Ten Oklahoma State University undergraduates are nominees for three spring 2015 national awards. The Harry S. Truman, Barry Goldwater, and Udall Scholarships are three of the nation’s most prestigious honors for undergraduate students.

The Truman Scholarship awards up to $30,000 to college juniors wishing to pursue a career in public service to defray the cost of attending graduate or professional school, participating in leadership development activities and opportunities for internships and employment with the federal government.

The Goldwater awards up to $7,500 annually for undergraduate work to sophomores and juniors who excel in and plan to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.

The Udall Scholarship awards up to $5,000 annually for undergraduate education to sophomores and juniors who excel in and plan to pursue careers impacting American Indian self-governance, healthcare, or the stewardship of public lands and natural resources.

The 10 scholarship nominees represent 13 different majors at OSU.

Of those selected, two recepients are students in CASNR.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship Nominee

Andres Guerrero Criado – Tioga, Texas,

Biochemistry and microbiology

“I wish to complete both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in the field of regenerative medicine to actively apply my research and notice possible changes in patient care or treatment in real time, said Andres Criado. The double doctorate will help me think in abstract terms about the processes that lead to disease as well as practical medical solutions.

“I have been entrusted with several projects ranging from bioinformatics and evolutionary biology to metabolic pathways and protein dynamics and I have people who believe in me to produce publishable results that could aid hundreds if not thousands of people in their respective fields. That’s both motivating and humbling.

“I’m grateful for a professor who has offered unwavering support and I would like to encourage any and everybody with a passion in any field to pursue research in their interests. You don’t have to be a nerd or live in your lab to do good research; we need scientists who are everyday people with the potential to be innovative in their fields.”

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is the nation’s most prestigious award for undergraduate sophomores and juniors who excel in and plan to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship awards up to $7,500 annually to defray costs of undergraduate education.

The Udall Scholarship Nominee

Brett Johnson – Stillwater, Okla.

Horticulture


“I am most interested in stemming the threat to global food security by developing crops that are resistant to disease, especially plant pathogenic organisms that cause massive losses to crops. During and after my graduate program I will work to benefit the environment as well as society by combating plant diseases of horticultural crops through the development of superior genetics.

“I knew I wanted to be involved with the fields of plant breeding and plant pathology after making my own observations of diseased crops, during a summer job working on a vegetable farm. That job eventually led to two separate research projects and a transition into lab work, which would lead to my Niblack Research project.

“I see a future for agricultural sciences that continues to integrate the concepts of ecology into cultural practices, which will increase the health and longevity of our production systems.”

The Udall Scholarship honors the legacies of Morris and Stewart Udall, and is the nation’s most prestigious award for undergraduate sophomores and juniors who excel in and plan to pursue careers impacting American Indian self-governance, health care, or the stewardship of public lands and natural resources. The Udall Scholarship awards up to $5,000 annually to defray costs of undergraduate education.