What is the TRIO Ronald E. McNair Scholar Program?
The federally-funded TRIO Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program at EWU selects motivated and talented juniors and seniors who are first-generation and low-income college students, and/or from groups underrepresented at the doctoral level to introduce them to academic research and provide them with effective strategies for getting into and graduating from PhD programs.
Operating on a cohort model, the program provides services to prepare undergraduates for success as graduate students, professors, and professional researchers. McNair services include classes, workshops and seminars, advising, tutoring, faculty mentoring, paid summer research internships, academic conferences and a McNair staff dedicated to participant academic success.
A Gut Feeling: The Importance of the Intestinal Microbiota in Psychiatric Disorders Here’s an excerpt from the introduction: “Charles Darwin kept a diary where he would annotate feelings and symptoms, often describing his trouble with the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and anxiety (1). In one of his letters to his medical advisors, he noted the […]
Hello Eags! Have you thought about attending graduate school?
EWU TRIO McNair Program is seeking first-generation, low-income students who would like to do a summer research internship guided by a Faculty Mentor, apply for graduate school and attend right after college! If you like to know more, please look over the rest of our Website and/or send an email: to Dra. Christina Torres Garcia: cgarcia1@ewu.edu
EWU McNair News
Click on photo or "Read More" to see full article; click on arrows to navigate through posts at your own pace
EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado Accepted by Fourth Graduate Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado! Alexandria has been accepted by the the Masters in Public Policy program at Claremont Graduate University. Alexandria has also been accepted by the Political Science Masters Program at Saint Louis University with full funding, the Political Science PhD program at the University of Alabama with full funding, and […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted by Sixth Graduate Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee! Theresa has been accepted by the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies in the their Masters of Public Policy program. This includes a prestigious Faculty Recognition Scholarship which were only awarded to a select few Masters students. Theresa has already been accepted by five other […]
Read More
EWU McNair Alumna Marixza Torres Awarded National Science Foundation Fellowship
Congratulations to EWU McNair Alumna Marixza Torres! Marixza has been awarded a highly competitive and prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF). The NSF GRF program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines pursuing research-based masters and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Lizeth Bañuelos Accepted to Masters Program at California State University
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Lizeth Bañuelos! Lizeth has been accepted by the Masters in Counseling Psychology at California State University in Bakersfield. Lizeth has also been accepted by the Masters in Counseling Program at Arizona State University. Lizeth is majoring in Applied Developmental Psychology and minoring in Race and Culture Studies as well as […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado Accepted by Saint Louis University Masters Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado! Alexandria has been accepted by the the Political Science Masters Program at Saint Louis University with full funding. This is Alexandria’s third acceptance, her first was a fully funded Political Science PhD program at the University of Alabama. Her second acceptance was from the Texas A&M Bush School […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted by University of Wisconsin PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee! Theresa has been accepted by the Sociology PhD Program at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, a top-tier Research 1 institution. In addition, she was awarded a McNair Graduate Entrance Fellowship. This is Theresa’s fifth acceptance! She has also been accepted by the Criminology, Law, and Justice Masters Program […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico Accepted by Fourth Graduate Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico! Rachael has been accepted by the Environmental and Natural Resources Sciences PhD program at Washington State University, Vancouver with full funding. She has also been accepted by Purdue University with full funding, Syracuse University, and by the University of Idaho. Rachael is majoring in Biology at Eastern […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu Accepted to Third PhD Program
Malachi completed his 2019 summer research Economic development in the Global South: A case study of Niger Delta, Nigeria under the mentorship of Dr. Majid Sharifi. Malachi presented a poster of his research at the 2020 EWU online Symposium. In 2020, Malachi participated in the Laney Graduate School Summer Opportunity for Academic Research (LGS-SOAR) Program at […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Samantha Sanchez-Garcia Accepted by Third Graduate Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Samantha Sanchez-Garcia! Samantha has been accepted by the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Masters Program at California State University in San Bernardino. This is in addition to her acceptance by the Industrial-Organizational Behavior Management Masters Program at Western Michigan University and by the Industrial and Organizational Psychology PhD Program at DePaul University with […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted by University of Illinois Masters Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee! Theresa has been accepted by the Criminology, Law, and Justice Masters Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This is Theresa’s fourth acceptance! She has also been accepted by the Criminology and Criminal Justice PhD Program at the University of South Carolina, the Sociology PhD program at the […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez Accepted by Third Masters Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez! Wendolyn has by the International Relations Masters program at American University. This is in addition to being accepted by the Masters in Public Policy program at Pepperdine University with a full tuition scholarship and by the dual Masters degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Moscow […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado Accepted by Texas A&M Masters Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado! Alexandria has been accepted by the the Texas A&M Bush School Masters of Public Service and Administration Program. This is Alexandria’s second acceptance, her first was a fully funded Political Science PhD at the University of Alabama. Alexandria is majoring in Political Science with an emphasis in Pre-Law […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted by Criminology and Criminal Justice PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee! Theresa has been accepted by the Criminology and Criminal Justice PhD Program at the University of South Carolina. This is Theresa’s third acceptance. She has also been accepted by the Sociology PhD program at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and the Sociology PhD at Bowling Greene State […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico Accepted by Purdue PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico! Rachael has been accepted by the Biological Sciences PhD program at Purdue University with full funding. In addition, Rachael has two prior acceptances, one from Syracuse University’s (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry for a PhD in Ecosystems: Land, Water, and Air, the other by the University […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy Accepted by Geology Masters Program at PSU
Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy! Darlene was accepted by Portland State University’s Geology Masters program. Darlene has completed two summer internships with EWU McNair. Her research focuses on the chemical weathering of volcanic sediments under the mentorship of Dr. Carmen Nezat. Darlene has presented on her research at the 2019 Murdock College Science Research […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli Accepted to Fourth PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli. Aulane has been accepted by the Chemistry PhD Program at the University of California San Diego with full funding. This is in addition to her acceptances in Chemistry PhD programs from Duke University, Ohio State University, and the University of Utah, all with full funding! Aulane is majoring […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez Accepted by Pepperdine Masters Program
In her 2019 EWU McNair Summer Research Internship, under the mentorship of Dr. Dorothy Zielser-Vralsted, Wendolyn studied interwar propaganda within the US and USSR relating to public works projects. Then in the fall of 2019 she studied abroad, with the help of the Gilman International Scholarship, at the prestigious Moscow State University in Russia where […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholars Staying Strong Despite a Year Online, Acceptances Abound!
It’s been a year of online learning and virtual support from McNair for our EWU McNair Scholars. Many of our current McNair scholars had just one quarter in person with McNair before going online. Still, McNair was able to provide critical research and writing skills training with our virtual spring research methods course. Next, these […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted to the Sociology PhD Program in UH Mānoa
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee. Theresa has been accepted by the Sociology PhD Program at the University of Hawai’i Mānoa. This is in addition to her acceptance for a Sociology PhD at Bowling Greene State University with full funding. She is interested in researching incarceration, recidivism and community reentry with a particular interest […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu Accepted to University of Oregon PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu! Malachi has been accepted by the Political Science PhD Program at the University of Oregon. This is in addition to Malachi’s acceptance to the Political Science PhD program at Washington State University with full funding. Malachi Chukwu is an International Affairs and Political Science major at Eastern Washington […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado Accepted to University of Alabama PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Alexandria Coronado! Alexandria has been accepted by the Political Science PhD Program at the University of Alabama. Alexandria is majoring in Political Science with an emphasis in Pre-Law and minoring in Anthropology. At Eastern, she is involved in the Honors Program as well as the International Affairs Community. Her research […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Lizeth Bañuelos Accepted to Masters Program at Arizona State University
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Lizeth Bañuelos! Lizeth has been accepted by the Masters in Counseling Program at Arizona State University. Lizeth is majoring in Applied Developmental Psychology and minoring in Race and Culture Studies as well as Chicana/o/x Studies. Her research interests include psychology of the Latinx community and focusing on Latinx college students […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli Accepted to Duke University PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli. Aulane has been accepted by the Chemistry PhD Program at Duke University with full funding! This is Aulane’s third acceptance. She was also accepted by Ohio State University and the University of Utah, both for a PhD in Chemistry with full funding. Aulane is majoring in Chemistry and […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico Accepted to SUNY PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico! Rachael has been accepted by Syracuse University’s (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry for a PhD in Ecosystems: Land, Water, and Air. Rachael has also been accepted by the University of Idaho in their Masters of Natural Resources Program. Rachael is majoring in Biology at Eastern […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Samantha Sanchez-Garcia Accepted to IOBM Masters Program at Western Michigan University
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Samantha Sanchez-Garcia! Samantha has been accepted by the Industrial-Organizational Behavior Management Masters Program at Western Michigan University. This is in addition to her acceptance to the Industrial and Organizational Psychology PhD Program at DePaul University. Samantha is majoring in Psychology at Eastern Washington University, with an emphasis in communication, sociology, […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Mori Williams Accepted to Toxicology PhD Program at Oregon State University
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Mori Williams! Mori has been accepted by the Toxicology PhD program at Oregon State University. Currently Mori is majoring in Environmental Science with an emphasis in Chemistry and a minor in Japanese. He has worked in an Organic Chemistry lab at Eastern Washington University university, which involves saponification, NMR readings, […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz Accepted to Portland State University PhD Program
The EWU McNair staff are so excited for Alexis and we know he’ll do amazing things at whichever graduate program he decides to attend!
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli Accepted to the University of Utah PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli. Aulane has been accepted by the Chemistry PhD Program at the University of Utah with full funding! This is in addition to her acceptance for a PhD Chemistry program at Ohio State University. Aulane is majoring in Chemistry and plans on specializing in Analytical Chemistry. Her research interests […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez Accepted to the Middlebury Institute Masters Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez! Wendolyn has been accepted by a dual degree program which includes a master’s in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a master’s in International Affairs from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), one of Russia’s most prestigious and internationally respected educational […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Samantha Sanchez-Garcia Accepted to PhD Program at DePaul University
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Samantha Sanchez-Garcia. Samantha has been accepted by the Industrial-Organizational Psychology PhD Program at DePaul University with full funding. Samantha is majoring in Psychology at Eastern, with an emphasis in communication, sociology, and industrial/organizational psychology. She is also working on her Inclusion and Diversity certificate. Samantha is a research assistant in […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu Accepted to Washington State University PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu! Malachi has been accepted by the Political Science PhD Program at Washington State University with full funding. Malachi Chukwu is an International Affairs and Political Science major at Eastern Washington University with an emphasis on global security. He is interested in researching the effects of development on Sub-Saharan […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted to the Bowling Green State University PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee. Theresa has been accepted by the Sociology PhD Program at Bowling Greene State University with full funding. She is interested in researching incarceration, recidivism and community reentry with a particular interest in unforeseen consequences of incarceration. She received two EWU McNair Summer Research Internships (2019, 2020) and worked […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico Accepted to the University of Idaho Masters Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico. Rachael has been accepted by the McCall Outdoor Science School at the University of Idaho in the Masters of Natural Resources Program. Rachael is majoring in Biology at Eastern Washington University. She also spent time at Spokane Falls Community College where she focused on economics, with an emphasis […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli Accepted to Ohio State University Chemistry PhD Program
Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli. Aulane has been accepted by the Chemistry PhD Program at Ohio State University with full funding! Aulane is majoring in Chemistry and plans on specializing in Analytical Chemistry. Her research interests include analytics, biological chemistry, and catalysis. Last summer Aulane was accepted into a Summer Research Program by […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholars Present their STEM Research and Experiences
Despite COVID-19, EWU McNair Scholars have persisted through their virtual research internships during the summer of 2020 and now are presenting their research throughout the year. In addition to Ashley Destin and Rachael Pentico presenting at the Murdock College Science Research Conference in the Fall of 2020, three McNair Scholars have presented within their departments […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholars Present at Murdock College Science Research Conference 2020
Despite COVID-19, EWU McNair Scholars have persisted through their virtual research internships during the summer of 2020 and continued to present their research throughout the year. This last fall, two EWU McNair Scholars presented at the Murdock College Science Research Conference. This Northwest specific undergraduate conference focuses on sharing and advancing new knowledge in the […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy Awarded Research Grant
Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy! Darlene has been awarded the Fall 2020 Alumni-Funded Undergraduate research grant! Darlene’s EWU McNair research has focused on the chemical weathering of volcanic sediments under the mentorship of Dr. Carmen Nezat. This research grant will allow her to purchase supplies needed to continue her research. She presented on this project […]
Read More
Nine EWU McNair Scholars Present at Baylor McNair Research Conference
From looking at community perceptions of reentry barriers to formerly incarcerated people to the impact of chemical weathering from Mount St. Helen’s on streams, EWU McNair Scholars have been hard at work researching all summer under the guidance of their mentors. On October 1st and 2nd. Nine of these scholars presented at the 2020 Virtual […]
Read More
McNair Virtual Seminars and Services Include Numerous Cross-campus Collaborations
The McNair program coordinates with programs across Eastern’s campus to provide academic support, scholarly workshops, seminars and other support services for our scholars, and we thank our fellow EWU faculty and staff from JFK Library, the Writers’ Center, and Career Services who presented (via Zoom) to our McNair research interns in our spring and summer […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy Awarded Two Scholarships
Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy! Darlene has been awarded the Penelope A. Jones Scholarship and the HOME Program Scholarship. Darlene’s EWU McNair research has focused on the chemical weathering of volcanic sediments under the mentorship of Dr. Carmen Nezat. She has presented on this project at the 2019 Murdock College Science Research Conference in […]
Read More
Christina Ramelow, MS, Eastern McNair alum, and first year neuroscience PhD student in Emory University, teaches Summer 2020 Zoom Seminars for McNair Research Interns
Christina Ramelow, MS obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology with an emphasis in molecular biotechnology and a minor in chemistry from Eastern Washington University (EWU) in spring of 2018. During her time as an undergrad, she participated in the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program and the NSF S-STEM Scholar Program where […]
Read More
Isaura Gallegos — EWU McNair biology alum, Master’s of Science in Genetics and Cell Biology at WSU, and current PhD candidate in Harvard’s School of Education — facilitates Summer 2020 Zoom seminar for McNair
Isaura J. Gallegos, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, concentrating in Human Development, Learning and Teaching. Under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Mazur, her research focuses on student learning in introductory active-learning undergraduate biology and physics courses. Specifically, Isaura investigates the role of collaborative teamwork in active-learning courses […]
Read More
Dr. Ghynecee Temple, licensed psychologist and EWU McNair alum, facilitates Summer 2020 Zoom Workshops for McNair Scholars
Dr. Ghynecee Temple is an EWU McNair alum who conducted her McNair research at Eastern with Dr. Kayleen Islam-Zwart in EWU’s psychology department, and earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology in 2018 from Washington State University. As a practicing and licensed psychologist, she understands the value of higher education, while recognizing the embedded structural challenges […]
Read More
Annual Pacific Northwest PhD Preparation Conference held Via Zoom with over forty McNair Participants from around the region
Virtual PNW McNair PhD Prep Conference, July 14-16, 2020 Hosted by the Graduate School at Washington State University, the 2020 Virtual PhD Conference included McNair staff and over forty McNair student participants from McNair programs at Central Washington, Heritage, Eastern, and Washington State. Tuesday, July 14, 2020: students had the opportunity to learn more […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz Awarded Orlinda H. Luiten Scholarship
Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz! Alexis has been awarded the Orlinda H. (Rogel) Luiten Scholarship. This scholarship was awarded by Eastern Washington University in recognition of Alexis’ academic excellence. Currently Alexis is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Philosophy. His key research interests are political economy, rural & agrarian communities, […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico Awarded Terzieff Scholarship
Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico! Rachael has been awarded the Martin and Helen Terzieff Scholarship. This comes from an endowment established by Martin Jordan Terzieff and Helen Urquhart Terzieff. Martin had a career in education while Helen was a nurse and both were hard working and valued higher education. This is Rachael’s second scholarship […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholars Continue Summer Research Despite COVID-19
Soon after the shelter in place began in Washington state, EWU McNair started hearing reports from our colleagues that summer research internships were being cancelled across the country. We cringed knowing that several of our students had received prestigious summer research internships or were still waiting to hear back from those they’d applied to. Fortunately, […]
Read More
18 EWU McNair Scholars Present at EWU Virtual Symposium
EWU McNair is proud to announce that 18 EWU McNair Scholars presented at this year’s Virtual Symposium. In the midst of regular reminders of the suffering from COVID-19, in particular its disproportionate effect on communities of color, as well as recent police murders, we hope that lifting up our scholars will continue to support their […]
Read More
EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico Awarded Scholarship by the Spokane Regional Council of Beta Sigma Phi
Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Rachael Pentico! Rachael has been selected by the Spokane Regional Council of Beta Sigma Phi to receive scholarships from the Lucille Wood Memorial and the Frances Ida Fourtner Campbell Memorial. Both women were great believers in supporting women in education and the scholarship committee was impressed at Rachael’s dedication to her […]
Read MoreInterested in finding more about what McNair offers and how YOU might become a McNair Scholar?
Click on EWU McNair Logo below to learn more about McNair eligibility, paid research opportunities, and other scholarly activities and services to prepare you for success in graduate school
Applying to EWU McNair
Why McNair? The McNair Program is a year-round journey that takes one or two years depending on when a scholar is accepted into the program. Scholars must be at least sophomores before they can conduct a McNair research project, and the majority of our students are accepted when they are Juniors: participating in the Scholarly […]