UI Biology Major Wins Prestigious National Goldwater Scholarship
Tuesday, April 23 2002
April 23, 2002^MOSCOW, Idaho – Michael C. Holcomb of Nampa chose the University of Idaho to lay the foundation for a future of studying coral reefs.^A junior biology major, Holcomb landed a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship this year, the only student enrolled at an Idaho university to do so. He is one of 309 college students nationally awarded the $7,500 scholarship. The awards honor the late Arizona Republican senator and aid students who plan to earn advanced degrees in the sciences. ^Attending UI was an easy choice, Holcomb said. “I was able to stay in-state and of the schools in Idaho, this has the best biology program.”^Holcomb spent last summer working as an intern for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The benefits of attending UI became clearer there.^“Talking to some of the people I met there, this is a great place to be just because as small as it is you can get a lot of interaction with professors, and you can get started working on research as an undergrad,” he said.^“What I do is what I want to do. I have a fair amount of freedom deciding what projects I want to work on and what I want to do with them,” he added. He has worked for zoology professors Rolf Ingermann and Joe Cloud on studies related to salmon reproduction.^Holcomb will work with Cloud this summer on a $5,000 research fellowship through the $6 million Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network grant won by Idaho’s universities last fall. The program is funded by the National Institutes of Health.^“Part of the enjoyment of being a professor is interacting with undergraduates on research projects. Michael is one of the best undergraduate students that I have had in the laboratory,” Cloud said. “He provides a host of new ideas and a great deal of energy.”^The Smithsonian internship was part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates program funded by the National Science Foundation. It also led to a berth on an early January trip to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean to study the distribution of corals there.^Holcomb follows three UI students who won Goldwater Scholarships last year. In addition, Carmen M. Goodell, a UI geology major from Salmon, received an honorable mention from the Goldwater Scholarship selection committee this year. Her goal is to earn a doctorate degree in crystallography and to be intimately involved in synchrotron research. ^“It’s very exciting,” said Anna Banks, UI Honors Program associate director and Goldwater program adviser. “One of the things I think our success does show is this is the kind of university that gives opportunities to undergrads to get involved in research programs.”^Banks said good advising and mentoring from faculty contribute to the university’s success. Undergrads are encouraged to do things like take internships at the Smithsonian and are made aware those opportunities are available, she added.^As a career, Holcomb plans to earn a doctorate degree in marine biology and conduct research on the factors causing coral bleaching events that threaten the marine animals.^He first became interested in corals at the Boise-based Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation where he began volunteering in eighth grade. The foundation, which now produces captive-bred marine corals for sale to hobbyists, named Holcomb its volunteer of the year in 1998.^He graduated from Nampa’s Skyview High School in 1999. Holcomb is a UI Scholar and active in the University Honors Program. He has received the Sundquist Undergraduate Research Award and the Alumni Award for Excellence.^Contacts: Michael Holcomb, Goldwater scholar, (208) 892-8418, holc6455@uidaho.edu; Anna M. Banks, UI Honors Program associate director, (208) 885-6147, annab@uidaho.edu; Joe Cloud, UI professor of zoology, (208) 885-6388, jcloud@uidaho.edu; or Bill Loftus, science writer, (208) 885-7694, bloftus@uidaho.edu^Editor’s note: A photo of Michael Holcomb is available at http://www.its.uidaho.edu/today/photo_list.asp^-30-^BL-4/23/2002-BIOL^
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