NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Leah Jackson (jacksonl@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

4/4/2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES - Anna M. Westergard of Glenmora, a junior at Northwestern State University, has been awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Westergard is a 4.0 student majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry. Her field of specialization is molecular/cellular biology.

Westergard is one of 320 scholars to receive a Goldwater Scholarship, from a field of more than 1,000 nominees from colleges and universities across the country. Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. The one and two-year scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board. Five other students from Louisiana were named Goldwater Scholars.

"This is one of the most prestigious awards an undergraduate can receive," said Dr. Nathan R. Hutchings, assistant professor of biology at Northwestern, who nominated Westergard for the scholarship. "It's a pretty elite group to be one of the top six undergraduates in the state and one of 1,000 nationwide. The first honor is just to be nominated and the second is to be recognized as a recipient. They are very stringent about who receives these scholarships."

The scholarships are awarded from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Candidates are nominated by faculty at their universities. Criteria include transcripts and essays, research experience, career goals and letters of recommendation from faculty.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for me," said Westergard, who is described by her mentor as self-motivated, curious, tenacious and humble.

"A big portion of criteria is research involvement," Hutchings said. Westergard's research involves studying the cellular movements of a parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, a fatal disease for which there is no known cure.

"Anna worked 1,250 hours in the lab over three years. That's more than most Ph.D. candidates," Hutchings said. "She completed the academic cycle. She asked a question, performed experiments, analyzed the results and disseminated her findings. Most undergraduates get part of that experience, but few get the whole experience."

"Working in the summer gave me the opportunity to really own the project, rather than just filling in the blanks," Westergard said.

She credited her involvement with Northwestern's ISIS program as turning her onto a new career path. After discovering how gratifying working in a laboratory could be, Westergard changed direction from health care to research.

"It offered me something I was looking for. I wanted hands-on experience," Westergard said.

Westergard graduated as valedictorian of her class at Glenmora High School in 2002. As a freshman at Northwestern, she received a NASA Jove Scholarship, a program designed to promote undergraduate research. She later became involved with the Interdisciplinary Experimentation and Scholarship (IDEAS) program, which facilitates collaborative research involving several branches of science.

Westergard is a President's List student and has been named to the National Dean's List. She is a member of the American Chemical Society, Blue Key National Honor Society and Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society. She has participated in NSU Research Day, the International Symposium on Interdisciplinary Science (ISIS) and the 78th annual Louisiana Academy of Sciences Meeting. Her research has contributed to three published manuscripts.

Most recently, she earned first place in her discipline at the South Central Tri-Beta Science Honor Society conference and won Best Student Paper (Oral Presentation) at a meeting of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences.

"After earning my Ph.D., I plan on establishing myself as an independent researcher either in academia or industry," Westergard said. "I aspire to conduct research pertaining to complex dynamic process in molecular and cellular biology."

Westergard noted that the honor is particularly important because there is a shortage of women in the fields of science and math.

"As a young woman in rural Louisiana, I was able to find academic success by not letting the limitations of my environment quench my desire to be the best students I could be," she said. "I chose not to follow the same paths as my peers or limit my aspirations based on the experiences of my elders and I hope that I can be a positive example for other young women."

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established in memory of the five-term senator from Arizona, who was the Republican nominee for president in 1964. Goldwater died in 1998.

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