UI Student Receives Major NIH Scholarship, Research Assignment
Thursday, October 6 2005
Oct. 6, 2005 MOSCOW, Idaho - University of Idaho senior Hillery C. Metz knows which job she will start her career with when she graduates next spring: a National Institutes of Health researcher. Metz, who graduated from Bonners Ferry High School in 2002, learned recently that she was one of 12 students chosen nationwide to receive a NIH Undergraduate Scholarship for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds that will provide up to $20,000 for her education. The award will pay educational and living expenses and includes a 10-week paid summer laboratory research experience. Her selection includes a year of paid research service at the NIH in Bethesda, Md. A double major in biology and microbiology, Metz grew up as one of four children in a single-parent family. Financial hurdles made it difficult for her to attend college. She is the daughter of Marva Behrman of Moyie Springs. The NIH award will help her to pursue her career goal, seeking a graduate degree and work in academia. “My dream would be to get my doctorate and then teach and do research at a university,” Metz said. “I’ve always liked science. It’s compatible with my inquisitive mind.” She chose to study biology at UI because she had always had a strong interest in health and natural sciences, Metz said. Now neuroscience and immunology are her primary interests as possible specialties. As part of the NIH award, Metz selected UI microbiology professor Carolyn Hovde Bohach as her adviser and mentor. Bohach also serves as associate director for the IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence, which involves all of the state’s higher education institutions and is funded by a $16 million NIH grant. Metz said she chose Bohach as her adviser after taking a freshman-level microbiology class that she taught. “I was thrilled when she asked me to serve as her mentor,” Bohach said. “This is really one of the fun things I do.” For a young woman setting out on a scientific career, Bohach said, finding a supportive mentor is an important step. “An even more important step is developing a habit of excellence in your work. If you make your best effort in all situations from your daily lab notebook entries on up, all things will be possible," Bohach said. Bohach was honored in June with the American Society for Microbiology’s Carski Foundation Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award as the nation’s top college professor. As a sophomore, Metz received a U.S. Department of Education McNair Scholarship to encourage low-income, minority and first-generation college students to pursue advanced degrees. She has also been extensively involved in undergraduate research. Her research experiences include a neuroscience project through a NIH-funded fellowship, and a neuropharmacology project at Washington State University through a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Metz currently works in the UI microbiology lab of Greg Bohach, who directs one of two NIH-funded Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence at UI, studying genetic regulation in bacteria. Contacts: Hillary C. Metz, metz0093@uidaho.edu; Carolyn Bohach, UI professor of microbiology, (208) 885-5906, cbohach@uidaho.edu; or Bill Loftus, UI science writer, (208) 885-7694, bloftus@uidaho.edu -30- BL-10/6/2005-CALS
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