CARTA Fellowship Program

History of the Annette Merle-Smith Fellowships and CARTA Fellowships in Anthropogeny

Graduate students complementing a traditional degree with a Specialization in Anthropogeny gain valuable training in transdisciplinary research spanning the sciences and humanities. Such skill and qualification greatly benefit students as they embark on future careers in both public and private sectors, where the ability to mediate between different types of knowledge bases is becoming increasingly important.

Annette Merle-Smith Fellowships

Established in 2015, thanks to a generous gift from late CARTA Major Sponsor, Annette Merle-Smith, this award is given to students who have performed at the highest level in the Graduate Specialization in Anthropogeny, a three-year program offered by the Faculty of Anthropogeny through CARTA to UC San Diego graduate students from a variety of participating UC San Diego Ph.D. programs. Students enrolled in the program are required to complete the curriculum of elective courses on Anthropogeny (explaining the origin of our species), participate in CARTA’s scientific symposia and ensuing discussions, network with researchers from around the world, and cross-train with peers from a variety of disciplines.

Annette Merle-Smith supported CARTA from the beginning, lending her generosity first to CARTA’s public symposia series, then to its Museum of Primatology (MOP), to support for the students of the Specialization Track in Anthropogeny, and most recently to the Matrix of Comparative Anthropogeny (MOCA). Of all these projects, Annette remarked that she was particularly pleased to support the graduate students in the Anthropogeny program, knowing the value and impact this transdisciplinary education has, not only on their research and future career, but also on their outlook on life.

Help CARTA continue its support of these visionary scholars and other CARTA programs by following Annette's example of contributing to CARTA.

2025-2026 CARTA Fellows:

Patrick Bruck, Biomedical Sciences (New)
Juston Jaco, Biomedical Sciences (Renewed)
Madeline Meade, Cognitive Science (New)
Chantal Rabay, Anthropology (New)
Clara Young, Biomedical Sciences (New)

Past CARTA Fellows:

Jason Adams, Neurosciences: CARTA Fellow 2020-2021; CARTA Fellow 2019-2020
Julia Adrian, Cognitive Science: CARTA Fellow 2021-2022; CARTA Fellow 2020-2021; CARTA Fellow 2019-2020
Tanushree Agrawal, Psychology: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2021-2022; CARTA Fellow 2020-2021
Vanessa Bateman, Visual Arts: CARTA Fellow 2019-2020; CARTA Fellow 2018-2019
Melanie Beasley, Anthropology: CARTA Fellow 2013-2014; CARTA Fellow 2012-2013; CARTA Fellow 2011-2012
Felix Binder, Cognitive Science: CARTA Fellow 2022-2023; CARTA Fellow 2021-2022
Emily Bovino, Visual Arts: CARTA Fellow 2016-2017; CARTA Fellow 2015-2016; CARTA Fellow 2014-2015
Mika Caplan, Biomedical Sciences: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2024-2025
Ben Cipollini, Cognitive Science: CARTA Fellow 2012-2013; CARTA Fellow 2011-2012; CARTA Fellow 2010-2011
Sean Coffinger, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2017-2018
Leela Davies, Biomedical Science: CARTA Fellow 2012-2013; CARTA Fellow 2011-2012; CARTA Fellow 2010-2011
Emily Davis, Linguistics: CARTA Fellow 2019-2020
Whitney Friedman, Cognitive Science: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2015-2016; CARTA Fellow 2014-2015; CARTA Fellow 2013-2014
Sara Goico, Anthropology: CARTA Fellow 2013-2014; CARTA Fellow 2012-2013
Julia Gorman, Neurosciences: CARTA Fellow 2023-2024; CARTA Fellow 2024-2025
Kiri Hagerman, Anthropology: CARTA Fellow 2015-2016; CARTA Fellow 2014-2015
Kari Hanson, Anthropology: CARTA Fellow 2013-2014; CARTA Fellow 2012-2013; CARTA Fellow 2011-2012
Stefanie Holden, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2022-2023
Caroline Horton Lew, Anthropology: CARTA Fellow 2015-2016
Juston Jaco, Biomedical Sciences: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2024-2025
Jeremy Karnowski, Cognitive Science: CARTA Fellow 2014-2015; CARTA Fellow 2013-2014; CARTA Fellow 2012-2013
Stephan Kaufhold, Cognitive Science: CARTA Fellow 2021-2022; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2020-2021; CARTA Fellow 2019-2020
Lora Khatib, Neurosciences: CARTA Fellow 2024-2025
Nico King, Visual Arts: CARTA Fellow 2021-2022; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2020-2021
Landon Klein, Neurosciences: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2017-2018
Emily Little, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2016-2017; CARTA Fellow 2015-2016
James Michaelov, Cognitive Science: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2021-2022; CARTA Fellow 2020-2021
Hope Morgan, Linguistics: CARTA Fellow 2012-2013; CARTA Fellow 2011-2012; CARTA Fellow 2010-2011
Corinna Most, Anthropology: CARTA Fellow 2015-2016; CARTA Fellow 2014-2015; CARTA Fellow 2013-2014
Nicholas Nelson, Biological Sciences: CARTA Fellow 2022-2023; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2023-2024
Coral Pereda Serras, Visual Arts: CARTA Fellow 2024-2025
Hans Peterson, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2016-2017; CARTA Fellow 2015-2016
Sascha Pohflepp, Visual Arts: CARTA Fellow 2018-2019; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2017-2018
Catie Profaci, Neurosciences: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2018-2019
Sequoyah Reynoso, Neurosciences: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2016-2017
Meghan Rossi, Neurosciences: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2022-2023; CARTA Fellow 2021-2022
Tim Sainburg, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2020-2021; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2019-2020
Andrew Schork, Cognitive Science: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2015-2016; CARTA Fellow 2014-2015; CARTA Fellow 2013-2014
Arturs Semenuks, Cognitive Science: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2019-2020; CARTA Fellow 2018-2019
Nina Semushina, Linguistics: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2019-2020; CARTA Fellow 2017-2018
Hande Sever, Visual Arts: CARTA Fellow 2022-2023; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2023-2024
Heidi Sharipov, Neurosciences: CARTA Fellow 2013-2014; CARTA Fellow 2012-2013
Sheila Steiner, Neurosciences: CARTA Fellow 2023-2024; CARTA Fellow 2024-2025
Camille Toarmino, Psychology: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2016-2017; CARTA Fellow 2015-2016; CARTA Fellow 2014-2015
Michael Vaill, Biomedical Sciences: CARTA Fellow 2019-2020
Katie Van Alstyne, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2022-2023; CARTA Fellow 2023-2024
Linnea Wilder, Anthropology: CARTA Fellow 2019-2020; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2018-2019; CARTA Fellow 2017-2018
Haleh Yazdi, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2018-2019; Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2017-2018; CARTA Fellow 2016-2017
Anne Yilmaz, Psychology: CARTA Fellow 2021-2022; CARTA Fellow 2020-2021
James Yu, Biomedical Sciences: CARTA Fellow 2023-2024
Rachel Zarndt, Biomedical Sciences: CARTA Fellow 2013-2014; CARTA Fellow 2012-2013; CARTA Fellow 2011-2012
Matthew Zaslansky, Linguistics: Annette Merle-Smith Fellow 2022-2023; CARTA Fellow 2020-2021

Please join us in congratulating our Fellows on this achievement. Each Fellowship covers partial stipend and tuition for one year. Assuming good performance by the students and future funding availability, each Fellow can apply to be considered for a second year of support.