Second year graduate student Rachel Combs-Giroir was selected to receive a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship beginning in the fall of 2021. This prestigious fellowship will provide three years of financial support to Rachel as she pursues her PhD in Translational Plant Sciences at The Ohio State University. 

"This award will support me in conducting research on a biofuel cover crop called pennycress. Pennycress is a winter annual oilseed with extreme cold tolerance, allowing for off-season integration into corn and soybean fields. Once incorporated into the U.S. Midwest Corn Belt, pennycress could produce up to 3 billion gallons of seed oil and 20 million tons of seed meal annually for jet fuel and animal feed. Because the pennycress growth cycle occurs in the winter and spring months, fields are susceptible to flooded conditions from snow melt and heavy rainfall. This research will investigate the genetic response of pennycress to flooding to support the advancement of high-performing and resilient pennycress varieties." - Rachel Combs-Giroir