Gilman Scholarship Provides Global Perspective on Scientific Research

Shellaina Gordon COS’21 is the latest Northeastern student to earn the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, an award sponsored by the US Department of State to fund a study abroad experience. Shellaina will use the award to spend the spring 2020 semester at University College Cork in Ireland. The Gilman Scholarship enables U.S. undergraduate students to pursue academic studies abroad, with the goal of better preparing American students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world.

Shellaina, an Honors student majoring in biochemistry with a minor in ethics, believes that global experiences will be critical to her preparation for a career on the cutting edge of scientific research. “Science has absolutely no borders or boundaries,” she says. Already in her career as a researcher, Shellaina has seen firsthand the importance of international cooperation, as her research group collaborated with colleagues in Mexico. With discoveries in proteomics—the field in which Shellaina plans to specialize—unfolding rapidly around the world, she believes that an international perspective will make her a more effective scientist.

At University College Cork, Shellaina will continue her studies in biochemistry and will likely rub shoulders with Minhal Ahmed COE’19, Northeastern University’s first Mitchell Scholar and a current graduate student there.