Grads prepare for their next steps

Haley Menees, who is from Cumming, Georgia, is earning degrees in biology and chemistry with a biochemistry concentration. She is also finishing minors in Spanish and business administration.

She has earned a trio of nationally competitive scholarships: the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship and the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. The Goldwater Scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields and provides up to $15,000 per student over two years.

The NIH Undergraduate Scholarship was worth up to $20,000 and included a summer 2024 paid research experience at NIH and a year and a half of employment at NIH following her graduation from UNG.

Through her Gilman Scholarship, which supports education abroad, Menees was able to study in Spain during summer 2023.

Menees' goal is to have a career in neuroscience, and after working with Dr. Veronica Alvarez at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for the next year and a half, Menees plans to pursue a M.D.-Ph.D. program starting in fall 2026. Her work with Alvarez will focus on addiction vulnerabilities, aiming to determine who is most susceptible to these disorders.

She has appreciated the technical and professional precision emphasized by her chemistry faculty. The in-depth learning style advocated by biology faculty member Dr. Cathy Whiting has been instrumental in setting the stage for her next steps.

"Those skills are very important in medical school," Menees said. "The way Dr. Whiting teaches you to think prepares you for the medical field."