Smithsonian
Institution
National Museum of Natural History
Research
Training Program
Semi-Finalist
List - 2006
Session
Dates
28 May 2006 - 5 August 2006
A
total of 20 undergraduate students
are anticipated to join RTP Class of '06.
Applicant
List |
Statistics
Semi-finalist
Review Summary
The
traditional application deadline of February
1st was extend to February 15th to compensate
for the late release of paper-based application
materials.
There
were 167 applications received for review by
the application deadline of Wednesday, 15 February
2006, of which 154 were complete enough to review.
Traditional
RTP review procedures follows a seven set process
beginning with a pre-screening of the entire
application set by two separate reviewers who
are familiar with the RTP program. The role
of the prescreener is to identify and remove
from further consideration those applicants
not eligible for participation in the program
and those that will not be competitive through
the critical final review process. Factors considered
during prescreening include:
1.
Incomplete folder resulting in inability to
successfully review the candidate including:
cover letter missing or lacking necessary information;
both recommendations missing or lacking necessary
information; RTP application form missing; application
missing critical information.
2. Ineligible for participation including: academic
status (status no longer considered undergraduate);
participation focus (not targeting full participation
in the goals and curriculum of the RTP session);
language (English proficiency unacceptable);
availability (unavailable for adequate participation).
3.
Poor recommendations.
4.
Poor reference selection.
5.
Poor academic record (GPA) and no adequate justification
provided.
6.
Inconsistent career goals.
7.
Application materials incomplete at the time
of review.
For
the '06 prescreening review three evaluators
were selected (Lynn Copes, Chris Hardy, and
Elisa Maldonado), all former RTP participants
and therefore uniquely familiar with the program.
All were located off-site (Arizona, California,
and Pennsylvania) and reviewed only electronic
versions of submitted documents. Each were former
participants in the RTP program who went on
to graduate study in the natural history sciences
including maintaining their interest and committment
to the goals of the RTP and helping to ensure
its success. Due to the disproportionate number
of applicants to the anthropological sciences,
40%, one reviewer (lynn Copes) was assigned
to focus on these applications.
Although
not officially released for general use, the
new NMNH on-line system (Academic Portal) was
used as a mechinism to provide off-site reviewers
electronic access to application documents.
Access was released and pre-screeners began
reviewing applications 29 Jan 06. Application
documents submitted by applicants and references
were manually uploaded/entered into the Academic
Portal system for review by the pre-screeners.
Unfortunately, manual entry into the electronic
system could not keep up with document submission
and at the time of reporting the semi-finalist
results (16 Feb 06) not all documents received
had been loaded into the electronic system and
available for review by the pre-screeners. To
compensate for this the panel of RTP '06 Judges
convened Friday, 17 Feb 06 to assess the situation
and consider steps to ensure that each applicant
reveived a fair and equal review. It was determined
that in addition to recommendations by the pre-screeners,
the Judges would conduct a parallel, discipline-specific
assessment of all applications. This review
began Friday, 17 Feb 06 and concluded Tuesday
21 Feb 06. Rather than nominating a semi-finalist
set and having these applicants undergo a separate,
scored review, five Judges plus one external
reviewer (Lynn Copes) nominated 46 applicants
as finalists.
The
traditional RTP semifinalist review divides
semifinalist applications into small review
sets based on several criteria including advisor
selected and discipline. Review sets typically
vary in size from 12 to 22 folders per set.
Each application is reviewed and scored by two
different reviewers. Evaluators complete a 100
point score sheet for all application folders
in their set. Elements considered during scoring
included:
- ACADEMIC
BACKGROUND - (10 points possible)
- ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE - (10 points possible)
- NATURAL
HISTORY BACKGROUND - (10 points possible)
- MOTIVATION
TO PARTICIPATE - (15 points possible)
- CAREER
GOALS - (10 points possible)
- CAREER
POTENTIAL - (10 points possible)
- CAREER
IMPACT - (15 points possible):
- LETTERS
OF RECOMMENDATION - (10 points possible)
- COMPENSATING
CHARACTERISTICS - (10 points possible)
The
panel of five judges (Hunt, McCoy, Smythe, Wen
and Woodman) evaluated applications from all
46 finalists by completing a 100 point score
sheet using the same elements identified above.
Reviewers
typically score differently with some generally
awarding higher scores and others awarding lower
scores. To adjust for these differences, finalist
scores will be normalized based on applicant
rank. The judges met the first week of March
to discuss rankings, nominate candidats for
participation and identify appropriate research
advisors.
The
RTP '06 panel:
-
Laurie Burgess: representing Anthropology
(previously served on several RTP selecting
panels)
- Gene Hunt: representing Paleobiology
(former RTP intern and new curatorial hire)
- Tim McCoy: representing Mineral Sciences
(served on many RTP selection panels, hosted
many RTP students)
- Ted Schultz: representing Entomology
(hosted several RTP and other interns and representing
Dept. Chairsas well as information link to NMNH
administration)
- Ashleigh Smythe: representing Invertebrate
Zoology. (current Post Doctoral fellow and link
to our fellows and graduate students community)
- Jun Wen: representing Botany (former
post dococtoral fellow and new curatorial hire)
- Neal Woodman: representing Vertebrate
Zoology (affiliated agency representative, hosted
several RTP and other interns, served on RTP
scoring panels, also information link to Senate
of Scientists)
Applicants
Reviewed as Semi-finalists - 154
| |
Name |
App.
|
Grades
or
Trans.
|
Cover
Letter
|
First
Ref.
|
Second
Ref.
|
|
AGRAWAL,
Sweta
|
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
|
ALVAREZ,
Jorge |
YES
|
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
| C |
ANTRAM,
Alexis |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
ARBUTHNOT,
Margaret |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
ARGUELLO,
Alexander
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
ARMGARDT,
Emily |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
ARNTZEN,
Katherine
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BACHMANN,
Amanda |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BARKLEY,
Madison |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BARTON,
Melissa
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BAZZAGLIA
BADIA , Ariana
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BEALES,
Emily |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BECKLEY,
Rachel |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| |
BELMONT,
Suzanna
|
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
| C |
BENICH,
Samanth |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BOTERO,
Sergio
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BRITTON,
Lauren |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BROWN,
Julia |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
BUGENSKE,
Erin |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
BYKOWSKY,
Spencer
|
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
| C |
CHRISTENSEN,
David |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
CLAVIJO-BAQUET,
Sabrina |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
COCKRELL,
Bryan |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C
|
CRISMAN,
Cynthia |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
CRONE,
Angela
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DAHLSTROM,
Ingrid |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DANNER,
Elizabeth
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DA
SILVA, Cecilia |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DAVITT,
Aaron |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DEAN,
Eleanor |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
C
|
DEL
VECCHIO DUARTE, Silvana |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DESMARAS,
Cristian
|
YES
|
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DEVAULT,
Alison
|
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DICKMAN,
Samantha
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DOMBROWSKI,
Daniel |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
DUARTE,
Juliana
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
ENNIS,
Magan |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
ENNIST,
Nathan |
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
ERLANGER,
Erica
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
ESQUIVIA-ZAPATA,
Camilo
|
YES
|
|
YES
|
|
|
| C |
FAUST,
Katherine |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
FERNANDEZ,
Alvaro, |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
FORDES,
Nicholas |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
|
|
| C |
FOX,
Steven |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| |
GAIARSA,
Marilia |
YES
|
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
GANGOPADHYAY,
Ishanti
|
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
|
|
|
GARRETT,
Amy |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
| C |
GERARD,
Teri |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
GESUMARIA,
Jacquelyn
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
GIRON
DUQUE, Jennifer |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
GODLOVE,
Alicia
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
| |
GOLEBIOWSKI,
Jessica
|
YES
|
YES
|
|
|
|
| C |
GONZALEZ-GARCIA,
Javier |
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
GOODELL,
Mollie |
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
GRABIELE,
Mariana
|
YES
|
ok
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
| C |
GROB,
Liz
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
YES
|
Updated:
23 February 2006 