Environmental engineering junior wins Goldwater scholarship

Jana Reiser is a third-year student majoring in environmental engineering with a minor in computational biology. Since the spring of her first year at Carnegie Mellon, she has worked in the lab of Greg Lowry, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. There, she conducts research on potential applications of nanoparticle delivery systems to increase plant resilience.

Current practices for delivering fertilizers, pesticides, or genes typically involve spraying, which leads to most of the chemicals ending up in runoff rather than being absorbed by the plant. Spraying nanoparticles instead of just the agrochemicals allows for targeted delivery and slow release of these agrochemicals to the plant.

Reiser’s work specifically concerns optimizing methods to get nanoparticles into plant cells using cell-penetrating peptides. “It’s something that you can stick on the outside of the nanoparticle, and then it functions like a key that allows you to get through the membrane of the cell,” she explains.

Reiser had her eyes set on the research in Lowry’s lab even before she arrived at Carnegie Mellon and says it motivated her decision to pursue her undergraduate studies here. In high school, she completed an architecture-related professional fellowship and internship before shifting her focus to her interests in biology. However, Reiser’s experiences in architecture helped her develop an environmental perspective, sparking her goals to conduct interdisciplinary research.

She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, exploring relationships between plants and bacteria, and how they can be leveraged to enhance crop resilience, similar to nanoparticle delivery. “Plants and bacteria do form a very complicated ecosystem with each other, especially in the soil, and I always thought that would be very interesting to study,” she says.

Reisesr is one of three Carnegie Mellon students selected to receive the Barry Goldwater Scholarship in 2025 from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants. One of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, the Goldwater Scholarship is awarded by the federally endowed Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. It provides up to $7,500 per academic year to support costs such as tuition, fees, books, and room and board.

Learning that she had earned a Goldwater scholarship came as a very welcome surprise to Reiser. “I honestly can’t believe it’s real, but I also think it’s validating, because it shows that my research is worth something.”

Alongside the financial support provided by the scholarship, Reiser is looking forward to the ability to consult the community of other scholars for guidance. “The research that I want to do is very interdisciplinary, and a very new field, so it’s difficult to figure out what kind of programs I should go into for my Ph.D. And the best way to figure this out is to look at this network, figure out who else has done something similar to me, and ask them how they did it.”

Carnegie Mellon’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development provides support to students as they search and apply for opportunities such as the Goldwater Scholarship. “We are beyond proud of these incredible student researchers,” said Alexander Johnson, scholar development coordinator within OURSD. “Throughout the nomination process, we were continually impressed by the clarity of their goals and their dedication to solving important global issues through research. Each of them has immense potential as scientists and we're excited to see where their careers take them.”

Outside the lab, Reiser is involved with the Sustainable Earth Club, where she does advocacy work. She also plays lacrosse, water polo, and tennis, and plays violin in the All University Orchestra.

Reiser has taken away many valuable lessons from her research experiences at Carnegie Mellon, which helped reinforce her goals to pursue a career in research.

“I’d always find that when I was doing literature reviews for my work, I would just get lost in the papers. I would start making new folders with interesting papers that aren’t even specifically related to what I’m currently doing, that I just want to look at in the future,” she says.

“It’s the fact that I was going above and beyond without really having to try—it definitely solidified that I want to do this for my future.”