UM Student Lands Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

University of Montana student Jed Syrenne recently won a Goldwater Scholarship, the top national award for undergraduate research in science, math and engineering, for the 2017-2018 academic year. Syrenne is UM’s 17th Goldwater Scholar.

Soren Ormseth, also a UM student, won honorable mention in the Goldwater competition, UM’s fifth since 2007.

Syrenne, a junior from Missoula, majors in neuroscience (cellular and molecular option) with a minor in mathematics. He is the son of Mary and Yvan Syrenne of Florence and a 2014 graduate of Missoula’s Hellgate High School.

He wants a career at the intersection of mathematics and biomedical research. Syrenne plans to complete a doctorate in neuroscience and then teach and research bioinformatics, focusing on signal transduction in neuronal cell lineages.

“Jed’s sparkling curiosity and early, joyful embrace of important research helped him to win this prestigious award,” said Laure Pengelly Drake, UM’s coordinator for Writing Center programs, external scholarships and advising. “He also benefited from the serendipitous timing of UM’s new neuroscience program.”