UA Students From Tuscaloosa Conduct Research as McNair Scholar

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Michael Townley and Allie Esslinger of Tuscaloosa, and Joy Garnett of Eutaw conducted research at The University of Alabama as members of the 2005 McNair Scholars class.

Townley, a 2004 graduate of UA, conducted his research with UA faculty mentor Dr. Jerome Rosenberg in the New College Program during the summer of 2004. Along with co-authoring a research report for the UA McNair Journal on “Governmental Treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses as Conscientious Objectors to Military Services in the 20th and 21st Centuries,” Townley has been honored with the James Fitts Alston Scholarship, and the AIEJ Scholarship for study at Hiroshima University in Japan. He was also honored by the Black Faculty and Staff Association for outstanding academic performance.

Garnett, an engineering student at UA, conducted her research with UA faculty mentor Dr. Robert Metzger in the department of chemistry in the summer of 2004 and with Dr. David Nikles in the department of chemistry in the fall of 2004. Garnett co-authored a research report for the UA McNair Journal on “Effects of Fumed Silica Particles in the Elastic Modulus of UV-Cured Base Film for Magnetic Tape.” Along with being a member of Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society, Garnett has also been named a GEM Fellow for Eastman Kodak and a Robert C. Byrd Scholar.

Esslinger, a senior at UA, conducted her research with UA faculty emeritus mentor Dr. Bob McKenzie of the Kettering Foundation during the summer of 2004. Along with conducting her research project on “Community Leaders’ Communication Networks and Views of Public Participation in Civic Decision-Making,” Esslinger is active in Honors College, Blount Undergraduate Initiative, and Alabama Action. She is also a member of the National Collegiate Honor Society and Phi Eta Sigma.

The McNair Scholars Program is named after Dr. Ronald E. McNair, a first-generation college student who earned a doctorate in physics at MIT. Later, as an astronaut, he became the second African-American in space. He was among those who died in the 1986 Challenger accident. Honoring his legacy, McNair Scholars is a prestigious scholarship and research program that helps prepare accomplished undergraduates for graduate study. A U.S. Department of Education TRIO program, McNair Scholars targets first-generation college students and those from other groups underrepresented in doctoral programs.