In January 2024, Caroline Westbrook ’28 applied to become a Semmes Distinguished Scholar in Science with few expectations.
She had put forth her best effort, but the process was competitive: only two or three students out of about 170 applicants would be selected. Could one of them really be her?
She never would have guessed the answer would be yes. Now a junior at Trinity University, Westbrook has spent her past two years as a Semmes Scholar, an experience that has shaped her passion for STEM and continues to help her grow.
The Semmes Scholarship is a full-tuition award for students interested in studying STEM, funded by the Semmes Foundation and founded by Douglas Ramsey Semmes, Ph.D., in 1952. Recipients also receive a $5,000 stipend for research support, professional travel, and materials.
For Westbrook, entering Trinity as a Semmes Scholar was intimidating at first. It felt like a lot of pressure knowing she had funding for a project she wasn’t even part of yet. Throughout her first year, she planned to major in biology and minor in psychology. Still, the question of how to use her stipend lingered.
It was during her sophomore fall semester that she received clarity on what she wanted to pursue. She took “Introduction to Neuroscience” with Kah-Chung Leong, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Psychology, and became fascinated by the subject.
“I'm a very type A person, so I like being precise and factual with everything,” Westbrook says. “There's a reason for everything that's happening in your brain. I wanted to dive deeper and really understand all of the small, intricate ways that our brain works.”
Westbrook got hands-on experience doing exactly that when she joined Leong’s brain and behavioral neuroscience lab, which uses behavioral, pharmacological, chemogenetic, and immunohistochemical techniques to study the neural circuitry underlying addiction.
She has used many techniques and processes to carry out her research. Westbrook has analyzed the potential of new pharmacotherapies for alcohol use disorder using an operant conditioning behavioral model. Her findings suggest that targeting specific neural pathways can reduce alcohol-seeking behavior in baseline and stress-specific contexts.
Westbrook also noted she enjoys learning new processes, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and genotyping, and makes every effort to absorb as much knowledge as possible. Her devotion to the research doesn’t prevent her from having fun in the lab.
“We really try to keep things light and have a laugh because that's what you need at the end of the day,” she says.
Westbrook feels that the lab’s atmosphere has helped her become more comfortable with failure. She says Leong has instilled in her that in research, failure is inevitable and necessary to make progress.
“Failure isn't a personal character attack on me,” Westbrook says. “It's more of a redirection, showing you where you can continue to improve and grow in your knowledge. I think that this lab has also grown my confidence and ability to speak with other people and share my ideas fluently.”
As she looks back on all she’s gained from the lab, Westbrook is filled with gratitude toward the Semmes family for making such a transformative opportunity possible.
“The Semmes family has truly invested in us as people, and I think that's really rare,” she says.
That investment extends beyond funding: Trinity Trustee Pat Semmes, Ph.D., and Trustee Emeritus Tom Semmes have devoted time and energy to getting to know scholars over lunch and other events. For Westbrook, this personal connection shows their commitment to supporting her not just as a Semmes scholar but as a student, researcher, and individual.
Setting her sights on the future, Westbrook is inspired and motivated by the generosity she has continuously witnessed.
“How can I pay it forward?” she says. “(Their investment) lit a spark in me to push myself and see how far I can go.”
Editor's Notes: In the above image, Westbrook smiles in front of posters in the lab.