Congratulations to Markrete Krikorian, Mollie Schwartz, Chimno Nnadi, Zachary Brill, and Rebecca Chan (clockwise from top, left). These five CU chemistry undergraduates are the proud winners of competitive awards that will help further their education.
Markrete, Columbia College,Chemistry, '11 and Mollie, Columbia College, Chemical Physics, '09 have been awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Markrete will begin graduate studies in Chemistry at MIT in September, while Mollie will enroll in the graduate program in Physics at UC Berkeley. Markrete has worked in Professor Colin Nuckolls' research group. While at Columbia, Mollie did her research with Professor Horst Stormer. Both Markrete and Mollie were winners of the Richard Bersohn Prize for achievement by a graduating chemistry student at Columbia, Mollie in 2009 and Markrete this year.
Markrete has also been awarded a National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship. She is one of only 200 students out of nearly 3,000 nominees this year to win this graduate fellowship, which is funded by the Department of Defense to support graduate students in fifteen fields in the sciences and engineering. We congratulate Markrete on her accomplishments and also congratulate her faculty research sponsor, Colin Nuckolls, for the mentoring that has helped her achieve so much.
Zachary, Columbia College, Chemistry, '12 and Chimno, Columbia College, Chemistry '12 have been awarded Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships. These scholarships honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater, were designed 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. Zach and Chimno were the only Columbia students to win this award this year. Zach is doing research with Professor Scott Snyder, and Chimno with Professor John Hunt.
Rebecca , a junior Chemistry and Political Science double major, has been awarded a 2011 Udall scholarship. She was one of only 80 students selected for this award from among nearly 500 nominees from colleges and universities across the US. Udall Scholars are chosen on the basis of academic record, leadership potential, and commitment to careers in the environment. The Udall Foundation honors the public service of Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall, and is dedicated to the education of American students to preserve and protect their national heritage. This scholarship is the most prestigious award that can be given to an undergraduate in environmental science. Rebecca is carrying out research at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory with Professor Peter Schlosser, studying transport and mixing in Arctic waters.
