By Emily Innes
April 10, 2025
Washington and Lee University junior Katalyn Denby has been awarded a highly competitive Goldwater Scholarship to support a research career in science, mathematics and engineering. At W&L, Denby is an earth and environmental geoscience major. Denby is a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, and graduated from the Arizona School for the Arts in Phoenix.
The Goldwater Scholarship is one of the oldest and most prestigious science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) scholarships in the country and aims to support undergraduate sophomores and juniors who show promise of becoming research leaders in their respective fields and intend to pursue a doctorate. Universities can only submit four nominees’ applications, and each selected scholar is awarded $7,500 to support undergraduate research in their junior or senior year.
For Denby, receiving the Goldwater Scholarship is a significant milestone in her research career because it allows her the opportunity to advance her research and make important connections with current and future leaders in her field. Denby studies plucking, an erosional river process where slabs of bedrock are lifted from a channel and transported downstream, and her research will focus on understanding the importance of non-uniform flow in rivers when determining the effectiveness of plucking using field observations and surveys, as well as computer models and flume experiments.
“I am honored to have received this award as an indication of my past work and my future potential, as well as my dedication to the field,” Denby said. “It affirms for me that the goal I have been working toward is achievable and that I am on a strong path to eventually completing a Ph.D.”
Denby, who plans to pursue her doctorate in geomorphology and ultimately teach at the university level, will work with her thesis adviser David Harbor, professor of earth and environmental geoscience at W&L, this summer to begin her research. She studied abroad with Harbor during Spring Term 2024, taking his Regional Geology course in Iceland. She credits this trip with reinforcing her passion for geosciences and spending time in the field and is also grateful for it bringing her closer to her peers and strengthening her relationship with Harbor.
“I am incredibly grateful to the Department of Earth and Environmental Geoscience for their support, not only during the Goldwater application process but throughout my three years at W&L,” Denby said. “The faculty have guided and inspired me and my peers are always encouraging and kind.”
Denby’s previous research experience includes participating in a Keck Project Research Experience for Undergraduates led by Lyman Persico, associate professor of ecology and environmental studies at Whitman College, focused on surveying rivers in Yellowstone National Park, during the summer after her first year at W&L. She also conducted research in the summer of 2024 at the University of Cambridge with Mengying Liu, assistant professor of engineering at W&L, analyzing quartz microstructures using automated polarized reflected light microscopy.
“I have observed Katalyn’s remarkable growth to becoming an independent and persistent researcher,” Lius said. “Her ability to confront challenges, combined with her independence and intellectual curiosity, positions her as an exceptional candidate for a research career in the future.”
At W&L, Denby is on the key staff for the Outing Club and serves as general co-chair for the First-Year Orientation Committee; the vice president of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, the earth sciences honor society; vice president of Women in Technology and Sciences; and secretary for the Student Environmental Action League. She is also a student tutor and teaching assistant for the Department of Earth and Environmental Geoscience.
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