TRIO Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program

Eastern Washington University

STEM

EWU McNair Scholar Angelica Garcia-Macias Accepted into Multiple PhD Programs

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Photo of Angelica Garcia-Macias next to text congratulating her for acceptance into 3 PhD programs.
Photo of Angelica Garcia-Macias next to text congratulating her for acceptance into 3 PhD programs.

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Angelica Garcia-Macias! Angelica has been accepted into the Political Science PhD program at Michigan State University, the Political Science PhD program at the University of Washington, and the Political Science PhD program at the University of California, Irvine! All of these come with full funding. Angelica is a senior at Eastern Washington University majoring in Political Science and minoring in Chicano Studies and Spanish. To prepare for graduate school Angelica completed two summers of research internships: one through the EWU McNair Scholars Program with mentor Dr. Martín Meráz García researching housing discrimination in the Latinx community, and last summer at MIT with Dr. Charles Stewart III researching the Latiné vote. To read more about Angelica and her research, check out her page on the EWU McNair website.

 

We are so proud to see all of Angelica's hard work paying off and excited for her next steps towards attaining a PhD!

EWU McNair Alumna Christina Ramelow Accepted into Multiple PhD Programs

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Christina Ramelow Grad School Acceptances Announcements 2019

Congratulations to EWU McNair Alumna Christina Ramelow! Christina has been accepted into the BioMedical Sciences PhD program at the University of Buffalo, the Neuroscience PhD program at the University of Virginia, and the Neuroscience PhD program at Michigan State University! All of these come with full funding. Christina graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2018 with a degree in Biology/Biotechnology. She is currently a masters student at EWU in Biology, working both as a research fellow and a teaching assistant. To prepare for graduate school Christina completed two summers of research internships as well as presented her research at several conferences. To read more about Christina and her research, check out her page on the EWU McNair website.

 

We are so proud to see all of Christina's hard work paying off and excited for her next steps towards attaining a PhD!

EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro Accepted into Indiana University School of Medicine

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EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro has been accepted into the BioMedical Gateway program at the Indiana University School of Medicine
EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro has been accepted into the BioMedical Gateway program at the Indiana University School of Medicine

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro! Marcos has been accepted into the Indiana BioMedical Gateway (IBMG) program at the Indiana University School of Medicine with full funding! Marcos is a senior at Eastern Washington University majoring in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. To prepare for graduate school Marcos completed two summers of research internships, one here with the EWU McNair Scholars Program and mentor Dr. Andrea Castillo, and the other last summer at the Fred Hutchinson in Seattle. He is also the recipient of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most competitive STEM scholarships in the country. To read more about Marcos and his research, check out his page on the EWU McNair website.

 

We are so proud of Marcos and excited for his next steps towards attaining his PhD!

EWU McNair Scholars Program Recruits Over 40 Potential Scholars

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EWU McNair Scholar Marixza Torres Tells Students at EWU McNair Fall Orientation what the program does for students.
EWU McNair Scholar Marixza Torres tells students at McNair orientation how the program helps students in getting to grad school.

Each fall the EWU McNair Scholars Program recruits talented and determined students in fields across the university who want to pursue their PhD. This year, in partnership with faculty and staff across the university as well as current McNair Scholars, the EWU McNair Scholar Program has recruited nearly fifty students who are actively investigating whether pursuing a PhD is the right path for them in the EWU McNair Scholar course, “Is Graduate School for You?” In this course, students meet with three faculty at EWU who have a PhD as well as EWU McNair Director Dr. Christina Torres García to learn more about what it means to pursue a PhD and how achieving a PhD can help them achieve their goals and dreams.

This year the EWU McNair office sent 443 personal emails to eligible students and 33 students attended the Fall McNair orientations. Students came from the departments of Psychology, Political Science, Philosophy, Women & Gender Studies, Anthropology, Social Work, Criminal Justice, Sociology, Environmental Science, Biology, Visual Communication and Design, Exercise Science, Education, and English as a Second Language. 33% of attendees came from STEM fields. In addition, the EWU McNair staff have met individually with over 25 additional students one-on-one who are potentially interested in pursuing their PhD but could not make it to the orientation days.

The EWU McNair Scholars Program is thrilled to have so many students interested in pursuing graduate school and bringing their skills and unique lenses to academia. The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Programs are nationwide federally funded programs with a goal of changing the make-up of academia by increasing attainment of PhD degrees by students underrepresented in higher education, specifically low-income, first-generation college students, and students of color. The EWU McNair Scholars Program began in the 1995-1996 academic year and 38 program participants have earned their PhDs and are out doing great work in academia and their communities across the country. You can read more about the work of past scholars on the EWU McNair Scholars Program website: https://inside.ewu.edu/mcnair/category/alumni-spotlight.

The EWU McNair Scholars Program looks forward to another great cohort of scholars. Once students complete their fall course, which is also the application for the McNair Scholars program, the McNair Search Committee Board will work with the McNair staff to select this new cohort by the end of Winter Quarter. It’s an exciting time for EWU McNair and the program is grateful to all the faculty and staff across the university for their support of the program and all the current and past McNair Scholars.

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

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Darlene Gilroy Murdock 2.jpeg
Darlene Gilroy with EWU faculty members and colleagues.

The EWU McNair Scholars' Program would like to recognize McNair Scholar Darlene Gilroy (2018-19 cohort) for presenting her original research at the 2019 Murdock College Science Research Conference held November 8th-9th in Vancouver, Washington. Darlene's research project, Chemical Weathering of Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Sediments, was completed in the summer of 2019 as part of the EWU McNair Summer Research Internship. Dr. Carmen Nezat of the EWU Department of Geology was Darlene's research mentor for this project.

From the Murdock Charitable Trust website:

The conference focuses on sharing and advancing new knowledge in the natural sciences created or discovered through collaborative faculty-student research.

Attendance at the conference is invitation-only, and this year's theme was Collaboration – A Key to Success in Undergraduate Research. Darlene offered to share her experiences with us, saying, "I felt blessed to be able to attend such a wonderful and prestigious conference. I used this as an opportunity to practice presenting on a conference level. I was truly inspired by the research that was being presented by fellow conference attendees. It was also a wonderful opportunity to network with fellow Environmental Science/ Geology students from different institutions, as well as bond with the three other Eastern students who attended. #GeologyRocks."

Now that she has returned, Darlene is focused on applying for summer undergraduate research opportunities next year where she will continue her academic and scholarly endeavors. Congratulations, Darlene, on your fantastic accomplishment!