Scholarly pursuits: Research fellow

​Central Michigan University senior Lillian Hendrick has been named a recipient of The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

​Maureen Harke, coordinator of the National Scholarship Program, said the highly competitive fellowship award provides recipients a three-year annual stipend of $34,000, along with a $12,000 allowance for tuition and fees at the student’s institution of choice. It also provides opportunities for scholars to conduct international research and participate in professional development programs.

​Hendrick, a biology major from Freeland, Michigan, is a McNair Scholar and member of the Honors Program. She began participating in undergraduate research at CMU in her first semester on campus. She worked with biology faculty member Anna Monfils to research endangered butterfly species and with Kirsten Nicholson, curator of natural history at the CMU Museum of Cultural and Natural History, on a museum methods project.

​“Conducting research has been one of my favorite things at Central, and through it I have grown immensely as a scholar and as a person,” Hendrick said.

​Hendrick has presented her work at local, national and international conferences. She plans to use the fellowship award to continue the research she began at CMU — using museum collections to study the evolution and conservation of endangered butterflies.