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ESA 2025 Graduate Student Policy Award Cohort Named

Posted on March 06, 2025 by Public Affairs, The Ecological Society of America (ESA)

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The Ecological Society of America is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award (GSPA). Students in the 2025 cohort are engaged in advocacy with an interest in science policy. Awardees will travel to Washington, D.C., for policy, communication and career training followed by meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

"Kudos to these ten outstanding graduate students and scientists in training," said ESA President Stephanie Hampton. "Their dedication to science policy is essential for bridging research and decision-making. By engaging with policymakers, they will help ensure that ecological science informs solutions to today's most pressing challenges."

This year 10 students received the 2025 GSPA award: Claire Bandet (University of Pennsylvania), Sarah A. Cuprewich (Dartmouth College), Chichedo I. Duru (Morgan State University), Raymond Erskine (Clemson University), Olufemi E. Fatunsin (Alabama A&M University), Pa-Shun Hawkins (University of California, Los Angeles), Katherina Autumn Kang (University of Delaware), Eva Legge (Syracuse University), Advyth Ramachandran (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Alison J. Robey (Yale University).

Contact: Alison Mize, (202) 833-8773 x224, alison@esa.org

Entire article available here. 

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Sarah A. Cuprewich is a Ph.D. candidate in the Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society Graduate Program at Dartmouth College. She studies how soil fungi support various critical ecosystem functions; her current projects include examining small mammals' contributions to the dispersal of soil fungi across the U.S., measuring fungal biodiversity in Greenland soils and studying soil fungi of Boston community gardens. Cuprewich is committed to practicing fair and ethical ecology, advocating for diverse identities and experiences in science and fostering inclusion in academia. A former graduate fellow on the NSF-funded Joint Science Education Project, she developed an interest in science policy and diplomacy while teaching, mentoring and conducting research with students and teachers from the U.S., Denmark and Greenland. Cuprewich serves as the ESA Microbial Ecology Section student representative. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Vermont and an M.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources from Purdue University.