Seven Scripps students recently received top national awards and honors: two Goldwater scholarships for achievement in math and science, two Watson fellowships, one Newton fellowship, one Sigma Xi grant, and one Fulbright scholarship.
Chemistry major Claire Knezevic and molecular biology major Ivy McDaniel, both juniors, won the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate honor in math, the natural sciences, and engineering. Junior Zoe Davis, a chemistry major, secured a prestigious Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research award.
Amanda Painter has been awarded a Newton fellowship, Ellie Cross has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and Whitney Tipton and Caitlin McDonald, all seniors, have been awarded Thomas J. Watson fellowships.
The Goldwater Scholarship is awarded annually to only 300 college juniors and sophomores across the nation. Scripps College is the only member of the Joint Science Department of The Claremont Colleges this year to claim scholarship recipients.
The Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, has supported undergraduate and graduate student research for more than 80 years. Encouraging close working relationships between students and faculty, the Sigma Xi program promotes scientific excellence and achievement through hands-on learning.
The competitive Newton fellowship is awarded to no more than 50 recent graduates nationwide who demonstrate outstanding abilities in mathematics. Applicants must pass a challenging math exam in addition to a rigorous application and selection process.
The Fulbright and Watson fellowships are highly competitive; nominees must construct and present innovative proposals, secure substantial recommendations, and undergo an interview process. Scripps is the only member of The Claremont Colleges with two Watson recipients this year.
Claire Knezevic, nominated for a Goldwater Scholarship based on her outstanding performance in chemistry, is also a politics and international relations minor studying abroad at the University of Bristol, England.
Professor of Biology Jennifer Armstrong nominated Ivy McDaniel for the Goldwater. “Ivy not only has outstanding potential, but she is already making significant contributions to science,” says Armstrong. “She recently spoke at the Asilomar Chromatin and Chromosomes conference and won an award normally given to Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows.”
Goldwater recipients receive support that covers eligible expenses including tuition, fees, books, and room and board, up to $7,500 per year.
Amanda Painter won a five-year Newton fellowship, sponsored by Math for America. The Newton fellowship trains and supports mathematically-talented individuals as they pursue their goal to become secondary school math teachers. The fellowship offers a generous financial incentive ($90,000 aggregate stipend over the duration of the fellowship in addition to a teaching salary) and a full tuition scholarship for a master’s in education at Bard College, New York University, or Teachers College at Columbia University.
The highly competitive Sigma Xi grant was awarded to only 20% of the applicants. Grants range from $100 to $1,000 (with an average award of $600), Zoe Davis was awarded a $804 grant to support her senior thesis, “The Effect of Air Pollutants on the Cell Cycle of S. pombe.”
In addition to her work teaching English to Malaysian high school and college students as a Fulbright scholar, Ellie Cross, a studio art major, plans to continue her interest in creating public art. “The rest of my time will be spent teaching and making art with the community,” said Ellie. “I hope to use community art as a tool for raising awareness about important social issues, such as major health concerns.”
With $25,000 each from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation for travel and exploration, Whitney Tipton and Caitlin McDonald will turn their passions into a full-fledged research opportunity.
Whitney’s project, “Borders & Bars: A Cross-national Conversation with Women in Prison,” will take the philosophy major to The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, England, and South Africa.
Caitlin, a biology major, will travel through Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Cameroon, and Ghana during her research project: “Poaching to Bushmeat: The Evolution of Illegal Wildlife Exploitation.”