Jessica Grifaldo (Life Sciences), a first-generation Latina graduate student, was awarded a National Science Foundation - Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP). Grifaldo and her mentor Eduardo Robleto will study how bacterial cells control the expression of genes conferring the ability to swim, an adaptive behavior to escape environmental stress, and promote microbiology research, particularly the one conducted by minoritized scientists.  The award is for five years and pays $59,000/year per fellow for three years ($37,000/year stipend and $12,000 in educational expenses). Grifaldo is the second graduate student in the Robleto lab to receive an NSF-GRFP award and the eighth at UNLV.