McNair Scholars Alumni

Sarah is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Emphasis with honors. Her McNair research, entitled, “Loss of Parental Attachment at a Young Age and its Impact on Adult Health,” examines the long term negative impact of childhood trauma on adult health. Her research focused on individuals who were not raised by their non-biological parents. Some comparison of the data was done with individuals who were raised by their biological parents. Sarah has presented her research to the Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research and Undergraduate Research Showcase. She has worked as a resident assistant on campus for three years. She was involved in intramural sports. She is also a part of TRIO Rising Scholar. Sarah plans to take the next school year off to take the MCAT and GRE exams and apply to graduate/medical schools, and to recharge. She hopes to pursue a MDPhD.

Charles graduates with a B.S. in Psychology, with a minor in Addiction Studies. His research includes, “Ignoring the Dangers Behind the Wheel: Distracted Driving Among College-Aged Students,” and “Motivations for and Thoughts About Distracted Driving Among College-Aged Students.” Both articles examine what motivates college-aged students to drive distracted while behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle, putting their lives and the lives of their passengers at risk, and why students ignore the laws of the road. Charles has presented his research at the University of Maryland, Boise State University and Florida International University. His on campus Community Involvement and Outreach include; Financial Officer of SOBER, Students and Other Broncos in Early Recovery in 2017, as well as Vice President of Boise State Alliance for Justice-Involved Students in 2018. He received National Honors by receiving a scholarship through the TRIO National EOC Association and was honored in the 2019 Idaho TRIO Factbook. Charles will be pursuing his master’s in counseling in the near future. He plans on applying to Boise State University’s graduate program in the following months after graduation. His plan is to give back to his community by helping others in the areas of mental health and addiction.

Amanda graduates with a B.A. in English. Her McNair research, titled, “Towards a (Truly) Anti-Racist Writing Center” explores how the burden of emotional labor can often fall unevenly on the backs of consultants of color in the writing center. Amanda has presented her research at multiple conferences, including 3 state conferences, as well as the International Writing Center Association’s 2019 conference and the Rocky Mountain Writing Center Association’s 2021 conference. Amanda will enter the Writing Rhetoric and American Cultures program at Michigan State University beginning in August of 2021. Here, she will receive a full tuition waiver, and a two year Academic Achievement Graduate fellowship award which includes a $500 scholarship and a $1,660 monthly stipend.

Zoë graduates with a B.S. in Physics, with a Biology emphasis. Her McNair Research, entitled “Lysenin Channel Selectivity for Monovalent Metal Cations” examines protein channels that present regulatory functions to see if these protein channels also present selectivity similar to ion channels. Zoe has presented her work at multiple undergraduate research conferences, at the Biophysical Society conference in 2020, and she was published in the Sensors journal, 2020 issue. Zoe will enter the Program in Molecular Biophysics PhD program at Johns Hopkins University beginning August 2021. This consists of a full tuition waiver, with a stipend of $36,000 a year, and healthcare benefits. Zoe is a recipient of the 2021 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Fellowship award totaling $138,000 over 3-years

Sierra graduates with a B.S in Health Studies with a science emphasis and a minor in Biology. Her McNair Research entitled “The Effectiveness of youthcentered suicide prevention programs: The case of a longstanding peer-led program in Alaska” saught to evaluate youth suicide prevention programming in a state with the second highest suicide rate in the nation, Alaska. Sierra also participated in the University of New Mexico’s Undergraduate Pipeline Network Summer program on a project titled “Reducing Health Disparity in American Indian Population: A paradigm change with the use of Home Based Kidney Care”, a project which sought to evaluate a new, culturally appropriate, model of care used to treat kidney disease in Zuni Pueblo where kidney failure rates are about 20% than in the general population. Sierra has presented her work at multiple undergraduate research conferences. Sierra will be pursuing her Masters in Public Health at Boise State University with future plans of attending medical school. She is also a Boise State Top Ten Scholar

Karla graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with an emphasis on international relations and comparative politics. Her research entitled, “Local Government Transparency, COVID-19, and Latinx Farmworkers’’ examines the relationship between the local government transparency practices and health outcomes among Latinx farmworkers during the 2020 COVID pandemic within United States counties and municipalities. Along with this, Karla was involved with a number of service and professional development opportunities including, mentoring firstyear CAMP students, serving as a Resident Assistant for Housing, assisting as a Teaching Assistant for SPS 200, U.S. Representative intern in D.C., Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Farmworker Unit intern, and this past summer participating in MIT 2020 Summer Research Program (MSRP). Karla has served as a research assistant for Political Science professor Dr. Jaci Kettler and will be coauthoring this coming summer. She was also selected for the national American Political Science Association Diversity fellowship. Karla will be pursuing a joint PhD in Public Policy and Political Science this fall at the University of Michigan. This opportunity is fully funded. Karla is a Boise State Top Ten Scholar

Jessica graduates with a B.S. in Geoscience. Her McNair research, entitled “High-precision U-Pb Zircon Age Calibration of Mid-Miocene Flora, Northern Idaho” aims to temporally constrain Clarkia Formation paleoflora using high-precision U-Pb dating. The results will be correlated with broader climatic, geologic, and biotic systems changes to better inform climate models. Jessica has presented her research at multiple undergraduate research conferences. Jessica will pursue a PhD in Geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology beginning in September 2021. This consists of a full tuition waiver and a stipend of $36,500 a year. A notable achievement of hers is receiving Honorable Mention in the 2021 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program competition.

Ahmed graduated in Fall 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies. His McNair Research titled “Social Cohesion: ‘Educational Inequality in Kebribeyah Refugee Camp in Ethiopia: An Autoethnography’” was presented at multiple undergraduate research conferences. While at Boise State, Ahmed was a member of the Cross Country and Track and Field teams, winning multiple conference titles during his four years. Ahmed began his Master’s program in International Affairs with an emphasis in Political Science at Florida State University in January 2021. Ahmed received a full tuition scholarship from the Florida State Track and Field team.

Jesus graduates with a B.A. in English. His McNair Research titled “He Has An Accent: An analysis of different language ideologies during Interviews” analyzes the different frameworks and language ideologies present whenever people express their opinions about accents in the particular environment of an interview and how the power and authority dynamics can affect the interaction. Jesus has presented this research at the Idaho Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR) and other national undergraduate conferences. He is planning on taking a year off to apply to graduate schools and hopes to get on a Masters/PhD program on Sociolinguistics the following fall.

Julianna graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular, Molecular, & Biomedical Biology. Her research entitled, “Mapping the Ptarmigan Gut Microbiome”, aims to develop a protocol for extracting DNA from the digestive tract of ptarmigans to sequence the gut microbiome. Additionally, her research entitled, “Predicting the Occurrence of Plastic Ingestion by Seabirds”, aims to determine the factors driving plastic ingestion by seabirds and is a joint project with the University of California, Santa Cruz. Julianna has presented her work at multiple conferences and has a publication in Conservation Letters. Julianna will enter a graduate program at William & Mary’s School of Marine Science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where she will study Aquatic Health Sciences. This consists of a Provost Distinguished Graduate Fellowship to cover the costs of tuition, a Graduate Research Fellowship with a base stipend rate of $22,500, and the Rebecca M. Dickhut Endowment.

Gabriela graduates with a B.S in Criminal Justice with a minor in Sociology. Her McNair Research, entitled “Perceptions and Sterotypes about Sex Offenders: The Influence of Gender” examines how perceptions about gender impact attitudes toward sexual violence. Gabriela has presented her research at multiple undergraduate research conferences and will publish this research in Volume 16 of the Boise State McNair Scholars Journal. Gabriela will enter the Criminology and Criminal Justice MS program at Northeastern University beginning September 2021. This consists of a full tuition waiver.

Jason is graduating with a B.S. in Physics with emphases in Biophysics and Astrophysics, with a minor in Applied Mathematics. His McNair research, entitled, “Ionic Selectivity of Protein Channels in Subconducting States”, examined how conformational changes in the lumen of protein channels may have a novel physiological significance when the channel is partially occluded, resulting in a subconducting state that is not closed and not fully open. Jason has presented his research at several conferences and published in the October 2020 issue of Sensors. Jason will be entering the Physics PhD program at Oregon State University beginning September 2021. This consists of a full tuition waiver and a graduate teaching assistant that conveys full support for the duration of the program, $2275 monthly stipend, health and dental insurance, and the potential for research funding. Jason is graduating from the Honors College and is a Boise State Top Ten Scholar.

Rabia graduates with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Family Studies. Her research entitled “Stressors and Supports that Affect Refugee Fathers’ Parenting and their Children’s Development” aims to highlight the resilience of refugee fathers and inform resettlement agencies and programs to tailor their programs to the needs of these fathers and their families. Rabia has presented her research at multiple conferences including the Society for Research on Child Development biennial conference. Rabia was also involved in multiple public service programs and professional development opportunities including interning at the International Rescue Committee and serving as President of the Boise State Psi Chi Chapter. Additionally, Rabia has served as a research assistant in Dr. April Masarik’s Human Development and Ecology Lab. Rabia will be pursuing a PhD in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Human Development and Learning at the University of Illinois Chicago. She has also received an Early Childhood Teaching Fellowship award from UIC which consists of a full tuition and fee waiver, paid teaching assistantship for three years, and an additional stipend of $9,000 for three years.