{"id":10840,"date":"2024-04-30T09:20:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T14:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=10840"},"modified":"2024-04-30T09:20:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T14:20:03","slug":"uw-eau-claire-student-wins-prestigious-goldwater-scholarship","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-eau-claire-student-wins-prestigious-goldwater-scholarship\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Eau Claire student wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Third-year student Devin Sobottka is one of only six students selected for the Goldwater Scholarship this year from a Universities of Wisconsin campus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Devin Sobottka spent seven years working in warehouses while trying to find the right job fit for his associate degree in information technology networking. When the pandemic hit, Sobottka reevaluated his career and decided to pursue his true passion \u00ad\u2014 chemistry \u2014 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.<\/p>\n

Sobottka\u2019s decision to return to UW-Eau Claire where he was enrolled a decade earlier proved to be golden. Sobottka\u2019s career path trajectory rose dramatically when he was named a 2024 recipient of the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation<\/a>\u00a0provides $7,500 scholarships to second- and third-year college students who plan to pursue research careers in natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. A total of 438 college students from across the country are recipients of the Goldwater scholarships for 2024 after 1,353 undergraduates were nominated by 446 institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis prestigious award recognizes a student\u2019s potential for becoming a future research leader in the United States,\u201d says Dr. Michael Carney, interim provost. \u201cDevin joins an elite group and is one of only six students selected this year from a Universities of Wisconsin campus. It\u2019s a wonderful honor and we\u2019re so proud of Devin for this recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sobottka, a third-year student from Knapp majoring in chemistry with a biochemistry emphasis, says it\u2019s an honor to receive the Goldwater Scholarship, which may help \u201copen the door for more opportunities and ways I can achieve my educational and career goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing UW-Eau Claire has done for me has been providing me with a wonderful research mentor and the ability to conduct undergraduate research,\u201d Sobottka says. \u201cI’m learning skills that would be a lot harder to obtain somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sobottka is a hard-working student who is passionate about scientific research, says Sobottka\u2019s faculty research mentor, Dr. Tyler Doyon, assistant professor in chemistry and biochemistry.<\/p>\n

Doyon\u2019s research group works in the field of chemistry called biocatalysis, using enzymes to perform organic chemistry reactions.<\/p>\n

Sobottka\u2019s work has focused on optimizing the performance of an enzyme and isolating the products that are made by the enzyme. Sobottka has made significant contributions to the research that will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal with the student as the co-first author, Doyon says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an incredible accomplishment and is only possible because of Devin\u2019s dedication and scientific curiosity,\u201d Doyon says. \u201cFurthermore, he is a fantastic mentor to other students through tutoring and involvement in department activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doyon is excited to see what Sobottka\u2019s future brings as his UW-Eau Claire research experience has prepared him for success in graduate school, where he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry, and beyond.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Goldwater Scholarship Program<\/a>\u00a0was established by Congress in 1986 \u201cto serve as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years on the U.S. Senate.\u201d The scholarship program is one of the oldest and most prestigious national scholarships in natural sciences, engineering and mathematics in the country and intended to support students who \u201cshow exceptional promise of becoming this Nation\u2019s next generation of research leaders in these fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Gary Johnson<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwec.edu\/news\/news\/uw-eau-claire-student-wins-prestigious-goldwater-scholarship-5982\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Devin Sobottka spent seven years working in warehouses while trying to find the right job fit for his associate degree in information technology networking. When the pandemic hit, Sobottka reevaluated his career and decided to pursue his true passion \u00ad\u2014 chemistry \u2014 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Sobottka\u2019s decision to return to UW-Eau Claire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":10841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[96],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-10840","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-eau-claire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/10840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=10840"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=10840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}