NT
Nicole Traphagen
  • biomolecular science / chemistry
  • Class of 2014
  • Wayland, NY

Clarkson University Student Nicole Traphagen of Wayland Receives Nomination for Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

2013 Jan 31

Nicole Traphagen of Wayland, N.Y., a junior majoring in biomolecular science, was recently nominated by Clarkson University for the Goldwater Scholarship.

Each year, Clarkson University is permitted to nominate up to four outstanding undergraduates for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Nominees must intend to pursue research careers in science, math or engineering.

Clarkson's Goldwater Scholarship Committee received a record number of outstanding submissions this year and has announced four nominees for 2013.

Nicole A. Traphagen, a graduate of Wayland-Cohocton High School, is a member of the Honors Program and has conducted research at Clarkson University with Prof. Devon Shipp on drug release using cross-linked polyanhydrides. She completed a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied Delta-Notch signaling in sea cucumber embryos. She proposes developing a model for predicting the drug release properties of different polymers. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology and become a research scientist working on cancer biology.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program will announce up to 300 winners of the Goldwater Scholarships by April 2013.

The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious award in the United States given to undergraduates studying the sciences. Only 282 scholarships were awarded for the 2012-2013 academic year.

No college or university in New York state has had more Goldwater Scholars in the past three years than Clarkson University. Of more than 4,000 institutions nationwide, Clarkson is in the top one percent for the number of Goldwater Scholars in the past five years.

Twenty-seven Clarkson University students have received this highly coveted award since the scholarships were first awarded in 1989. Last year was the 13th consecutive year that Clarkson Honors Program students have received Goldwaters.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.

Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.