First Fellowship Award for the Fall Semester!

As we come back to campus, we have an exciting new opportunity. This semester, we congratulate Christobel Obi for being the first recipient of the Davis-Fitzwater PhD Fellowship. This fellowship not only gives her access to a significant endowment, it also grants her the opportunity to apply her research skills to real life problems.

With a cumulative GPA of 4.0 in Hydrogeology, Obi has refined her skills and worked on several research projects in both Illinois and Nigeria. Her current focus is on chemical pollutants in the groundwater. When applying for the program, Obi expressed how her drive to be in this fellowship is part of her goals to help people protect themselves from drinking water pollutants.

“I aspire to develop advanced remediation approaches that restore surface-groundwater quality and contribute to the resilience of affected communities,” Obi wrote. “My passion for Contaminant Hydrogeology is driven by a strong commitment to addressing groundwater contamination challenges, particularly in vulnerable communities.”

University Distinguished Scholar, Professor, Thomas Meixner Endowed Chair, and Associate Head Jennifer C. McIntosh has been a vocal advocate for Obi’s entry into the fellowship. She was excited to announce Obi’s research efforts will be part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research project on geologic sources of arsenic in groundwater and relation to gastric cancer risks across the Colorado Plateau.

“For the first time, we are working with public health colleagues,” McIntosh said. “To make predictions of arsenic contamination in drinking water and evaluate how communities might be at risk for potential health effects.” It is one of the main goals of the Fellowship program. To give research students the opportunity to use their skills to make the world a better place."

--- Quentin Sacco Agnello