Four Cornell juniors -- Eowyn Connolly-Brown, Michael Grundler, Stephen Linderman and Aman Prasad -- have been named Barry M. Goldwater Scholars for 2009. They are among 278 scholars chosen by academic merit from a field of 1,097 students nationwide. The scholarships cover tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year.

"Not since 2003 have we had such a fine showing," said fellowships coordinator Beth Fiori.

Connolly-Brown, an atmospheric science major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and a Cornell Tradition student from Cleveland, Tenn., plans to pursue a Ph.D. and conduct research in climate dynamics and terrestrial biogeochemistry. She has worked with the National Center for Atmospheric Research to analyze models of vegetation density and with the Harvard Forest's Research for Undergraduates Program to design a measurement system to record fluctuations in carbon dioxide.

Grundler is a biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences from Ann Arbor, Mich. A Hunter R. Rawlings III Presidential Research Scholar, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology and to teach and study the ecology, evolution and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. His research includes a project on the endangered North American Eastern Pine Snake and a study of elevation patterns of species diversity in Papua New Guinean amphibians and reptiles.

Linderman, a biological engineering major with a biomedical engineering minor in CALS from Rome, N.Y., plans to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and a career in research. A Rawlings Presidential Research Scholar, he works with the DeLisa Research Group at Cornell to develop and use a reporter system that correlates protein interactions to growth on ampicillin and to characterize and engineer protein-protein interactions.

Prasad, a chemistry major in Arts and Sciences from Pocatello, Idaho, plans to pursue a Ph.D. and an academic and research career in synthetic organic chemistry. He works with the Schroeder research group to design and synthesize novel natural products that could be used to treat type II diabetes. Prasad also is a Rawlings Presidential Research Scholar.

The Goldwater Scholarship Program is designed to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. In its 21-year history, the Goldwater Scholarship Foundation has awarded 5,801 scholarships worth approximately $56 million.

Of the 47 Cornellians who have earned Goldwater scholarships since 1991, one went on to become a Rhodes scholar, five became Marshall scholars, four Churchill scholars and two Hertz fellows.