Mckenna Zelna nominated for Goldwater scholarship

Mckenna Zelna, an earth and environmental sciences major, has been nominated for the national Goldwater Scholarship. She is one of two Honors College juniors that have been nominated for the 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, considered one of the top awards for undergraduate U.S. STEM students. The scholarship helps identify the next generation of leaders in scientific, mathematical and engineering research, funding up to $7,500 annually for their education. The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor the lifetime work of its namesake who represented Arizona in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1987.

“We are excited to nominate two UNC Charlotte students for the Goldwater Scholarship,” said Andrew Keener, scholars advisor in the Honors College who assists UNC Charlotte students pursuing nationally competitive scholarships. “Their commitment to research, from high school to the undergraduate level, is impressive. If they are selected as awardees, this scholarship would help them continue their educational journey and advance scientific knowledge.”

Mckenna Zelna came to UNC Charlotte as a student in the University Honors program.

Zelna began ecological research as a junior at Middle Creek High School in Cary, North Carolina, for an Advanced Placement class. She was interested in a stream that had some nearby construction, so Zelna took samples from the watershed to look for macroinvertebrates.

“Macroinvertebrates are great bioindicators of water quality; many macroinvertebrates can’t survive in pollution. National organizations have grouped macroinvertebrates based on their levels of sensitivity to pollutants. So, I was pulling bugs out of the stream that I studied to rate them,” explained Zelna.

She tested stream samples in the fall, winter and spring, and when she noticed a consistently low trend in quality, she found the source in some local construction. “They had cut down trees, but it left a lot of leaves and organic matter, which then decayed and impacted the water quality.”

Thanks to those AP classes, Zelna enrolled with enough credits to begin science classes for her major as a freshman. This semester, Zelna is working in Research Assistant Professor Drew Syverson’s geochemistry lab, studying hydrothermal plumes on mid-ocean ridges. The ocean is full of vents emitting warm gases and fluids. Those vents emit trace metals like iron in clouds of particulates, and they’re studying how the metals may settle on the ocean floor or mix with seawater, which could impact ocean cycles.

Zelna also competed for two seasons as a walk-on with the Charlotte 49ers volleyball team. She applies lessons from her time playing volleyball to her approach working with fellow researchers in labs.

“Volleyball taught me great lessons about time management, teamwork, communication and collaboration. It really introduced me to that deeper level of teamwork in collaborative settings,” Zelna said. This summer, she will join another team with an internship at Plant Delights, a botanical research facility that tracks pollinators and researches bloom patterns and fertilizer effectiveness.