The students below were nominated by UC Santa Barbara's Faculty Selection Committee and subsequently selected as recipients or honorable mentions in one of the prestigious National Scholarship competitions our office helps facilitate.
For more information on these competitions, see our National Scholarships page.
2022-2023 Results
BOREN 2023 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Hannah Jirah Lacaste
Proposed Country of Study: Indonesia
Proposed Language of Study: Indonesian
GOLDWATER 2023 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Ashley Yeh
Institution: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Life Sciences
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Conduct research in neuroscience, teach at the university level, and promote science communication.
Mentor(s): Dr. Britney Pennington, Dr. Dr. Colleen Mills-Finnerty, Dr. Dennis Clegg
2021-2022 Results
STRAUSS SCHOLARSHIP 2022 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Visala Tallavarjula
Proposed Project Title: Irrigation Water Use Efficiency and Plant Yield Improvement Utilizing Carbon Sequestration
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2022 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Marianne Arriola
Institution: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: CISE
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Computer Science. Conduct research in graph machine learning and teach at the university level.
Mentor(s): Ambuj Singh, Frances Arnold, Richert Wang
Mythili Ketavarapu
Institution: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Life Sciences
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Computational Biology. Conduct research on the biochemistry behind disease progression.
Mentor(s): Vijay Ramani, Alice Nguyen
2020-2021 Results
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2021 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Isaias Ghezae
Institution Name: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Psychology
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience. Conduct research in computational psychology and cognitive neuroscience and teach at the university level.
Mentor(s): Daniel Conroy-Beam, Hongbo Yu, Vanessa Woods
Patrick Tran
Institution Name: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Physics and Astronomy
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics. Conduct research in soft-matter, mathematical, or high energy physics and teach at university level.
Mentor(s): Paul Atzberger, Sathya Guruswamy
CHURCHILL SCHOLARSHIP 2021 - UCSB RECIPIENT
Alec Cao
Field of Study: Physics (major)
Graduate Program: Physics MPhil (Atomic and Condensed Matter Physics)
Goal: Research professor leading a group in utilizing ultracold atoms for condensed matter quantum simulation and developing new tools in quantum control.
Mentors: Prof. David Weld, Prof. Ania Jayich, Dr. Tengiz Bibilashvili, Dr. Toshihiko Shimasaki
2019-2020 Results
STRAUSS SCHOLARSHIP 2020 - UCSB RECIPIENT
Justin Chiu
Proposed Project Title: Putting an End to Deaths From Uncontrolled Bleeding
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2020 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Alec Cao
Institution: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Physics and Astronomy
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Physics. Investigate non-equilibrium quantum dynamics utilizing ultracold atoms.
Mentor(s): David Weld, Ania Jayich, Toshihiko Shimasaki
Veronica Hsu
Institution: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Life Sciences
Career Goal: I hope to earn a Ph.D. in biological sciences, which will allow me to conduct research, teach, and lead my own team of researchers at an R1 university.
Mentor(s): Holly V. Moeller, Tadashi Fukami, Peter Alagona
Max Prichard
Institution: University of California-Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Physics and Astronomy
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Experimental Physics. Perform research in atomic, molecular and optical physics with a professorship.
Mentor(s): David Weld, Toshihiko Shimasaki, Peter Dotti
2018-2019 Results
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2019 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Haley Bowden
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Physics and Astronomy
Career Goal: Ph.D. In Physics or Astronomy. Conduct research in astrophysics and support the education of women and other minorities in physics.
Mentor(s): Andy Howell, Crystal Martin, Iair Arcavi, Curtis McCully
Ryan Sadjadi
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Medicine
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Endocrinology & Diabetes. Leading role in the development of stem cell-based therapies for type 2 diabetes and related chronic conditions. Attain professorship at the university level.
Mentor(s): James Thomson, Dennis Clegg, Huishi
STRAUSS SCHOLARSHIP 2019 - UCSB RECIPIENT
Lauren Roberts
Proposed Project Title: Thriving: Not Just Surviving
CHURCHILL SCHOLARSHIP 2019 UCSB RECIPIENT
Michael Aling
Field of Study: Mechanical Engineering (major) / Physics (minor)
Graduate Program: Physics MPhil by Research (Quantum Materials)
Career Goal: Leading role in development of new scientific apparatuses across multiple fields, with benefit of Mechanical Engineering foundation.
Mentors: Stephen D. Wilson, Julian L. Schmehr, Ryan Need, Dave Bothman
2017-18 Results
BOREN SCHOLARSHIP 2018 - UCSB RECIPIENT
Peri Propper
Proposed Country of Study: Morocco
Proposed Language of Study: Arabic
STRAUSS SCHOLARSHIP 2018 - UCSB RECIPIENT
Cassidy Pyle
Proposed Project Title: SEEC (Sacramento Equitable Education Commission) Higher Education
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2018 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Michael Aling
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Engineering
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field. Leading role in development of scientific apparatuses, with aim of applications in multiple fields.
Mentor(s): Stephen D. Wilson, Julian L. Schmehr, Ryan Need, Dave Bothman
Jasen Liu
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Life Sciences
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology. Lead a research group investigating evolutionary ecology and phylogenetics of flowering plants, and teach at the university level.
Mentor(s): Susan Mazer, Scott Hodges, Hillary Young, Wolf Frommer, Dawn O’Neal, Kristen Peach, Evangeline Ballerini, Devyn Orr, Matthew Prior
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2018 - UCSB HONORABLE MENTIONS
Shay Nguyen
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Chemistry
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Chemistry. Conduct chemistry research as a research faculty at a university.
Mentor(s): Javier Read de Alaniz
2016-17 Recipients
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2017 - UCSB RECIPIENTS
Dolev Bluvstein
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Physics and Astronomy
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Physics, studying experimental condensed matter. Conduct research at the forefront of atomic-resolution imaging and quantum information. Teach at the university level.
Mentor(s): Amila Ariyaratne, Ania Jayich, Bryan Myers, Claire McLellan Ania Jayich
Shelby Shankel
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Chemistry
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Materials. Conduct research at the interface of materials science and organic synthesis with a career in academia.
Mentor(s): Emre Discekici, Javier Read de Alaniz, Craig Hawker, John Tannaci
GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP 2017 - UCSB HONORABLE MENTIONS
Michael Abramovitch
Institution: University of California: Santa Barbara
Field of Study: Engineering
Career Goal: Ph.D., then tenured professorship in Materials Science or Chemical Engineering. Develop efficient, low-cost solar energy technologies for deployment in the developing world.
Mentor(s): Michael Chabinyc, Maksymilian Nowak, Mengwen Zhang, Matthew E. Helgeson, Nanlin Zhang, Andrew A.R. Watt, Joseph L. DeRisi