Berry Students Receive Richards Scholar Grants for Research

Berry College juniors Kendra Macomber and Cydney Wilbanks have been selected as 2012 Richards Scholars.

Macomber, an art history major from Douglasville, Ga., and Wilbanks, a biology major from Canton, Ga., each received a $5,000 grant to be used during their last two years at Berry. Their mentors, Associate Professor of Art Virginia Troy and Associate Professor of Biology Michael Morgan received $1,000 to support their professional goals.

Richards Scholars are supported through the generous gift of Alice Richards and her family. The program is designed for Berry students in their junior and senior years. It aims to help students move beyond the excellent work characteristic of many Berry students to a superlative level through a one-on-one working relationship with a faculty mentor. The scholars’ plans are expected to go beyond the scope or expected outcomes of an academic major.

The Scholars were selected based upon their performance at Berry during their first one and a half years that showed clear potential for outstanding performance throughout their remaining years at Berry. Their grade point average, campus activities, work reviews and faculty/staff recommendations were also considered. Applicants were required to include an essay exploring their experiences at Berry, their evolving academic and career goals and their initial plans for the use of grant funds.

Macomber’s area of research is the harem in 19th century art. During this time artists were fascinated with Orient, especially the women in the harem. Imperialism was the catalyst for this fascination. Macomber will explore how European artists were projecting their views into the harem.

Wilbanks’ project involves investigating a relatively newly observed disease phenomena on corals found in Samoa and Hawaii. Her project will use molecular techniques commonly used in cancer research to characterize diseases that are developing in corals. Willbanks’ work will help researchers understand which genes are playing critical roles in the development of coral diseases.