Two Montana State University Students win Prestigious Goldwater Scholarships

19 April 2023 – Ava Graham, a junior majoring in biochemistry and microbiology from Red Lodge, and Madison Torrey, a junior majoring in environmental engineering from Fort Collins, Colorado, are MSU’s two newest winners of the scholarship given by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

The foundation announced today that 413 students received the competitive scholarships honoring the top undergraduates in the country pursuing research in STEM fields. The scholarship comes with an award of up to $7,500 per year for tuition, books, and room and board. MSU is one of the top universities nationally in terms of the number of its students who have received the prestigious awards, with a total of 86 recipients since the scholarship was established in 1989.

At MSU, Graham works in the Wiedenheft Lab under Blake Wiedenheft, professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology in the College of Agriculture. Graham plans to earn a combined M.D./Ph.D., then pursue a research career in immunology and practice translational medicine, an area of research that aims to improve human health and longevity by determining the relevance of biological science discoveries to human health.

Torrey began working in MSU’s Optical Remote Sensor Laboratory in summer 2021 as an intern in the National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program, before transferring to MSU from Arizona State University in fall 2021. She works under the direction of Joseph Shaw, distinguished professor of electrical engineering in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering. Torrey plans to earn a doctorate in environmental engineering with a focus on optics, then teach at the university level, study the natural environment and devise environmental remediation strategies.

“Today, with pride, we recognize these two extraordinary Goldwater scholars and the research they are pursuing for the benefit of our world,” said MSU President Waded Cruzado. “We are honored that these gifted women have chosen to study at Montana State and for the ways our land-grant university has helped prepare them for exciting and impactful careers.”

Graham said she is very excited about being named a Goldwater scholar and credited her opportunities at MSU for her success.

“I feel very lucky and honored to go to a university where undergraduate research is so accessible and supported,” she said.

It was those undergraduate research opportunities that influenced her decision to come to MSU as a freshman on a Presidential Scholarship. She learned about the Wiedenheft Lab from two older students from the MSU Honors College who worked in the lab, Laina Hall and Pushya Krishna, who were, themselves, named Goldwater scholars in 2021. Graham’s initial work in the lab took place in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her first project was to repurpose bacterial immune systems as molecular diagnostics for viral infections.

“We were very inspired by what was going on in the external world, and the project was tangible to what we were experiencing,” Graham said, adding that her work in the lab helped her refine her career aspirations. “The research opened my eyes to careers and opportunities I never could have imagined for myself until I got to this place.”

Graham’s faculty adviser, Joan Broderick, head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Letters and Science, said, “Ava is an exceptional student with a strong interest in biochemistry research. We are grateful to have her in our department and are excited that she has been recognized for her academic and research excellence by the Goldwater Scholarship organization.”

When she isn’t in class or in the lab, Graham provides tutoring in the Native American and Alaska Native Student Success Center and serves on the editorial board of Curiositas, a journal of undergraduate research being done across disciplines at MSU. She played for two years in the MSU Symphony Orchestra and currently plays in a community orchestra in Bozeman.

Torrey said her summer work in Shaw’s lab was a “big deciding factor” for her transfer to Montana State. Her work involves drone-based remote sensing via hyperspectral imaging, capable of recording 300 wavelength bands, to estimate pigments in river algae, which is indicative of stream health.

“I saw that being in the research lab with Joe’s group was such a great experience,” she said. “I didn’t know what optics was before I came here but was able to flourish with the support of the amazing people in the lab and in the MSU community in general,” she said.

She now understands how using optical technology can yield more accurate estimations of environmental data.

“It’s a very cool, up-and-coming field, using remote sensing to study the environment,” she said. “There’s a lot of potential for cross-over. I want to fuse the environmental and optic fields.”

Torrey said that as an environmental engineering student working mostly with electrical engineers, she acts as a bridge between disciplines, an assessment that Shaw confirmed.

“As an environmental engineering student, Maddie fills an important role as somewhat of a liaison between the optical engineers in my group and the ecologists with whom we are collaborating,” he said. “Her research is helping us develop new optical sensing systems and methods for measuring water quality and monitoring algal blooms in Montana rivers.” 

Torrey’s selection for a Goldwater Scholarship “is a really great example of what a special thing we have going on here at MSU, where even undergraduate students can have very meaningful roles in major research projects,” Shaw added. “We work with very interdisciplinary groups, and the people who do well in my group are the people who enjoy working on the boundaries of traditional disciplines.”

Torrey will earn her bachelor’s in environmental engineering in May 2024, expertise she hopes to combine with a doctorate in optics.

Torrey is the secretary of MSU’s Society of Women Engineers and an engineering ambassador, providing tours of the university’s engineering resources to prospective students and their families. She also sings in the a cappella group, MSU Rhapsody.

This year’s 413 Goldwater recipients nationwide were selected from 1,267 natural science, engineering and mathematics students nominated by 427 academic institutions. 

Source : https://www.montana.edu/