University Park, Pa. -- Two Penn State students are among a handful of scholars nationwide to garner a Gates Cambridge scholarship, a fixture among elite academic honors since the program began in 2001. Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania, which had one award winner, are the only Pennsylvania institutions to receive this award for 2006.
This week, the Gates Cambridge Trust announced that two Schreyer Honors College scholars -- Tiffany Bogich, a fifth-year student completing a B.S. in mathematics and an M.S. in ecology, and Alexandria Richart, a senior majoring in biology -- are among the 40 students across the country to be selected for this international honor.
"This is the first time Penn State has had two recipients chosen for this prestigious award," said Tineke Cunning, director of University Fellowships. "The Gates Cambridge scholarship is extremely competitive, so the fact that two of our students have been recognized speaks not only to the high calibre of the students but reflects well on the University, too. We are incredibly proud."
The Gates Cambridge scholarship was established by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to enable outstanding young men and women from outside the United Kingdom to study as graduate students at the University of Cambridge. The program's trustees award scholarships on the basis of a person's capacity for leadership, intellectual ability and their desire to use their knowledge to contribute to the well-being of society.
Since the start of the program in 2001, 527 Gates Scholars from 72 countries have been honored -- 224 of them from the United States, including four from Penn State.
Bogich has combined her love of ecology and mathematics to proactively address current environmental concerns. Since fall 2003, she has examined the costs and benefits of two types of activities that are used to control gypsy moth invasions through mathematical modeling. Since millions of dollars go into trying to slow or stop the spread of the gypsy moth each year, she is trying to determine if there might be a better way to allocate resources in order to detect new colonies when they are smaller and cost less to eradicate. In addition, Bogich has investigated ways to apply management strategies to best reduce population size.
She currently is the senior adviser of the Penn State Chapter of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, for which she previously served as regional chairperson, secretary and president. In addition, she is a student representative on the national executive board of Phi Eta Sigma. She also is a member and past treasurer and vice commodore of the Penn State Sailing Club, as well as Web master of the Ecology Graduate Student Organization.
Bogich has been recognized with a number of scholarly honors, including national awards such as the Morris K. Udall Scholarship, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and the EPA STAR Fellowship.
Bogich hopes to earn a Ph.D. in the area of quantitative ecology and would like to be involved in developing new mathematical models to answer questions of optimization and decision making in conservation and natural resource management.
Richart is interested in expanding global knowledge of cancer research and feels strongly that only by understanding the mechanisms behind cancer formation can the scientific community truly start to improve people's lives. Using the fruit fly as a model system, Richart has conducted undergraduate research into how genetic information is accessed by cells and how that information has an important connection to cancer development, prevention and reversal.
Richart also has conducted research with the National Cancer Research Center in Madrid, Spain, studying the genome of a virus that is closely linked to cervical cancer.
She has been involved in many projects for Habitat for Humanity and other such service organizations, as well as serving as secretary, treasurer and instructor for Penn State's Swing Dancing Club.
Richart wishes to pursue a Ph.D. in biochemistry while continuing to research biological mechanisms that affect cancer development. Eventually, she would like to assume a leadership role in the international scientific community studying this field.
To learn more about the Gates Cambridge Fellowship or other fellowship or grant opportunities, contact the University Fellowships Office at (814) 863-8199 or visit their Web site at http://www.ufo.psu.edu/ online.