1. Kansas State University
  2. »Division of Communications and Marketing
  3. »K-State Today
  4. »Biology postdoctoral researcher receives AAUW fellowship

K-State Today

October 5, 2022

Biology postdoctoral researcher receives AAUW fellowship

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Nikole "Koley" Freeman, a postdoctoral researcher in the Division of Biology, is the recipient of the American Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship from the American Association of University Women, or AAUW. 

Recipients will pursue academic work and lead innovative community projects to empower women and girls.

Freeman is working with Alice Boyle, associate professor of biology, and Trevor Hefley, associate professor of statistics, to understand how wild birds are responding to storms and shifting weather patterns.

"I am interested in how the body composition, for example, fat stores and muscle mass, reproductive success and population growth of grasshopper sparrows, a species of small songbird that inhabits the Konza Prairie, are impacted by severe weather," Freeman said. 

AAUW is one of the world's oldest leading supporters of graduate women's education. Since 1888, it has awarded more than $135 million in fellowships, grants and awards to 13,000 women from 150 countries. For the 2022–23 academic year, AAUW has awarded an unprecedented $6 million through its fellowships and grants programs to 320 scholars and community projects that promote education and equity for women and girls