Francisco Sarabia, a graduate student in the UGA Chemistry Department, was named a 2015 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship recipient in the area of sustainable chemistry. Francisco is currently a second year student under the direction of Professor Eric Ferreira, where he is investigating the design and application of light-activated catalysts based on earth-abundant metals. He is one of only eight graduate students at the University of Georgia who received the award. Francisco grew up in Southern California, and he did his undergraduate studies at the University of California Davis, where he received his B.S. degree in pharmaceutical chemistry in 2013. While there, he had multiple research experiences in both chemistry and biochemistry, including working with Prof. Jared Shaw on the syntheses of protein inhibitor analogs with potential antibacterial activity. He also participated in the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Study Abroad Program ata Academica Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Francisco began his graduate studies at Colorado State University and moved with Professor Ferreira to UGA in 2014. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program provides three years of financial support for graduate study that leads to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in science or engineering. This year, the NSF awarded 2,000 fellowships from among 16,500 applicants to the program. We congratulate Francisco on this prestigious honor!
