NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Recipients – Anna ’21 and Ginger ’21

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Anna Barth and Ginger Schmidt, HMC Class of 2021, are two of six recent graduates granted the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF). 

The NSF GRF program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. Program participants are expected to become experts who contribute significantly to research, education, and innovation in the STEM fields.

Anna Barth ’21

Andres Cook ’21 and Anna presenting a poster on our summer research in 2018

Originally from Maryland, Anna ’21 majored in Physics with a concentration in Chinese at Mudd. Anna was involved in a range of activities while at Mudd. In her junior year, she acted in a play called “Isaac’s Eye,” a dramatized re-telling of the rivalry between Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke. This is one of her favorite Mudd memories and resulted in lasting friendships. 

One time, Anna and her friend found a pen on the ground and decided they were going to trade it all the way up to a car. They traded the pen for a rubber chicken, the rubber chicken for a dinosaur-shaped eraser, the eraser for a big squishy ball, the ball for a miniature George Foreman grill, the grill for a tiny mini-fridge, and the tiny mini-fridge for a longboard. They never got to the car, but at least they got something with 4 wheels!

Anna’s favorite thing about Mudd is the feeling of community! “It’s really nice to walk around Mudd and see so many people you know, and who know you.”

Kailee Lin ’21 and I with the longboard we traded up to

After graduating from Mudd, Anna took some time off to stay at home and tutor high schoolers for a few months. Now, she is starting her Ph.D. in physics at Cornell. She is studying the physics of dense suspensions (like oobleck — a dense suspension of cornstarch and water that you can make at home!).

Ginger Schmidt ’21

Ginger ’21 is originally from Cambridge, MA, and is currently a first-year Medical Engineering & Medical Physics Ph.D. student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. Her research is in optical coherence tomography intravascular imaging for heart disease.

While at Mudd, Ginger majored in Engineering and did research with Professor  Clark in the Lab for Autonomous and Intelligent Robotics (LAIR). She also started the MuddSub underwater robotics team with two other Mudders during her sophomore year and I played on North Dorm’s inner tube water polo team every year!

Ginger Schmidt ’21

When asked about her favorite thing about Mudd, Ginger said,  “I get to use all parts of my general engineering degree and core in my research! Who knew E&M would be useful ;)”