Montana Student Prioritizes Connections Over Cash in Prestigious Space Scholarship

BOZEMAN, Mont. — When Amberly Guerrero won one of the nation’s most prestigious STEM scholarships this spring, her reaction revealed something telling about today’s top students. The Montana State University senior wasn’t focused on the potential $15,000 award from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation—she was thinking about the network.

“For me, it wasn’t the monetary value that I was looking for, but more so the connections and networking opportunities available with this scholarship,” Guerrero said. It’s a remarkably mature perspective from a student who already has much of her education covered through other awards, including Presidential and Goldwater scholarships.

Guerrero was one of just 74 undergraduates nationwide selected from 51 institutions, recognition that came largely through research she’s been conducting since her freshman year at MSU. Working in professor Paul Gannon’s lab, she’s been studying how different stainless steels and ceramic insulations affect the formation of hexavalent chromium—a toxic compound that forms at high temperatures.

The research addresses a real-world problem with broad applications. In industrial settings like refineries, understanding how this dangerous form of chromium proliferates could reduce health risks for workers. But Guerrero’s work also has implications for space travel, where similar high-temperature conditions exist and astronaut safety is paramount.

“Amberly worked to master the lab equipment from the outset, and she eventually helped train visiting researchers and co-authored a research paper published in the Journal of Power Sources,” Gannon said. That trajectory—from freshman researcher to published author—reflects both Guerrero’s abilities and MSU’s approach to undergraduate research engagement.

The dual-degree student in chemical and biological engineering represents a growing trend of Montana State producing nationally competitive STEM students. Her path from small-town Chelan, Washington, to cutting-edge research in Bozeman, then to a summer internship with British Petroleum back in her home state, illustrates how regional universities can provide world-class opportunities.

This summer at BP’s Cherry Point Refinery in Blaine, Washington, Guerrero is gaining practical experience as a process engineering intern—a position she first learned about at MSU’s Career Fair. The connection between her academic research and industrial application is direct: the chromium compounds she studies in Gannon’s lab are exactly the kind of challenges she might address professionally.

Guerrero’s scholarship success also highlights MSU’s research infrastructure. In addition to her chromium work, she helped mentor elementary school teachers from Native reservations through a National Science Foundation-funded program, creating laboratory experiences and developing culturally relevant engineering education materials.

“It is an especially rare individual that can gracefully navigate this opportunity with teachers who have more years of classroom experience than they have years in their life,” Gannon said. “Amberly exceeded all expectations. She is clearly a changemaker.”

As Guerrero looks toward graduation, she’s considering opportunities in the energy sector, ideally on the West Coast near family. The Astronaut Scholarship’s networking component could prove crucial in that transition.

“I think the Astronaut Scholarship will help open my eyes, broaden my horizons and help expose me to different opportunities that I wouldn’t ever have considered before,” she said. “In the past two years at MSU, I’ve been in the mindset of working in a refinery, working in oil and gas—but it will be really beneficial for me to network and be exposed to different opportunities.”

Her strategic thinking about career development, combined with her research accomplishments, suggests Montana State is producing exactly the kind of STEM graduates the country needs: technically skilled, practically minded, and professionally savvy.