Student Honors and Awards
We proudly recognize undergraduate and graduate students in UMD’s biological sciences community who recently garnered major honors and awards.
Graduate Students
- Adit Alreja, Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
- Nicholas Bezio, Devra Kleiman Memorial Graduate Endowment Summer Award
- Sofia Di Benigno, CBMG Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
- Kevin Hackbarth, 1st Place Bioscience Day Poster
- Christina Ippoliti, Isabel R. McDonald Service Award
- Philip Johnson, Michael J. Pelczar Graduate Award
- Jessica Kopew, Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award
- Lindsey Markowitz, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships
- Aurelie Niyongabo, CBMG Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Recognition Award
- Akshay Patel, Andrew J. Moyer Outstanding Graduate Student Award; 1st Place Bioscience Day Poster
- Katherine Pizano, PIN/NACS Graduate Student Fellowship
- Yanelyn Perez, Devra Kleiman Memorial Graduate Endowment Summer Award
- Melissa Perry, 2nd Place Bioscience Day Poster
- Michael Shuster, 1st Place Bioscience Day Poster
- Spencer Smith, CBMG Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
- Anshuman Swain, Charles A. Caramello Distinguished Dissertation Award (Anshuman also was named a Junior Fellow in the prestigious Harvard Society of Fellows and was selected for a James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Postdoctoral Fellowship for multidisciplinary research)
- Zajeba Tabashsum, CBMG Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
- Husan Turdiev, Carroll E. Cox Award
- Sahar Vakili, Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award
- Molly Westbrook, Eugenie Clark Fellowship
- Rose Ying, Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) from NIH
- Anna Zimina, Wallace Prescott Rowe Award
Undergraduate Students
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships
- Harrison Lee, biological sciences
- Rayshaun Pettit, biological sciences
- Emma Yockman, biological sciences
- Jenan El-Hifnawi (B.S. ’22, biological sciences)
- Joshua Steighner (B.S. ’21, biological sciences; B.A. ’21, criminology and criminal justice)
- Emma Thrift (B.S. ’19, biological sciences)
University Medal Finalists
- Sriya Potluri, mathematics major working with Biology’s Bill Fagan
- Tesia Shi, biological sciences and psychology
- Jerry Yang, biological sciences
Senior Marshals
- Rakshita Balaji, neuroscience
- Hammad Baqai, biological sciences and public health science
- Urvi Chowdhury, biological sciences
- Zoe Davidson, biological sciences
- Delyar Delavari, biological sciences
- David Diep, biological sciences
- Nikki Emamian, biological sciences and public health science
- Sara Jain, neuroscience
- Ananya Krishnan, biological sciences and anthropology
- Sasvi Kulasinghe, biological sciences and individual studies
- Sahana Kundu, biological sciences
- Rayshaun Pettit, biological sciences
- Tyler Przygocki, biological sciences
- Tesia Shi, biological sciences and psychology
- Japneet Singh , biological sciences
- Kevin Tu, , biological sciences and economics
- Matthew Walsh, biological sciences
- Clarissa Xia, biological sciences and psychology
- Noam Yanay, biological sciences and psychology
Initiates for the Sigma Alpha Omicron (SAO) Microbiology Honor Society
- Samat Boriev, biological sciences
- Samantha Kowalik, biological sciences
- Jenna Kraemer, biological sciences
- Thomas Milholland, biological sciences
- Kathleen Monahan, biological sciences
- Ngoc (Victoria) Pham, biological sciences
- Laura Sneller, biological sciences
- Sivani Sundaram, biological sciences
- Grant Yang, biological sciences
Bioscience Day Poster Winners
- First Place
- Viviana Alpizar, bioengineering and neuroscience
- Matthew Nikzad, biological sciences and psychology
- Sragvi Pattanaik, biological sciences
- Sachi Pawar, biological sciences
- Sai Pranav, biological sciences
- Second Place
- John Babich, biological sciences
- Alyssa Evangelista, biological sciences
- Nora Fadul, biological sciences
- Maximus Jenkins, biological sciences
- Shreyas Kanwar, biological sciences
- Jacob Martin, biological sciences
- Jennifer Tabet, neuroscience
- Third Place
- Meghan Deyesu, biological sciences
- Rayshaun Pettit, biological sciences
Additional Honorees
- Nada Abouelseoud, neuroscience, CMNS Undergraduate Summer Research, Travel, and Educational Enrichment Award
- Sophia Guan, biological sciences, Appleman-Norton Award for Plant Biology; CBMG Departmental Honors
- Clarissa Halpern, biological sciences, CBMG Departmental Honors
- Daniel Klimes, biochemistry major working with CBMG Professor Najib El-Sayed, CMNS Undergraduate Summer Research, Travel, and Educational Enrichment Award
- Sasvi Kulasinghe, biological sciences, CBMG Departmental Honors
- Junyi “Julie” Liu, biological sciences, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences 2023 Undergraduate Commencement Student Speaker
- Anju Meda, biological sciences, CBMG Undergraduate Student Award
- Nicole Miko, biological sciences, CMNS Undergraduate Summer Research, Travel, and Educational Enrichment Award
- Matthew Nolte, biological sciences, CBMG Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Recognition Award
- Leya Sanchez, biological sciences, Anthony D. Brown (BS ’93) Memorial Scholarship
- Emily Sherman, biological sciences, CBMG Undergraduate Student Award
- Garmani Thein, biological sciences, CBMG Departmental Honors
- Grant Yang, biological sciences, Arne P. Hansen Award for CBMG Honors Program Outstanding Thesis; CBMG Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award; CBMG Departmental Honors
