Charlie C. Nicholson, 26, poses Wednesday in front of a diagram that charts his and other UVM graduate students’ research in the Gund Institute office of his adviser, Taylor Ricketts.On Tuesday, Nicholson discovered he had been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to further his work on native bee pollination of blueberry flowers. (Photo: JOEL BANNER BAIRD/FREE PRESS) 
 
 BURLINGTON, Vt. — You'd think a message from the National Science Foundation could manage to outwit an email spam folder. 
 
 Not this time. 
 
 On Tuesday, the federal agency's announcement of a prestigious research award joined reams of overlooked get-rich-quick schemes in University of Vermont grad student Charlie C. Nicholson's account. 
 
 "I got a text from a friend while I was having my morning coffee," Nicholson said Wednesday. "He said if my middle name was Casey, I'd just won an NSF grant. 
 
 "It was a moment of shock, hope and definitely skepticism," he continued. "So I did something I never do — which is check in spam." 
 
 The news was good indeed, and genuine. 
 
 Nicholson had landed more than $100,000 to support his research in native bees' pollination of blueberry crops. 
 
 "It's huge honor," he said. "I feel more like a real member of the American scientific community. 
 
 "It's also a level of economic security I've never experienced before. It's a pay bump. I'll be eating less pizza," he added. 
 
 Charlie C. Nicholson nets pollinators on a Chittenden County blueberry farm, summer 2013. (Photo: Courtesy UVM Ricketts Lab) 
 
 Nicholson, 26, is two years into a doctoral degree in natural resources management at UVM's Rubenstein School. 
 
 His work has revolved around this fundamental question: How can berry farmers in the region maintain a healthy, diverse habitat for our many species of native bees? 
 
 Why it's important: Local bees have evolved in concert with blueberries; they expertly navigate and dislodge pollen from blossoms through wing-vibration. 
 
 Honeybees (none of them native to North America) just aren't cut out to "buzz-pollinate" those plants, Nicholson said. 
 
 Tuning in to native bees' needs for forage, nesting and shelter, he added, might help expand our appreciation of the broader benefits of biodiversity. 
 
 "I think we can do a much better job of supporting species other than ourselves," Nicholson said. 
 
 The grant funds three more years of research — in the blueberry patches of Chittenden and Addison counties and less glamorously, in campus laboratories, crunching data and sniffing out patterns that might turn out to be useful. 
 
 Nicholas credits his adviser, Taylor Ricketts, with the project's momentum. 
 
 Charlie C. Nicholson evaluates Champlain Valley pollinator habitat, summer 2014. (Photo: Courtesy UVM Ricketts Lab) 
 
 "He's the reason why I'm here," Nicholson said of Ricketts, a professor and director of UVM's Gund Institute of Ecological Economics. 
 
 Farmers in the Champlain Valley have further enriched the research by heightening his appreciation of complex landscapes — and, in season, with easy access to fresh fruit. 
 
 In Ricketts' office at the Gund, Nicholson took a break between classes. He eyed a chart of his progress and that of other graduate students. 
 
 He predicted no change of plans in the aftermath of the grant award, but a boost forward. 
 
 Speaking of pleasant surprises: Soon after receiving his good news Tuesday, Nicholson checked the NSF website. 
 
 He discovered that his friend and colleague at UVM, biology grad student Samantha Alger, had likewise received a generous research grant. 
 
 Nicholas texted her — catching her, it turns out, completely by surprise. 
 
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 News Release 15-030 
 
 NSF awards 2015 Graduate Research Fellowships This year's Fellows are diverse in terms of backgrounds and areas of study 
 
 
 
 Edith Nagy is pursuing a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Florida Atlantic University. 
 
 Credit and Larger Version 
 
 March 31, 2015 
 
 The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced this year's recipients of Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF). NSF awarded the GRF to 2,000 individuals from among 16,500 applicants in 2015. Awardees represent a diverse group of scientific disciplines and come from all states, as well as the District of Columbia, and commonwealths and territories of the United States. They are also a diverse group of individuals. Among the 2,000 awardees, 1,053 are women, 494 are from underrepresented minority groups, 43 are persons with disabilities, and 31 are veterans. The 2015 class of Graduate Fellows comes from 456 baccalaureate institutions, 72 more than in 2010, when GRFP began awarding 2,000 fellowships each year. Since 1952, NSF has provided fellowships to individuals selected early in their graduate careers based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is a critical program in NSF's overall strategy to develop the globally-engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation's leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation. A high priority for NSF and GRFP is increasing the diversity of the science and engineering workforce, including geographic distribution and the participation of women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans. With its emphasis on support of individuals, GRFP offers fellowship awards directly to graduate students selected through a national competition. The GRFP provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period ($34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution) for graduate study that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree in science or engineering. Fellows may also be eligible for access to cyberinfrastructure resources through the NSF supported Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and for Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED). In addition, Fellows have opportunities for international research collaborations through the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) initiative and professional career development with federal internships provided through the Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP). GRFP also supports NSF's Career-Life Balance (CLB) Initiative. CLB supplemental funding may be awarded to sustain the research of active NSF Graduate Research Fellows who have been granted an NSF-approved medical deferral for dependent-care (family leave) situations. Former NSF Fellows include numerous individuals who have made transformative breakthroughs in science and engineering, become leaders in their chosen careers, and been honored as Nobel laureates. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents and are selected through the NSF peer review process. A complete list of those offered this fellowship for 2015 is available on the NSF website. For general information about the program, go to nsfgrfp.org. -NSF- Media Contacts 
 
 Maria C. Zacharias, NSF, (703) 292-8454, mzachari@nsf.gov 
 
 The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2017, its budget is $7.5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards. Get News Updates by Email Useful NSF Web Sites: 
 
 NSF Home Page: https://www.nsf.gov 
 
 NSF News: https://www.nsf.gov/news/ 
 
 For the News Media: https://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp 
 
 Science and Engineering Statistics: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ 
 
 Awards Searches: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
– Maybe you should open up that next "Lucky Winner!" email you get and not automatically dump it in the trash. Because for University of Vermont researcher Charlie C. Nicholson, his spam folder turned out to hold more than the usual dream-job and porn messages. On Tuesday, the National Science Foundation announced its annual divvying-up of graduate research grants worth nearly $140,000 each, and it turns out the 26-year-old doctoral student was one of the recipients—except he had no clue, because the email from the NSF had gone right to spam, the Burlington Free Press reports. "I started getting cryptic texts from friends," Nicholson says, per a UVM press release. "At first, I had no clue what they were talking about. Then a friend who didn't know my middle name texted: 'If your full name is Charles Casey Nicholson, you just won an NSF [grant]." It is, and he had. Nicholson checked his spam folder and there was the cheerful NSF missive announcing his award. The money—about $100,000 to him, $36,000 as an allowance to the school—will go toward three more years of his project studying the pollination of blueberry crops by native bees, the Press notes. He'll also be able to have a real meal now and then. "It's a pay bump. I'll be eating less pizza," he tells the paper. And the good luck keeps on buzzing: While he was on the NSF website, he noticed that his friend and UVM colleague Samantha Alger had won some cash of her own. He was the one who texted her to fill her in, per the Press. (Read another wild email story involving a smuggled cellphone and an "ingenious" scheme.)