UNE graduate Katelyn DeWater claims prestigious NSF graduate research fellowship

Goldwater Scholar Katelyn DeWater, B.S. ’25 (Marine Sciences), has received a $159,000 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, one of the largest awards an undergraduate can win for their research in the United States.

DeWater of Livonia, New York, was one of just 1,500 students honored — an elite pool of applicants that included both graduate and doctorate students, said Will Kochtitzky, Ph.D., DeWater’s advisor and an assistant professor of geographic information systems (GIS) in the University of New England’s School of Marine and Environmental Programs.

NSF Research Fellows comprised students from universities across the country, including Ivy League schools and R1 universities, and DeWater’s selection is a testament to the UNE education she embraced, Kochtitzky said.

At UNE, DeWater was a two-time first author of published research as well as winner of the 2025 Jacques Downs Award, an honor bestowed upon the most accomplished graduating senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Katie’s work shows we are among the top universities in the country; it shows you can do anything if you come to UNE,” Kochtitzky said. “We have one of the top 10 marine biology programs in the country, and our students go on to do everything. It shows if you’re motivated, you can do anything with a UNE education and be the best in the world.”

DeWater will use the research grant to pursue a Ph.D. in ocean sciences at the University of Miami using satellites to better understand the ocean, work she began at UNE. DeWater also hopes to continue studying vulnerable sections of the Maine coastline, research she conducted at UNE and described in her published papers.

In November 2024, DeWater published a paper on sea-level rise and erosion on coastal archaeological sites in Downeast Maine in the journal North American Archaeologist. Then, in February, DeWater’s paper on the need for restoration efforts in salt marshes was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. She has a third paper currently in review on the January 2024 storms that decimated Maine’s coast.

“All the research I did at UNE I think really speaks to the University itself and what students are capable of, what (UNE) allowed me to do, and how Will helped as my mentor,” DeWater said. “Everything I did was because of him as he guided me through the process of publication and applying for those scholarships. I wouldn’t have gone to any other school anywhere.”

Kochtitzky praised DeWater’s work ethic and passion for research that aims to improve planetary health in Maine and beyond.

“(Katie) graduated in three years and has been really efficient, productive, and amazing,” Kochtitzky said. “She performed exceptionally in the classroom and volunteered in the community. She is exactly what NSF wants to fund in terms of doing transformative science and helping the economy of the United States.”