St. Olaf student named Goldwater Scholar
St. Olaf College student Sophia González ‘26 has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2025–26 academic year.
The Goldwater Scholarship is a prestigious national competition for undergraduates who have shown significant achievement and potential in the fields of mathematics, science, and engineering. The scholarships provide up to $7,500 per year for sophomores and juniors from across the country.
Since 1995, 38 St. Olaf students have been named Goldwater Scholars.
González is majoring in mathematics, physics, and philosophy, and has participated in a variety of research experiences on and off campus.
“For two years, I completed research in a snow research lab,” González says. “We investigated how moisture in snow affects its reflectivity, which could impact the amount of heat reflected out of Earth’s atmosphere — and as a skier, it was a fun excuse to spend more time on the snow.”
She has also interned for two summers at a consulting firm that develops renewable energy systems, including wind farms, solar fields, and battery energy storage systems. This summer, González plans to shift gears by pursuing philosophy and journalism research with Associate Professor of Philosophy and Curator of the Hong Kierkegaard Library Anna Söderquist about the historical and philosophical beginnings of the Kierkegaard Library.
González’s academic work has already reached national audiences. She has presented posters on her team’s snow research at the Western Snow Conference and co-authored a paper published through the same event. She also brings science communication to the local level:
“I’ve given a very serious poster presentation to people in downtown Northfield on how Einstein’s theory of relativity proves that Santa can deliver all those packages in one night,” González says.
On campus, González is a member of the St. Olaf Alpine Ski Team and recently competed at Nationals, which happened to be held in her hometown of Bend, Oregon. She plays vibraphone in Jazz I and a jazz combo group; serves as vice president of St. Olaf’s Society of Women in Physics and Engineering; and recently spoke at TEDxStOlaf.
She hopes to continue blending her mathematical, physical, and philosophical interests in a future career.
“The intersection of these fields used to be a scholarly haven — it’s where Descartes, Aristotle, Cantor, Hilbert, Russell, Schrödinger, and Kant all worked — but it’s more difficult to find nowadays,” González says. “However, I believe it still exists in a few places: quantum gravity research, black hole information theory, the mathematics of nuclear deterrence, and cryptography. I’d be delighted to pursue any one of these fields.”