Honors Student Earns Two Elite Opportunities

Katherine Barrs’ undergraduate experience has been better than she ever expected. The double major in biology and mathematics won the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s top scholarship for undergraduate students engaged in research in the sciences. The Georgia Southern junior was one of only 496 college students from across the United States to earn the scholarship, which she is using to defray the costs of her final three semesters of coursework.

In another achievement, the Statesboro native and University Honors Program student spent 10 weeks in interdisciplinary research at Yale University. Barrs conducted research on the molecular machinery of endocytosis using experimental, quantitative and imaging methods with a professor in Yale’s Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. As a participant in the Sackler/National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates: Interdisciplinary Research Training Across Biology, Physics and Engineering program, Barrs experienced what graduate life is like at a large research institution.

“Both of these opportunities mean a lot for my future,” said Barrs. “For me, being awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and earning the research opportunity at Yale is recognition of all of my hard work.”

Barrs plans to pursue a doctoral degree in biomathematics or applied sciences and hopes to one day conduct applied research at the interface of biology, chemistry and mathematics in an industry or a government institution.