Cultivating STEM Leaders Through Fellowships

As part of our mission of inspiring the next-generation of science and technology leaders, we solicit feedback from our students to reinforce our successful strategies and identify opportunities for improvement.

Our 2022 summer fellows emphasized the importance of the mentor-fellow relationship and the benefits they received working on important research topics that impact society with some of the brightest minds in their fields. Our fellows appreciated the challenge of their scientific research projects and how they expanded their STEM knowledge, skills and abilities. They were universally grateful to the LLF donor community and LLNL for their fellowship opportunities. We would like to take a moment to share the impact these fellowships had on their future in STEM.

“This fellowship had a great impact on me. Previously, I had not recognized the potential STEM had in supporting underrepresented communities. Now, I wish to continue supporting and providing justice to those communities. I was given the opportunity to dream, learn, and contribute. I found weight in my own work that my success in my projects would benefit many. This feeling, I will never forget. I am now even more personally motivated to continue research and build on my experiences… I would like to thank all that have been involved in granting me this amazing opportunity to learn, contribute, and most importantly, dream.” Darren is now a graduate student at UC Merced.

“This fellowship was extremely important to me… and gave me the chance to work in the computer science field to gain experience in the workplace and to strengthen my technical skills… It was very eye-opening to be able to work on a project that had an impact greater than I had ever worked on, and to be able to contribute in advancements to our society.” Laurie has expressed a desire to mentor other young women who want to engage in the STEM community and to minimize the gender gap within STEM, especially in computer science.

“Working on a Carbon capture and storage project was in itself very challenging… the good supervision of my advisors and the teamwork facilitated the process. I got the opportunity to talk with other professionals in other fields and learn from their perspectives. The STEM speaker series was a great initiative for young and upcoming STEM professionals like me to learn from the experiences of pioneers… it also provided an opportunity for me to network with other interns who are equally working on other challenging projects and pushing the boundaries of science. I would always recommend LLF to anyone at any time.”

“The most unique part of my internship was getting to work closely with my mentor Jacky Lo… Not only did he impart scientific knowledge to me, but he also gave me life lessons that made me rethink how to market myself in jobs, interviews, and various other opportunities. This experience stimulated a deep love for working in the science field and working on impactful bioscience projects. I am significantly grateful and appreciative of LLF for this opportunity.”

“I had a great time learning and doing research this summer... the LLF fellowships are an incredible way to build professional mettle and improve anyone’s affinity towards research and the academic field. I'd gladly partake in an experience like this once again!” Levi credits his internship with bolstering his ability to conduct future research as a result of handling a large volume of information in his research project.

The Foundation remains committed to developing the next generation of STEM leaders by supporting scientific research fellowships in partnership with LLNL. These fellowships are making an impact and are highly valued by the students, exposing them to the vast societal impact of a career in STEM, and contributing to the nation’s critical STEM pipeline needed to solve issues of national and global importance.

The number of fellowships we offer each year varies, and depends on the availability of both LLNL mentors and the funds we raise from generous individual donors, many of whom are current or former Lab employees. We remain grateful to our generous donor community for making all of these STEM fellowship opportunities possible!

2022-23 LLF Fellows Home Universities

Feeling inspired? Support a STEM fellow today!