SLU Students Earn Prestigious STEM Scholarships
04/23/2024
Two Saint Louis University students, Liz Pfau and Natalie Walsh, have won Goldwater Scholarships after a lengthy application process.
Liz Pfau, left, and Natalie Walsh, have won Goldwater Scholarships. Submitted photos.
The Goldwater Scholarship is a prestigious national undergraduate award for students in STEM who intend to pursue a career in STEM research after graduation. The students undertook months of application development which included faculty interviews and writing a research essay.
Pfau is a junior chemistry major who plans on pursuing a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and conducting research regarding physiological responses to stress to improve understanding of chronic stress and teaching at the university level. She recently won the Sloane Prize for Undergraduate Research at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference for her presentation "Student Mindsets and the Effect of Intervention in Undergraduate Chemistry Students" conducted under SLU Associate Professor of Chemistry Asmira Alagic, Ph.D.
Pfau is also an organic chemistry learning assistant, a PATH mentor, and a member of the Honors Program.
Walsh is a junior Life Sciences major who plans on pursuing a Ph.D. in Genetics/Epigenetics and conducting research in the regulation of gene expression & epigenetic editing and teaching at the university level. She is a researcher in the lab of SLU biology professor Edwin Antony, Ph.D., investigating oxidoreductase and determining how the DPOR enzyme undergoes long-range electron transfer to make chlorophyll precursors.
Walsh was awarded a poster award at the inaugural Saint Louis University Bio-Chem Symposium for her work and is a co-author of an associated publication. She is also the incoming president of the Honors Student Association, a PATH mentor, and a member of the Honors Program.
Both will receive $7,500 towards their tuition and fees.
Over its 30-year history, Goldwater Scholarships have been awarded to thousands of undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to win other prestigious awards like the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship, Rhodes Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship that support our Scholars’ graduate school work.
The Goldwater Foundation awarded 438 new scholarships in 2024. A total of 1,353 students applied for the awards.
Each university can nominate only four applicants for each cycle. Walsh and Pfau had to first gain nomination from SLU’s campus committee of STEM professors before moving on to the national competition.
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