Four Calvin students land prestigious science research awards

Four Calvin science students have landed prestigious research awards.
See full story: http://www.calvin.edu/news/archive/two-goldwaters-two-nsf-fellowships
Ryan Martinie, a junior biochemistry and biology major and Anna Plantinga, a junior mathematics and biology major landed Goldwater scholarships. Senior chemistry major Nathan Romero and junior chemistry major Lauren Manck landed National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships.
Both the Goldwater and NSF awards are prestigious, said Calvin chemistry professor Carolyn Anderson.
The U.S. Congress established the Goldwater Scholarships in 1986 to fund students studying the traditional sciences, mathematics and engineering. An institution can nominate only four candidates a year. "Our track record on Goldwaters is really impressive," Anderson said. "Over the past four years, we have been awarded 10 fellowships (out of 16 nominees) and four honorable mentions, and that puts us in a really elite group." Goldwater scholars are awarded up to $7,500 for each of two successive years to help with tuition, fees, books and room and board.
The NSF award is likewise a signal honor, Anderson said: "Most of the people writing proposals are already graduate students, writing about what they're already doing. For Nate and Lauren, they're writing proposals in the abstract... It's certainly an honor, and it puts them in an elite group of people who have won these before graduating."
The NSF graduate research grant funds tuition, room and board, a stipend and travel expenses for three years at a graduate school of the recipient's choice. Romero and Manck (both of whom were Goldwater Scholars last year) believe the grant will give them more flexibility in choosing a graduate program. Also, said Romero, "It will give me a few extra resources to do research in graduate school that will impact the field."
All four students are committed to a future in science research.
Martinie, a Goldwater honorable mention last year, is studying the formation of tyrosine-cysteine crosslinks with chemistry professor David Benson. He hopes to teach and research.
Plantinga is researching "macroautophagy" (self-eating) in melanoma cells with Dr. Jeff MacKeigan in Van Andel Institute's Systems Biology Lab. She hopes to teach at a private college like Calvin: "Students get exposed to a lot, and you get more invested in the students," she said.
Manck is studying "molecular tinker toys" with chemistry professor Douglas Vander Griend. Last year, she studied the chemical defense system of marine diatoms at the University of Cadiz in Cadiz, Spain through the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Program. Manck hopes to someday teach at the university level.
Romero researches, with Anderson, "how to make new and interesting molecules efficiently," he said. He too hopes for a career in both teaching and research.
All four students describe their Calvin research experience as a vocational turning point: "When I was a freshman, I wanted to be a professor, but I mostly wanted to teach, and I knew I had to get a PhD, and that was a means to an end," Martinie said, "but then I got my first experience in research, and it was like, 'This is amazing! I want to do this for the rest of my life.'"
Manck agreed: "It allows you to be as curious as you want about something and then really work at figuring that something out."
Research can take a long time, Plantinga said: "There's quite a bit of waiting time while cells grow and while experiments are running."
It can also be frustrating, Manck added: "Sometimes it can take a lot of times of trying things and them not working out until finally you try something new, and it works brilliantly or you get a great set of data or interesting results."
Yet ultimately, research is an adventure, Romero said: "What better way to learn than to study something no one has looked at before?"
For more info, contact Anderson at 616-526-6343 or at cea3@calvin.edu
-end-

Matt Kucinski
Media Relations Manager
Calvin College
msk23@calvin.edu
616.526.8935 (office)
616.307.7429 (cell)
Received on Tue Apr 10 10:14:55 2012