Mellon Mays Fellowships at Dartmouth Have National Impact

Next year, Lizet Garcia '23, a geography major from Hawthorne, Calif., will be pursuing a PhD in geography in the City University of New York Graduate Center's department of earth and environmental studies. Garcia says that Warren and MMUF Associate Coordinator Sarah Chaney, a senior lecturer in the Institute of Writing and Rhetoric, provide invaluable advice on everything from developing a thesis to cultivating relationships with mentors.

The informal motto among Mellon Mays Fellows? "Trust Professor Warren," Garcia says.

"The biggest help was the guidance through applying to grad school and to fellowships," they say. "When I visited grad programs, I talked to students who didn't know that you should email professors and talk to current students prior to applying. Had I not been in Mellon, I wouldn't have known to build those connections."

Jimena Perez '23, a geography major from Lynwood, Calif., plans to pursue a PhD in geography at the University of California, Berkeley. She credits Mellon Mays with helping her develop a network of mentors.

"At the beginning of the program, we made a mentor map, and mine was very small—maybe a handful of people, family members, friends, and some faculty. Now it's grown to even include people from outside of Dartmouth," Perez says.

Garcia and Perez, along with Gabriel Gilbert '23, a Mellon Mays Fellow who plans to earn a PhD in linguistics at the University of Chicago, have each received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships to pursue graduate study.

Read the full article here.