Day: January 16, 2020

Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Spring 2020 Recipient – Hongmei Lu

Hongmei Lu
Environmental Policy

I am a Ph.D. candidate studying Environmental and Energy Policy in the Department of Social Sciences. I received my M.Sc. degree from Wageningen University, The Netherlands in Landscape Architecture & Planning. I started my Ph.D. program in Fall 2016 at MTU under the supervision of Dr. Audrey L. Mayer. My research interests include policy making and policy implementation pertaining to the urban environment, including green infrastructure, green stormwater management, municipal waste management, etc. My dissertation topic is “From Garden City to Sponge City: Urban green infrastructure policy development in China.”

I am very grateful to the Graduate School for the Finishing Fellowship support, which allows me to completely focus on my research at this final stage of my graduate studies. Thanks also to all the supports for my study from the Department of Social Sciences in the past four years.

Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Spring 2020 Recipient – Christina Welch

Christina Welch
Chemistry

I am a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the department of Chemistry. Briefly, my research focuses on the various roles glycans play in improve human health. Currently, we are using this knowledge to study the relationship between a well-known heart and cancer biomarker and its unconventional ligands. The exploration of this relationship has allowed us to develop a new protein and glycoprotein purification method, which was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. I am also working on a natural hemolysin that has therapeutic potential.

The years I’ve spent at Michigan Tech has been one of immense growth and development. I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Dr. Tarun Dam, for his unwavering encouragement and character. He has helped me to become a better researcher, mentor, and person. I would also like to thank the Chemistry department, the graduate school, and the finishing fellowship committee for supporting me. Last, I would like to personally thank Dr. Debra Charlesworth, Jacque Smith, and Prof. Pushpalatha Murthy for all of the encouragement they’ve offered during my time here.