Simons Foundation Announces First Class of Graduate Fellows in Ecology and Evolution

Written by Cally Schneider November 12, 2026

The fellowships support students entering U.S. Ph.D. programs who plan to conduct research in ecology and evolution.

Life Sciences

The Simons Foundation welcomes its first class of Simons Graduate Fellows in Ecology and Evolution, consisting of 58 incoming Ph.D. students representing 35 institutions across the United States.

The fellowship provides three years of support to students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs who plan to study ecology and evolution, particularly those interested in interdisciplinary research. The program also includes an annual retreat, giving fellows an opportunity to connect, exchange ideas and engage with other students across the country.

The fellows and their institutions are:

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Colton Adams

University of Michigan

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Monielle Alencar

Temple University

Zachary Bunch

Pennsylvania State University

Leo Camino

Duke University

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Lucas Carbajal

University of Miami

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Caspar Carson

New York University

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Finnian Cashel

University of Hawaii

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Melanie Cham

University of Washington

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Olivia Connor

University of California, Davis

Oliver Cope

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Eleanor Crotty

University of California, Santa Cruz

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Ashton Datko

Michigan State University

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Matthew Davidson

University of California, Irvine

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Sage Ellis

University of Wyoming

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Shahd ElNaggar

Stanford University

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Bo Feng

University of Texas at Austin

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Tessa Ferrari

University of Southern California

Julian Gallego

University of California, San Diego

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Andrés Garzón Agudelo

University of Washington

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Sam Gibbon

University of Chicago

Emma Glenn

Georgia Institute of Technology

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Julian Gottfried

Stanford University

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Weston Gray

University of Miami

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Naomi Greenberg

University of Pennsylvania

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Olivia Hamilton

Wake Forest University

Julianna Harden

Cornell University

Alexander Hochroth

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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Kees Hood

University of California, Berkeley

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Julian Jacobs

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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Ezekiel Johnson

California Institute of Technology

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Sam Johnson

Colorado State University

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Ethan Kahn

Yale University

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Laura Kauer Schuck

Pennsylvania State University

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Miranda Kubek

Indiana University

Paul Lee

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Shira Linsk

University of Chicago

Yanileth Lopez Tacoaman

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Edoardo Maria Manoni

Cornell University

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Laura Manrique Garzón

Pennsylvania State University

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Cory McKinstry

North Carolina State University

Angelina Mullarkey

University of California, Berkeley

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Adam Park

University of California, Los Angeles

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Katrina Pfennig

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

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Mira Polishook

Oregon State University

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Nicole Povelikin

Cornell University

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Beck Powers-McCormack

University of Washington

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Beatriz Prado Bastos Monteiro

University of Wyoming

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Molly Radosevich

Stanford University

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Julia Saltzman

University of Miami

Leah Samuels

University of Idaho

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Anisha Sapkota

University of Florida

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Zachary Shortt

Washington State University

Carina Terry

Brown University

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Charles Voirin

University of California, Berkeley

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Jocelyn Wang

Princeton University

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Carlie Widdison

Texas A&M University

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Jules Wyman

Washington University in St. Louis

Rui Yip

Stanford University

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