Image: The Microbiology Department is pleased to announce that Kevin Riedmuller has been selected to receive the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing a research-based masters or doctoral degree. Kevin C. Riedmuller is a Microbiology doctoral student in Dr. Elizabeth Ottesen’s lab. He studies microbe-microbe interactions that drive gut microbiome composition and stability using a gnotobiotic cockroach model, Periplaneta americana. Kevin is from Southern New Jersey where he studied biology at Cumberland County College and Rowan University. Here he characterized Caulobacter crescentus bacteriophages from local freshwater lakes and studied the mechanism by which C. crescentus precipitates lead from its freshwater environment. Kevin is a passionate microbial ecologist and is considering careers in government or industrial settings where he can continue his exploration of complex microbial communities. As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Congratulations Kevin and Dr. Ottesen!
