AUI Announces 2025 Scholarship Recipients

Nineteen high school students receive award for academic achievement, community involvement and leadership skills

Below are the recipients of the 2025 AUI Scholarship conducted by International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. These students will each receive an award of $3,500 per year to aid in defraying expenses at the college or university of their choice.

Ben Baca

Ben Baca is a senior at Socorro High School in Socorro, New Mexico. Ben enjoys welding and his job at Socorro High, welding various projects for the high school and community. He plans on building upon the skills he has learned over the years at CNM to earn his welding AAS. After completing his AAS, Ben plans to start work on becoming a pipefitter in industry. As much as he likes to get his hands dirty working, it’s also nice to keep them clean for a while so he can work on building his next computer or work on some small metal art to give to friends and family.

Ben is the son of Shane and Emma Baca. Shane is the facilities manager at the VLA site, where he has worked since 1993.

Florian Baudler

Florian Baudler is a senior at Pocahontas County High School, where he currently holds a GPA of 4.09. Florian has consistently earned the title of Super Scholar and has challenged himself with AP and college-level courses during his senior year. He is an active member of the National Honor Society, STEM Club, and Young Life. Throughout his high school years, Florian has shown a deep commitment to giving back to his community, volunteering on multiple occasions and advocating for animals in need.

Florian’s dedication to innovation is evident in his participation in FLL Robotics, where he and his team proudly hold a patent for a handicap-accessible door mechanism. In addition, Florian has been a passionate and committed player on the Pocahontas County High School soccer team during both his junior and senior years. He has also been running track during his senior year.

Florian is fluent both in the English and German language. His interests include meteorology, astronomy, geography, anthropology, politics and international relations, archaeology, playing sports, traveling the world, cultures, animals and environmental issues.

Florian has been accepted to all nine colleges he applied to and is currently in the process of making his final decision. He plans to pursue a degree in atmospheric sciences/meteorology or astronomy.

Florian is the son of Anja and Wolfgang Baudler. Wolfgang has been working for the Green Bank Observatory site as a systems administrator/analyst since 2001.

Ellena Bauserman

Ellena Bauserman is a senior at Pocahontas County High School in Dunmore, West Virginia, where she is a member of the National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society and an AP scholar. She has been a member of the Student Council acting as the treasurer and secretary for the senior class.

Ellena has played soccer all through high school. She was a track and field athlete her freshman and sophomore years. She is a member of the TRIBE Club and SADD & RAZE initiative at her school. Ellena enjoys the outdoors and learning and participating in marine conservation. Ellena plans to attend Liberty University and pursue a degree in exercise science.

Ellena Bauserman is the daughter of Jonah and Tara Bauserman. Jonah Bauserman is a technical specialist II at the Green Bank Observatory.

Valentina Cecchini Bocaz

Valentina Cecchini Bocaz graduated from The Grange School in Santiago, Chile, in December of 2024, with an average grade of 6.93 out of 7 (roughly a 3.97 GPA). She received an A in her A-level in Mathematics and a B in her A-level in English Literature and earned the school’s highest academic recognition (one of the top 10 GPAs among 150 students) throughout her last four years, 9th through 12th grade. Valentina was accepted to study civil engineering at Catholic University in Santiago, the most competitive school for that discipline in the country, where she began her first semester in March 2025.

During high school, she was part of the school’s volleyball team and in 2024 was selected to represent her school at an intercollegiate championship in southern Chile. Valentina also participated in the school band from 2019 to 2022 playing the trumpet. From 2023 to 2024, Valentina volunteered in the school’s Techar initiative, a school club that guides younger students. She recently joined Catholic University’s volunteer program.

Valentina is the daughter of Paulina Bocaz, AUI representative and NRAO assistant director in Chile, and Simone Cecchini.

Anthony DeBerardinis

Anthony DeBerardinis is a senior at Albemarle County, balancing a rigorous academic schedule with a passion for athletics. A dedicated runner, he competes in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Academically, Anthony is particularly interested in engineering, with a focus on electrical engineering. Beyond his studies, he actively contributes to his community as a peer tutor, providing support in subjects like calculus, physics and statistics.

Anthony is the son of Frank DeBerardinis, an NRAO systems engineer in Charlottesville.

Jesse Defibaugh

Jesse Defibaugh is a senior at Pocahontas County High School in Frost, West Virginia. Jesse plans to go into the diesel mechanic field. He has worked with Jen Transport since he was 14, starting as part of a school work program. Jesse started as the truck washer and has progressed up to doing service, small project and fabrication. In his down time, Jesse rebuilds and services vehicles for friends and family. “When people ask me about Jesse, all I can say is that he loves to work. He goes to school, goes to work till late. Then, if it’s before midnight, he will go work on someone’s car or build on his own.”

Jesse is the son of Cynthia Horner and the late Albert Defibaugh. Cindy has worked for the GBO since 2016, starting at the Starlight Café and now serving as the inventory control and supply clerk.

Gabriel Alejandro Giron

Gabriel Alejandro Giron is a senior at Socorro High School. He was born and raised in Socorro, New Mexico. He is an athlete of many sports including football, baseball, basketball, soccer, wrestling and track. Football being his favorite as he made it to the NM All Stars game. He was an All-Star Selection, 1st Team All District Center.

Gabriel also has a love for music and has been a part of the Socorro High School marching band. His academic programs include Upward Bound Math and Science, and The Gear Up Program touring Colleges. He has traveled 10 states and visited two countries. Gabriel has goals of traveling every U.S. state and at least five countries. Some of Gabriel’s other hobbies Include fishing, playing musical instruments, video games and going to the gym. Gabriel is bilingual; his second language is Spanish. Gabriel has a funny and passionate personality and is also a very social person.

Gabriel is the son of Joseph and Adriana Giron and has one sister Zhianna. His dad is an electrician at the Very Large Array in Socorro New Mexico. Gabriel would like to attend Dona Ana community college to pursue a degree in general engineering. He hopes to apply himself to the world of engineering when he is done with college.

Marin Halstead

Marin Halstead is a senior at Saint Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Marin maintains a GPA of 4.2 and multiple AP and honors classes, along with attaining artistic accolades for her drawing talents.

Marin has a long affiliation with the Emergency Food Network, and Charlottesville/Albemarle SPCA, and has participated in the yearbook and women’s rights clubs at school.

She developed a passionate interest in Japanese Anime/Manga during the COVID-19 pandemic and has attended multiple cosplay conferences, expressing her creative talents through making elaborate costumes.

She will be attending William & Mary University in Williamsburg, Virginia this fall to explore her interests in Art History.

Marin is the daughter of David and Tracy Halstead, who both recently retired from Information Services after 16 and 25 years, respectively.

Karla Kotzé

Karla Kotzé is a senior at Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

She has a keen eye for beautiful things and occasionally plays the piano with passion. Karla also has a mischievous sense of humor and enjoys giggling her way through zombie movies.

She is active in Coyotes for a Cause, a school-based society that raises funds for local charities. Karla has been volunteering at the local hospice for a little over a year and plans to study nursing at the University of New Mexico this fall.

Karla is the daughter of NRAO employee Pieter Kotze and his wife Nicolien Van der Linde. Pieter has been with the organization since 2023 and is a systems engineer IV.

Hannah Meyerhoeffer

Hannah Meyerhoeffer is a senior at Highland High School. She’s involved with Highland’s basketball team, serves as the vice president of the Student Council, is the president of her school’s National Honor Society, and has been president of her class for the last four years running. Hannah will graduate with top academic honors and is in the top of her class.

Outside of school, Hannah has been an active member of the Girl Scouts for 13 years and thoroughly enjoys horseback riding and working at the local stables. She is planning on pursuing a degree in equine business management at a four-year university.

Hannah is the daughter of Amy and David Frayer. David is an astronomer based in Green Bank.

Andrew Moellenbrock

Andrew Moellenbrock is a senior at Socorro High School in Socorro, New Mexico, and will graduate in May 2025. In middle school, Andrew enjoyed participating in FTC Robotics, Science Fair and Science Olympiad. In high school, Andrew participated in Science Olympiad for three years, highlighted by winning two team 3rd places and a team 2nd place at the NM State Science Olympiad competitions. He also attended STEM summer camps at New Mexico Tech for two years.

Andrew was a member of the Socorro High Cross Country team for four years, qualifying for the NM state championships 2021 and 2024. Andrew also participated in Golf for four years, earning a team 2nd place at the state championships in 2024. Andrew enjoys computer coding and engineering projects and wants to pursue them as a career. He enjoys running, golfing, and solving the Rubik’s cube and other puzzles in his spare time.

Andrew plans on attending Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, majoring in computer science.

Andrew is the son of George Moellenbrock and Claire Chandler, and younger brother to Willow. George has been employed at NRAO since 2000 as a member of the CASA software development team. Claire served in various management roles in NRAO’s NM operations for nearly 20 years, most recently as the deputy assistant director for operations. Both are members of the NRAO scientific staff.

Lukas Muehlberg

Lukas Muehlberg is a senior at Monticello High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and has a 4.5 cumulative GPA. He took AP and dual enrollment classes throughout his high school career. He is attending Virginia Tech this fall semester and majoring in forestry. In his free time, he likes to be outside in many different ways including backpacking, hunting, skiing and off-road driving. This love of nature has driven Lukas’ decision to find a career in preserving the earth and its resources. He is very interested in taking his talents out west and helping preserve some of our nation’s most beautiful national parks and forests.

Lukas is the son of Jim Muehlberg and Teresa Cox. Jim has been with NRAO for 25 years and currently serves as senior electronics engineer at the CDL

Will O’Ganian

Will O’Ganian is a senior at Pocahontas County High School, where he is a member of the National Honor Society. Will has played varsity soccer, futsal and track. He is captain of the county futsal team, which he helped found. He started on the varsity soccer team all four years and was team co-captain for the past two years. Last fall, Will was on the Coalfield Conference and All-Region 2nd teams for soccer. Will has also been on the varsity track team for all four years and has been invited to the West Virginia State Championship for the past two years. Last year, Will placed sixth in the state on the shuttle hurdle relay team.

In high school, Will has been on both the Vex and First Tech Challenge Robotics teams. He was the lead programmer and driver for the First Robotics team, which won numerous state and regional awards, including State Champion Will’s freshman year and the 3rd place Think award in the four-state regional championship his sophomore year. Will was the team captain and driver for the Vex Robotics team, which successfully made it to the state championship.

Will is an active volunteer in the community, with hundreds of community service hours each year. For the past four years, Will has been the fourth referee (timer) for the Pocahontas County High School Girls Soccer team. He has also spent many hours helping with trail work, gym maintenance, race preparation and management, and event activities for the Northern Pocahontas Community Wellness organization. Will has also helped mentor STEM activities in the county.

Will is an avid skier, spending many winter hours at Snowshoe. He also enjoys spending time forging knives and other implements. Will also has a patent for a motorized door opener designed to help people with disabilities.

Will is the son of Karen O’Neil, a scientist at Green Bank Observatory, and Paul Marganian, a Green Bank software engineer.

Elena Paulson

Elena Paulson is a senior at Tandem Friends School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and maintains a 4.2 GPA. She enjoys acting in theater, playing soccer and volleyball, and hiking. Along with her extracurriculars, Elena helps mentor younger students and is a leader in the spiritual life of Tandem through the Quaker Friends Council. Her favorite class has been engineering and design, where she spends her time planning and building complex machines such as a multi-stage model rocket, an 8-foot-tall functional trebuchet, and a model submarine. This class has taught her how to effectively communicate with a team, how to workshop ideas and push through logistical problems.

Outside of school, you can find Elena poking around in the forest hunting for mushrooms. The study of mycology and the intricacies of fungal biology and mycoremediation have captivated her. She plans to pursue biology with a specialty in fungi in college. Elena is currently talking with undergraduate advisors at UVA, UVM and Virginia Tech to find the best program that will allow her to blend multidisciplinary interests before committing to a college.

Elena is the daughter of Diane Paulson. Diane has been the AD of program management at NRAO since 2022.

Nathan (Nate) Remijan

Nathan (Nate) Remijan is currently a senior at William Monroe High School in Stanardsville, Virginia. He has taken multiple dual enrollment, AP and advanced classes and will be graduating with an advanced diploma and a 4.2 GPA. Nathan was previously enrolled at the Renaissance School located downtown in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Nate has been involved in several groups and activities during his high school years and also founded several clubs while at the Renaissance School. He was an active participant in the chess club, robotics club and is currently a team captain of the WMHS eSports team. Nate is also a member of the National Honor Society and was awarded as a Presidential Scholar. Nate is an active member of Peace Lutheran Church and has taken an active and leadership role in their youth group. Taking on these responsibilities over the course of his high school career has led him to be passionate about the care and well-being of others and fueled his passion for video game art and design.

In the fall, Nate will be attending the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to further pursue his interest in video game art and design and plans to develop his own artistic style in competitive online game play.

Nate is the son of Vicki and Anthony Remijan. Anthony has worked at NRAO in Charlottesville since 2006 and is currently the assistant director for science support and research and the interim assistant director for the Green Bank Observatory.

Nicole Sakshaug

Nicole Sakshaug is a senior at Stuarts Draft High School in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, with a current GPA of 4.303. During her junior and senior years, she has also attended the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School for its integrated math, science and technology program, where she took several Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes. Among them was a “Teachers for Tomorrow” class that included a student teacher internship at Stuarts Draft Middle School.

She has played flute in the Stuarts Draft High School Marching Band and Concert Band since the eighth grade, and for the past two years she was the section leader/music captain. Throughout middle and high school, she has been selected for multiple Valley and District band events to play flute or piccolo, including two first chair positions.

She has played flute in the Stuarts Draft Baptist Church Worship Ensemble and bells in the church’s Handbell Choir for five years. She has also played flute in the Stuarts Draft High School Pep Band and piano in the school’s Jazz Band. She is a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society, where she has served as treasurer for two years, and is a member of the National Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society.

Nicole will attend Virginia Tech to study in the School of Music in the fall, with a concentration in music education.

Nicole is the daughter of Richard and Beth Sakshaug. Richard is the NRAO contracts and procurement manager in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Aprameya Tirupati

Aprameya Tirupati is a senior at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Massachusetts, where he was recently awarded the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. His fascination with computers and technology from early childhood led him to learn programming at Khan Academy, where he is a peer tutor for the SAT. He was a peer mentor for Algebra I in 11th grade at AB. A member of NHS, he has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award in recognition of his community service.
As a member of the AB CS Club, he helped the team secure first place in the American Computer Science League competition. He has mentored a middle school team to place second in the International Zero Robotics competition. His summer research on Knowledge Distillation in LLMs was accepted at the UCSD NLP Symposium ‘24 and is available on arXiv. He researched arabinose-induced fluorescence expression in E. coli as part of the AB BioBuilder club and published results in BioTreks. Aprameya intends to study computer science in college.

Outside of academics, Aprameya has been learning piano and Carnatic vocal music since childhood. He placed second in the 2023 MMTA Judged Festival and won third prize in the International Young Gifted Musicians Competition “Passion of Music” Japan 2025. An inaugural member of the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir, he has performed with the BSO, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Boston Pops. Aprameya enjoys hiking and climbing outdoors.

Aprameya is the son of Sridharan Tirupati Kumara (TK), who joined NRAO in 2022 as the lead calibration scientist for the ngVLA.

Ethan Wescovich

Ethan Wescovich is an aspiring technology professional who will be attending Kent State University to further his studies in networking and cybersecurity. He is currently pursuing career and technical training at Mahoning County CTC, where he has developed a strong foundation in various technical disciplines. A graduate of Canfield High School, Ethan has gained hands-on experience in the Technology Department at Mahoning County Career & Technical Center, where he worked on technology repairs, installations and network troubleshooting.

Ethan has earned certifications such as the CompTIA A+ and Google Ads Certification and completed coursework in areas like computer networking, database management, network security and PC building. In his free time, Ethan enjoys working on his cars, and has a natural talent of electronic/mechanical repair, undergoing many different projects including a complete engine rebuild of a Honda race engine.

Ethan is the son of Tiffany Stone Wolbrecht who is the STEM education officer of AUI.

Seungwoo Yoon

Seungwoo Yoon is a senior at Oakton High School in Fairfax, Virginia. Seungwoo likes STEM and has been an enthusiastic member of the Robotics team and the Science Olympiad team in his high school. Seungwoo found his interest in STEM when he first built his desktop computer during the COVID-19 pandemic. He will attend the University of Virginia to continue his passion for interdisciplinary science based on computer science. Outside of STEM, Seungwoo also loves playing cello and has played in the school orchestra (from elementary to high school) and the district, regional and state orchestra. Music is another passion that he will continue to pursue while he is attending college.

Seungwoo is the son of Ilsang Yoon who is a scientist at NRAO, Charlottesville.