Local Student Named Goldwater Scholar

From the University of Georgia

Theresa Stratmann, a junior from Irmo studying ecology at the University of Georgia, has been awarded the 2012 Goldwater Scholar.

Stratmann is among a group of 282 recipients of the one- and two-year scholarships that recognize exceptional sophomores and juniors in engineering, mathematics and the natural sciences.

Stratmann, a member of UGA’s Honors Program and a 2011 CURO summer fellow, has experienced different phases of the research process in conservation biology and mathematics, her career field of choice. She currently is working on her own inquiry developing a species distribution model and related location and surveying techniques for the federally threatened bog turtle. Her research mentor is UGA vertebrate ecologist John Maerz.

Stratmann also has participated in educational outreach efforts as a wildlife technician for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and as a volunteer with UGA’s Game Day Recycling Initiative. As co-president of UGA’s Herpetological Society, she has organized and led community events to raise awareness about reptiles and amphibians.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation provides a maximum award of $7,500 per year for university expenses such as tuition, fees, books and room and board.  Congress created the scholarship program in 1986 to honor the late U.S. senator.