LEWIS Naisbett-Jones, from Bovey Tracey, has been awarded an assistantship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the top research universities in the USA.

The former South Dartmoor Community College. Ashburton, student will be carrying out research on ‘navigation in marine creatures’, specialising in salmon and sea turtles, towards a five-year PhD in biology.

After earning a first class honours degree from Aberystwyth University in marine and freshwater biology Lewis completed a masters degree at Aberystwyth, with sponsorship by KESS and research funding from Europe to study the decline in the European Eel.

Lewis is pictured at the famous Old Well at the Chapel Hill campus. The well is the emblem of the university.