The 2021 McNair Cohort
Introducing ISU's new McNair Scholars!
The 2021 McNair Cohort consists of 13 juniors and seniors from diverse majors. The Scholars are learning about the process of research through an in-class project focused on undergraduate preparation for graduate education. In addition, they have started working on their discipline specific research with their faculty mentors (see below).
New 2021-2022 Faculty Mentors Confirmed

A large part of the the McNair experience is the faculty-mentored research project. In the first year, Scholars seek out a faculty mentor whose research interests align with their own. Scholars work with their mentors on independent research for the duration of their time in the McNair Program.

We are excited to welcome new faculty members from across campus to mentor our Scholars as they gain valuable research skills in their areas of interest. Many of the faculty (listed below) have mentored scholars in the past and we have several individuals who are mentoring for the first time.
  • Dr. Monica Lamm, Chemical & Biological Engineering
  • Dr. Shannon Harper, Sociology and Criminal Justice
  • Dr. Dipali Sashital, Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology
  • Dr. Andrew Sommerville, World Languages and Cultures
  • Dr. Elizabeth Swanner, Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Dr. Martin Thuo, Materials Science & Engineering
  • Dr. Houqing Fu, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Dr. Marshall McDaniel, Agronomy
  • Dr. Jonathan Wendel, Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology
  • Dr. Panteleimon Ekkekakis, Kinesiology
  • Dr. Monica Haddad, Community & Regional Planning
  • Dr. Nathaniel Wade, Psychology
New McNair Graduate Student Mentors are beginning to work with our 2021 Cohort
McNair Scholars are required to have and meet with a graduate mentor to learn more about what it is like to be a graduate student.

The learning outcomes of the Graduate Mentor Program are to:
  • Assist McNair Scholars in navigating and understanding graduate school culture
  • Support McNair Scholars in research and graduate school processes

This year, we welcome 13 new graduate mentors working with Scholars in the 2021 McNair cohort. We thank them for their time, effort, and mentorship, as we know they are busy with their graduate work.
  • Dhananjay (DJ) Dileep, Chemical & Biological Engineering
  • Lawrion Anderson, Psychology
  • Jordan Brooks, School of Education 
  • Deryn Makowski, Anthropology
  • Kelli Williams, Mechanical Engineering
  • Christian McRoberts, Math
  • Ernesto Soto, Chemistry
  • Dhruv Raturi, Material Science Engineering
  • Cole Dutter, Agronomy
  • Roselynn Conrady, Mechanical Engineering
  • Simone Lord, Ecology Evolution & Organismal Biology
  • Stephanie Sowl, School of Education
Changes to McNair Staff
This fall, the McNair Program has two new staff!
We are excited to welcome them and the skills they bring to strengthen our program.
Ma-aruf Al-hassan, a doctoral student in English, has joined McNair as a Research Writing Consultant. He primarily works with the first-year McNair Scholars as they learn about how to conduct research and develop their research writing skills.
Regine Peters, ('20 ISU grad, Statistics) is the new McNair Program Specialist. She assists McNair with many of the programmatic components and day-to-day work. Regine holds a split position with McNair and the IINSPIRE-LSAMP Program.
Scholar Happenings
This summer and fall our Scholars have been busy ACHIEVING! Many participated in research or were recognized for their accomplishments.

  • Celeste Chadwick (pictured third, from bottom right) interned at Kent Pet Group (Muscatine, Iowa) where she tested clump strength of cat litter. Celeste has also received the Athene Game Changers Scholarship from Athene in Des Moines for her final year here at ISU.
  • Alejandro Medina- Valencia participated in an REU at the Mountain Lake Biological Station in Virginia. He researched meta populations of forked fungus beetles and presented his final work at the Station.
  • Pedro Salazar Garcia has been busy as a NASA ARC intern (through December), a Boeing Research Fellow, and an Engineering Admissions Partnership Program (E-APP) Peer Mentor. He also received the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, was a 2021 Latino Heritage Festival Scholar, and recently received Honorable Mention for the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) Distinguished Undergraduate Award.
  • Patricia Archilla was awarded the Thomas E. Hannum Undergraduate Scholarship, an award from the Department of Psychology, which is given to students who have been recognized and have served the Department of Psychology by being involved in Psych Club, Psi Chi, and peer mentorship. Patricia was also admitted to the Network Community Counseling Services Lab, where she works as an administrative assistant that has one-on-one interactions with clients interested in receiving therapy.
  • Yahriel Salinas-Reyes participated in the Stanford Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) where my project was "Predicting Olympic World Triathlon Results via Machine Learning". He was also selected as a Boeing Research Fellow for this academic year.
  • Malcolm St. Cyr was featured in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Stories About... Read more about Malcolm's research with Dr. Marshall McDaniel (Agronomy), his awards and experiences as an Agronomy student, and plans for the future.