Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2024
Katelyn Bell - Biology
Elizabeth Brown - Psychology
Fernando Corro - Chemistry
Nina Di Loreto - Neuroscience
Drake Dotson - Physics
Crystal Guo - Biology
Alana Kuhlen - Speech, Language & Hearing Science
Sabrina Mata - Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Mikayla Mitchell - Nursing
Jessica Naylor - Psychology
Katelyn Paradine - Neuroscience/Cell & Molecular
Shitaye Sam - Nursing
Breanna Sands - Forensic Biochemistry
Noah Snyder - Biology
Charlotte Somerville - Theatre Tech & Design
Trinity Valentin - Earth Science
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2023
Juan Azanza - Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Jeffrey Bailey - Sports Science
Abby Irish - Biology
Lily Jackson - Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Jayden Kennison - Psychology
Awa Ndiaye - International Studies
Cassie Stitzman - Fisheries & Wildlife Management
Nessa Weld - Fisheries & Wildlife Management
Josh Yang - Neuroscience
Katelyn Younglove - Biology - Zoology
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2022
Delaney Anderson, Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Laura Balderrama, Biology
Derek Baluyut, Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Micah Benjamin, Pre-Nursing
Amanda Bonesteel, Sociology
Joslin Brown, Environmental Studies and Sustainability
Dominick Dotson, Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Katie Durham, Anthropology
Weiland Dyer, Psychology/English
Colton Gschwandtner, Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Lorynn Hackert, English/Secondary Education
Kayin Ilagan, Computer Science
Hannah Kuehnau, Sociology
Adan Mulvaney, Communication Studies
Gwendaline Murray, Mathematics
Samantha Murray, Psychology
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2021
Diana Antonio, Biochemistry and Spanish
Thailey Leak, Neuroscience
Brazile Panek, Native American Studies
Aleah Edwards, Forensic Biochemistry
Madison Fetterman, Neuroscience
Bonneta Chapman-Little, Psychology
Kristian Choate, Biology and Neuroscience
Baylee McLevis, Forensic Biochemistry
Darren Simmons, Medicinal Plant Chemistry
Sophia Rodman, Biology
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2020
Stephanie Baklarz
My name is Stephanie Baklarz and I’m originally from just outside of Traverse City, Michigan. I transferred to NMU for the Medicinal Plant Chemistry program and the world class mountain biking trails conveniently located a few miles outside of town. If I don’t have obligations at school, I’m usually riding my bike. For graduate school I plan to study plant signaling and communication pathways, with the ultimate goal being to manipulate plant defense mechanisms in order to boost crop resistance to climate change and move us closer towards food security.
Anthony Cergnul
Boozhoo Kina! Anthony Cergnul n’ dizhinikaaz. M’iigan n’doodem Kitchiwikwedondsing n’doonjiba. Hello everyone, my name is Anthony Cergnul. I am from the wolf clan of the Cherokee nation with ancestral ties to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, as well as the Blackfoot Nation of Montana. I am originally from the Traverse City area of lower Michigan in a little town called Manton. I am currently pursuing a double major in Native American Studies and Criminal Justice. When I’m not busy attending classes and working on homework, I can be found working in the Center for Native American studies, hiking the wonderful trails and waterfronts of Marquette, or staying at home crafting and enjoying the downtime. After my time here at Northern, I will be continuing my education at the graduate level in Criminal justice. Specifically focused on investigations, within American Indian reservations.
Tiffany Davidson
My name is Tiffany Davidson, I am a junior at Northern Michigan University studying sociology and minoring in art and design. After my time at NMU I am planning to pursue a PhD in sociology. I am interested in studying relationship health as it correlates with social standing. In the future, I plan to implement healthy relationship courses in schools with hopes of lowering domestic and child abuse rates in the United States. In my leisure time, I enjoy digital and film photography, writing poetry, and attending live music events
Andrew Demetri
Hi, my name is Andrew Demetri and I am from Long Island New York, about an hour train ride from the big apple (NYC). I am currently in the new Medicinal Plant Chemistry program here at Northern and have ambitions to further go onto a PhD in either Pharmacology or Horticulture. Being that the industry is so lucrative in many different sections of it, I have much to ponder on which sector I really would like to go into. Nonetheless I will always love research no matter where I end up, I have a passion for discovery and would love to participate or be the one to find something that benefits people on a grand scale. Having an internship last summer with New York’s largest healthcare provider, Northwell Health, has really helped me in a lot of aspects but mainly focusing and narrowing down what pathways I should be taking for graduate school and the rest of my life. Every sector of this industry has its own perks and interests in my opinion, so over the rest of my time as an undergrad I will be seeking mentors to help with my final decision on where and what I would like to be doing for my graduate program. The McNair program has given me a boost of confidence and the utilities I need to push forward and pursue my dreams. When I’m home I work as a waiter at a steakhouse, this really helps me to acquire the funds I need to live at school by myself, which helps me to focus solely on my school work. In my free time I like to go on my desktop computer that I built, go on hikes, fishing, and hang out with friends and family. As a child I was very active, participating in sports from gymnastics to hip hop and even trying out for school sports such as football and wrestling. I also have had extensive training in the arts of muay thai kickboxing and brazilian jiu jitsu, which both taught me valuable lessons in respect and discipline. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for me and all of the experiences that the McNair program and Northern have in store.
Amanda Hancock
My name is Amanda Hancock, I’m originally from Northville Michigan. I am a senior in the EGGS department at NMU and my major is Environmental Studies and Sustainability. I am also the vice president of Gamma Theta Upsilon, Eta Chi Chapter the international honor society of geography. I chose NMU because of its environmental science program and the beauty of Marquette. I love being outside and active so this seemed like the perfect place for me to reside while I finished my undergrad. I am passionate about people and the planet. I want to do what I can to make a difference and positively impact the world around me. I have not decided on which University I want to pursue yet for my graduate program, I’m thinking somewhere near the Pacific Northwest. I look forward to this opportunity to be a McNair scholar.
Amber Manitowabi-Huebner
Hello everyone,
I am a born and raised yooper, and love walking the beaches of Lake Superior and playing beach volleyball in the summer. During the winter, I spend a lot of my free time in the gym, shooting hoops and working on my fitness. I am studying Community Health Education with a minor in Business Administration. I choose to come to NMU because living here my whole life, I am in love with Marquette, its beauty, its community, and all the endless opportunities to grow and explore. I also wanted to stay close to my family and was ecstatic when I had the opportunity to play college basketball. My plans for graduate school is to further my education in Public Health so I can focus my work on making people’s lives better, especially minorities by improving the economic, social, and environmental health of their communities.
Ashley Martinez
Hello, my name is Ashley Martinez. I am originally from Clearwater, Florida but have been raised most of my life in the Grand Rapids, MI area. I am in my junior year here at NMU double majoring in history and anthropology. I choose NMU not only because of the beauty that surrounds it, but also because I was chosen to attend a summer course with the NAS program (Reimagine STEM) and absolutely fell in love with the professors teaching styles and their culture. My goals for graduate school are to study indigenous communities in hopes of creating a stronger bond between tribal communities and their culture to try and reduce the disappearances of so many indigenous languages and practices. I plan to use my graduate degree to help indigenous communities that lack the support that is much needed to help build and reduce crime, alcohol, and drug rates that have haunted these communities since European arrival. These goals are extremely important to me as I am of indigenous descent but unfortunately the tribe that my ancestors belonged to no longer exist. When I am not in class I am a teaching assistant within the history program, and I am apart of the Latino Student Union. I am excited to start my journey with the McNair scholars program.
Arabel McLachlan
My name is Arabel McLachlan and I am from Traverse City, Michigan. I am a junior at NMU pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Diagnostics. I chose NMU due to its fantastic Clinical Laboratory Science program and its great location. I have always been very interested in medicine and discovered thanks to NMU’s Freshman Fellowship program how rewarding laboratory research can be. I plan on trying to complete a PhD program in Biomedical research with the goal of one day working for a large medical research institution. I would also like to one day teach at a college level while also being able to continue research in the Molecular Biology field. Thanks to the undergraduate research opportunities at NMU with the UMBTC I have been exposed to a lot of brain cancer research. A goal of mine is to be able to focus my research for my PhD on glioblastomas if possible. I think there is still a lot of big discoveries and quality of life improvements that can be made in the treatment and understanding of brain tumors.
Lillie Moaier
Hi, my name is Lillie Moaier. I was born and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan. I began school at Northern Michigan University in 2017 and am currently at the end of my junior year. I major in sociology with a minor in writing. My free time is spent hiking outside, sitting by the lake or enjoying concerts if I can. Future goals and plans are to attend grad school in a warmer place and to continue my studies of sociology onto a PhD. I will continue writing poetry and creative nonfiction in my free time always.
Shumete Sam
My name is Shumete Sam and I am originally from Ethiopia, which is in East Africa. I am currently a junior at Northern Michigan University and my major is Social Work. I choose Northern Michigan University (NMU) because it is close to home and is such a beautiful place to be. It is surrounded by natural beauty and also the professors and all the stuff that I have encountered are super helpful. They made it possible for me to choose to stay because of their hospitality and support in any area that I desire. Once I get my bachelors degree in social work I am planning on furthering my education by pursuing my masters degree and a Phd. Eventually I would want to be a part of a change in the community regarding relationship issues. I would like to counsel people who are going through rough patches in their relationships and help them rebuild that connection they had once again. I also have a passion to speak and educate young adults in high schools as well as in college campuses in order to prevent many relationship setbacks. I believe the more we know the more we make good choices that help us to be a better us. For that reason I want to be a change in the world in relationship aspect, which is really needed in this generation. There are more than 50% of marriages that end in devorce and my main goal is to reduce that amount, through prevention programs. The damage that already has been done is already here but when I do the prevention I strongly believe that would definitely minimize the damages that will occur.
Jalen Sims
Hello! My name is Jalen Sims. I am a junior studying graphic design and I am from Waterford Michigan. I chose NMU because I wanted to get away from home, have a very unique college experience and I wanted to develop myself and learn to live on my own. Marquette provided a great space for me to develop myself, further my education and try new things that I was not used to. My plans for graduate school are to are to go somewhere in a bigger city so I can get as much exposure to new people, ideas, and a new lifestyle. By obtaining my Graduate degree I will be able to change the world for the better by incorporating sustainability into a field that I would have never been able to be in before. I believe that I will be able to change the entire field that I go into because of my strong values.
Dovell Wilson
Hi, my name is Dovell. I am from Muskegon, MI. I just recently became a certified Medical Lab Technician. My major is Clinical lab science, and I’m pre-medicine. I really want to be a trauma Doctor. The reason being is there are a lot of cases where people die because of I injuries acquired by a traumatic incident. Some of those injuries are very minor, so they go unnoticed by the trauma Doctor which in return turns into a bigger problem and kills the person. I want to be that Doctor that pays attention to not only the apparent injuries but also the small detailed injuries. I want to help save people.
Bryce Yacos
My name is Bryce Yacos and it’s hard to say where I’m from as I have moved more than two dozen times and have lived all over the country, but I can say that I have spent the majority of my life in Cass City and Boyne City, Michigan and Buda, Texas. I study Nursing here at NMU, pursuing my BSN. I chose NMU because, while I was trying to decide on a school, I came to Munising on a camping trip in October of 2017. We camped in a tent on the edge of a river, and during the night it began to rain. We woke up in an inch or more of water and had to drive to Marquette to find a hotel as Munising’s were completely booked. Driving on 28 we saw HUGE waves, reaching 50 feet! The wind gusts were 75 mph! When we got to Marquette, we drove by the dome. I had no idea there was a university up here; and, after realizing while googling the dome, I went to the library and applied that night. I knew that I wanted to spend the next 4 years somewhere as wild as the U.P. I started in January! After I complete my undergrad, I will be going to graduate school to become a Nurse Midwife. After that, I will be joining Doctors without Borders (or a similar organization) in order to use my degree and knowledge where it is most needed.
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2019
Lexi Arroyo - Biochemistry
Marissa Bekkering - Spanish and Communication
Cynthia Benson - Criminal Justice
Grace Freitag - Biology/Ecology
Abdi Haji - Environmental Studies & Sustainability
Christopher Kailing - Biology/Ecology
Sara Larson - English
Marina Mankee - Chemistry and Spanish
Amanda Marinoff - Art & Design
Malachi Tripaldi - Archaology and Chemistry
Ashley Wojan - Psychology
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2018
Danielle Ashley - Biology
Rachel Bazen - Neuroscience
Breanna Demaline - Biology
Alexa Hansen - Sociology
Amanda Joslyn - Forensic Biochemistry
Michelle Kaiser - Philosophy
Ryan Meister - Economics
Meg Palacio - Forensic Biochemistry
Cecilia Ruiz - Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience/Computer Science
Kim Santiago - Biology
William Soper - Economics/Mathematics
Isabelle Tavares - Environmental Studies and Sustainability
Anna Wacker - Biology
Jordan Wallace - Clinical Lab Sciences
Ryan Zawodny - Biology
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2017
Biidaaben Reinhardt - Physics/Native American Studies
Jackquelin Bristol - Psychology
Kaitlynn Cesarek - Anthropology/International Relations
Chatrin-Irin Johannessen - Psychology
Jarryd Horn - Physics
Molly Liford - Sociology
Shayla Manitowabi-Hubner - Biology
Brittney Moore - Biology (pre-vet)
Jennie Parker - Psychology
Ted Roper - Fisheries and Wildlife Management
Kimberly Snell - Neuroscience
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2016
Ashley Adzima - Physics
Ryan Borges - Education
Kaitlynn Bortz - Fisheries and Wildlife Management
Margaret Hartman - Fisheries and Wildlife Management
Zachary Jodoin - Biology/Physiology
Cheyenne Kaufman - Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences & Music
Alysa Kilpela - Nursing
Aaron Lewkowicz - Clinical Lab Sciences
Shelby Nguyen - Nursing
Ryan Peterson - History
Brent Pettigrew - Education
Andre Stringer - Marketing
Allyssa VanHorn - Sports Science
Stephen Wardell - English & Philosophy
Anthony Webb - Math and Computer Science
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2015
Alex Steinline - Fisheries and Wildlife
Sara Sutherland - Biology/Physiology
Autumn Palmer - Psychology
Alex Schlee - Psychology-Behavior Analysis
Nim Reinhardt - Nursing
Jackie Rodriguez - Psychology
Tiaira Porter - Physiology and Chemistry
Josh Nickels - Physics and Computer Science
Julio Diaz - International Studies
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2014
Selected McNair Scholars for Winter 2013
Rebecca Allers- Social Work
Kurt Benckendorf- Nursing
Mark Cook- Economics
Chandler Countryman- Biology
Justin Cribley- Biology
Alicia DenHerder- Sports Science
Michael Flores- English
Taylor Freund- Psychology
Willow Grosz- English
Gabrielle Hoffman- Anthropology
Rory Jackson- Clinical Lab Sciences
Kurt Kilpela- Math and Computer Science
Cierra LaBelle- Zoology
Michelle McGuire- Education
Rachel McOwusu- International Development
Troy Morris- Psychology
Nicole Musi- Business Management
Emily Mydlowski- Biology
Nick Bohn- Biology
Ryan Passino- Biology
Ethan Scott- Biology
Meghan Whitenton- English