Fargo, N.D. ––  NDSU senior Breanne Steffan received the prestigious Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the American Society of Microbiology. Steffan is a microbiology major from Fargo.

The fellowship is aimed at highly competitive students who want to pursue graduate careers in microbiology. Fellows have the opportunity to conduct full-time summer research at their institution with a society mentor and present their research results at the 113th General Meeting of the society in Denver, if their abstract is accepted.

Each fellow receives up to a $4,000 stipend, a two-year student membership to the society and funding for travel expenses to the Presentation Institute and General Meeting. This year, 122 applications were received and 56 were awarded.

Jane Schuh, assistant dean for academic programs and associate professor of veterinary and microbiological sciences, is Steffan’s research mentor. The title of their research project is “Antibody impact on allergic fungal asthma.”