The Spanish-, Italian-, and English-speaking student won a coveted National Science Foundation graduate fellowship in her first semester as a chemistry graduate student at USC. In the process, Colavita became one of only 11 graduate students in the nation this academic year to receive an NSF fellowship for study in physical chemistry; she's one of only three doing her graduate work in that discipline at an institution located east of the Mississippi River.

So how did she come to USC in the first place?

"I grew up mainly in Argentina, and my father is a professor who did a lot of work in Italy," Colavita said. "During one of the periods of time when we were there, he met Horacio Farach [a USC physics professor and native Argentinean who also was engaged in research in Italy], who suggested USC as a good school to do graduate work."

The collegial suggestion was taken to heart: when Colavita finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Trieste in Italy, she and her husband, Daniele Andreatta, both applied for and were accepted into USC's graduate chemistry program.

A few months after their arrival, Colavita applied for and won the NSF fellowship. Colavita is engaged in research in Michael L. Myrick's laboratory; her husband is working in Mark Berg's lab.

"I would like to teach and do research here in the United States," said Colavita, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., while her parents were completing graduate work there. "I'm especially interested in the nanoscience research this lab is involved with."