A graduating Hope College senior and three recent Hope graduates have received fellowships through the prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Senior David Lunderberg of Grandville received a fellowship through the program, as did 2015 graduate Lisa McLellan, 2016 graduate Monica Ohnsorg and 2015 graduate Julia Slopsema.  McLellan had received honorable mention in both 2015 and 2016, and Ohnsorg had received honorable mention last year.

Hope students or graduates have received fellowships or honorable mention through the program every year for more than 20 years, and this is the 10th year in a row that multiple graduating seniors or recent alumni have been recognized.  The NSF awarded 2,000 of the fellowships nationwide this year, and recognized another 1,753 applicants with honorable mention.  There were more than 13,000 applicants.

The awards are for students pursuing a research-based master’s or doctoral degree in science or engineering.  The fellowships are for up to three years, and pay a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution.

Lunderberg is a chemistry major and mathematics minor who plans to pursue a doctorate in analytical chemistry and subsequently conduct research into systemic environmental problems and teach at the university level.  He has been conducting collaborative research while at Hope within the college’s nuclear group mentored by Dr. Paul DeYoung, who is the Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Physics, and Dr. Graham Peaslee, formerly of the chemistry and geology and environmental science faculty.

In 2015, Lunderberg received one of only 260 scholarships from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in support of study during his junior and senior years at Hope.  He also received a Beckman Scholars Program award from Hope to support his participation in research during the summers of 2015 and 2016 and the 2015-16 school year.

His activities as a student include the college’s varsity track and field team, which he is serving as captain during the current school year.  He spent the fall 2016 semester in Tunisia, taking coursework through SIT Study Abroad and conducting field research on the I-Watch organization, an anti-corruption NGO involved with the post-Arab Spring democratic transition in Tunisia.  He participated in the college’s Vienna Summer School in 2015.

Lunderberg is the son of Jon and Marla Lunderberg of Grandville, and a 2013 graduate of Grandville High School.

McLellan graduated from Hope with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.  She is pursuing graduate study in microbial biology at Washington University in St. Louis.  While at Hope, she conducted collaborative research with Dr. Aaron Best, who is the Harrison C. and Mary L. Visscher Associate Professor of Genetics, and former biology faculty member Dr. Aaron Putzke, as well as with Dr. Christina Stallings at Washington University.

Ohnsorg graduated from Hope with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. She is pursuing graduate study in macromolecular chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and nanochemistry at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.  While at Hope, she conducted collaborative research with Dr. Mary (Beth) Anderson, associate professor of chemistry and Towsley Research Scholar.

Slopsema graduated from Hope with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.  She is pursuing graduate study in biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.  While at Hope, she conducted collaborative research with Dr. Katharine Polasek, associate professor of engineering.