2018-2019 Cohort

EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu Accepted to Washington State University PhD Program

02/23/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Malachi Chukwu Graduate School Acceptances 2021 WSU

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 Africa, the connections between development, environmental degradation, and conflict in this region, and potential policy and implementation solutions.

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 Emory University under the mentorship of Dr. Emily Gade at the Oppressions and Resistance Lab. Alongside other students he numerically coded recently declassified data to understand activities between state actors and non-state actors during the Troubles in Northern Ireland from 1971-1973.

The EWU McNair staff are so excited for Malachi and we know he'll do amazing things at whichever program he decides to attend! Click here to read more about Malachi or his research.

EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted to the Bowling Green State University PhD Program

02/22/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Theresa Lee Graduate School Acceptances 2021 01 (1)

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 with her mentor Dr. Lindsey Upton to complete her research: Prisoner Reentry: College Perceptions of Reentry Barriers in a Northwest Community. She presented a poster of her research at the American Society of Criminology (ASC) conference with the support of her mentor Dr. Lindsey Upton in the fall of 2019 as well as at the EWU Virtual Symposium in 2020.

The EWU McNair staff are so excited for Theresa and we know she'll do amazing things at whichever PhD program she decides to attend! Click here to read more about Theresa or her research.

EWU McNair Scholars Present their STEM Research and Experiences

02/02/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

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 at EWU so far in 2021.

Darlene Gilroy, a second year EWU McNair Scholar, presented her research on, “Chemical Weathering of Deposits from the 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption and its Effect on Stream Water Chemistry," to the Geology Department in early January. Darlene has been mentored by EWU McNair Faculty Mentor Dr. Carmen Nezat for two summers of research. Darlene is currently finishing her senior year at EWU as well as applying to multiple graduate schools across the country.

EWU McNair Scholar Mori Williams was recently featured in a video on the EWU Biology Department's website where he discusses his EWU McNair Summer research in detail. With the support of his EWU McNair Faculty Mentor, Dr. Camille McNeely, Mori took samples at the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge to determine concentrations of microcystins from cyanobacteria in wetlands. He is still compiling data and will present his findings this spring at the EWU Symposium. In the video, Mori also discusses his long term goals to become an environmental scientist with an emphasis in toxicology so he can focus on ways to reduce and remove toxins from our waters. Mori has applied to 7 PhD programs and 3 Masters programs and is currently applying for a fellowship.

Rachael was also featured in a video on the EWU Biology Department's website and shares great research opportunities where she shares examples of research within the department, including her EWU McNair research project under the mentorship of Dr. Rebecca Brown: Differences in Plant Soil Feedbacks with Respect to Slope Aspect. Rachael's findings in this project suggest that slope aspect influences plant-soil feedback. This insight can help with invasive species management in endangered ecosystems such as the Palouse Prairie Ecoregion. Rachael is now hard at work completing her graduate school applications to schools across the country!

We're so proud of all of our EWU McNair Scholars. It's been amazing to see how hard they've worked given all the challenges of the last year. We're excited to see where each of them goes next. Keep your eyes on the EWU McNair website and facebook page in the coming months to see as these fantastic scholars get accepted into graduate programs!

EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy Completes Second Summer of Research

11/06/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy for completing her second EWU McNair Summer Research Internship! Darlene’s EWU McNair research has focused on the chemical weathering of volcanic sediments under the mentorship of Dr. Carmen Nezat. Darlene has presented on this project at the 2019 Murdock College Science Research Conference in Tacoma WA, the 2020 WE-STEM conference at EWU, and the EWU Virtual Symposium. More recently she presented Chemical Weathering of Deposits from the 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption and its Effect on Stream Water Chemistry at the virtual Baylor McNair Research Conference. Many thanks to Dr. Nezat for her outstanding mentorship. Read more about Darlene’s research on her EWU McNair webpage!

Darlene is now hard at work applying to graduate schools across the country. Keep up the amazing work Darlene! EWU McNair is confident that you will succeed in graduate school and have a great impact on our world.

EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Completes Summer Research Internship

10/30/2020 by Tennyson, Bryn Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee for completing her second EWU McNair Summer Research Internship! Theresa continued her research on college student perceptions of the barriers of prison reentry under the mentorship of Dr. Lindsey Upton in the Department of Sociology and Justice Studies. Last year she led focus groups with college students and this summer she transcribed and analyzed the data from those focus groups. Theresa recently presented her research from Prisoner Reentry: College Perceptions of Reentry Barriers in a Northwest Community at the virtual Baylor McNair Research Conference. Last year she also presented this research at the American Society of Criminology (ASC). Many thanks to Dr. Upton for her outstanding mentorship. Read more about Theresa's research on her EWU McNair webpage!

Theresa recently completed her application for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and is now hard at work applying to graduate schools and additional fellowships. Keep up the amazing work Theresa! EWU McNair is confident that you will succeed in graduate school and have a great impact on our communities.

EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy Awarded Research Grant

10/23/2020 by Tennyson, Bryn Leave a Comment

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 at the 2019 Murdock College Science Research Conference. To learn more about of Darlene's research, check out her poster presentation at the EWU Virtual Symposium! Darlene would like to focus future research in areas such as Anthropogenic Climate Change and Natural and Geologic Hazards through the lens of Geochemistry. Darlene is currently working hard on applications to graduate schools across the country in pursuit of her PhD.

We're so proud of Darlene and excited to see her hard work be recognized!