Graduate Scholars
The Buffett Early Childhood Institute offers fellowships for advanced doctoral students in the University of Nebraska System who conduct research concerning the development and education of young children, prenatal to 8 years old.
The program awards one-year fellowships worth up to $25,000 to a maximum of four NU doctoral students every year. The program seeks to support high-quality research from a variety of fields—including health, education, social work, music, art, psychology, the neurosciences, and others. Multidisciplinary research and new methodologies are encouraged.
Marisol Loza Hernandez
2026–27 Graduate Scholar
Marisol Loza Hernandez, of Michoacán, Mexico, is a student at the Integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her project involves establishing and evaluating a group training for Spanish-speaking caregivers working with young children with autism on everyday living skills. Her faculty mentor is Mary Halbur.
Rebecca Jack
2026-27 Graduate Scholar
Rebecca Jack, of Lincoln, Nebraska, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research examines how access to afterschool programs affects mothers’ ability to work, including their employment, earnings, and access to benefits. Her faculty mentor is Brenden Timpe.
Paige Wernick
2026–27 Graduate Scholar
Paige Wernick, of Bellevue, Nebraska, is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Her research examines how toddler teachers make in-the-moment decisions during classroom interactions, a process known as pedagogical reasoning, and how their knowledge and experiences guide those decisions. Her faculty mentor is Amy Napoli.
Past Graduate Scholars
