2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Awards #
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has announced the winners of its new annual scientific research awards at the 2025 MCSR Conference. The awards are open to invited nominations from private undergraduate institutions within the Pacific Northwest, encompassing Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. The Swanson Award is intended to recognize a senior faculty exemplar with an established, productive, and nationally recognized research program, while the Swanson Promise Award is aimed at recognizing a junior faculty who has demonstrated an exceptional potential in establishing an exemplary, productive, and sustainable research program. The latter award is intended to honor a junior professor with less than 10 years experience as a faculty member.
A panel of national experts evaluates the nominations, and the criteria for these awards are focused on research accomplishments that include the following.
- Discovery research accomplishments with national recognition
- Substantial engagement of undergraduate students
- Recognized leadership in developing and promoting research at undergraduate institutions
- Evidence of continuing growth in productive research
The awards honor the longtime work of Dr. Lynwood Swanson, who retired after serving as a Trustee at the Murdock Trust for 30 years. Dr. Swanson began his career as a professor at Linfield College, before moving his research to Oregon Graduate Institute. In 1971, he co-founded FEI, a world-leader in electron optics and focused ion beam technologies in scanning and transmission electron microscopies.
2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Awards #
The 2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Award was presented to Greta Binford, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Lewis and Clark College, in recognition of her distinguished career as one of the world’s top arachnologists specializing in spider venom, with demonstrated leadership and inclusivity in biology and education.
Learn more about Dr. Binford’s research in this video.
2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Promise for Scientific Research Award #
The 2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Promise for Scientific Research Award was presented to Christopher Whidbey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, Seattle University, for his application of innovative cross-disciplinary tools to the study of microbiomes, and for his commitment to providing impactful and inclusive laboratory experiences for undergraduates.
Learn more about Dr. Whidbey's research in this video.
2025 John Van Zytveld Oral Presentation Awards
At each annual MCSR conference, students giving oral presentations compete for two awards: The John Van Zytveld Physical sciences Award and the John Van Zytveld Life Sciences Award. The awards consist of a ribbon, a cash prize for the students and their academic departments, as well as a gift for their faculty research advisors. The criteria used by judges of faculty and students in selecting the awardees are as follows:
- Knowledge of material (understanding the background, research question, hypothesis, data collection and analysis, and limitation of the research)
- Creativity of the project
- Effective communication (clarity – slides and verbal presentation; organization; pace; answering questions)
- Level of preparation
- Ability to keep me interested
These awards are made in recognition of Dr. John Van Zytveld, a longtime Senior Program Director at the Murdock Trust and a champion for undergraduate research and science education in the region.
Here are the award winners at the 2025 MCSR Conference:
2025 John Van Zytveld Life Sciences Award
Name: Abigail George
Institution: Northwest Nazarene University
Mentor: David Hille, Ph.D.
“From Peents to Patterns: Dial Call Patterns of Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) in Southwestern Idaho”
2025 John Van Zytveld Physical Sciences Award
Name: Gabriel Black
Institution: Western Washington University
Mentor: John Gilbertson, Ph.D.
“Probing H-Bonding in N-N Coupling Reactions that Form N2O”
Poster Prize Awards
Murdock Poster Prizes #
Students presenting their research in a poster format were also recognized at the 2025 MCSR Conference. One Murdock Poster Prize is presented to a poster in each research field, and it consists of a ribbon, a cash award, and a gift for the faculty research advisor. The criteria used by faculty judges in selecting the awardees are as follows:
- Graphics' relevance and visual impact
- Spelling and grammar
- Informational content
- Presentation content and research outcomes
- Presentation delivery
- Answering questions
- Overall presentation
2025 Murdock College Science Research Poster Awards #
Here are the award winners from each category of the 2025 MCSR Conference.
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Ecology-Evolution-Biodiversity
Name: Maurice Crunk
Institution: Seattle University
Mentor: Kristin Hultgren, Ph.D.
"Metabarcoding of eDNA and Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures reveals invertebrate biodiversity in the Salish Sea"
Name: Maia Connelly
Institution: University of Puget Sound
Mentor: Carrie Woods, Ph.D.
"Surveying gap dynamics of bryophytes on nurse logs and the forest floor in the Hoh Rainforest"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Developmental Biology-Physiology
Name: Sofia Bernstein
Institution: Reed College
Mentor: Kara Cerveny, Ph.D.
"Understanding the Role of gdf6a in Retinal Development Using CRISPR-Cas9 and Lightsheet Microscopy"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Molecular and Cell Biology
Name: Sam Nouwens
Institution: Seattle University
Mentor: Brett Kaiser, Ph.D.
"Identification of DNA target sequence of a phage-encoded anti-CRISPR transcriptional repressor"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Neuroscience-Psychology-Exercise Science
Name: Viktoria Yeager
Institution: Pacific Lutheran University
Mentor: Sara Finley, Ph.D.
"Word Final Devoicing: Patterns and Perception in Language"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Biochemistry
Name: Elliot Walker & Sheridan Donavan-Stauder (Collaborator: Amelia DeSentis)
Institution: Willamette University
Mentor: Cooper Battle, Ph.D.
"Exploring Stability of FRET Pair-Modified Quadruplex Molecular Beacons"
Name: Yom Aymeku & McKenzie Kapralova
Institution: Pacific Lutheran University
Mentor: Dave Song, Ph.D.
"Harnessing Minimalist Protein Designs to Decipher Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Dynamics in Biology"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Organic Chemistry
Name: Angela Macabinguil
Institution: Gonzaga University
Mentor: Stephen Warren, Ph.D.
"Polymorphism and Photophysical Properties in Modified Chalcones: For Applications to the Development of Drugs"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Analytical-Inorganic-Physical Chemistry-Computational Chemistry
Name: Max Gawlik
Institution: Carroll College
Mentor: John Rowley, Ph.D.
"Electrochemistry of Methylphenyl Thiophene"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Environmental Science-Geology
Name: Kaylen Hall
Institution: University of Alaska, Anchorage
Mentor: Eric Klein, Ph.D.
"Influence of Hydroclimate Changes on Permafrost Thaw in High Arctic Greenland"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Microbiology
Name: Amy Segura & Dominic Nguyen
Institution: University of Portland
Mentor: Ryan Kenton, Ph.D., & Christine Weilhoefer, Ph.D.
"From Bloom to Boom: Domoic Acid as a Potential Growth Stimulant for Pathogenic Vibrio Species"
2025 Murdock Poster Prize for Physics and Engineering
Name: Valerie Hanes
Institution: Whitworth University
Mentor: Jonathan Dawson, Ph.D.
"Modeling cell motion in time-dependent electric fields"
