A rising junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has won an Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Srishti Dasarathy, daughter of Hema Dasarathy and Dasarathy Raghavan of Apex, will receive up to $16,000 in academic assistance — $8,000 for her junior year and $8,000 for her senior year.
The Hollings scholarship program also provides a 10-week paid summer internship at NOAA or a partner facility. The awards are designed to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, boost public understanding and support for stewardship of the ocean and atmosphere and improve environmental literacy.
Dasarathy is pursuing a bachelor of science degree with a major in biology and minors in chemistry and marine science, all in the College of Arts and Sciences. At UNC, she has been an undergraduate researcher for Andreas Teske, professor of marine sciences, studying microbial diversity in subsurface sediment of Guaymas Basin, a unique hydrothermal vent site located at a depth of 2,000 meters in the Gulf of California. She also did an individual research project with Barbara MacGregor, assistant professor of marine sciences, in identifying microbial communities in Gulf of Mexico cold seeps. She has published an abstract in the American Society for Microbiology and has an upcoming paper on microbial diversity in Guaymas Basin.
The Hollings scholarships are named in honor of Ernest F. Hollings, a former U.S. senator from South Carolina. Dasarathy is the 13th UNC student to receive a Hollings NOAA Scholarship.
