Scholars

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 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 Scholars Present at Murdock College Science Research Conference 2020

01/27/2021 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 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 natural sciences created or discovered through collaborative faculty-student research. Attendance at this conference is by invitation only. The two presentations from our McNair Scholars were:

Rachael is now hard at work completing her graduate school applications. Ashley will continue on another year in her studies and apply to graduate school in the fall of 2021. We're so excited for both of these scholars and their next steps towards attaining their PhDs!

EWU McNair Scholar Julianna Pruneda-Martinez Completes Summer Research Internship

11/18/2020 by Tennyson, Bryn Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Julianna Pruneda-Martinez for completing her EWU McNair Summer Research Internship! Under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Winer in the EWU Department of Education, Julianna researched mathematics education through the review of two texts: Taking Action: Implementing Effective Mathematics Teaching practices in Grades K-5 by DeAnn Huinker and Victoria Bill and Making Number Talks Matter: Developing Mathematical Practices and Deepening Understanding, grades 3-10. This research has further encouraged Julianna to dig into what’s working and what’s not working in math education, especially for Latinx students.

Julianna is currently continuing her work towards her major in Math Education and building her resume and experience for both her teaching certificate and preparing for graduate school. We’re confident that Julianna will make great strides in the field of education. Many thanks to Dr. Michael Winer for his thoughtful mentorship. To learn more about Julianna and her research, check out her EWU McNair webpage.

EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli Completes Summer Research Internship

11/18/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Aulane Mpouli for completing her EWU McNair Summer Research Internship! Aulane's study is titled Molecular Docking Study of ITPA Protein Substrate Complex. The project is an extension of the work that mentor Dr. Yao Houndonougbo has been doing to apply computational chemistry methods to study protein–ligand interactions and the property structure relationships in materials. Many thanks to Dr. Houndonougbo for his outstanding mentorship. Read more about Aulane's research on her EWU McNair webpage!

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

EWU McNair Scholar Ashley Destin Completes Summer Research Internship

11/18/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne 2 Comments

Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Ashley Destin for completing her EWU McNair Summer Research Internship! Ashley conducted her research on statistical evaluations of skull measurements within and between the three selected North American carnivore groups under the mentorship of Professor Dr. Judd Case in Department of Biology. She measured skulls and looked their size correlation with the body size of possible prey. Many thanks to Dr. Case for his outstanding mentorship. Read more about Ashley's research on her EWU McNair webpage!

Ashley is now hard at work preparing for both Veterinary and graduate school, which she plans to apply for next fall. Keep up the exceptional work Ashley! EWU McNair is confident that you will succeed in graduate school and beyond!