Biology Student Receives Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
Cal State San Marcos biological sciences student Marisa Mendoza has received the 2025 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, becoming the fourth student from the university to receive the prestigious recognition.
Mendoza has worked in the lab of biology professor Elinne Becket for two years, applying her independent research skills to studying taxonomic and functional profiles associated with plastic marine substrates.
In her recommendation letter for the award, Becket noted that “Marisa has already made a tremendous impact on our lab’s research productivity, leading efforts on two projects. Overall, Marisa is an incredible researcher who is effective, reliable, collaborative and highly resilient.”
Becket said Mendoza began making an impact while still a student at Palomar College before transferring to CSUSM. In furthering her education at CSUSM, Mendoza continues to give back by mentoring students in the Bridges to the Baccalaureate program, which prepares community college students who are interested in biomedical research careers to seamlessly transition to four-year universities.
“She is already an exceptional researcher at such an early stage, and her grit, integrity and adaptability will lead her to be very successful in her Ph.D. endeavors and beyond,” Becket wrote. “I believe she will make a strong impact in the microbiology field in her future career.”
The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986, and the scholarship program that honors Sen. Barry Goldwater was designed to identify, encourage and financially support outstanding undergraduates interested in pursuing research careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics.
From a pool of more than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors, 1,350 science, engineering and mathematics students were nominated by 445 academic institutions to compete for the 2025 Goldwater scholarships.
Learn more about applying for the Goldwater Scholarship and other opportunities by visiting CSTEM's Funding Opportunities webpage.
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