Carline ’26 delivers W&M’s first Churchill Scholarship

Carline is one of only two American students to receive the Kanders Churchill scholarship. Photo by Stephen Salpukas

In her first year at William & Mary, Kate Carline '26 was already thinking strategically about how she could chart a path toward a career in biotechnology that could serve communities.

"Her first week on campus, she asked me how she should prepare herself for graduate studies," remembers Dan Cristol, chancellor professor of biology and director of the 1693 Scholars Program. "She was 17!"

Now that forethought, persistence and commitment has paid off royally for Carline, who is the first-ever William & Mary student to win a Churchill Scholarship for one year of graduate study at the University of Cambridge.

Carline is one of only two students this year to receive the Kanders Churchill scholarship, devoted specifically to young scientists working to understand the policy implications of research and discovery.

The Churchill Foundation was established in 1959 at the request of Sir Winston Churchill to fulfill his vision of a United States-United Kingdom partnership to advance science and technology. The award covers full tuition, a stipend, travel costs and the chance to apply for a $4,000 research grant.

With the prize awarded on the basis of excellence in STEM research and academics, it's no surprise that Carline has taken full advantage of the undergraduate research experiences William & Mary has to offer. In the lab, Carline has studied bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. She aims to genetically-engineer phages to benefit human and environmental health, from combating antibiotic resistance to fixing soil pollution.

Margaret Saha, chancellor professor of applied science, has mentored Carline since her freshman year, including on W&M's 2023 iGEM team where Carline and her colleagues placed in the top 10 out of 400 teams from around the globe.

"She made a huge contribution to the team, and she really fell in love with bioengineering," Saha said. "She is an absolute joy to have in the lab; she is super analytical and willing to tackle the most challenging problems and projects."

Carline has already published three research papers (the first in her sophomore year) and given seven external presentations. Her honors thesis on using synthetic biology to modify microbial communities "will undoubtedly be her fourth publication," Cristol said.

Eric Brown, senior research scientist at the Global Research Institute, has seen how Carline brings her research out of the lab through her leadership of the Geopolitics of Technology Initiative, which was created by W&M and Yale University students, with Brown as faculty guide, to shape the future of technology leadership.

"Kate has this rare ability to seamlessly bring together a technical discussion of her bioengineering research with a thoughtful conversation about public responsibility. She not only sees what science and technology can achieve, but she realizes its impact through clear communication that inspires intelligent policy action."

Carline entered William & Mary as a 1693 Scholar, designated for students demonstrating outstanding academic promise. Since then she has won the Goldwater Scholarship, awarded to students pursuing careers in math or science and was this year's winner of the Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy, given to an exceptional undergraduate student in the sciences.

Before heading to Cambridge in the fall, Carline is making the most of her last semester at William & Mary. In addition to her honors work in biology, Carline volunteered to serve as a teaching assistant for a brand-new bioengineering course being developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

"I'm so honored to represent William & Mary as our first-ever Churchill Scholar," said Carline. "Everything I've learned here about innovation, from the lab bench to the global stage, will shape my journey to Cambridge and beyond."

Staff , Communications Specialist

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