2011-2012 Scholarship Recipients

Jack and June Richardson Scholars

Brent Brady

Brent graduated from Boise High School in Idaho with a top rank in his graduating class. He is a Mechanical Engineering major with a superb GPA with ample leadership and service activities. He received a glowing recommendation from Johannes Gessler, former Associate Dean, who gave him outstanding scores in academic achievement, analytical skills, and potential for contribution. His specific thesis topic will be identified in the fall when the department identifies several projects for a year long group design project. His future plans include law school with an emphasis on intellectual property.

Cara Kulbacki

Cara graduated from Golden High School in Colorado with a top rank in her graduating class. She is a Biological Sciences major with an outstanding GPA with abundant service activities and research experience. Her major interest is in becoming a pediatric oncologist and she will link her Honors thesis to this topic by creating a booklet for parents of children with cancer that informs them about the disease and its managements. Bob Richburg says she is among a handful of the best students he has taught in Honors during the past nine years. Her proposed thesis adviser is Jennifer Taylor who recently won a University innovative teaching award.

Kourtney McCarthy

Kourtney graduated from Frontier Academy in Greeley, Colorado with a top rank in her graduating class. She has majors in Biomedical Sciences and Biological Sciences, a superb GPA, and lots of service, especially with Larimer Humane Society. She received a superb recommendation from Professor Don Mykles and he says she easily ranks in the top few percent of all students he has taught in the past 26 years. Her proposed Honors thesis is designing a state of the art animal shelter which will include the physical lay-out and procedures for noise and disease control, vet services, ample time for interaction with people and so forth. Her proposed adviser is Lori Kogan who has published in the area of animal welfare.

Christopher Nickell

Chris graduated from Fort Morgan High School in Colorado with a top rank in his graduating class. He has majors in Chemical and Biological Engineering and Chemistry, an outstanding GPA, and a good amount of community service. He received an outstanding recommendation form Professor Arthur Mayeno and praises his varied research experience. His proposed Honors thesis topic is measuring the impact of various anti-biotics on TB. His longer term plans include graduate school where he has interests in biological materials for humans and he expects to have a career in biotechnology and/or pharmaceuticals.

Paul and Clare Muller Scholars

Sarah Al-Najar

Sarah graduated from Rangeview High School in Aurora, Colorado with a top rank in her graduating class. She is a Biomedical Sciences major with an excellent cumulative GPA and significant service in Alpha Phi Omega and Public Achievement through Community Service. She received an outstanding recommendation from Professor Irene Vernon who praises her desire to work with communities of

Her longer term plans are to go to medical school and become a pediatric oncologist or an obstetrician/ gynecologist. Her career plans also include joining Doctors without Borders.

Connor Jandreau

Connor graduated from Plateau High School in Mesa, Colorado with a top rank in his graduating class. He has two majors, one in Wildlife and Conservation Biology and the other in Studio Art, an outstanding GPA, and impressive service and leadership activities including heART Africa which he founded and directs to fund education for orphaned Kenyans. Robin Reid, Director of Collaborative Conservation, in the Warner College of Natural Resources gave him an all-around strong recommendation. His Honors thesis topic will look at the relationship between species diversity and habitat heterogeneity in a sub artic boreal forest near Fairbanks. His future plans include graduate school and an eventual Ph.D. degree.

Eddy Scholars

Annie Wallin

Annie graduated from Hunter High School in Salt Lake City, Utah with a top rank in her graduating class. She has majors in Biological Sciences and Zoology, an outstanding cumulative GPA, and she has been very active in the Honors Student Association. Andrea Purdy, Instructor in Foreign Languages and Literatures strongly recommended her and emphasized Annie’s love of learning and work ethic that were apparent in two challenging upper division courses in Spanish. Annie Honors thesis will focus on pain responses of various taxa where she will design her own ethical pain reception experiment. Her career plans include vet school where she hopes to become an exotic animal veterinarian.

Christina Welsby

Cristina graduated from Doherty high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado with an outstanding GPA. She has a majors in Psychology and Natural Sciences, an outstanding cumulative GPA, and a well- rounded record of service which includes the Honors Student Association, Ram Welcome Leader, and 30 Hour Famine (2010). Meena Balgopal, Assistant Professor in the School of Education, wrote a glowing recommendation for Christina and praises her innovative thinking. Her thesis topic is “A Modification of Science Curriculum for Special Needs Students of Shepardson.” Her career goal is to become a science teacher for at-risk students in inner-city schools.

Students First Scholar

Natalie Blackmer

Natalie graduated from Lakewood High School in Lake Odessa, Michigan with an excellent GPA. She is an Animal Science major and a Spanish minor with an outstanding cumulative GPA. She has a very good record of involvement in community service including service projects in Lima, Peru where she studied this past spring semester. She received an excellent recommendation from Professor Noa Roman-Muniz. Her Honors thesis topic is a bilingual training program related to zoonotic disease commonly found in dairy farms. The main focus is to develop a training program to educate workers on how to prevent the transfer of animal diseases to humans. She plans on enrolling in graduate programs in veterinary medicine and public health. She sees her work directly improving food security in developing nations.

Gladys Eddy Scholar (administered by the UHP)

Brittany Belmarez
Kelsey Heupel

 

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