Biology major James Eaglesham awarded Churchill scholarship

Jan. 22, 2015

James Eaglesham, a biology major with a concentration in microbiology who is set to graduate from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences this May, is heading to Cambridge University as Cornells newest Churchill scholar.

He is one of 14 students nationwide to receive this honor from the Winston Churchill Foundation, which provides a year of graduate study for extraordinary students in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. He is Cornells 21st Churchill scholar since 1975.

Eaglesham conducts honors thesis research at the Baker Institute for Animal Health in the laboratory of Associate Professor John S.L. Parker. In 2013 and 2014, he worked as a summer fellow at the National Institutes of Health. While attending Ithaca High School, he interned at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research.

Eagleshams research in the laboratory of Ian Hewson, associate professor of microbiology, resulted in four published papers. He is first author on the Marine Ecology Progress Series article Widespread detection of circular replication initiator protein (rep)-encoding ssDNA viral genomes in estuarine, coastal, and open ocean net plankton. At Cambridges Department of Pathology, his work will focus on the human norovirus.

Eaglesham is a Hunter R. Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholar, a member of Ho Nun De Kah honor society, a cellist with the Cornell Chamber Orchestra, an organic chemistry tutor and a teaching assistant.

Cornell professors serving on the Churchill Scholarship Endorsement Committee this year were Christopher Batten, electrical and computer engineering; William Dichtel, chemistry and chemical biology; and Jan Lammerding, biomedical engineering.

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Biology major James Eaglesham awarded Churchill scholarship