Confluence 2017-2018

Magdalena (Maggie) Russell received a 2017 Goldwater Scholarship, the nation's premier scholarship for undergraduates studying math, natural sciences and engineering.

Michael Hollinger, a political science major with minors in psychology and economics, was named a 2017 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compacts in recognition of his work to bring recognition to the problem of human trafficking in Montana.

Montana Wilson, a dual degree student in economics and political science with a minor in Native American studies, won a 2017 Gates Cambridge Scholarship which he'll use to earn a master's degree in development studies at the University of Cambridge in England.

Sarah Coldiron, a history and French major, received a 2017 Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in South Korea.

The College of Letters and Science has worked very hard to achieve gender parity amongst its faculty, with special emphasis on the sciences side of the college.

Blake Wiedenheft, an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, won a 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, or PECASE.

Catherine Dunlop, assistant professor of history in the Department of History and Philsophy, received a fellowship from the Carmargo Foundation to spend eight weeks in Cassis, France studying how Europeans have incorporated France's mistral winds into literature and art.

Erik Grumstrup, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received an 2017 Young Investigator Award from the Arnold O. and Mabel Beckman Foundation. The award provides $750,000 over four years to develop news tools to investigate nanomaterials.

Roland Hatzenpichler, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was named a 2017 NASA Early Career Fellow. He'll use the fellowship to study a group of salt-loving bacteria with "magnetic" powers to understand the origin, evolution and organization of multicellular organisms.

Cody Warner, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, co-authored a paper that found that college non-completion is a bigger risk factor then college debt for young adults "boomeranging" or returning to their parents' home.

James Meyer, an associate professor in the Department of History and Philosophy, used a Fulbright research fellowship to spend a year in Turkey, Russia and the Netherlands researching the life of the expatriate Turkish poet Nazim Hikment.

Andrea Litt, associate professor in the Department of Ecology, contributed to a paper that describes how prescribed fires used as a land management tool can directly and indirectly change ecosystems.

Elizabeth "Tess" Corbin, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, won a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship that will support her work to find a cure for her son's rare genetic disorder.

Patrik Callis, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Mark Jutila, professor and department head in the Department Microbiology and Immunology, were names as the newest Regents Professors by the Montana Board of Regents.

The Montana Board of Regents granted center status to the Center for Western Lands and Peoples. Primarily based in the College of Letters and Science, the new center includes interdisciplinary research and work from faculty in ecology, earth sciences, English, history and philosophy, Native American studies and film.

The College of Letters and Science's student travel grant program provides critical support to undergraduate and graduate students, enabling them to present original research, papers or posters at professional and academic conferences. The program is partially funded with private donations to the college.