April 17, 2025
Three University of Missouri undergraduate students have received the Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious national scholarships in natural sciences, engineering and mathematics in the United States.
Juniors Carissa Bersche, a biochemistry major, Miles Farmer, a double major in computer science and mathematics, and Rachel Weber, who’s also pursuing a biochemistry degree, are among the 441 recipients coming from a pool of more than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors.
All three students are pursuing the Honors Certificate at Mizzou.
“We had 15 excellent undergraduate researchers apply for the Goldwater Scholarship this year, which is a testament to the enthusiasm and quality of the undergraduate research community at Mizzou,” said Nina Wilson-Keenan, who coordinates the Goldwater Scholarship for the Office of Global and National Fellowships and advised all the applicants. “I’m inspired by the work our nominees did over winter break to revise their applications and make them reflect their best visions for their research careers. Having Carissa, Miles and Rachel recognized as top undergraduate researchers nationwide is a terrific celebration of this accomplishment.”
A Dream Come True
- Carissa Bersche
- Junior, biochemistry major
- College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Carissa Bersche was able to begin research during her freshman year at Mizzou thanks to the Freshman Research in Plants Program, which connected her with Antje Heese, an associate professor of biochemistry. Bersche has remained active in Heese’s lab throughout her time as a Tiger.
Bersche is also an undergraduate research ambassador at Mizzou and a tutor at the Writing Center.
“I always knew I wanted to be involved in research, and that was a big reason that I came to Mizzou,” Bersche said.
Bersche studies the genetic interaction of vesicular trafficking proteins on growth and development — and immune response — in the model plant Arabidopsis, which is a small flowering plant often used as a model organism in plant biology.
The Goldwater Scholarship will allow her to continue to build her research portfolio.
“I am thrilled to be named a Goldwater Scholar,” Bersche said. “I have been eager to apply for this scholarship since I began research my freshman year, so it is very rewarding for my dream to come true. This scholarship required the most effort of any scholarship I have applied for and carried more prestige, so it was very exciting for my hard work to pay off in such a big way!”
An Invaluable Experience
- Miles Farmer
- Junior computer science and mathematics major
- College of Engineering, College of Arts and Science
The Discovery Fellows Scholarship allowed Miles Farmer to begin research during his freshman year. His passion for investigation has only grown since then.
“I believe research has been invaluable to my undergraduate experience,” Farmer said. “It is a truly unique hands-on opportunity that allows learning beyond typical coursework and provides skills that complement nearly any career. My time in undergraduate research has shaped my career goals, changed the way I approach problems, and improved my collaboration and presentation abilities.”
Farmer has worked on a variety of projects related to deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence, and software analysis throughout his time at Mizzou. His primary focus has been on software vulnerability detection using machine learning techniques and then analyzing the choices made during that process. Farmer works with Ekincan Ufuktepe, an assistant teaching professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and is part of the Computational Imaging and VisAnalysis Lab, which is led by Kannappan Palaniappan, a Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Farmer said the Goldwater Scholarship will allow him to add to his research experiences.
“I am very excited and deeply honored to be named a Goldwater Scholar,” Farmer said. “With this award, I will continue my research in deep learning for software analysis – namely, graph deep learning for software vulnerability detection, analysis and mitigation.”
Connecting with Valuable Opportunities
- Rachel Weber
- Junior biochemistry major
- College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
An abundance of research opportunities brought Rachel Weber to Mizzou. She’s taken advantage of several of those opportunities. Weber started her research endeavors through the Freshman Research in Plants Program. She was then named a Cherng Summer Scholar through the Honors College where she was able to continue her research journey.
“I’m extremely grateful for all of the opportunities Mizzou and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources specifically have been able to provide in terms of hands-on learning with research,” Weber said. “One of the best parts about college is getting to try new things; learning what you do and don’t like. CAFNR has done a really good job of connecting students with faculty or opportunities that are important to them, and these experiences have really helped shape what I hope to do in the future.”
Through the Freshman Research in Plants Program, Weber was connected with Jaime Barros-Rios, an assistant professor of plant molecular biology, and continued to work with him as a Cherng Summer Scholar. The work focuses on lignin, a functional unit of the plant cell wall that is important for a plant’s growth and development to provide structure, help respond to stress and facilitate water transport.
The Goldwater Scholarship will allow Weber to continue to explore her interests, which include plant metabolic research with applications in the renewable fuels industry.
“The Goldwater Scholarship is very exciting,” Weber said. “I’m so grateful for all my mentors that have helped me along the way, especially Dr. Barros-Rios, as well as the Mizzou Office of Global and National Fellowships, for guiding me through the application process.”
Read more from the Honors College
