2006 Goldwater Scholar

Name: Katherine J. Leitch
Hometown: Rockford, Mich.
Major: Zoology and neurobiolgoy
Photo: Hi-res jpg

A love of science that led Rockford, Mich., native Katherine Leitch to a research lab at Michigan State University got its humble beginning playing in the mud with toads.

Leitch, a zoology sophomore in Lyman Briggs School of Science at MSU, plans to continue her research as one of MSU’s three Goldwater Scholarship recipients. She is one of 323 nationwide to receive the award for 2006 from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

“The reasoning behind my professional aspirations, fortunately, became more meaningful,” Leitch said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have encountered several classes that instilled me with a strong interest in neurobiology and immunology.”

A member of the MSU Honors College, she is the daughter James and Melissa Leitch and a 2004 graduate of Rockford High School. She plans to graduate from MSU in May 2008.

Goldwater Scholars are selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,081 mathematics, science and engineering students nominated by their colleges and universities. Awarded to sophomores and juniors, the scholarship covers the costs of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year and is available for one to two years.

Leitch has had first-hand lab experience under Heather Eisthen, an associate professor of zoology at MSU. Her current work with Eisthen involves explaining how acetylcholine, a chemical compound, affects the odor processing of the axolotl, an aquatic salamander native to Mexico.

She plans to earn a doctoral degree in either neurobiology or immunology.

“I am interested in both the role immunology plays in organismal symbioses and the medical applications of the biochemical aspects of immunology,” Leitch said.

Besides her MSU research projects, she has been involved with the MSU Ceramics and MSU Botany clubs and with establishing a plastics and aluminum recycling program in her residence hall. She has been recognized with the Distinguished Freshman Scholarship, Leroy Augenstein Memorial

Scholarship, Michigan Merit Award, Michigan Competitive Scholarship, Krause Memorial Scholarship and College of Natural Science Undergraduate Research Support Award.

“The Goldwater Scholarship frees me from a great deal of financial worry,” Leitch said. “My parents have been very generous in their support of my collegiate endeavors, and I’m sure they appreciate this chance to relax.”

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency, established in 1986, to honor former U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater and to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

For more information on the scholarship program, visit the Web at www.act.org/goldwater/yyschrel.html or www.act.org/goldwater/sch-2006.html

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