Eligibility
The Ngaruiya Family Fund for Undergraduate Research ("SOaR Fund") was created by the Ngaruiya family to support undergraduate mentorship and research in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.
Applications are due by 11:59 PM CST on July 31, 2024.
One (1) scholarship from this fund will be awarded for the 2024-2025 academic year.
To be considered for this scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Be a currently-enrolled undergraduate student (for the 2024-2025 academic year)
- Have an international background
- Have demonstrated interest in research in a STEM field
Applicants must complete the entire application to be considered. The application requires:
- Biographical information
- A personal statement, which includes mention of the applicant's international background
- Two letters of recommendation, one from a mentor and one from a non-family member
- Identification of a faculty member who is willing to involve the applicant in their research in an impactful way
- A defined research project, including a research project plan
For questions about the scholarship or eligibility, please email internationalnavigators@unl.edu.
About the Scholarship
Peter Ngaruiya, the son of a late Anglican bishop of the Kenyan diocese who was recruited to an international conference in the late 1960s, was raised in Kenya his entire life. Given ties established through his father's work with the church in the U.S., Peter later funded his way in the mid- 1970s to complete a university degree in the Midwest. He was subsequently joined by his future wife, Phyllis Kimamo, a pioneer in her own right as a hardy businesswoman and serial entrepreneur. They married, had two daughters, and the rest was history.
After completing schooling, Peter and Phyllis, decided to settle in Omaha, Nebraska. Peter became one of the first black, and African, software developers at The Mutual of Omaha in the early 1980s. Phyllis opened and ran an international boutique, among ocher ventures. Both made their way with the support of a small community in Omaha. All the same, after raising their two daughters briefly in the U.S., they decided to return to Kenya where the girls completed their primary and high school education. Both daughters returned to the U.S. for advanced degrees in the University of Nebraska system.
The daughters, Drs. Katherine and Christine Ngaruiya graduated with undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Both were recipients of awards to do research through the university's UCARE program, and Christine was also an intern at UNL's Career Services, with both sites providing key mentorship. Both were on the Arts & Sciences Dean's list/ graduated with honors, and Christine was named as Outstanding International Alumnus in 2017.
Katherine majored in women's studies, and minored in sociology. Upon matriculating with her undergraduate degree, she completed a Master's in Counseling, also at UNL, and worked as a counselor in a dual diagnosis program in Lincoln. Katherine went on to graduate with her PhD in Public Administration from North Carolina State University. She is currently the owner of a consulting firm that specializes in program development, fundraising and evaluation services for nonprofits and educational institutions, and lectures at local universities on non-profit management and grant-writing. She also owns an online store, specializing in beauty, home and health and wellness products, and serves on the board of several community organizations in North Carolina.
Christine was Pre-Med with a major in Sociology and a minor in Psychology. She went on to complete medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2010, completed residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2013, and fellowship in global health at the Yale School of Medicine in 2015 concomitantly matriculating with her Masters of Science from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Section of Global health and International Emergency Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Yale, and conducts chronic disease research in East Africa, including Kenya, where they were raised.
The quintessential first-generation international student's story is mired by: blended international experiences, cultural adaption, courage, leaps of faith in pursuit of dreams, the importance of connection - and mentorship. These are the tenets on which the Ngaruiya family "SOaR fund" is founded.
Past Awardees
Shaped by Mentorship: Promising Malaysian conservationist chosen as Ngaruiya Family Fund for Undergraduate Research recipient
The 2021 awardee, Jia Yin (Joevy) Sum encompasses all five virtues of the SOaR Fund. As a senior student from Malaysia, majoring in biological sciences with a minor in fisheries and wildlife, Sum had never been exposed to research before coming to Nebraska. Her first introduction to research was through taking Dr. Kristi Montooth’s Life 121 class, which led to her being offered a spot in Dr. Montooth’s lab, where she began working a year later. She has worked in the Montooth Lab and has been a mentee of Dr. Montooth for two years now. This lab uses physiology to understand how organisms fit to their ecologies and how evolution shapes genetic and biochemical pathways that lead to physiological changes to an organism.
Sum’s research is titled: “Uncoupling proteins as a physiological defense mechanism in Drosophila.” This research hopes to understand how insects may cope with the effects of climate change. Uncoupling proteins have been well-studied in mammals and are responsible for producing heat during hibernation. Sum and Montooth are trying to figure out the function (why) and activation mechanism (how) of these proteins in Drosophila, also known as fruit flies. Their hypothesis is that uncoupling proteins are expressed in response to oxidative stress as a defense mechanism in the mitochondria of these insects. In the bigger picture, with climate change, many ectotherms such as insects will be facing increased physiological stress and they would like to know how they will cope with these effects.
Since beginning her position in the Montooth Lab, Sum has learned research skills such as bioinformatics, the evolution of genes, statistics, and translating data to graphical analysis. The lab has also provided Sum with several opportunities to attend conferences; she attended her first conference in 2019, the Evolution Meeting in Rhode Island with Dr. Montooth. This shared experience was especially impactful for the mentor/mentee pair, as the Evolution Meeting was also Dr. Montooth’s first conference experience many years prior, and where she had decided to become a biologist. Since this conference, Sum says she has “soaked up every second” of other conferences she has attended – for example, the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, where she was excited to convene with other scientists who shared her experiences and looked like her.
Shortly before the COVID-19 epidemic, Sum was able to visit her home country of Malaysia to meet a Malaysian scientist with a nonprofit for the conservation of freshwater turtles. The chance to see conservation efforts in Malaysia was very valuable for Sum. “If she can do it, I can probably do it, too.”
Working in Dr. Montooth’s lab has not only given Sum more knowledge of research and science, but also has given her female role models in STEM. Sum says that having Dr. Montooth and Dr. Omera Matoo as her mentors has “shaped me, guided me, and given me patience.” She says that her lab is a diverse environment where her personal identity is understood. The respect is mutual. Dr. Montooth describes their lab as a “scientific family” and describes Sum as a “pleasure to work with" and truly believes mentorship should be a two-way relationship.
Through the generosity of the Ngaruiya Family and friends who contributed to the Ngaruiya Undergraduate Research Fund, Sum is able to focus on writing her thesis and working on analyzing research data instead of worrying about providing for herself, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. As Dr. Montooth recognizes “research is a full-time job.” Sum will be graduating this May and is evaluating whether to pursue research internships or attend graduate school.
If you believe in the five virtues the Ngaruiya family envisioned and would like to contribute to the Ngaruiya Family Fund for Undergraduate Research, please contact the University of Nebraska Foundation at 402-458-1100.
