{"id":5627,"date":"2017-08-03T10:26:51","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T14:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/biology\/?page_id=5627"},"modified":"2026-03-24T10:25:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:25:07","slug":"awards","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/biology\/undergrad\/awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Undergraduate Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
Travel Grant Award<\/h5>
<\/p>\n

The Biology Department Undergraduate Travel Grant program offers students the opportunity to receive funding for travel and participation in research conferences or other professional development activities that support their education and career path. Financial support for this grant is made possible through annual Giving Day donations. Read testimonials from previous recipients of the Travel Grant Award here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Spring 2026 recipients: Samuel Rekulak, Sehrish Hasanali, Alexander Pissios, Alden Pixley, Diya Pamidimukkla, Clarissa Fomunung, Aparna Deokar<\/p>\n

Spring 2025 recipients: Max Wertheimer, Minh Le, Kayla Valladares, Pamela Yang, Sofia Weaver, Marko Radulovic, Cheng Yang Shi<\/p>\n

Spring 2024 recipients: Iqra Amin, Noam Aviv, Pamela Yang, and Max Wertheimer<\/p>\n

Spring 2023 recipients: Grace Beery, Jason Zeng<\/span><\/p>\n

Fall 2019 recipients: Cesar Diaz, David Guarin, Gianna Grob, Victoria Jordan, Bryanna Malbouf, Zachary Milot, Kareemah Ni, Yemi Osayame, Tony Pham, Nicholas Shapiro, Konrad Skubisz, Yalan Wu, Najila Zaman, Rose Zhao<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Biology Department Undergraduate Research Award<\/h5>
\n

The awards listed below are given to graduating seniors who are nominated by Biology faculty members.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Biology Research & Honors Committee\u00a0gives this annual award to outstanding s<\/span>eniors of any major who are performing\u00a0research\u00a0in Biology Department labs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A stipulation for receiving the award is that the candidate present an overview of their research at one of the weekly Biology Department Seminars.\u00a0 The winners are also given a monetary gift from the Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

2025 recipients: Marcus Kankkunen (Ho lab), Christian Mei (Wunderlich lab), Emma Parker (Knott lab)<\/em><\/p>\n

2024 recipients: Oliwia Jasnos, Anna-Maria Marinescu, Erika Meagher<\/em><\/p>\n

2023 recipients: Isabelle Frenette and Ines Picard<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

2022 recipients: Russell Laman (Kaufman lab), Jamie Li (Celenza lab), and Maria Salgado (Cruz-Mart\u00edn lab)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

2021 recipients: Elena Gomez (Warkentin lab), Anthony Khoudary (Gavornik lab), and Katie Tiemeyer (McCall lab)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

2020 recipients: Rose Zhao (Siggers lab), Jasmine Clevenger (Otchy lab), and Madison Pacaro (Buston lab)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

2019 recipients: Eva Fandozzi (Traniello lab), Christopher Petty (Naya lab), and Emma Martin (Rotjan lab)<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Scarlet Achievement Award<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Biology Department gives out this award to graduating Biology seniors who had a large increase in GPA from freshman to senior year (e.g. increase of >0.3 GPA points)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The recipient can be nominated by peers, faculty, or a student can self-nominate with an additional letter of support from faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n

2025 recipient: Jason Zeng<\/em><\/p>\n

2024 recipient: Clifton Johnson<\/em>
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

M. Spelleken & G. Bauer Memorial Award<\/h5>

\nThe Biology Department gives out this award to graduating seniors from the Department of Biology who have performed research on insects\u202f<\/span>or<\/span>\u202ffreshwater\/marine ecology for at least 1 semester. <\/span>Candidates are required to be nominated by their research supervisor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2025 recipient: Aziza Barkuschwabe (Strickland Lab)<\/em><\/p>\n

2024 recipient: Douglas Alvarado (Buston Lab)<\/em><\/p>\n

Excellence in Scholarship Award<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

The Biology Department gives out this\u00a0award at graduation to a few seniors to honor their academic achievements.\u00a0The recipients\u00a0are also given a monetary gift from the Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

2025 recipients: Afzalbek Fayzullaev, Matthew Keating<\/em><\/p>\n

2024 recipients: Alice Chen, Thierry Edwards, William Fan, Amanda Franco, Timothy Liu, Tahreem Nawaz, Juneau Wang, Anna Wozniak<\/em><\/p>\n

2023 recipients: Alexandra Grudzinski and Jason Hristopoulos<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/em>2022 recipients: Riley Magane and Cecilia Webber<\/em><\/p>\n

2021 recipients: Mary Kate Brennan and Vikram Daesety<\/em><\/p>\n

2020 recipients: Olivia Iverson and Sunny Lin<\/em><\/p>\n

2019 recipients: Sipei Fu and Jean Luc Germany
\n<\/em>
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Academic Achievement Award<\/h5>

\nThe Biology Department\u00a0bestows this award at graduation on a few seniors\u00a0to honor their academic achievements and contributions to the Biology Department. The recipients are also given a monetary gift from the Department.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

2025 recipients: Pamela Yang, Akiva Zeff, Katherine Beran<\/em><\/p>\n

2024 recipients: Sarah Osman, Selby Vaughn<\/em><\/p>\n

2023 recipients: Emma Kraus, Lauren Walsh, Zhenhao Yan<\/em><\/p>\n

2022 recipients: Alyssa Helmling, Anna Natrakul, Vivian X. Shen, Xingpei Zhang<\/em><\/p>\n

2021 recipients: Yi Cao and Tiffany Voon<\/em><\/p>\n

2020 recipients: PK Kaushik and Jack Yang<\/em><\/p>\n

2019 recipients: Kevin Liu Kot and Eileen Nolan
\n<\/em>
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Senior College Prize for Excellence in Biology<\/h5>

\nThe Biology Department\u00a0gives out this award to\u00a0the senior who, through\u00a0<\/span>a combination of scholarship and service, has had the greatest impact on the BU Biology community. The\u00a0recipient\u00a0is recognized at the CAS\u00a0<\/span>Dean\u2019s Awards and Recognition Ceremony as well as at the Biology Convocation. A<\/span>\u00a0monetary gift is given by the Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

2025 recipient: Carly McDermott<\/em><\/p>\n

2024 recipient: Juneau Wang<\/em><\/p>\n

2023 recipient: Alexandra Grudzinski<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/em>2022 recipient: Regan Shanahan<\/em><\/p>\n

2021 recipient: Cairo De Souza<\/em><\/p>\n

2020 recipient: Arnaldo Franco<\/em><\/p>\n

2019 recipient: Melissa Inge
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Previous Awards<\/h5>
<\/p>\n
Dr. Marion R. Kramer Scholarship<\/strong><\/h5>\n

This award provides support for high-achieving female juniors and seniors majoring in Biology. The award was established in 2001 in honor of Dr. Marion Kramer who earned her Bachelor\u2019s degree in Biology from Boston University in 1963 and went on to a long and satisfying career in biology and medicine. Students are nominated by Biology faculty members for this award.<\/span><\/p>\n

2022\/2023 recipients: Hannah Axten, Alanna Carey, Yuan Tian<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2021\/2022 recipients: Vivian Shen and Alyssa Helmling<\/em><\/p>\n

2020\/2021 recipients: Kadesh Daniels and Meaghan Connolly<\/em><\/p>\n

2019\/2020 recipients: Victoria Lagasse and Seoyoung Kim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2018\/2019 recipients:\u00a0Joana Barbosa Teixeira and Rose Zhao<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2017\/2018 recipients:\u00a0Billie Goolsby and Elena Newmark\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Allen H. Pachtman Research Awards<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n

These awards were established in 2023 by Biology alumnus <\/span>Allen H. Pachtman<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(CAS \u201975), a distinguished physician at Providence Hospital in California. Dr. Pachtman is a strong advocate of undergraduate research and mentoring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each award supports a high-achieving Biology undergraduate for their research project by funding their UROP salary. Interested students should apply through UROP:\u00a0http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/urop\/apply\/funding\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

2024 recipients: Caoimhe Bodnar, Regina Torres, Audrey Wong, Alexa Woodrow<\/em><\/p>\n

Loren E. Wold Research Awards<\/strong><\/h5>\n

These awards were established in 2019 by Biology alumnus Dr. Loren E. Wold<\/a> (CAS \u201997), a distinguished research scientist and Professor at Ohio State University.\u00a0 Dr. Wold is a strong advocate of undergraduate research and mentoring.<\/p>\n

Each award supports a high-achieving Biology undergraduate for their summer research project by funding their UROP salary and a $200 Conference Travel Award. Four awards will be given annually.\u00a0 Interested students should apply through UROP: http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/urop\/apply\/funding\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2023 recipients: Clifton Johnson, Foranoce Luciano, Jason Shi, Nicole Zakskorn<\/em><\/p>\n

2022 recipients: Evelyn Harper, Erica Broeker, Judy Wong, Douglas Alvarado<\/em><\/p>\n

2021 recipients: <\/em>Kelley McCutcheon, Kimberly Tran, Katherine Sotiropoulou, Helen Feng, Niharika Desai, and James Lu<\/em><\/p>\n

2020 recipients: Sarah Anwar, Kylie Blake, Kurt Castro, and Megan Sheeran<\/em><\/p>\n

2019 recipients:\u00a0Rose Zhao, Audrey Tran, Cairo De Souza, and Madison Pacaro<\/em><\/p>\n

Outstanding Learning Assistant Award<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Biology Department annually bestows this award on a group of Undergraduate Learning Assistants of any major whose poster presentation best outlines procedures for improving teaching in our undergraduate laboratories.\u00a0<\/span>Financial support for this award was made possible by Professor Emerita Elizabeth Godrick.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Spring 2022 recipients: Khalid AlSabhan, Buthaina Alshihabi, Aixin Wu, Hongli Zheng<\/em><\/p>\n

Fall 2021 recipients: Cayla Bilyeu, Isabel Jang, Vaughn St. Marie, and Nikolas Martinez<\/em><\/p>\n

Spring 2021 recipients: Kaitlin Farias, Tara O’Brien, Careena Uppaluri, and Rebecca Yu<\/em><\/p>\n

Fall 2020 recipients: Sophia Aburida, Genesis Bolado, Madison Homsey, and Akhila Sonti<\/em><\/p>\n

Fall 2019 recipients: Krithi Gopalan, Khushali Mashruwala, Lydia Simon, and Ben Skross<\/em><\/p>\n

Spring 2019 recipients: Chloe Cho, Joseph Distefano, Taylor Epstein, and Dimitri Moshovitis<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2018 recipients:\u00a0Louis Beers, Phanirekha Chandra, Fernanda Neri Mini, and Alexander Nguyen<\/span><\/span><\/em>
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