Christina Sowinski

2025 Goldwater Scholar

Hometown

Union City, Indiana

Major

Planetary Science; Geology and Geophysics

College

College of Science; John Martinson Honors College

 

Recipient of the 2025 Goldwater Scholarship, Christina Sowinski quickly became familiar with the process of taking giant leaps at Purdue. Beginning with a decision to change her major from Engineering to Planetary Science in the spring of her freshman year, Christina grew into redefining her career path by presenting a research poster on the erosional features of Mars. At the joint conference of the American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Science and Europlanet Science Congress (DPS-EPSC), Christina was struck by the energy and enthusiasm that this community shared for research and collaboration.

 

From studying STEM classes alone online in the school library of her hometown to adjusting to the number of Boilermakers on Purdue’s flagship campus, Christina found ways to get involved, including Leading Women Towards Space Careers, as Purdue Winterization Chair, Purdue Science Olympiad Executive Board, a Vice President for the Wesley Foundation at Purdue, and as an ambassador and TA for the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

 

In pursuit of undergraduate research, Christina was proactive in establishing relationships with her faculty advisors and research mentors. Writing to the former after they met during a preliminary campus visit, Christina began her research experience by conducting literature reviews and mapping projects, which led her to publish more complete information about a novel landform - scour pits, on Mars. Two years and two related research projects later, Christina took the initiative to expand her undergraduate research experience by joining yet another lab. Using satellite imaging, Christina maps targets of interest on the Jezero Crater rim to help inform the path taken by the Perseverance Rover, which landed on Mars in 2021.