Two Mines students honored with Goldwater Scholarships

Two students at Colorado School of Mines have been awarded a 2025-26 Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious STEM scholarships for undergraduate students in the U.S.

Caitlyn Castellion, a sophomore majoring in chemistry, and Marco Salgado, a junior majoring in chemical engineering, were among the 441 students chosen nationwide for the award. An estimated pool of more than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors majoring in science, engineering and mathematics disciplines were nominated by their universities this year.

“Our Goldwater recipients reflect the high level of student research talent at Mines, as well as the strong commitment of our faculty to mentor alongside their own research accomplishments,” said Ashley Weibel, Mines’ assistant director of undergraduate research and nationally competitive scholarships.

Sophomores who win the scholarship, like Castellion, receive $7,500 toward tuition and related expenses for their junior and senior years, totaling $15,000. Juniors, like Salgado, receive $7,500 for their senior year. Award winners can also participate in Goldwater’s professional development programming.

Both Castellion and Salgado took part in Mines’ FIRST program, a fellowship that supports highly motivated first-year students at Mines to participate in research with a focus on innovation over the course of an academic year, and are also ARCS Scholars, receiving funding from the Achievement Awards for College Scientists Foundation to support their research work.

“Winning the Goldwater Scholarship really means a lot, and it will definitely help when I am applying for graduate school,” Castellion said. “I wouldn't have been able to win without the support from Dr. Kumar and being encouraged to start research as a freshman.”

Ramya Kumar, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, served as Castellion’s FIRST mentor, working  together on research developing substrates for cell cultures to grow stem cells, a project they continue to work on currently. Salgado has been conducting research in electrochemistry with Andy Herring, professor of chemical and biological engineering and vice provost of strategic initiatives.

“Being awarded the Goldwater Scholarship is a tremendous honor,” Salgado said. “The scholarship not only helps enable me to continue my studies here at Mines but also is a representation of the impact that my efforts in research are having.” 

Both Castellion and Salgado hope to work toward a PhD after completing their undergraduate studies at Mines. Castellion would like to study biomaterials and conduct research on gene therapeutics for autoimmune disorders, while Salgado hopes to focus his research on electrochemical systems, particularly fuel cells for energy storage.

“The award is a reminder to keep up my hard work and to continue striving to be the best I can be, and achieving this honor would have never been possible without the support and assistance from everyone at Mines.” Salgado said. “From encouraging professors to amazing staff and faculty, simply being at Mines has paved the way for so much opportunity, and I think that earning the Goldwater Scholarship is a prime example of those opportunities.” 

Established in 1986, the Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency. The scholarship program honors Sen. Barry Goldwater and was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in the fields of the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic and research credentials that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Goldwater Scholars have gone on to win an impressive array of prestigious post-graduate fellowships, including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Rhodes Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship, Hertz Fellowship, DOE Computation Science Graduate Fellowship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.