Ella Halbert '23 wins 2026 National Science Foundation Award

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Ella Halbert ’23, a PhD student at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Graduate Research Fellowship.

Since 1952, this fellowship program has supported individuals pursuing full-time, research-based masters and doctoral degrees in STEM fields. We asked Halbert a few questions about her studies.

What was your career path since graduating from Oberlin and where have you landed? 

Halbert: I jumped at the opportunity to join Dr. Claire Hemingway [of University of Tennessee, Knoxville] at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Gamboa, Panama. I was eager to return to fieldwork, and excited to use the Spanish skills I honed with my Hispanic Studies degree and grow my expertise in behavioral ecology.

I ended up choosing to work with neotropical bats because of the huge diversity of social structures and foraging strategies that exist among species. There are many opportunities to explore my interests in animal communication and cooperation within this system. Many animals are being forced to adapt to anthropogenic change, and my research will improve our understanding of how social information use among animals may serve as a buffer against environmental change. After being trained to catch and handle the bats, I quickly took over the behavioral experiments and led mist-netting trips into the forest with other members of the Gamboa Bat Lab.

Looking forward, I am hoping to continue field station-based research and collaborate with local and international scientists to better understand what ecological and evolutionary pressures drive cooperation across taxa. Being able to put my years of research training and language practice into action is an amazing feeling, and I hope to continue building relationships with scientists around the globe as I grow my scientific knowledge. 

How will you be using your NSF award?

The fellowship will support my research on the cultural evolution of novel foraging behaviors in neotropical bats at STRI. I'm planning to study seasonal variation in foraging behaviors as part of my dissertation research, and the award will afford me much more time and flexibility to do these experiments!

Who was your faculty mentor for research at Oberlin and what did you learn from them?

My research mentor at Oberlin was Emeritus Professor of Biology Mary Garvin. In addition to setting a great example of how to run a research lab, she inspired an appreciation in me for the complex and interconnected life cycles of parasites and their hosts. She also taught me to see the big picture and not get caught up on the small setbacks that are common in the research process and in life.

In addition to Halbert’s award, several Obies also received honorable mentions from the NSF this year: 

Amelia Lewis ’21

Caroline Blake Lee ’24

Jamie Talmor ’26

Tanisha Shende ’26

Visit Fellowships and Awards to discover the application support and resources available to you.