Three Colorado State Women Earn Prestigious National Research Scholarships For Undergraduate Work In Biochemistry
Thursday, April 3, 1997
FORT COLLINS--Three Colorado State University women
students, all biochemistry majors, have been awarded prestigious
Goldwater Scholarships for their work in university laboratories.
The award-winners include Laura Tomky, a junior who plans to
pursue clinical oncology; Amy Lynn Norton, a sophomore who plans
to specialize in virology; and Melissa Gonzales, a junior who is
interested in conducting research on the genetic bases of cancer.
"It's a great distinction to have three students from our
department win the awards," said Robert Woody, acting chairman of
the department of biochemistry and molecular biology. "Laura, Amy
and Melissa are among the most outstanding students in a program
known for excellence."
University students from all 50 states are eligible for
Goldwater Scholarships, which pay up to $7,500 for tuition, fees,
books, room and board for students in natural sciences,
mathematics and engineering. Colorado State was one of only 26
universities nationally to have three students earn scholarships
and was the only university in Colorado to have multiple winners.
The Colorado School of Mines was the only other Colorado
institution to host a scholarship winner this year.
Jennifer Nyborg, biochemistry professor and faculty adviser
to Gonzales, noted the significance of all three women as winners
in a field traditionally dominated by men.
"It's important to encourage bright young women to pursue
careers in research, and awards like this certainly do a great
deal to help," Nyborg said. "I'm glad that we as a department and
university are able to help these young women pursue their dreams
and to succeed as researchers."
Overall, the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in
Education Foundation selected 282 scholarship winners from a
field of 1,164 applicants. One hundred and sixty of the
scholarships went to men, while 122 scholarships were awarded to
women. The scholarships, named for former Arizona Sen. Barry
Goldwater, are awarded on the basis of academic merit.
"These three young women represent the kind of learning
experience we are striving to provide our students who are
interested in research careers," said John Raich, dean of the
College of Natural Sciences. "One of the reasons the three were
able to win this prestigious scholarship is the hands-on work
they do in our biochemistry labs as part of their undergraduate
education. We're very pleased and proud of their
accomplishments."
The department of biochemistry had three previous Goldwater
Scholarship winners: Robin Jump in 1992-93; Cynthia Snyder in
1994-95; and Bethany Krett in 1995-96. Krett is still in the
biochemistry program at Colorado State.
With three student scholarship winners, Colorado State joins
such institutions as Harvard, Johns Hopkins University, the
University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. The only other universities in the Rocky Mountain
region to host three scholarship winners this year are Brigham
Young and Montana State.
Biographies on Colorado State University Barry M. Goldwater
Scholarship recipients
Melissa Gonzales is a Colorado State junior who plans to
pursue a doctorate degree in biochemistry and ultimately conduct
research on the genetic bases of cancer. Her undergraduate work
at the university has provided her with hands-on experience in a
research laboratory and has given her the opportunity to conduct
her own research as a student assistant with adviser Jennifer
Nyborg, a biochemistry professor.
"I'm the oldest of three children from a Hispanic family,"
Gonzales said. "My mother was forced to give up her dreams of a
college education and vowed that her own children would not be
forced to make such sacrifices. My father is a public school
administrator and a very strong advocate of education.
"My parents consistently stressed education as a major
priority in our family and taught us through hard work, all our
dreams could be realized. The key to my success during college
has been that strong support and encouragement."
Gonzales considers cancer one of the biggest problems facing
humanity. She plans to pursue research to determine the
individual genetic mechanisms involved in different types of
cancer.
"Only when the specific biochemical pathways of each cancer
are well understood will there be a more likely chance that
effective means of treating cancer can be developed," she said.
Gonzales is a Merit Work Study student in Nyborg's
laboratory and holds an assistantship in Students as Leaders in
Science. She also is active in the University Honors Program and
Community Lector at John XXIII Church.
Amy Lynn Norton is a Colorado State sophomore who will seek
a doctorate in biochemistry with an emphasis in virology. She
learned the value of education at an early age, watching her
grandmother work and save enough money to send three sons to
college while still helping on their small northern Missouri
farm.
"She saved every penny of the money she earned as teacher in
a one-room school house and as the counselor at Macon High
School," Norton said. "It was important to her that her sons
choose their professions instead of being forced into farming
because of a lack of education. That respect for education still
runs strong in my family today."
Norton, who maintains a 4.0 grade-point average, learned
laboratory procedures such as recombinant DNA techniques in the
biochemistry department at the University of Arkansas Medical
Sciences. Her education continued with research in the organic
chemistry laboratory of Marc Greenberg, chemistry professor at
Colorado State. Over the course of two long-term projects, Norton
learned to use polymerase chain reaction and subcloning
processes. A particular area of interest is biochemical control
of disease transmission by mosquitoes. She plans to pursue
research and teach biochemistry as a faculty member at a
university.
Norton is active at Colorado State in the university Honors
Program, Campus Club, Girl Scouts and Biochemistry Club.
Colorado native Laura Tomky knows the value of scientific
research -- when she was a sophomore at Colorado State in 1995,
she was diagnosed with a rare and highly malignant form of
cancer. Fortunately, following surgery, radiation treatment and
hard work, there now is no sign of recurrence of the cancer.
"The experience enhanced my appreciation for life and helped
me realize what was important," she said. "It also strongly
motivated me to pursue a career in biomedical research.
Previously, I was unsure which area of biomedical research to
pursue, but now I'm confident I'd like to conduct clinical cancer
research."
Tomky maintained a 4.0 grade-point average at Rocky Ford
High School and has carried that average throughout her
university career. She worked as a researcher in the biochemistry
laboratory of Paul Laybourn, assistant professor at Colorado
State, and in 1996 received a National Science Foundation grant
to study developmental regulation of myofibrillar proteins in
lobsters in the laboratory of biologist Donald Mykles.
She learned the value of hard work on the family farm in the
Arkansas Valley of Colorado, where she worked in the fields and
helped operate a farm market that offered a variety of
vegetables.
"Although my family never had much money and it was a
struggle to obtain a profitable harvest each year, I wouldn't
trade the experiences I gained on the farm for anything," she
said.
Tomky belongs to Premedica, the College Republicans, the
Undergraduate Biochemistry Club and Golden Key National Honor
Society. In addition, she is active in the University Honors
Program and in the National Science Foundation Research program.
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