Current Scholars

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Jesus Alvarez is not only valedictorian of his 600+ person class out of California's Central Valley, he's also described by his science teacher as "truly one of the most beautiful people." Jesus is an aspiring engineer who serves as the vice president of National Honors Society and president of Science Bowl. Taking dual enrollment college courses on top of his high school course load, Jesus is on track to have three associate's degrees by May. Organizing park and graffiti clean-ups, food distributions, fundraisers and mural paintings, he's deeply involved within his local community. 

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Alicia Duenas is a Dartmouth Indigenous Fly-In alum who seeks to explore medicine through cultural, historical and scientific perspectives, aspiring to create a more just healthcare system, particularly for Indigenous peoples. She currently volunteers at Queen's Medical Center – the main hospital in Hawaii – and is a Certified Nurse Aide. Always embracing the unfamiliar, Alicia is also a JROTC Cadet Instructor and vice president of her school's speech and debate team, as well as a six-year Hawaiian language student. 

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Keana Fant-Thompson is a self-described "Jack of All Trades" – a varsity weight lifter and track and field captain, she's also vice president and co-founder of her school's chapter of HOSA, a youth county commissioner and vice president of Black Student Union. Her interest in medicine sparked by a Doc McStuffins, Keana's passionate about gene therapy and molecular biology, with sights set on the prevention and treatment of genetic disorders.

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Leo Tching grew up in New York City, motivated by a desire to bring "life into a city of concrete" as a practicing bonsai tree artist. Over time, that artistic fascination with biological and botanical resilience merged with personal family health struggles, shaping his ambition as an aspiring physician-scientist. Building on a four-year tenure in diabetes mellitus research at Mount Sinai—where he continues investigating small-molecule-driven pancreatic beta-cell differentiation during academic breaks—Leo now pursues molecular biology at Dartmouth College. His interest in metabolic health extends from the bench to understanding daily intervention, where he explores low-glycemic, palatable food design that bridges plant science and human nutrition. Drawing on his background as former Editor-in-Chief of Bronx Science's Journal of Biology and an active EMR volunteer, Leo combines rigorous bench research with science videography, using visual storytelling to make complex medicine and environmental stewardship accessible.

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Declan Predmore is "truly a scientist at heart" who sees discoveries of knowledge to be just as thrilling as rollercoasters. Eager to study computer science alongside brain sciences and music, Declan hopes to study neuroscience and be active in the SCRAP Lab, seeking to apply his knowledge in a practical setting. Declan is an avid saxophonist and senior class representative at Grove City High School in Ohio who loves to experiment with fashion and break conventions with his personal style – he's also a garment curator and seller hoping to promote sustainable fashion through upcycling clothing.

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Erica Chemmanoor is a '29 from Houston, Texas. She plans to pursue a double major in Computer Science and Economics with a minor in Human Centered Design. Inspired by a family member's late diagnosis of Crohn's disease, she became involved with research while looking for a solution to the problems causing late diagnoses. She learned to train artificial intelligence to detect colon cancer in its early stages in a way that reduces dependence on invasive and expensive procedures that are unequally available to all patients. She later had the opportunity to participate in a summer research program where she conducted artificial intelligence and cybersecurity research at Hunter College. At Dartmouth, she is interested in pursuing research that uses artificial intelligence to aid healthcare. Outside of research, she intends to join the club/intramural tennis team and Dartmouth's Women in Business organization 

Jamar Chisholm has long aspired to become a doctor who can help address the lack of medical care in developing nations such as his parents' native Jamaica. A student at the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine in Ohio, Jamar has spent three years studying human anatomy in a special medical-school level course, participated in a diagnostics program at the Cleveland Clinic, and studied cardiovascular health at Case Western Reserve University. Grateful to his parents for the many sacrifices they have made in support of his education, Jamar is an active member of CBO Minds Matter. Described as "eloquent and confident" by his teachers, Jamar has already developed the bedside manner that will help him change the lives of his future patients.

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Andrew Garcia is a '29 from Harlem, NYC who aspires to build "supportive and accessible environments" for all communities, a vision he developed through summer research studying pedestrian safety across his Harlem neighborhood, resulting in a paper on how engineering for humanity could enhance mobility for seniors and those of lesser physical ability. In his time at Dartmouth, he plans to continue his passion for engineering and challenge himself intellectually as much as possible. Teachers say he has "an insatiable work ethic and boundless ideas."

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Phiona Nabagereka's presence at Noble and Greenough School "is felt in every nook and cranny of the school," says her counselor. Leader of both Sister to Sister and the Black Student Union, Phiona founded a Step Club at the school which attracts not only students but also faculty and staff. She spent last summer as a research intern studying the impact of doulas on health care, furthering her interest in providing equitable care for women of color in her future medical studies. Phiona's teachers describe her as an interdisciplinary thinker who models what it means to be "truly and deeply curious" and thrives in lab work where her analytic skills raise the bar for her peers in group projects. She has also tutored more than 60 underserved students in the Boston area.

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Roberto Nieto, Jr. is the valedictorian of his 800-member high school class in Los Fresnos, Texas, where he shares his intellectual gifts and interests by tutoring younger students in STEM. A NASA aerospace scholar whose work has been used by NASA to develop new ways to explore Mars, Roberto is also a senior peer tutor in that program and a summer camp counselor for K-8 students studying robotics and aerospace technology. This captain of his school's interscholastic academics team also shines in cross-country and track and is president of both his graduating class and his school's National Honor Society.

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Kaden Williams is an aspiring cybersecurity engineer from Pennsylvania pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science modified with Digital Arts at Dartmouth College. As a sophomore, Kaden works as an ITC Student Service Desk Technician at the Blitz Center and as a 3D Modeler at DALI Lab. During his first year, he explored a variety of extracurricular opportunities, becoming involved with the Dartmouth Glee Club, the Department of Theater (First-Year Project and Legacy of Light), and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Outside of academics, Kaden enjoys content creation, 3D modeling, ice skating, horseback riding, and baking. He hopes to combine his passions for technology, creativity, and problem-solving to build a career in cybersecurity, with the goal of helping protect the systems that power meaningful experiences for people around the world.  

Dayanara Martinez

Dayanara Martinez is a '28 from Los Angeles, California, planning to major in Mechanical Engineering. She is also extremely passionate about anything space related! During high school, she completed four L.A. marathons in total, 3 of them were through the Students Run Los Angeles Program. She often trained by the Griffith Observatory, which motivated her to pursue space based research at Dartmouth. Currently, she is working as a research assistant under Professor Kristina Lynch through WISP, helping to analyze aurora data structures and fabricate/test instrumentation for the GNEISS mission. Dayanara is also an active member of Spare Rib, which is an intersectional feminist magazine where she is able to express her artistic creativity in her down time. In the future, she is interested in conducting research that will combine her passion for engineering and space, most likely with a concentration in sustainability. 

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Vitalii Yakovlev is from Fife, Washington, double-majoring in Biochemistry and Linguistics on a pre-med track. His interests include emergency medicine, toxicology, and sociolinguistics, with a particular interest in how heavy metals present in the environment affect human health. Vitalii is currently working in the Trace Element Analysis Core lab under Professor Brian Jackson, collaborating with Dr. Sadia Sultana in the Bomberger Lab. Their research focuses on the composition of stove ash particulate matter and its effect on macrophages, employing techniques like Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and assays with P. aeruginosa. Vitalii's next project involves the characterization of wildfire particles collected in Hanover's air over the summer wildfire season and their effect on human cells. When he is not in the lab, you can find him leading a discussion group at a Cru fellowship, covering a shift with Dartmouth EMS, or treading the paths of Pine Park.

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Caden Marcum is from North Manchester, Indiana, and is majoring in Earth Science. During his time at Dartmouth, he has conducted research in the Strauss Lab under the mentorship of Justin Strauss, focusing on the geochronology of the Yukon and British Columbia through uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating of detrital zircon grains.

During his senior year, Caden will conduct research under Professor Brehnin Keller, investigating a suite of Cretaceous-aged dikes in the Beartooth Range of southern Montana, approximately 20 miles north of Yellowstone National Park. These rocks were previously dated by Dartmouth researchers using fission-track dating in the early 1990s. Caden's research will apply uranium-lead (U-Pb) geochronology to establish a more precise timeline for the emplacement of these dikes and to improve our understanding of the geologic history and evolution of igneous complexes in the western United States.

Outside of his research, Caden is an active member of his fraternity and enjoys hiking, ice skating, and paddleboarding in and around the Dartmouth campus.