Achievement

EIGER trainee Rebecca French has been selected by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors to be the university’s graduate student representative on the Board for the academic year 2009-2010. This is an extraordinary achievement considering that each year the Board of Visitors, the highest governing body at Virginia Tech with standing members appointed by the Governor of Virginia, only selects one graduate student for this position among approximately 4,500 in residence. Ms. French, with a B.S. degree in chemistry from Oberlin College and a M.S. degree in environmental science from Cornell University, is a second year Ph.D. candidate in the Hochella group. She has won many awards and honors in her career to date, in both science and service. Her goal is to gain her Ph.D. in interdisciplinary environmental nanogeoscience, and to work in the field of science policy and eventually science administration.