Three students named Goldwater Scholars for science excellence

 

Three University of Wisconsin–Madison students have been awarded prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarships for undergraduate excellence in the sciences.

The three are among 496 Goldwater Scholars named this year out of 1,223 college sophomores and juniors nominated from across the country.

The Goldwater Scholarship covers one year of tuition, fees, books, and room and board for juniors, up to a maximum of $7,500. Winners who are sophomores are eligible for two years of paid expenses, up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

The students are:

• Ryan Brown, a junior from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, studying genetics and genomics with a minor in computer science. For almost two years, Brown has worked in the oncology laboratory of Professor Zachary Morris. Brown earned a Hilldale Fellowship as a sophomore and is co-author on one paper in Nature Communications and another submitted to Nature Nano. This summer, Brown will conduct research in a regenerative medicine laboratory at the University of Cambridge as part of UW–Madison’s Summer Cambridge/Oxford Research Experience (SCORE) Program. Brown plans to pursue an M.D. and Ph.D. in cancer biology with an interest in translational oncology research.
• Claire Evensen, a junior from Verona, Wisconsin, studying biochemistry and mathematics, with honors in biochemistry and the liberal arts. For over two years, Evensen has researched transcription initiation in Professor Thomas Record’s biochemistry laboratory. She has received several competitive university fellowships to support her work, including a Hilldale Fellowship. She is co-author on an article submitted to the journal Biochemistry, as well as posters presented at regional and national conferences; currently, she is preparing a first-author publication. This summer, she will work with Professor Philip Maini at the Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology at the University of Oxford, through UW–Madison’s SCORE program. Claire plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematical biology.
• Luquant Singh, a junior from Verona, Wisconsin, studying applied math, engineering and physics. Singh began research at UW–Madison the summer after graduating from high school. He currently conducts computational plasma physics research on the Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX), a fusion energy device, with Professor David T. Anderson. Singh has earned authorship on national conference presentations and an in-preparation paper. He also serves on the design team for a new plasma physics device to be built at UW–Madison. He attends the university on a full-tuition music scholarship for clarinet performance. This summer, Singh will conduct computational plasma physics research at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory under the direction of Stuart Hudson. After graduation, Singh plans to pursue a Ph.D. in plasma physics.

Junior Patrick Kasl, a biomedical engineering major from Wyoming, Minnesota, was UW–Madison’s fourth nominee this year.

Congress established the Barry Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence in Education Foundation in 1986. Goldwater served in the U.S. Senate for over 30 years and challenged Lyndon B. Johnson for the presidency in 1964. The foundation aims to develop highly qualified scientists, engineers and mathematicians.