Department Awards Day 2025 – Department of Sciences & Mathematics

Wed 23 April 2025 was the Department of Science and Mathematics 4th annual Student Awards Day. Students in the department were recognized by faculty for their contributions and achievements.

Laila Wrenn, Bonnie Oppenheimer, and Kate Blankenship. — **Outstanding Seniors in Biology, Laila Wrenn and Kate Blankenship, with Dept. Chair Dr. Bonnie Oppenheimer.**

The most serious award of the day was the award for Outstanding Biology Senior of 2025. This year, the award was divided between two equally-deserving seniors, Kate Blankenship and Laila Wrenn.

The rest of the awards were more light-hearted in nature, recognizing students’ quirks and personalities as well as their achievements.

Math gave out five awards:

Best remote mathematics major – Jack Gantt

Best mathematics multitasker – Audrey Mitchell

Best mathematics persistence – Joshua White

Best mathematics minor – Zarin Raya

Most artistic mathematics – Gabriel Willson.

The award-winning Math students from the Department Awards Day, 2025. — **Dr. Kim with the award-winning mathematics students**.

Physics gave out four awards:

Most Likely to Get Physic-al – (tie) Maddie Guerin & Hagan Roberts

Isaac Newton Award – Zarin Raya

Potential Energy Award – Tytitana Harris

The award-wining Physics students from the 2025 Department Awards Day. — **Mr. Bruster with the award-winning physics students.**

Chemistry gave out ten awards:

Excellence in Team Chemistry Award James Duke
Substitution/Elimination Reaction Award for Outstanding Performance in Organic Chemistry – (tie) Conley Langford & Biraj Adhikari
LAID BACK Award for the Most Unbothered – Jailon Warner
Niels Bohr Young Chemist Award – Avery Watts
X-Ray Vision Award – Nykeria Pratt
Quality Control Award for Efficiency in the Laboratory – (tie) Phallyn Clark & Ya’Kyla Stasher
Cation Award for the Most Positive Attitude – (tie) Hannah Cole & Jackson Thompson

Chemistry award winning students, plus Dr. Fortenberry and Dr. Li, from the 2025 Departmental Awards Day. — **Dr. Fortenberry & Dr. Li with the award-winning chemistry students.**

Biology gave out 15 awards:

Mary Anning Award for Pounding The Dirt – Randi Johnson

Boabab Tree Award for Ecosystem Support – Ashton Farnell

Jocelyn Bell Burnell Award for Quiet Persistance – Jamia Jones

Red Footed Tortoise Award for Remembering The Good Times – Kyla Stephney

Elizabeth Blackwell Award for Pioneering Achievement – McKenzie Middleton

Emperor Penguin Award for Research Patience – Kane Petty

Carol Greider Award for Precision Pipetting Across Plenty of Protocols – Bailee Schmidt

Eastern Fox Squirrel Award for Chunking Tasks – Mollie Lyons

Wooly Mice Award for Science Communication – Ethan Wilkins

Wandersee & Schussler Award for Botanical Skepticism – Hagan Roberts

Julia Butterfly Hill Award for Devotion to Ecology – Billy Hufton

The Triatoma sanguisuga Award For Ecological Hesitancy – Alisa Smith

Jane Cooke Wright Award for Potential Good Works – Mallory Williams

Hans Selye Award for Constructive Stress Kate Blankenship

Octopus bimaculoides Award for Independently Achieved Parallel Successes Laila Wrenn

Award-winning biology students, plus Dr. Crossley, at the 2025 Departmental Awards Day. — **Dr. Crossley with the award-winning biology students.**

Congratulations to all our students for another great academic year.