Jennifer Simmelink, Ph.D. candidate in the School of Social Work, has been awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for 2011-12 from the University of Minnesota Graduate School. The $22,500 fellowship is intended to enable outstanding Ph.D. candidates to devote full-time effort to the research and writing of the dissertation. Simmelink’s study is titled “An Exploration of the Social Construction of Drug and Alcohol Use in Displaced Karen Refugee Communities.” The fellowship funds will help support her travel to Thailand for research.