2018-2019 Cohort

EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy Awarded Graduate Student Assistantship at PSU

07/07/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Congratulations! Darlene Gilroy, Awarded Graduate Student Assistantship at Portland State University

Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy! Darlene was awarded a graduate student assistantship at Portland State University. This spring Darlene was accepted by San Jose State University's Geology Masters program with funding and accepted by Portland State University's Geology Masters program. Darlene plans to attend Portland State University in the fall of 2022.

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 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 and to EWU's own Geology Department. Many thanks to Dr. Nezat for her outstanding mentorship.

In addition to being awarded two McNair Summer Research Internships here at Eastern. Darlene has also been recognized for her excellence with grants and scholarships. Last spring Darlene was awarded the Penelope A. Jones Scholarship and the HOME Program Scholarship. This fall, Eastern's Geology Department awarded Darlene the Fall 2020 Alumni-Funded Undergraduate Research Grant, to assist with her McNair research.

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. Read more about Darlene's research on her EWU McNair webpage!

7 EWU McNair Scholars Participate in Gabriel E. Gallardo Research, Student Leadership, and Advocacy Symposium

04/29/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

EWU McNair Scholars Rachael Pentico, Lizeth Bañuelos, and Malachi Chukwu presented last week at the virtual Gabriel E. Gallardo Research, Student Leadership & Advocacy Symposium hosted by the University of Washington. Four other EWU McNair Scholars attended: Alexandria Coronado, Wendolyn Martinez, Christina Hudson, and Aulane Mpouli. This was the first annual Gabriel E. Gallardo Research, Student Leadership & Advocacy Symposium (GEG Symposium) hosted by the University of Washington’s Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (UW OMA&D). This builds on UW McNair’s 28-year legacy of hosting a Pacific Northwest Undergraduate Research Conference and is intended to honor the legacy of Dr. Gabriel E. Gallardo who passed away last year after a lifetime of service to educational equity, particularly on behalf on TRIO McNair, TRIO-SSS, and CAMP students. This symposium provides an amazing opportunity for undergraduate researchers to meet other scholars and to share their research in a unique, exciting and supportive environment. A huge thank you to EWU McNair Faculty Mentors for encouraging and supporting scholars with their research and presentations! Below are some quotes from our scholars about the value of the experience.

On Attending the Conference:

Attending the conference was such an enriching experience for me. I had the opportunity to meet professors doing work in my area of interest at UW and to make important connections. I would recommend attending conferences to other students because it is an invaluable opportunity to ask questions and do some important networking."

- Christina Hudson, 2021 EWU McNair Scholar

Attending the conference was an insightful and meaningful. I attended: Finding Your Community, Imposter Syndrome, the Student Leadership Panel, Meditation and Stretching, Mental Health in Graduate School, Building Positive Mentoring Relationships, Self-Advocacy and Speaking Up for Yourself, and the Networking Fireside chat with Graduate Students from social sciences. These provided such honesty and great advice to successfully building relationships, your community, and taking care of your mental health."

- Lizeth Bañuelos, 2020 EWU McNair Scholar

On Presenting:

This was the first time that I pre-recorded a poster experience and it was such a great experience. It calmed the nerves I would have had if I presented live. I enjoyed familiarizing myself with this process. Take advantage of these opportunities, they are worth it. The nerves are worth it."

- Lizeth Bañuelos, 2020 EWU McNair Scholar

Check out Our Scholar's Presentations!

EWU McNair Scholar Presentations at the UW Conference:

To watch Lizeth's presentation" First-Generation Latinx Students' Academic Experience: The Role of Institutional Supports During the Pandemic, click here!

Click here to see Malachi's poster: Projects of Economic and Social Development in the Global South: The 20th and 21st Century Trends and their Effects.

Click here to see Rachael's poster: A Review of Plant Soil Feedbacks and their Importance for Palouse Prairie Restoration and Management.

EWU McNair Encourages Scholar Presentations at Conferences

EWU McNair encourages all of its scholars to present at conferences such as NCUR to network with those in their field and to build confidence, gain experience, and to strengthen Curriculum Vitae's (CV) for applying to graduate school. In addition to the UW conference, this school year scholars have presented at the Baylor McNair Research Conference, the Murdock College Science Research Conference, and the National Council on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Conference. Typically most EWU McNair Scholars also present at the EWU Symposium. Last year we may have set a record with 18 scholars presenting last spring!

This year, to ensure our scholars have this opportunity, EWU McNair is partnering with CSTEM at EWU to host a symposium on June 2nd. The symposium will begin with a Social Justice in Research Panel with EWU McNair Alumni at 9 am. Click here to register for the event for free!

Green back drop (lime to jade), with title of article, names of scholars and an image of each

EWU McNair Scholars Lucia Roussa and Mori Williams Present at NCUR

By Jaeger, Corinne | 04/27/2021

EWU McNair Scholars Present at Murdock College Science Research Conference 2020

By Jaeger, Corinne | 01/27/2021

Nine EWU McNair Scholars Present at Baylor McNair Research Conference

By Jaeger, Corinne | 10/09/2020

18 EWU McNair Scholars Present at EWU Virtual Symposium

By Jaeger, Corinne | 06/10/2020

Darlene Gilroy, EWU McNair Scholar and Environmental Geology major, attends prestigious Murdock College Science Research Conference in Vancouver, WA

By Patolo, Najeda | 11/14/2019

Abdu Mohammed Visiting Congressional Reps

Abdulrazik Mohammed Travels to DC to Attend the 7th Annual International Symposium on Women and Genocide in the 21st Century: The Case of Darfur

By jlittleton1 | 12/04/2018

The EWU McNair staff are proud of all of our scholars for the hard work they've put into their research and sharing that research with the broader community.

EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy Accepted by Geology Masters Program at San Jose State University

04/29/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Darlene Gilroy Graduate School Acceptances 2021 SJSU

Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy! Darlene was accepted by San Jose State University's Geology Masters program with funding. She was also accepted by Portland State University. 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 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 and to EWU's own Geology Department. Many thanks to Dr. Nezat for her outstanding mentorship.

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. Read more about Darlene's research on her EWU McNair webpage!

EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez Accepted by Fourth Masters Program

04/29/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Wendolyn Martinez Graduate School Acceptances 2021 AU

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez!

Wendolyn has been accepted by the Masters of International Affairs program at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, a graduate college at Texas A&M American University. They awarded Wendolyn a competitive scholarship and instate tuition for her first year. This is in addition to being accepted by the Masters in Public Policy program at Pepperdine University with a full tuition scholarship, the International Relations Masters program at American University, and by the dual Masters degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Moscow State Institute of International Relations where she also received a substantial scholarship rewarding her excellent academic background and specialization in the field. Wendolyn has decided to attend the Bush School where she will focus on nuclear security.

Wendolyn is double majoring in Political Science and International Affairs at Eastern and is dedicated to following her family's tradition of serving their country. In her case, she plans to go into foreign service where she hopes to decrease nuclear proliferation and increase peace and security in the world. 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 Moscow, Russia where she studied Russian language, history, and political economy. In the summer of 2020 she participated in the Public Policy & International Affairs Junior Summer Internship (PPIA JSI) through the University of Michigan.

The EWU McNair staff are so excited for Wendolyn and we know she'll do amazing things in graduate school and beyond! Click here to read more about Wendolyn or her research.

EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu Awarded Theodore A. LeGros Fellowship at WSU

04/22/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu! Malachi has been selected by Washington State University's (WSU) College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Political Science, Philosophy and Public Affairs for the Theodore A. LeGros Graduae Recruitment Fellowship. This fellowship comes through an endowment by the same name established by Jean Baumgarten LeGros in honor of her husband. Theodore graduated from WSU in 1942 in political science and, among many accomplishments, went on to be a lawyer and was president of the Japan-America Society of Seattle in 1976.

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. 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. Click here to read more about Malachi or his research.

Malachi has been accepted by the International Relations PhD program at Florida International University with funding, the Political Science PhD Program at the University of Oregon, and the Political Science PhD program at Washington State University with full funding plus now this additional award. Malachi plans to attend WSU in the fall of 2022.

The EWU McNair staff are so proud of Malachi and all of his hard work. We're excited to see all the amazing things he will bring to his field and his communities.

EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee Accepted by Sixth Graduate Program

04/08/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Theresa Lee Graduate School Acceptances 2021 DEN

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 programs: the Sociology PhD Program at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, the Criminology, Law, and Justice Masters Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Criminology and Criminal Justice PhD Program at the University of South Carolina, the Sociology PhD program at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, and the Sociology PhD at Bowling Greene State University with full funding. Theresa researches incarceration, recidivism and community reentry with a particular interest in unforeseen consequences of incarceration. Through her two EWU McNair Summer Research Internships (2019, 2020) she worked with her mentor Dr. Lindsey Upton to complete her research: Prisoner Reentry: College Perceptions of Reentry Barriers in a Northwest Community. She went on to present 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 graduate program she decides to attend! Click here to read more about Theresa or her research.