With interests in genetics, music, research, and working with people with developmental disorders, Mary Higgins ’15 hopes to combine them all into a career. The recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship, she plans to pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. in human genetics or a related field. The Goldwater is the premier undergraduate award in mathematics, science, and engineering.
A biology major and mathematics minor, Higgins has conducted EXCEL Scholar research with Robert Kurt, professor and head of biology, on the immune system and behavior of tumor cells.
Civil engineering major Emily Crossette ’15 received a Udall Scholarship, presented to students who are committed to careers in the environment, Native American healthcare, or tribal public policy. She previously received a $50,000 Environmental Protection Agency fellowship to continue her work developing an improved metric for quantifying compounds that may cause mutations in fish. The award will support a summer internship at the EPA.
Crossette, who has conducted EXCEL research with Art Kney, associate professor and head of civil and environmental engineering, plans to attend graduate school in civil and environmental engineering.
Four students received Fulbright awards. Michael Pinkard ’14 will study mathematics in Germany; Madeline Gambino ’14 will study religion and society at University of Aberdeen in the UK; and Adam Gill ’14 will teach English in South Korea. Joel Vargas ’14 will pursue a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking at University of the Arts London, London College of Communication. He also received a Humanity in Action Fellowship to study in Warsaw, Poland, during the summer.
Geraldo Pereira Neto ’15 received a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship. He is attending the Junior Summer Institute at Princeton.