Briante Najev, a first-year graduate student in the University of Iowa's Department of Biology, won a European Society for Evolutionary Biology Outreach Fund grant to create outreach activities explaining climate issues. With the award, Najev will lead an activity, called EcoStax, with people across eastern Iowa, particularly Muscatine and Davenport. In this activity, which was created by the National Center for Science Education, participants build an ecosystem, then try to keep it stable under the duress of climate change, helping to make climate issues local and personal.

Ninety University of Iowa student-athletes have been named Big Ten Conference Distinguished Scholars. Among the Iowa honorees, 29 maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average during the 2019-20 academic year.

Two current graduate students, two incoming graduate students and three undergraduates have been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to support their graduate studies. The award provides the students with three years of financial support ($34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution) for graduate study that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree in chemistry, computer & information sciences, engineering, geosciences, life sciences, materials research, mathematical sciences, physics & astronomy, psychology, social sciences, and STEM education & learning research.

A record 21 University of Iowa students and alumni from a range of creative, academic, and scientific fields have been chosen from among more than 10,000 students nationally to receive a prestigious Fulbright award to conduct research, teach English, or undertake creative projects abroad in 2020-21. For the past year, these Fulbright finalists have been encouraged by advisors, nominated by professors, and supported by those who have witnessed their academic dedication and service to the community to take a crucial step forward in applying to represent their country as citizen ambassadors. "Our 21 finalists and 11 alternates this year have undergone a rigorous selection process," says UI Fulbright faculty mentor Kathleen Newman. "We congratulate them and we wish them well as they begin their work abroad as researchers or English teaching assistants. This is a wonderful opportunity to make international connections and to learn to see the world from another culture's perspective."

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) has awarded 12 doctoral candidates with CLAS Dissertation Writing Fellowships. CLAS Dissertation Writing Fellowships provide recipients with a fellowship of $13,750 to support work on the final stages of their dissertations.

Eighty-seven University of Iowa student-athletes have been named to the 2019 Big Ten Fall Academic All-Conference team. The list includes student-athletes from football (31), women's soccer (19), women's cross country (16), field hockey (11), men's cross country (7), and volleyball (3).

Jane Huffman, a 2019 graduate of the University of Iowa, was one of five winners of the 2019 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships awarded annually by the Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine. The fellowship program is in its 30th years and has honored 89 writers since its creation in 1989. Each poet receives a $25,800 prize, making the felllowship among the largest and most prestigious awards available for young poets in the United States.

Nicole Hehr, who initially was named alternates to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, was awarded a grant in June, bringing the UI's total number of awardees to a record-setting 19. Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants are provided to selected students to conduct research, attend graduate school, undertake creative projects, or serve as English teaching assistants abroad in 2019-20, with an additional two students selected as alternates. This year, Iowa had the largest-ever number of applicants, with a total of 47 students completing the rigorous application and interview process. A record number of 32 semifinalists were selected to compete in the second round of the competition.

Allexis Mahanna, a UI senior majoring in global health studies, won the inaugural Undergraduate Library Research Award (ULRA) offered by the University of Iowa Libraries. Mahanna was selected from a competitive pool of undergraduate researchers who applied for the award and presented their work at the University of Iowa's Fall Undergraduate Research Festival in November. Mahanna's research focuses on the differences in migration policies between the autonomous community of Catalonia and the local municipality of Barcelona, Spain. She evaluated the local migration policies of Barcelona through a case study framework analyzing country-wide policies and community perceptions of migrants.

Maria Bascom, who initially was named alternates to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, was awarded a grant in June, bringing the UI's total number of awardees to a record-setting 19. Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants are provided to selected students to conduct research, attend graduate school, undertake creative projects, or serve as English teaching assistants abroad in 2019-20, with an additional two students selected as alternates. This year, Iowa had the largest-ever number of applicants, with a total of 47 students completing the rigorous application and interview process. A record number of 32 semifinalists were selected to compete in the second round of the competition.

Graduates with honors and distinctions

Ballard and Seashore Fellowships are intended to help students in the social sciences and humanities complete their dissertations

The Council of Graduate Schools/University Microfilms International Distinguished Dissertation Award is the nation's most prestigious honor for doctoral dissertations.

Award given to a UI senior in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences who shows a high academic record and evidence of school and/or civic leadership.

The winners of this award will receive $1,000 and will complete an undergraduate research project, honors thesis course, guided independent study project, or a capstone course during the Spring 2014 semester.