Recent National Scholarship Recipients

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

Strauss RecipientLauren 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