Chemistry, Biochemistry Majors win Goldwater Scholarships
Middlebury students Charlotte M. Carlson and William W. Motley have received scholarships for the 2004-05 academic year from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.
The two were among 310 sophomores and juniors nationwide selected to receive the awards, based on academic merit, from a field of 1,113 mathematics, science, and engineering students nominated by faculty members. The one- or two-year scholarships can be used to cover college costs up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.
Students spent summer as researchers
Charlotte Carlson, a senior chemistry major from Palo Cedro, California, hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in environmental chemistry, and conduct research in the field of isotopic geochemistry or soil science. She spent last summer working in the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory examining the oxidation of methane by bacteria in tropical soils. At Middlebury, she's been one of the founders of the college's organic garden, worked as folk manager and a DJ for the college radio station, and is the founder and president of the Bluegrass Association and Jam Society.
William Motley, a sophomore biochemistry major from Brooklyn, New York, expects to earn a joint M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and do research on human health and genetic diseases. For the past three summers, he's worked as a researcher at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, investigating cystic fibrosis. At Middlebury, he's been active with the Carbon Reduction Initiative Working Group and has served on the Community Council as a student representative. He's also worked as a medical attendant with the Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association.
Program honors late senator
Of this year's Goldwater Scholars are men, 161 are men and 149 are women, and virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. Most of the scholars -- 223 students -- are science majors, with the rest majoring in math, computer science or engineering.
The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986 to honor U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, R-Arizona, who died in 1998 at the age of 89, and to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.
In its 16-year history, the foundation has awarded 4,272 scholarships worth about $42 million.
Posted 8/12/04
