Two CAFNR students and one alumna have been named recipients of the 2026-2027 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).
Carissa Bersche, a senior biochemistry major, Allison Collier, a senior environmental sciences major, and Randi Noel, a December 2025 plant sciences alumna, received the prestigious honors.
The NSF GRFP supports outstanding students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, including STEM education. The fellowship is open to college seniors, baccalaureate holders and first-year graduate students.
Offer recipients were selected from a highly competitive pool of nearly 14,000 applicants nationwide, based on their intellectual merit and potential to contribute to scientific innovation. Recipients represent all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Bersche plans to attend graduate school and eventually pursue a PhD in plant molecular biology. During her time as an undergraduate, she has worked in a lab studying vesicular trafficking and plant immunity, which provides crucial information to understand disease resistance and crop yields.
Collier is interested in pursuing a career in meteorology or climatology, spending time as a climate science intern at Penn State University during summer 2025. She also spent two years as an environmental intern with the Missouri Department of Transportation, from 2023 to 2025.
Noel is currently pursuing a PhD in plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a first-generation graduate who spent her time at the University of Missouri as an undergraduate research intern. Noel worked with hazardous substances including radioactive isotopes, concentrated acids and flammable liquids. She received the MizzouForward Undergraduate Research Training Grant two years in a row.
GRFP has supported more than 70,000 graduate research fellows since 1952. The program has helped its grant recipients achieve scientific breakthroughs and economically significant innovations, with more than 40 former fellows having received Nobel Prizes.