Health outreach in the Navajo Nation and research on social cognition are among the various interests of recent Dartmouth students who have received prestigious national awards, including scholarships from the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation; the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program; and the National Science Foundation.
Three undergraduate students were recognized by the Udall Foundation, which awards scholarships to students who intend to pursue interests in either environmental issues or Native American health care and policy and who are of Native American or Alaskan descent. Jason Curley '13 was awarded a scholarship, while Nicole Kanayurak '13 and Montana Wilson '13 received honorable mentions in the competition.
Curley, a Native American studies major and digital arts minor, received an award of up to $5,000, according to a College press release. He plans to earn a postbaccalaureate graduate degree and then attend medical school. He said he hopes to return to the Navajo Nation, where he will practice medicine and promote more effective health care policies, according to the release.
Curley is spending this term engaged in community health outreach in the Navajo Nation, where he first began working with Partners in Health during the summer following his freshman year.
"When I first got word that I received the award, I was so excited," Curley said. "It is a privilege that I take with great responsibility. It affirms to me that people recognize the work and the commitment that I have to not only a career but also to my people."
Kanayurak is an environmental studies major who plans to pursue a career in Alaskan environmental policy, specifically related to the Inuit people, according to the release. She said she wants to address issues of oil, gas and natural resource development and is considering attending law school after graduation.
Wilson, a government and Native American studies double major, plans to earn a PhD in government with a focus on tribal administration and public policy. He hopes to become a professor and educate students about tribal political theory and developing tribal public policy, he said in an email to The Dartmouth.
"I was humbled by the Udall Foundation's recognition of my talents in the field of tribal public policy," he said. "I always work hard at Dartmouth because my education is not for personal benefit but the benefit of my community."
The Goldwater Scholarship was founded to provide the United States a steady source of gifted scientists, mathematicians and engineers by supporting undergraduate students who intend to pursue careers in these areas. The scholarship awards students a maximum of $7,500 per year to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board. In 2012, two Dartmouth students received the award Andrew Zureick '13 and Marissa Lynn '13.
Zureick and Lynn are two of 282 sophomores and juniors who were selected from a group of 1,123 mathematics, science and engineering students nominated for the award by faculty members at institutions nationwide.
Zureick, a chemistry major, said he plans to attend medical school and conduct organic chemistry research following graduation, according to the press release.
Lynn said she intends to pursue an MD/PhD in microbiology and immunology.
"This award is a great accomplishment for her, and I am so pleased to see that someone so deserving has earned it," Mark Spaller, a Geisel School of Medicine professor with whom Lynn has conducted research, said.
Seven Dartmouth students have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships this year. The award supports students' development as scientists as well as their research in various specializations, providing recipients with three years of support, including a $30,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to their institutions. Graduate students Amy Baker, Alexandra Giese, Anna Hatch, Thomas Kraft and Alex Schlegel, as well as Nicole Looper '12 and Jesse Gomez '12, were named scholarship recipients.
Baker is a second-year graduate student of molecular and cellular biology, and she plans to continue work in the field of genetics, she said.
Using her scholarship funds, Giese plans to use funds from the scholarship to investigate a new method of measuring ice flow modeling that may better simulate future responses of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet to changes in climate, she said.
Gomez has been studying cognitive neuroscience with psychology professor Bradley Duchaine, focusing on the perceptual functions that shape social cognition, according to the press release.
Hatch, a biochemistry major, is conducting research using simple lipid and protein systems to examine basic but important mechanisms of self-organization in biological systems, she said.
Kraft is studying biological anthropology under the guidance of anthropology professor Nathaniel Dominy. He said he hopes to use his scholarship to support field research in the Congo Basin region of Africa.
Looper is a mathematics major conducting research on Frobenius problems, which consider sets of coin denominations.
"I knew that when I applied the chances would be small of getting it," Looper said. "Getting it has a big payoff literally."