Current Scholars

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Sophie channeled her life experiences into a mission to become her best self and serve her community, beginning by volunteering at the ranked #1 cancer hospital in Florida where she has worked with patients and served as a research intern studying a wide range of illnesses. Her higher level IB Biology teacher says she has "a natural understanding of the scientific method" that plays out in precise and detailed laboratory work where she leads others and lifts the level of discourse and discovery. Seeing the impact of Hurricane Milton on her community, she designed a project with a PhD student to study how different compositions of concrete could impact the corrosion of steel. As president of her school's chapter of HOSA, she has demonstrated a profound understanding of issues such as cultural diversity and healthcare disparity. Proficient in French, she is president of the French Honor Society and an accomplished photographer and pianist. 

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Valedictorian and QuestBridge National College Prep Scholar Rediet Mamo has found her voice since emigrating from Ethiopia as a child, and she uses it to advocate for underrepresented students who share her passion for STEM. Rediet has served as an intern in biochemistry and molecular genetics at the University of Colorado medical school, is the founder/president of a STEM-based journal, volunteers with patients and their families and tutors young students in math. She also served as a Co-Captain for her school's speech and debate team. She sees a future in biomedical engineering that will help her increase access to equitable medical care in low-resource environments. 

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Maria Elena balances multiple passions for medicine, STEM leadership and music. She spent last summer as an intern studying tumor evolution in glioblastomas in a research lab in Heidelberg, Germany, and has worked with infectious disease specialists at George Washington University Hospital. Maria Elena coached a middle school Science Olympiad team and co-founded STEM Chefs to bring science to life for young students . She was a first violin in the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra and has won multiple prizes in music competitions through her string quartet, including performing at Carnegie Hall. Malena honors her Hispanic heritage through her efforts to expand the Spanish language section of her school newspaper. 

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Anthony is a Questbridge Match student whose favorite subject has always been math, which he sees as a puzzle with endless possibilities. He's channeled that passion into a huge talent for coding, and he sees Dartmouth's interdisciplinary programs as a perfect fit for his "interest in uncovering structure within complexity." Raised in East Los Angeles where enrichment in STEM can be difficult to access, Anthony founded his school's robotics club to help others see themselves in the world of engineering and computer science. He has exhausted both the math and computer science curriculum at his school, excelling in both, and is currently finishing a pilot program in AP Cybersecurity. Teachers describe him as "brilliant student" in both academics and character who continually challenges himself to independently advance his knowledge and skills. 

Violet V. Cueva-Flores (she/her) is from California and plans to study Mathematics and/or Computer Science. She hopes to join the DOC and stay active through snow sports (which she has never done before).

Sidney Crockett

Sidney A. Crockett (he/him) is from West Virginia and plans to focus on Public Health. He would love to do club soccer as well as maybe participate in ROTC. He looks forward to getting on the slopes and FINALLY learning to properly snowboard, and he would like to write for People Places Pines to share his experience at Dartmouth.

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Edgardo Garcia (he/him) is from northeast Denver, Colorado. He is planning on majoring in mechanical engineering with a focus in aerospace and fluid dynamics. Since high school, he has often worked with many other people or students in longer term projects and clubs, such as founding his school's first speech and debate team, leading the math help room, and doing a mentorship program with Boom Supersonic. After having taken some very advanced math courses and working with Boom Supersonic, he has aspirations of removing the negative stigma behind supersonic travel and making it commercially available to everyone. At Dartmouth, he plans on researching fluid dynamics and aero dynamics to the highest extent, in order to make it something greater. Outside of academics, he was a competitive swimmer and hopes to do club swimming at Dartmouth. Edgardo is very grateful and excited to experience a larger school culture and pride, as well as working with the esteemed faculty and other scholars in his progression of a higher education. 

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Emily Henriquez (she/her) is from Houston, Texas, and plans to pursue a major in Biomedical Engineering. A first-generation QuestBridge Scholar, she is passionate about research in drug delivery and improving women's health. In high school, Emily completed advanced STEM coursework through AP and dual-enrollment classes. In summer 2025, she participated in medical research in the Department of Medicine, furthering the study of atherosclerosis, gaining hands-on lab experience, and presenting her work at a symposium. She also held leadership roles in student organizations, helping to create opportunities for her peers and foster a supportive academic community. Emily looks forward to collaborating with peers and mentors to explore new scientific questions and make a meaningful impact in healthcare.

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Alexis Kostin is the salutatorian of her class in west central Florida who came to Dartmouth through Questbridge. Described by her teachers as selfless and "the most compassionate young adult I've known," Alexis founded Gear for Girls to teach and fund STEM opportunities for underserved girls in her area. Math is her favorite subject because while life is unpredictable, math is not, and she says STEM studies have given her certainty in times of upheaval and loss. Brilliant in robotics and engineering, she is also obsessed with  dystopian novels and movies  "because it takes admirable resilience to survive the apocalypse." She also studies creative writing and describes Jane Goodall's work on animal behavior as essential to her success in working at TJ Maxx at Christmas, which she says is "not a habit for the weak." On the rare occasion that she relaxes, she enjoys having dance parties with her dog.

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Cesar Martinez (he/him) is originally from Los Angeles and was involved in the College Match LA program beginning his junior year of high school, where he developed a strong passion for educational equity and community impact. He is an undergraduate student planning to major in Biomedical Engineering. In high school, he served as his class president through ASB and was actively involved in extracurriculars-captaining both the soccer and cross country teams while participating in several student-led clubs. Cesar is excited to explore the intersection of engineering and medicine through the Coulter Program, with a particular interest in developing technologies that improve healthcare access and outcomes for underserved communities.

Melissa Ballesteros

Melissa Ballesteros (she/her) is from Houston, Texas, planning to major in Biomedical Engineering. She is particularly interested in researching racial and ethnic disparities in reproductive health. During high school, Melissa served as Co-President of SolX, a Latine affinity group, where she worked to promote inclusivity and awareness. She also completed an internship with the City of Houston in the Fire and EMS records department. Since arriving at Dartmouth, Melissa has joined the FUERZA Farmworkers Fund, and has taken an active role in the North Park Programming Board.

Faculty Mentor: Margaret Karagas, Geisel Epidemiology

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Kris Marisol Garcia (she/they) is a creator at heart, majoring in Music and minoring in Theater. Hailing from El Paso, Texas, her primary work is geared towards educating, inspiring, empowering, and bringing people together through sound, music, and technology. They love making interdisciplinary art that explores the deep richness of human experience: community, freedom, trauma, memory, hope, and life's big moments. Their upcoming projects will investigate these facets of life through interactive technologies (Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), motion tracking, electronic dye bonding, installations, etc.) and see what they can teach us about what it means to be human. Outside of their work, she regularly sound design theater productions such as The Cherry Orchard, Vertep for Homo Sapiens, Green Day's American Idiot, etc., and perform with the Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra and the Upper Valley Symphony.

Faculty Mentor: Bethany Younge, MUSC

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Amirahimaan Kalonji (she/her) is from Washington, D.C. and plans to major in English and Neuroscience. She spends most of her time outdoors (when it's warm), reading fiction, and writing poetry. Her interests lie within the crossplay of psychiatric disorders, treatment, improved understanding, and more expansive healthcare for underserved groups.

Faculty Mentor: Shelley Warlow, PBS

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Cathy Cho is a rising senior at Dartmouth College majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. As a Coulter Scholar, she is developing a knowledge graph that maps how mathematical concepts build upon one another. The project integrates this structured representation with large language models to create an AI tutor that guides students toward solutions through hints and conceptual understanding rather than providing direct answers.

Faculty Mentors: Soroush Vosoughi, COSC and Peter Mucha, MATH

Mae is a Materials Science and Engineering Major from Concord, MA. Her research focuses on how additive manufacturing, specifically Laser-Powder Bed Fusion, can tailor metallic alloys for energy infrastructure, including molten salt reactor and solar generator components. She studies how process parameters such as scan speed, cooling rate, and powder morphology influence microstructure and mechanical properties, using tools like scanning electron microscopy, synchrotron x-ray diffraction, and tensile testing to map process-structure-property relationships. Before turning to metals, Mae spent five years studying fungi materials independently and through the Harvard Pfister Lab and Dartmouth Chaudhary Ecology Labs. She then joined Professor Ian Baker's group to study high-entropy alloys, combining that experience with Coulter-supported co-ops at Cabot Corporation and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to form the basis of her two-year thesis project. Mae is broadly interested in the intersection of industry and the environment, embedding sustainability within technical innovation. Outside the lab, she enjoys Nordic skiing, hiking, reading, and frequenting the Book Arts Workshop.

Faculty Mentor: Ian Baker, ENGS

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Angela is a Neuroscience Major and Music Minor from Shanghai, China. Her Coulter Scholars project focuses on the neurobiological and behavioral impacts of adolescent alcohol use, inspired by her experience working in the Smith lab and Nautiyal lab. Combining her fascination with the neuroscience of addiction and psychedelic pharmacology, she will perform behavioral experiments, drug administration, and histological analysis with rodent subjects to probe the effectiveness of psilocybin on reversing the adverse effects of adolescent drinking. Beyond research,  Angela spends her time working as an EMT for Dartmouth EMS, illustrating for Spare Rib publications, conducting the Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra, and teaching dance lessons with the Dartmouth Classical Ballet Theater.

Faculty Mentor: Katherine Nautiyal, PSYC

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Aslı is a Computer Science and Biology major with a minor in Human-Centered Design Engineering. Originally from İstanbul, Türkiye, she is passionate about leveraging technology to tackle critical healthcare challenges, aiming to make healthcare safer, more efficient, and more accessible for everyone. As a Coulter Scholar, Aslı is building the world's first and largest publicly available dataset on extensive breath-holding incidents, with a primary focus on shallow water blackouts. This silent phenomenon occurs when prolonged underwater breath-holding starves the brain of oxygen, causing loss of consciousness without warning, often before the body even registers the urge to breathe. Having already identified over 350 cases, she hopes her research transforms scattered, isolated reports into structured data. By establishing a rigorous scientific foundation around these overlooked hazards, she aims to uncover critical risk patterns, raise public awareness, and inform life-saving policies. 

Faculty Mentor: Jeremiah Brown, MS, PhD (Geisel)