Emily Thomas ’09 Awarded NSF Fellowship

Emily Thomas was recently awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Award.  Initiated in 1952, the fellowship is annually awarded to approximately 2700 graduates who demonstrate potential to complete graduate degree programs and become future leaders in disciplines relevant to the NSF mission.  Receiving this award has been quite an honor for Emily.  

As a freshman, Emily had a broad interest in science, but was still undecided. She found ISAT to be the perfect fit for her – an innovative program that teaches science and technology by focusing on breadth and versatility.    Late in her freshman year, she discovered a love for environmental science.   She got involved with JMU Earth club and became active in the environmental movement on campus, helping to coordinate events like No Drive Day, Earth Week, and Festival Fest. 

Emily combined her environmental interests and her ISAT classes into a summer internship with the Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (CEES) under the leadership of five ISAT professors.  Along with other ISAT students, she was given a research outline, a laboratory, and a summer to research alternative fuels.  “It was by far the best job I’ve ever had.” 

While at JMU, Emily was also involved in the Society of Automotive Engineers.   The team built a number of automobiles including a mini baja offroading vehicle and a super mileage car.  This fueled her increased interest in alternative fuels and the role in today’s transportation.  Her senior project was a combination of her experience from the summer internship and other extracurricular work which focused on alternative fuels:  An Options Analysis of Transportation Fuels for Tangier Island, VA. 

She graduated from the Integrated Science and Technology Program in May 2009 with a dual concentration in Energy and Environmental Sustainability and is currently employed with DNV-Global Energy Concepts located in Seattle, WA where she is now gaining practical job experience in wind industry. She will begin to study civil and environmental engineering with a focus on transportation at University of California at Davis.