Award

EWU McNair Scholar Richard Murphy Selected for the Jeffers Chertok Memorial Scholarship

06/13/2022 by Liina Koivula Leave a Comment

Congratulations to new EWU McNair Scholar Richard Murphy! Richard has been selected by the EWU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences to receive the Jeffers Chertok Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarship was created to honor the life of Professor Jeffers W. Chertok, PhD, who worked at EWU for more than 34 years. He was well known on campus for his scholarship, generosity and passion for Eastern. Dr. Chertok passed away in 2004, but his legacy towards EWU continues with this scholarship.

Richard is an undergraduate student with declared majors in Philosophy, Political Science, and International Affairs with an emphasis on Global Socio-Economic Development and a minor in Spanish. Richard serves as Vice President of both the Philosophy Club and the International Affairs Community at EWU, advocating for interdisciplinary approaches to our most sophisticated and pressing issues of the 21st Century. As a student ambassador with the People-to-People program, Richard experienced first-hand how traveling to other countries can diversify one’s exposure, and has translated that into his studies in International Affairs. Under the mentorship of Professor Tom Hawley, PhD, Richard plans to focus his 2022 McNair summer research project on the phenomena of societal internalization of Neoliberalism, and the consequences of establishing competitive markets in historically non-marketed realms of our lives.

EWU McNair Scholar Lucia Roussa Receives Excellence in Academic Achievement Award

06/07/2022 by Liina Koivula Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Lucia Roussa! Lucia has been selected by the faculty of the Environmental Science Program to receive the “Excellence in Academic Achievement Award” for 2022. Lucia’s professors remarked about her active pursuit of undergraduate research experiences, success in obtaining competitive summer research opportunities external to EWU, and experience as a McNair scholar to further prepare herself for her goal of attending graduate school and ultimately becoming a research scientist. Her professors noted that she executed a successful project on aquatic invertebrates at Turnbull Scholar in summer 2020 despite the COVID-19 constraints, and that she is currently in the midst of an exciting project examining the algal symbionts of freshwater sponges using molecular techniques.

Lucia is double majoring in Environmental Science and Biology at EWU. Her research interests include Phycology, marine microbiology, and conservation science in coastal marine ecosystems. In 2021, Lucia participated in an EWU McNair Summer Research Internship under the mentorship of Dr. Camille McNeely, Professor of Biology, where she investigated the relationship between freshwater algal abundance and diversity by analyzing the eutrophication of wetlands in Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. She then went on to work with Dr. Jessica Allen to analyze the phylogeny of freshwater sponges across greater Eastern Washington.

Lucia was one of only 13 interns selected for an internship quantifying Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia labiata) using aerial photographs with CICOES (Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies) through the University of Washington under mentor Dr. Julie Keister. Lucia was invited to continue participating in this research.

Lucia will begin attending North Carolina State University’s Doctoral program in Marine, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences in Fall 2022.

EWU McNair Scholar Christina Hudson Selected for the Jeffers Chertok Dean’s Honor Award

06/02/2022 by Liina Koivula Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Christina Hudson! Christina has been selected for the Jeffers Chertok Dean’s Honor Award.

The Jeffers Chertok Dean’s Honor Award recognizes exceptional graduates who have demonstrated a commitment to their education through outstanding academic achievement with a minimum of a 3.75 GPA in their previous 4 quarters and through leadership and service to the community.

Christina is a first-generation university student double majoring in English studies and Africana studies, and minoring in religious studies. She currently holds a 3.98 GPA. Christina completed an EWU McNair Summer Research Internship in 2021 under the mentorship of Associate Professor Okera Nsombi titled The Characterization of African Religions. She recently presented this research at the National Association of African American Studies & Affiliates 2022 Virtual Conference, held online. Christina serves as the ASEWU Diversity Representative. Based on her work in this role, her outstanding academic record, and her regular contributions to organizations such as BlackPast.org, Christina was invited to participate in building a curriculum for next year’s required staff trainings in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion under Senate Bill 5227.

Christina will begin her PhD studies in Africology and African American Studies at Temple University next fall. Read about all of Christina’s accomplishments as a McNair Scholar here.

EWU McNair Scholar Christina Hudson Receives the Frances B. Huston Medallion Award

05/19/2022 by Liina Koivula Leave a Comment

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Christina Hudson! Christina has been selected to receive a 2022 Frances B. Huston Medallion Award.

Recipients of the Frances B. Huston medallion award must have established themselves as exceptionally capable individuals in both academic and extracurricular activities. The faculty and the administration of Eastern Washington University acknowledge their great pride in the accomplishments of these students during their college experience and expect even greater accomplishments in the years that lie ahead. The Frances B. Huston Medallion is presented to just 20 graduating students per year.

Christina will begin her PhD studies in Africology and African American Studies at Temple University next fall. Read about all of Christina’s accomplishments as a McNair Scholar here.

EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson Receives Leadership in Education Award, Contributes to Textbook

05/05/2022 by Liina Koivula Leave a Comment

EWU McNair Alumna Miriam Carlson (class of 2020) currently attends Gonzaga University’s Education Specialist in School Psychology program, and she is doing great things there! Miriam recently received the Jeanne Foster-Wardian Leadership in Education Award at Gonzaga University. This award was established in honor of Jeanne Foster-Wardian, who served as Dean of the School of Education from 1974-1989. She lived her personal and professional life supporting and encouraging the potential for leadership that she believed was in everyone. The Jeanne Foster-Wardian Leadership in Education Award is bestowed each year to students who demonstrate evidence of excellent scholastic achievement, disciplinary competence, commitment to education through service, and integrity of character.

Miriam also had the opportunity to help with the writing and editing of a textbook, Essentials of Bayley™ —4 Assessment by Dr. Vincent Alfonso. Dr. Alfonso is a professor highly published and recognized in the field of school psychology. Miriam is thanked in the book’s acknowledgments.

Additionally, Miriam contributed to the research and development phase of the PsyD in School Psychology program at Gonzaga University that is projected to launch in 2023.

Miriam completed her McNair Summer Research project titled The Effects of Cognitive Appraisal on Postsecondary Education in 2019 under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Zeihnert. She went on to attend Gonzaga University’s Education Specialist in School Psychology program. She is a member of the American Psychological Association. Congratulations, Miriam, on all of your achievements!

EWU McNair Alumna Angélica García-Macías Accorded Ford Fellowship Honorable Mention

04/13/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Angelica Garcia Macias Ford Foundation HM

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Angélica García-Macías! The Ford Foundation found Angélica's application to their pre-doctoral fellowship particularly strong and wanted her to recieve special recognition on their Honorable Mention List. This is commendable, for while Angélica was not one of the 75 recipients of the fellowship, her application stood out near the top amongst 2,228! Angélica graduated in 2020 with a major in Political Science with an emphasis in Pre-Law and minors in Spanish and Chicano Studies. In 2020 she was acknowledged for her strong academic record and demonstration of outstanding leadership qualities with the Frances B. Huston Award. She was accepted by four graduate programs and began the Political Science PhD program at the University of California, Irvine in Fall 2020 with full funding.

Angélica's research focuses on Latinx community involvement in politics and solutions to increase Latinx political participation. For her 2018 EWU McNair Summer Research Internship, she studied housing discrimination in the Latinx community with the mentorship of Dr. Martín Meráz García. Then in 2019, she was awarded a summer research internship at MIT. There, under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Stewart III, she researched the electoral behavior of the Latiné community.

EWU McNair is so proud of Angélica's continued accomplishments and we're excited to see what she does next!