Jenna Bilbrey, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry at UGA, is the 2013 awardee of the Beverly Hirsh Frank Graduate Fellowship for Women in Science. This university-wide award is made to a single graduate student annually, and is meant “to recruit, support, and encourage exceptional graduate-level study and research in all fields of life and physical sciences with emphasis in interdisciplinary and emerging fields”. Jenna is pursuing her doctoral thesis research with both Professor Jason Locklin and Professor Wesley Allen. Consistent with expectations for Frank Fellowship nominees, her research is truly interdisciplinary, encompassing both experimental and computational/theoretical approaches to understanding metal-mediated cross-coupling reactions. Commenting on Jenna’s contributions since coming to UGA, Dr. Locklin said, “During that time she has devised and carried out her own research scheme involving a mixture of experimental and computational chemistry, bringing new and intriguing ideas not only to her own research, but to other student’s projects as well. These ideas have helped expand research in my lab to include many different areas of chemistry.” Jenna’s research efforts have resulted in several articles in first-tier, peer-reviewed chemistry journals, with others in the works, as well as a soon-to-be-published book chapter. Jenna is also active as a freelance writer, contributing many articles to Materials360 Online, sponsored by the Materials Research Society, highlighting recent advances in materials science research. She is also active in departmental and community activities focused on chemistry education and awareness. Jenna’s accomplishments and contributions are certainly worthy of recognition, according to her research advisors. Dr. Allen said, "It is a joy to work with Jenna; she is a most highly productive and exemplary graduate student, displaying an excellent vision for scientific research and the communication of it to broader audiences." These sentiments are echoed by Dr. Locklin, who said, “Jenna is one of the most creative students I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this fellowship.” Jenna earned her B.S. degree from the University of West Florida in 2009. There she performed polymer-related research with Professor Tim Royappa. After graduation, she accepted a staff research position at the University of California Santa Barbara with Professor Thuc-Quyen Nguyen where she studied conjugated polyelectrolytes and their use in LED devices. She joined the UGA chemistry department in the fall of 2010. Beverly Hirsh Frank earned her AB in 1954 from UGA, and was a well-known student leader, active in many campus activities. She enrolled in Radcliffe College in the Management Training Program after graduating from UGA. She is a staunch UGA advocate, as evidenced by her support of women in the sciences at UGA through this Fellowship.
