa
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine & Environmental Biology
Advisor: Carly Kenkel
Project: “Illuminating Genetic Population Structure and Symbiont Composition of Acropora millepora Coral in Indonesia”
Learn more about Adib’s research
Rice Rander
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Travis Williams
Project: “Sustainable Hydrogen and Fertilizer from Ethanol”
Obin Sturm
Sonosky Fellow
Earth Sciences
Advisor: Sam Silva
Project: “Data-driven discovery of symmetries and conserved properties in air quality models”
Leah Tieger
Sonosky Fellow
English
Advisor: David St. John
Project: “Rain, Wind, Wildfire Ash: The Santa Susana Field Lab and Community Risk Perceptions”
Ann Tran
Sonosky Fellow
American Studies
Advisor: George Sanchez
Project: “The Ocean Remembers: A Transpacific History of the Fishing Boat”
Rucha Wani
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Earth Sciences
Advisor: Will Berelson
Project: “The Fate of Marine Particles during Carbon Sequestration”
Aviva Wolf-Jacobs
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Spatial Sciences
Advisor: John Wilson
Project: “Scoring the Cooling Potential of Public Parks in Metropolitan Los Angeles: A Geospatial Analysis”
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Thabassum Ahammad
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Stephen Bradforth
Project: “Photocatalytic Systems for Generating Solar Fuels”
Melody Aleman
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Jed Fuhrman
Project: “Size Matters: Exploring the potential contribution of marine particles to total virus production”
Inessa Chandra
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Andy Gracey
Project: “Time to Dive into Kelp” (Kelp circadian rhythms)
Yema Conteh
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Psychology
Advisor: Wändi Bruine de Bruin
Project: “Los Angeles County Residents’ Experience with Extreme Heat and Climate Change Concern”
Ran Duan
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Dave Hutchins
Project: “Long-term physiological and transcriptomic adaption of marine cyanobacterium Crocosphaera watsonii to iron limitation and ocean warming.”
Lanja Karadaghi
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Richard Brutchey
Project: “Recycling Ionic Liquids for Sustainable Manufacturing of Nanomaterials”
Lauren Kelly
Wrigley Institute Fellow
History
Advisor: Bill Deverell
Project: “Imperiled Landscapes: The History of Environmental Harm and Advocacy in the Owens Valley”
CJ Koch
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: GK Surya Prakash
Project: “Integrated Carbon Capture and Conversion to Renewable Fuels and Feedstocks with Heterogeneous Catalysts”
Sophia Kosloski
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Megan Fieser
Project: “Designing Rare Earth Metal Catalysts for the Synthesis of Recyclable Rubbers”
Lauren Lutzke
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Psychology
Advisor: Joe Árvai
Project: “Fake news interventions: Can inducing certain emotions reduce one’s likelihood of spreading misinformation about climate change online?”
Daniel Olivares-Zambrano
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Carly Kenkel
Project: “Fine scale genetic differentiation in Breviolum muscatenei endosymbionts of Anthopleura spp. along the intertidal”
Danny Osorio
Wrigley Institute Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Laura Gomez-Consarnau
Project: “Sun loving bacteria in the ocean-air interphase”
Maria Ruggeri
Bertics Fellow
Marine and Environmental Biology
Advisor: Carly Kenkel
Project: “Thermal variability and symbiosis in the intertidal – How anemones and their algal partners deal with extreme environments”
Adam Samuel
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Smaranda Marinescu
Project: “Closing the Carbon Cycle: Renewably Converting CO2 for Energy Storage”
Sara Spears
Sonosky Fellow
Chemistry
Advisor: Sri Narayan
Project: “Iron Electrodeposition from an Aqueous Sulfate Bath”
Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellows are generously funded through the USC Dornsife Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellowship, the Victoria J. Bertics Graduate Fellowship Fund, and the Diane Sonosky Montgomery and Jerol Sonosky Graduate Fellowship for Environmental Sustainability Research.