Charlotte Students Nominated For The Prestigious 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship
In a notable announcement from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, two distinguished juniors from the UNC Charlotte Honors College have been nominated for the esteemed 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship. This accolade is recognized as one of the premier awards for undergraduates in the United States pursuing careers in STEM fields. The scholarship aims to foster the next wave of pioneers in science, math, and engineering by offering up to $7,500 annually to support their academic endeavors.
Andrew Keener, a scholars advisor within the Honors College, expressed his enthusiasm for the nominees. “We are excited to nominate two UNC Charlotte students for the Goldwater Scholarship,” he shared, highlighting their “commitment to research, from high school to the undergraduate level, is impressive.” He further noted, “If they are selected as awardees, this scholarship would help them continue their educational journey and advance scientific knowledge.”
Juliusz Wieckowski, a Chemistry Honors student and Charlotte native, traces his passion for chemistry back to his first class on the subject at Ardrey Kell High School. “It absolutely blew my mind learning about subatomic particles — you take a noble gas, you add a proton, and you get a highly reactive metal. Bismuth is element 83 on the periodic table and is an ingredient in Pepto Bismol, but if you take just one proton and add it to bismuth you actually get polonium, one of the most dangerous elements on the periodic table,” Wieckowski recounted. His undergraduate research at UNC Charlotte has focused on innovative methods to halt the spread of bacteria without the use of antibiotics.
Mckenna Zelna, another nominee, has been pursuing a major in earth and environmental sciences within the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences. Her research began in high school with a project that examined the impact of construction on a local stream’s water quality through the lens of macroinvertebrate populations. Currently, Zelna is contributing to a study on hydrothermal plumes at mid-ocean ridges in Research Assistant Professor Drew Syverson’s geochemistry lab. She credits her time as a walk-on for the Charlotte 49ers volleyball team with teaching her valuable lessons in teamwork and collaboration that she now applies to her scientific endeavors.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, established in 1986, continues to support students like Wieckowski and Zelna who show exceptional promise in contributing to the research fields of science, engineering, and mathematics. With 14 national scholarship and fellowship student awardees during the 2022-23 academic year, including recognitions such as Fulbright, Gilman, and Goldwater, UNC Charlotte’s Honors College stands as a guiding force for students vying for nationally competitive scholarships.