The Arts and Sciences Biology Department at Washington University in St. Louis has announced the winners of its annual awards.
Ethan Lowder, a December 2021 graduate who majored in the biochemistry stream of biology, won the 2022 Ralph S. Quatrano Award.
This award is given to the dissertation showing the greatest evidence of creativity in design, research methodology, or broader scientific implications. The award is given in honor of Ralph Quatrano, Spencer T. Olin Professor Emeritus and former holder of the Chair of Biology. Lowder was nominated by his main research advisor and mentor Robert Kranz for his thesis entitled “Cryo-EM structures of CcsBA elucidate cytochrome c biogenesis and heme transport”.
Kayla Wallace, an environmental biology major with a minor in anthropology, won the 2022 Spector Prize. This award is given to a graduate in memory of Marion Smith Spector, a 1938 graduate who studied zoology under the late Viktor Hamburger .
The Spector Prize, first awarded in 1974, recognizes academic excellence and outstanding undergraduate achievement in research. Students are nominated by their research mentors for outstanding research that has made substantial contributions to a field. Wallace was nominated by her faculty mentor Joan Strassmann; his thesis was entitled “Effects of freshwater acidification and parasitism on the consumption behaviors of rusty crayfish”.
Read about these nominated awards and other undergraduate and graduate student recognitions on the Biology webpage.