PULLMAN, Wash. — Two Washington State University science students
have won Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships for the 2000-01 school year.
Biochemisty major Sarah Herbison of Spokane and animal science major
Marlene Bakko of Lake Stevens won two of the 309 Goldwater Scholarships
awarded nationwide this spring to college sophomores and juniors.
A junior in the WSU Honors College, Herbison is a 1997 graduate of
Spokane’s North Central High School. She participated with 24 students from
across the United States and Puerto Rico in the American Chemical Society’s
summer school in nuclear and radiochemistry last summer.
Herbison has been a WSU research assistant for the past three years. Her
research has focussed on the chemical processes that influence the behavior
of plutonium in the environment. She presented her individual work at the 1999
ACS Northwest Regional Meeting. Work she contributed to has been
submitted for publication in the international journal Radiochimica Acta.
Herbison is a board member of the WSU Chemistry Club and was a peer tutor
in the Student Advising and Learning Center. Herbison has been a member of
the President’s Honor Roll since coming to WSU.
Bakko, a 1998 graduate of Granite Falls High School, is a sophomore in the
WSU Honors College. She is a member of the Alpha Zeta honor society, floor
secretary in her residence hall and treasurer of Collegiate 4-H.
Bakko is working to detect the genetic differences between the Mycobacterium
paratuberculosis strains that infect cattle and those that infect sheep. M.
paratuberculosis causes Johne’s disease, a serious and costly ailment in
sheep, goats and cattle.
Bakko has been a consistent member of the President’s Honor Roll.
“Goldwater scholarships are extremely competitive,” said Mary
Sanchez-Lanier, assistant dean of the College of Sciences. “Only about 300 are
awarded each year out of a national pool of more than 1,000 well-qualified
nominees.”
WSU has had one or two winners in all but one of the last seven years.
The Goldwater Scholarship Program, created by Congress in 1986 to honor
Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, recognizes students with outstanding potential who
intend to pursue careers in natural science, mathematics or engineering. Each
winner receives up to $7,500 toward tuition and other college expenses. The
awards are based on academic merit. This year’s winners were selected from
1,181 nominations.
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