Unlike other fellowships, with its unique child support incentive, The Ralph M. Parsons Fellowship offers assistance to graduate students who have the responsibility of parenthood or did not enter graduate school immediately after receiving a bachelor’s degree. The unique aspect of this fellowship is that Parsons’ acknowledges that the age of graduate students acquiring a PhD is increasing and the role of family should not side track one’s academic career. “A lot of people who are entering the PhD program are in their late 20s, early 30s, or even older,” explains Parson’s awardee, Alisa Hove, ecology, evolutionary and marine biology PhD grad, “and the Parsons Fellowship helps contribute to the balance of family life and high academic achievements.”

Alisa is a mother of two young sons and she aspires to become a university professor after she completes her doctorate. Currently, Alisa’s research is focused on the evolutionary ecology of reproduction in flowering plants. Specifically, she studies the ecological processes facilitating a shift from outcrossing (when plants receive pollen transferred by animals or wind from other flowering individuals) to self-pollination (when individual flowers on a plant pollinate themselves). Working in collaboration with her major professor, Dr. Susan Mazer, Alisa is using four species in the California native wildflower genus, Clarkia (common name: farewell to spring), to examine the roles of abiotic and biotic ecological factors in promoting self-fertilization in both field and greenhouse populations.

After receiving her baccalaureate degree from UC Davis in biology with a concentration in evolution and ecology, Alisa earned her master’s degree at Humboldt State University where she continued studying pollination biology. Gaining teaching experience as a teaching assistant, Alisa became interested in becoming a university professor and joined the Humboldt State University faculty as a part-time lecturer. After completing her master’s degree and applying to doctoral programs, she decided to attend UCSB in 2006 because of the benefits offered by the Parsons Fellowship.

The difficulties associated with funding her graduate work, having her income reduced, and childcare expenses created an even greater incentive for Alisa to apply for the Parsons Fellowship. Fortunately, in addition to stipend and paid tuition, the Parsons Fellowship pays for childcare expenses for three years. Without the Parsons Fellowship, Alisa would have had to pay more for childcare than her rent. Alisa also received a student discount at the Orfalea Family Children, a daycare center on the UCSB campus. “With two kids, paying for childcare would have been very difficult. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity provided by Parsons to help with my childcare expenses. Just knowing that my kids are close by in a wonderful facility filled with caring and capable teachers here on campus helps me stay focused.”

Freed from TAing, Alisa was able to concentrate on conducting a pilot study in the greenhouse for two quarters and develop foundational ideas and methods to contribute to her dissertation. As a full-time graduate student and full-time mother, time was a valuable commodity. Time off from teaching allowed her to focus on and progress in her field work, all the while being a devoted mother to her family. Expressing gratitude for the Parsons Fellowship, Alisa explains that her position as a graduate student with children motivated her to represent graduate student families as the Graduate Student Association (GSA) representative on the UCSB’s Campus Childcare Advisory Committee. Given the opportunities and benefits she received through the Parsons Fellowship, Alisa says Parsons is a remarkable feature of UCSB that can be used to recruit competitive graduate students to this family-friendly campus.