Awards and Achievements

2020
  • National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) 2020 Conference Travel Scholarship

The NARST International Committee offered travel scholarships to support the travel of Ph.D. students and early-career scholars within six years of completion of their Ph.D. to travel to the 2020 NARST Annual International Conference to be held March 15 – 18, 2020, in Portland. I was one of the recipients of the Travel Scholarship.

2019
  • Nomination for the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Prize, Syracuse University

After my defense, the dissertation committee members voted unanimously to nominate my dissertation for the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Prize.

Women in Science and Engineering Future Professionals Program is a two-year professional development and academic support program that encourages and supports women pursuing careers in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering to persist in their degree program at Syracuse University and to thrive professionally. WiSE-FPP facilitates masters and doctoral student career development, planning, and preparation, as well as addresses academic and career resilience, productivity, and key success factors of professional women.

Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) provides a tangible form of recognition to the Future Professoriate Program (FPP) participants who pursue a program of professional development that demonstrates readiness to assume faculty responsibilities in higher education. The CUT is awarded jointly by the Graduate School and the student’s academic department.

The institute is sponsored by NARST (National Association for Research in Science Teaching), a worldwide organization of professionals committed to the improvement of science teaching and learning through research. The Institute brings doctoral students together to enrich the work of the doctoral students through challenging discussions and group work designed to broaden students’ doctoral studies by critiquing and strengthening their research studies.

The purpose of this grant is to support SOE graduate students’ research and/or creative projects. The primary purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the outcomes of first-year students’ research experience. The study also examines whether or not the role of first-year students’ research participation in the student engagement behaviors varied by gender,
race/ethnicity, and first-generation college student status.

  • Summer Dissertation Fellowship, Syracuse University

The Graduate School provided a summer dissertation fellowship of $4,000 to a selected group of doctoral students to facilitate progress towards completion of the dissertation.

  • Travel Award, Graduate Students Organization (GSO), Syracuse University
  • Travel Award, School of Education, Syracuse University

I have received the travel awards to attend the National Association for Science Teaching Annual Conference in Baltimore, VT.

2018

The Middle Eastern Studies Program granted awards to Ph.D. and M.A. candidates from any discipline to support field research in the Middle East during the summer of 2018. My study focused on to explore how students’ epistemological beliefs relate to their climate change and evolution acceptance among a sample of college students in a Middle Eastern Society, Turkey. I conducted my study with 103 college biology students at a research-intensive public university in Turkey.  I had presented the findings at the Association for Science Teacher Education Conference in Burlington, VT.

The purpose of this grant is to support SOE graduate students’ research and/or creative projects. The main purpose of my study was to investigate whether and to what degree do undergraduate students who read an IPCC (2014) future climate scenarios attain greater understanding and plausibility perceptions of climate change and have higher support on climate policy proposals.

The Outstanding TA Award recognizes Teaching Assistants who have made distinguished contributions to Syracuse University by demonstrating excellence in significant instructional capacities, such as classroom teaching, laboratory or studio instruction, leading recitation or discussion sections, or assisting senior faculty members with high-enrollment courses. I was nominated by Dr. John Tillotson.

The Initiative accepts small groups of 2-5 advanced doctoral students in science education each year, led by one or more faculty members who agree to facilitate and support the process for their group. I participated in this initiative with the guidance of my mentor Dr. Tillotson. It was a great experience to be able to review a manuscript that was submitted to JRST, receive the official reviews and decision letter, and compare my reviews with the actual reviewers.

2017

The School of Education has received over $1 million in support from the Himan Brown Trust to provide scholarships for students interested in going abroad through the Himan Brown Fellowship. I was one of the recipients of the fellowship in 2017. With this fellowship, I went to Cuba to explore Cuban culture through education. Please click here to read more about my reflection on my experience in Cuba.

  • Travel Award, Graduate Students Organization (GSO), Syracuse University
  • Travel Award, School of Education, Syracuse University

I have received the travel awards to attend the National Association for Science Teaching Annual Conference in San Antonio, TX.