Students in Biological Sciences have been awarded scholarships for the 2024-2025 academic year. These awards recognize these outstanding students for their diligent work in the classroom, research lab, field, and beyond. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Clara Minnich (Puppo lab), who is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Charlie Viers Scholarship! Clara’s research interests include plant taxonomy, ethnobotany, and herbarium curation. She is currently a student worker at the Marshall University Herbarium, and recently made a display on the 3rd floor of the Science Building showcasing her ethnobotany research.
Congratulations to Noah Adkins (MS in Biological Sciences, Mays & Puppo Labs): 2024-2025 recipient of the Donald Cain Tarter Biological Sciences Student Research Scholarship. Noah is currently researching long-horned bee phylogenetics for his master’s thesis. His work focuses on searching for evidence to classify new species within the genus Melissodes. During his undergraduate studies at WVU, his thesis was conducted on orchid phylogenetics and delimitation.
Congratulations to Catie Schwartzmann (Palmquist lab), who is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Dr. Charles J. Gould Jr. Botany Scholarship / Travel Award! Catie’s research interests include climate change effects on native plant communities, native and invasive species interactions, and conservation and management of native plant communities. Her current research focuses on quantifying the effects of targeted grazing in western U.S. big sagebrush plant communities to manage invasive species and native plant communities under a variety of possible climate change scenarios.