More than 50 students awarded scholarships for summer research

The College of Science warmly congratulates our 2019 SURE Science scholars!

Oregon State University and the College of Science have made it their mission to help students prepare for a bright future by providing potentially life-changing summer research opportunities.

This year, contributions from generous donors have helped more than 50 science students win competitive summer research awards, including the college-wide SURE Science Award (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) as well as several department-specific awards.

Undergraduate research often plays a key role in developing student-faculty relationships, and gives students hands-on learning experiences that help them grasp the practical applications of science beyond the scope of the classroom.

“For me, a lot of it is about the students who wouldn’t be able to do research if they weren’t getting paid,” program coordinator Gabrielle James explains.

By providing fellowships to the greatest possible number of students, these awards give many undergraduate students the financial leverage to pursue career goals that would otherwise be unattainable.

The SURE Science Program is available to all full-time science students who meet the academic requirements. The scholarship provides the opportunity to conduct paid research for up to 440 hours over the summer. The scholarship includes a stipend of $5060 and an additional amount of $500 stipend that can be used as funding for activities that support their research. This year, greater donor support has made it possible for 40 students to receive the award — an unprecedented number with the award money totaling more than $220,000!

In addition to SURE Science, there are also several awards which may be received by high achieving students within a department.

New this year in Integrative Biology is the Alexei Lubchenco Menge Fellowship, which was awarded to Kris Bauer to support his research under the guidance of Postdoctoral Scholar Sarah Gravem and Professor Bruce Menge. The fellowship was established in memory of Alexei Lubchenco Menge, who died at age 27 in 2005. Like his biologist parents, Lubchenco Menge was deeply passionate about the ocean and the life it contains. The award seeks to help a student within the department who exemplifies these values.

Also receiving awards this summer are Ryley Tishendorf, who received a Special Integrative Biology Award, and Jiadi He, who received a Special Physics Award. Tishendorf will perform research in biologist Rebecca Terry’s lab, and He will be mentored by biophysicist Weihong Qiu.

In the biochemistry and biophysics department, students applying for the SURE Award are also eligible to apply for the CURE Fellowship. CURE is sponsored by the Ray and Frances Cripps Education Endowment, as well as by faculty mentors who match the awarded funds. This year, eleven biochemistry students received the award, in addition to eight other students from the department who received the SURE Award.

Congratulations to the inspiring next generation of scholars!

SURE Science awardees:

| Student | Major | Faculty
1 | McKenzie Barker | Biology | Sally Hacker
2 | Kelley Bastin | Microbiology | Susan Tilton
3 | Dreagn Bennett | Biology | Sarah Gravem
4 | Nathanael Bowles | Mathematics | Malgorzata Peszynska
5 | Elizabeth Carroll | Biology | Claudia Hase
6 | Cynthia Cedeno | Chemistry | Paul Blakemore
7 | Addison DeBoer | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Daniel Rockey
8 | Luz Dimas-Munoz | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Daniel Rockey
9 | Haelyn Epp | BioHealth Sciences | Weihong Qiu
10 | Rebecca France | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Colin Johnson
11 | Kailie Franco | Biochemistry and Biophysics | Bo Sun
12 | Ilana Gottfried-Lee | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Richard Cooley
13 | Cat Hoang | Microbiology | Elisar Barbar
14 | Kendra Jackson | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Michael Freitag
15 | Jin Kiatvongcharoen | Mathematics | David Roundy
16 | Taylor Kuntz | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Matt Andrews/Adam Higgins
17 | David Lehrburger | Biology | Stephen Atkinson
18 | Lauren Lewis | Chemistry | Staci Simonich
19 | Kitty Liu | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Adrian Gombart
20 | Chantelle MacAdams | Biology & Zoology | Bruce Menge/Sarah Gravem
21 | Anabel Mendoza | BioHealth Sciences | Carla Schubiger
22 | Alanis Morales | BioHealth Sciences | Virginia Weis
23 | Rina Mullendore | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Maria Franco
24 | Duy Nguyen | Physics | Ethan Minot
25 | Makenzie Nord | Chemistry | Julie Pett-Ridge
26 | Acacia Patterson | Physics | Janet Tate
27 | Taylor Prichard | Biology | Katja Duesterdieck-Zellmer
28 | Victor Puoci | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Ehren Pflugfelder
29 | David Rockow | Biology | Mark Novak
30 | Kelsey Shimoda | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Jaga Giebultowicz
31 | Leigh Skala | Chemistry | Taifo Mahmud
32 | Ulises Solis Ocana | BioHealth Sciences | David Dallas
33 | Jason Srey | Chemistry | Sandra Loesgen
34 | Yi Peng Teo | Physics | Matt W Graham
35 | Dustin Treece | Physics | Elizabeth Gire
36 | Sophia Vahsholtz | Biology | Dee Denver
37 | Andrew Williams | Biology | Susanne Brander
38 | Elizabeth Wirsching | Biology | Virginia Weis
39 | Tara Wirsching | Biology | Dr. Felipe Barreto
40 | Wanling Xie | Mathematics | Yuan Jiang

CURE Foundation Awardees:

| Student | Faculty
1 | Dorice Goune Goufack | Maria Franco
2 | Mahir Palan | Maria Franco
3 | Juno Valerio | Viviana Perez
4 | Brooke Galyon | Michael Freitag
5 | Carolyn Lazaroff | Michael Freitag
6 | Maja Engler | Matt Andrews
7 | Audrey Korte | Weihong Qiu
8 | Seth Pinckney | Elisar Barbar
9 | Jacob North | Ryan Mehl
10 | Isabella Karabinas | Alvaro Estevez
11 | Asra Noor | Alvaro Estevez