Bio and Society PhD Candidate Wins Prestigious Merit-Based Award
By: Matt Tontonoz
Fourth-year Bio and Society PhD candidate Baylee Edwards has won a prestigious P.E.O. Scholar Award to support her research on student and instructor perceptions of the relationship between religion and evolution.
The P.E.O. Scholar Award—P.E.O. stands for Philanthropic Educational Organization—is a merit-based scholarship that supports women who are pursuing doctoral-level degrees in the US or Canada. The maximum award amount is $25,000.
To win the award, potential applicants must demonstrate their ability to make significant contributions in their chosen field of study. In Edwards’s case, that is biology education research. She is currently a member Sara Brownell’s Biology Education lab at ASU.
“I’m incredibly honored to receive this award from the P.E.O.,” Edwards says. “Not only is the award itself immensely generous, but it is incredibly encouraging that such a great organization sees value in the work that I do and sees me as the right person to do it.”
Past P.E.O. scholars have assumed leadership positions in academia, scientific research, medicine, law, the performing arts, and many other fields.
The P.E.O. calls itself a “Sisterhood.” Founded in 1869 by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College, the P.E.O. is a nonprofit volunteer women’s organization grounded in a mission of supporting women to pursue their educational goals. The P.E.O. has offered the Scholar Awards since 1991. The awards have helped more than 129,000 women pursue their educational goals.
The P.E.O. notes that women who pursue post-doctoral degrees in male-dominated fields often face more obstacles and have to work harder than their male counterparts. The P.E.O. Scholar Award aims to provide more than just financial assistance. Winners become part of an ever-expanding community of women scholars supporting other women scholars.
To learn more about past recipients of the award, visit the P.E.O. website.