UCSB Students, Faculty Member Receive UCSB Research Awards

Two graduating seniors, two graduate students, and one faculty member have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate research at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research for 2007 has been awarded to Phillip Dawkins, a political science major in the College of Letters & Science; Kathryn Blaschke, a biochemistry major in the College of Creative Studies; and Eduardo Orias, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology.

Dawkins, who has been elected to the Golden Key National Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, was nominated by three faculty members to receive the undergraduate research award. Randolph Bergstom, associate professor of history, described Dawkins's research in the history of public policy as "impressive for its ambition, design, use of evidence, and accomplished translation of the research into a challenging scholarly argument."

Blaschke, the first UCSB undergraduate student to carry out human embryonic stem cell research, is described by one of her nominators as "an outstanding example of the success that can be realized by providing a highly motivated student access to the intellectual and physical resources of UCSB." As a graduate student at UC San Francisco beginning next fall, she will pursue her research in stem cell utility in human medicine.

Orias, who received the award in recognition of his distinguished record of mentoring undergraduate research, has worked with more than 60 undergraduate students during the past 12 years of his project to map the genome of an important biological model organism.

Doctoral candidate Scott Hamilton and graduate student Mara Henderson each have received a Fiona Goodchild Award for Excellence as a Graduate Student Mentor of Undergraduate Research.

Hamilton, of Fresno, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology. Henderson, of Ventura, is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics.

Approximately 25 percent of all UCSB undergraduates are involved in organized research efforts, often working on teams with faculty members and graduate students. The campus each year awards about $200,000 in research grants to undergraduates.