Our First Graduate Research Fellow: Miriam Boucher
The Nemours Graduate Research Fellowship Program was officially launched in 2024. This program is designed to help support and develop the next generation of conservation professionals and to produce actionable conservation solutions based on sound science. Open to graduate-level students (M.Sc. and Ph.D.), the program invites proposals that align with Nemours Wildlife Foundation’s mission and answer meaningful questions addressing the most pressing environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.
Our first Fellow, Miriam Boucher, began collecting data at Nemours (and throughout the southeast) in 2023 and she became our first Fellowship recipient in 2024. Miriam is pursuing her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Dr. Jim Anderson at Clemson University’s Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science and her dissertation focuses on investigating the diets of American alligators and on the prevalence of contaminants such as microplastics and PFAS (so called “forever chemicals”) that accumulate in the tissues of these apex predators. Because people are also apex predators (and some people eat alligators!) her research has important implications not only for ecology, but for human health as well. We’re proud to support Miriam’s groundbreaking work and excited to see the impact her research will have on conservation science in the ACE Basin and beyond. Stay tuned as the second cohort of Nemours Graduate Research Fellows will be announced soon!
Support for the Graduate Research Fellowship program is provided through the generosity of our donors. If you’d like to support this or any of our other programs, please consider donating today. Every contribution helps us invest in young scientists and future leaders like Miriam, and your supports helps ensure a healthier tomorrow for wildlife and people alike.
