McNair Scholars Alumni

Cierra graduates with a B.S. in Psychological Sciences. Her McNair Research, entitled “Development of the Campus and Career Resource Inventory” examines psychology students’ use and accessibility to career-related resources. Cierra has presented her work at multiple undergraduate research conferences across the nation from L.A. to Washington, D.C. and started the Career Closet, a program that lends professional attire to all students at Boise State University. Cierra will enter the Psychology of Peace and Prevention of Violence Ph.D. program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst beginning September 2019 with full-tuition waiver and an annual stipend of $26,000. She is also a Boise State Top Ten Scholar.

Eli graduates with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology. His McNair research, entitled “A Role for Proinflammatory Cytokines in the Ovarian Cancer Metastatic Phenotype” explores the molecular mechanisms behind ovarian cancer invasion and metastasis. Eli has presented his research at multiple universities, including UCLA and the University of Maryland, College Park. Eli will begin his training in the Biological Chemistry and Molecular Biology PhD program at the University of Utah this summer with a full tuition waiver and an annual stipend of $28,560.

Jeff graduates with a Bachelor’s of Science in Sociology. His McNair Research, “Debt Delivered: How Rent-to-Own businesses Further Indebt the Poor”, is an autoethnography of his work as a delivery driver for a rent-to-own company. He has presented this research at multiple undergraduate conferences and has received an honorable mention for the President’s writing award. He will publish his research in Volume 14 of the Boise State McNair Scholars Journal and is currently in the final editing stages with the peer-reviewed sociological journal Contexts. Jeff will enter a master’s degree program with a specialization in political economy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the fall. This consists of a full tuition waiver and a paid annual assistantship.

Mitzi graduates with a B.A. in English. Her McNair research, entitled “The ‘Burden of Liveness’: DACA Recipients and the Crime of Rhetoric” explores how the rhetoric of DACA has consistently expected recipients to reject their native countries and identities in order to achieve an idealized version of the American citizen. Mitzi has presented her research at multiple undergraduate research conferences and will publish this research in Volume 14 of the Boise State McNair Scholars Journal. Mitzi will enter the Master of the Arts in English at Washington State University beginning in August 2019. This consists of a full tuition waiver, a full two-year Teaching Assistantship with a stipend of $14,449.50 a year, a New Student scholarship of $1000, and health and dental insurance.

Michelle graduates with a B.S. in Sociology and a Gender Studies minor. Her McNair research entitled “Punishment Beyond Bars: Pursuing Higher Education with the Degree of Incarceration” explores how stigmatizing forces undermine the success of formerly incarcerated college students. Michelle has presented her research at multiple undergraduate research conferences,  most recently the Pacific Sociological Association conference, and will publish this research in Volume 14 of the Boise State McNair Scholars Journal. Michelle will enter the Sociology Ph.D. program at Kent State University beginning August 2019. She has been awarded a full tuition waiver as well as an annual stipend, Chair’s Fellowship, and Graduate Dean’s Award.

Joel graduates with a B.S. in Geoscience: Geology emphasis, with a minor in Applied Mathematics. His research at Boise State began in the Earth Processes lab researching the effects of post fire erosion. Joel also took on a project with the Human Environmental Systems group focusing on land management in different Idaho counties. He has presented his work at AGU and GSA, the two largest annual Geology conferences. Joel will enter the Geophysics PhD program at the University of Colorado Boulder beginning August 2019. This consists of a full tuition waiver, an annual stipend and the CU Boulder Diversity Fellowship.

Ron graduates with a B.A. in Communication, Public Communication emphasis and Sociology minor. His McNair research, entitled “Sexual Harassment Experiences of LGBT+ students in Intercollegiate Speech and Debate Activities” examines the sexual harassment narratives experienced by LGBT+ individuals within Speech and Debate. Ron has presented his work at multiple undergraduate research conferences and will publish this research in Volume 14 of the Boise State McNair Scholars Journal. Ron will enter the Communication Masters program at Washington State University Edward R. Murrow College of Communication beginning August 2019. This consists of a full tuition waiver, annual stipend, and the Keith and Turi Jackson Graduate Fellowship totaling $28,610.

Cecelia graduates with a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Linguistics and a B.A. in Spanish. Her McNair research, entitled “A Perception Study of Rioplatense Spanish” examines the way speakers perceive a particular sound change in Argentina and Uruguay. She has presented her research at multiple undergraduate research conferences and her article will appear in volume 14 of the Boise State McNair Scholars Journal. Cecelia will pursue a Masters of Arts in General Linguistics at the University of Oregon beginning in the Fall of 2019. The university has awarded her the Promising Scholar Award that consists of full tuition remission, an annual stipend as well as a bonus stipend within the first year, and a Research Assistantship position with Drs. Melissa Baese-Berke and Melissa (Lisa) Redford.

Kelsey graduates with a B.S. in Sociology and a Gender Studies minor. Her McNair Research, entitled ““This IS what you want! This is what you signed up for!”: How Resettlement Agencies Responsibilize Resettling Refugees,” explores tactics used by resettlement case managers and volunteers to transform the character of their refugee clients. She has presented her research at multiple undergraduate conferences and will publish this research in Volume 14 of the Boise State McNair Scholars Journal. Kelsey looks forward to entering the PhD program in the Department of Sociology at Syracuse University. This consists of a full tuition waiver and annual stipend of $20,400 for four years. In addition, Kelsey was awarded the Ronald E. McNair Graduate Fellowship of $25,290 for the 2019-2020 academic year.