Linda Wiratan wins Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship!

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 20:54:30 -0400

UMBC junior Linda Wiratan has been awarded the Goldwater scholarship for 2018. Yasmin Graham earned an Honorable Mention.

Linda is a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major with a minor in Creative Writing. She is a member of the Honors College, a URA Scholar and URCAD presenter, and a published poet in Bartleby, UMBC's creative arts journal. Her mentor is Dr. Hua Lu and her current research is entitled, "Investigation of Effects of Elicitor-Induced Defense Activation on the Circadian Clock in Arabidopsis." She will present her research poster at URCAD on Wednesday, April 25th from 10-11:30 am in the UC Ballroom.

Linda joins UMBC's past Goldwater recipients who have earned this prestigious award. As a representative of science, she hopes to improve its public perception by advancing its approachability. To this end, in addition to all of her academic achievements, Linda is the founder of City of Cells, LLC, a science-focused organization with the mission of improving the public perception of science through interactive and creative means such as blogs, science-inspired products, and educational animation. She will pursue a Ph.D. in Cell or Molecular Biology and conduct protein dynamics research. She has won various awards for her research posters, and has consistently been named to the Dean’s and President’s lists at UMBC. She has co-authored four articles with her mentors, Dr. Hua Lu and Dr. Marcin Ptaszek, in peer reviewed journals, including Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Letters, and Nature Communications (under review). The paper which Linda co-authored was selected as a cover article in the current issue of Inorganic Chemistry, and she also made the graphics for the cover. She was selected from a pool of 1280 applicants for the Goldwater scholarship. The award supports high-achieving STEM students who will pursue careers as research scientists, and will support Linda with funding for her senior academic year.

Yasmin Graham is a junior Mechanical Engineering major, a Meyerhoff and MARC U* STAR Scholar, and LSAMP participant. She earned Goldwater's honorable mention.

Congratulations to Linda and Yasmin!

For more information about Goldwater and other prestigious scholarships, see: https://oue.umbc.edu/ncs/

or email Dr. April Householder at aprilh@umbc.edu