Kirsten Fisher and Amanda Manea have been named 2022 Barry Goldwater Scholarship winners. They will both receive up to $7,500 in scholarship funding for their excellence in undergraduate research.
Why it matters: This year marks the University of South Carolina’s 30th consecutive year producing Goldwater Scholars. This scholarship is the most prestigious award for undergraduates in the sciences. It provides support for exceptional students pursuing a career in research.
Who they are: Both students are juniors in the South Carolina Honors College.
- Kirsten Fisher is a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Greer, S.C. Her research, a collaboration
between the Stratmann Lab and Wang Lab, focuses on plant communication. Fisher plans
to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology, focusing on crop protection and potential
plant usage in medicine and biofuel.
- Amanda Manea is a mathematics and biological sciences double-major from Charleston. She is currently a research assistant with professor Swapan Ray at the UofSC School of Medicine. Upon graduation, Manea plans to pursue a M.D./Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.
Good to know: Fisher and Manea were selected from an outstanding nationwide pool of 1,242 undergraduates from 433 institutions.
National Fellowships & Scholar Programs assists Goldwater applicants with the nomination process, along with a committee of faculty chaired by Doug Meade (mathematics). Dave Barbeau (earth and ocean sciences), Donna Chen (chemistry and biochemistry), Zhenqing Fu (biological sciences), Melissa Moss (chemical engineering) and Yanwen Wu (physics and astronomy) also serve as committee members for the scholarship process.