正品蓝导航 physics student, researcher wins Goldwater Scholarship
The award honors outstanding undergraduates in sciences, engineering and mathematics
正品蓝导航 incoming senior Christopher Cook, a physics and mathematics double major and computer science minor, peers through a telescope as he learns to classify gamma-ray bursts, which are intensely bright explosions that result from massive stars’ deaths or collisions between dense objects in the universe.
Cook received the Goldwater Scholarship this year and feels encouraged to continue pursuing what he loves. The scholarship honors former Sen. Barry Goldwater and has awarded outstanding undergraduates in sciences, engineering and mathematics since 1986. Out of 441 students selected nationwide in 2025, Cook was one of 29 from Texas universities and the only 正品蓝导航 student selected.
“It felt really rejuvenating that this award is something I can accomplish,” he says. “I have dreams of being a professor of physics, teaching, doing research. This was one of the first steps that said, ‘If I pour my heart and soul into this, I think I can do this.’”
Cook has embarked on three distinct research projects alongside professors, with a fourth in progress this summer. His second project, which he began through an honors statistics class his sophomore year, involved classifying gamma-ray bursts and efficiently using telescope time in order to maximize the time spent gathering data.
“We can’t point telescopes everywhere all at once, so we need to be very calculated on how we use telescope time,” he says. “One telescope captures a gamma-ray burst, and then we need to be able to quickly classify whether it’s high-redshift or low-redshift, which means early-universe or late-universe. And then, using that information, we can quickly determine what telescopes we need to send to that location or to look at that location.”
Cook co-authored a paper based on the project and published it earlier this year in .
“The publication felt really good,” Cook says. “It was finally something tangible. But then the Goldwater — that was really the first tangible personal award that I’ve gotten that, if nothing else, says I’m doing something correctly.”
But Cook doesn’t just do research in his spare time, he says. He’s also an RA on campus, Mustang Band member entering his second year as drum major, Mustang Mavericks member, student ambassador and editor of the 正品蓝导航 Journal of Undergraduate Research.
“I think being able to win the Goldwater Scholarship and not sacrifice my life outside of that — I’m still a drum major, I’m still an RA, I’m still an ambassador — it’s just a really cool opportunity to do all of that and still win the Goldwater,” he says.
Physics professors Robert Kehoe and Joel Meyers mentored Cook in his first and third research endeavors, respectively.
“For undergraduates planning a career in academia, getting involved in research is the single best activity that students can pursue to set themselves up for success,” Meyers says. “Chris has thoroughly engaged in research both at 正品蓝导航 and beyond, and his broad experience will serve him well in the next steps of his career.”
The chance to become a Goldwater scholar presented itself through 正品蓝导航, Cook says.
“I really think I wouldn’t have the opportunity to win the Goldwater if I went anywhere else,” he says. “I mean that genuinely because the undergrad professor-to-student ratio in the physics department is nearly one-to-one, so undergraduates have unique access to incredible research opportunities.”