Biology Students Stefanos Stravoravdis & Evelyn Lemus Silva Named Barnard Scholars

Eastern Connecticut State University students Stefanos Stravoravdis '20 of Colchester and Evelyn Lemus Silva '20 of Burnsville, NC, have been named recipients of the 2020 Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Award. The Barnard Award is the premier academic recognition program of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System (CSCU) and is sponsored by the CSCU Foundation. It recognizes 12 outstanding undergraduates each year from Connecticut's four state universities - Central, Eastern, Southern and Western. To be considered for a Barnard Award, a student must have at least a 3.7 GPA and a record of significant community service. Students are nominated by their university and president. 

During his four years at Eastern, Stravoravdis earned a 4.0 GPA, double majoring in biology and mathematics. He is on Eastern's Dean's List; a member of the Honors Program; treasurer of the Biology Club, and also a member of the Mycology Club. He was inducted into the Tri-Beta Honor Society and received the Tri-Beta Honors Award. 

Stravoravdis participated in Eastern's Summer Research Institute in network science as well as a summer fellowship at Cornell University. He also collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station on his honors research. This past year, Stravoravdis' research was published in the Journal of Microbiology and in the proceedings of the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting. 

Lemus, a biology major, has a 3.88 GPA and is a member of Eastern's first class of Dream.US Opportunity Scholars - undocumented students from other states with DACA status (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) attending Eastern on academic scholarships. A first-generation college student, Lemus has been named to Eastern's Dean's List and received an Academic Achievement Award each semester she has attended the University. She is also a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership and the Tri-Beta Biology honor societies. 

In addition to being an Opportunity Scholar, Lemus has been awarded the Cheryl Frye Pioneering Research Award; the Earl Honeycutt Memorial Science Scholarship; the Michael Gable Biology Student Assistantship Award; and scholarships from Windham Region Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Air Pilot's Association and the Yancey County Bus Drivers. She has also received research funding from the national J.C. Hicks Endowed Fund. 

This past year, she engaged in internships and cooperative education at the Stanford University School of Medicine; as a HOPE Medical Scholar at Harvard University's Medical School; and participated in Harvard University's Biomedical Science Careers Student Conference. Lemus presented her research on Alzheimer's Disease at Eastern's CREATE Conference and at the NUERON Conference at Quinnipiac University.