Three University of Colorado Boulder students have won 2011 Goldwater Scholarships, recognizing top work in math, science or engineering among undergraduates nationally.
Ian Buller, Natasha Goss and Minh Than were honored with the national scholarship and each will receive up to $7,500 for educational expenses next year.
"The Goldwater is often hailed as the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship for math, science and engineering students, so the fact that we have three in one year says a lot about the quality of our students," said Deborah Viles, CU-Boulder's top scholarship director.
The three CU-Boulder students are among 275 members of the 2011 class of Goldwater Scholars, who were chosen from a field of 1,095 students nominated by college faculties nationwide.
Buller is a junior majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology. He plans to specialize in disease ecology, specifically identifying unknown diseases in remote areas, studying their emergence and designing control programs. Buller works in Professor Pieter Johnson's lab on campus on the amphibian necropsy task force. He also is an active participant in CU-Boulder's Presidents Leadership Class.
Goss is a sophomore majoring in chemistry and plans to study the impact of climate change on the chemistry of aqueous ecosystems. She is currently an intern at the CU Environmental Center. This summer she will intern at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research under the direction of CU-Boulder Professor Diane McNight. She will conduct research on the effects of temperature change on phytoplankton. Goss also is a Norlin Scholar.
Than is a junior with a double major in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and biochemistry. Than's research interests include investigating cancer with the long-term goal of improving early detection and treatment. In May 2010, Than was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986 in honor of Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, who served the United States as a soldier and statesman for 56 years. The program was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.
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