Pulver Scholars Explore Scientific Possibility

The vision of Colby Life Trustee David Pulver ’63 intersected perfectly with the ambition of the College when they came together to create the Pulver Science Scholars Program.

Pulver wanted to support the next generation of science scholars, while Colby wanted to be at the forefront of liberal arts colleges in providing a rich undergraduate environment for research and the exchange of ideas across disciplines.

With the Pulver Science Scholars Program now firmly established and flourishing, Pulver and the College are both enjoying its success. Colby is able to offer university-level science experiences within the setting of a small liberal arts college, while Colby students are able to work in some of the world’s most prominent scientific research institutions.

“It offers students the best of both worlds,” said Pulver, a two-time cancer survivor who believes that science and technology hold the answers to many of the world’s problems.

“We’re always running up against the wall on how to deal with this or how to deal with that, and science always gives us the answers,” Pulver said. “We rely on science and technology to solve the problems that seem impossible to solve.”

Since Pulver and his wife, Carol, established the program with a $5-million gift, they have helped create a pipeline for ambitious and talented students to pursue research at the nation’s top science laboratories. To help ensure future discovery that leads to treatments and breakthroughs in human health and other sciences, the program provides 10 students per class, or 50 in the past five years, with hands-on experiences to prepare them to be scientific leaders and innovators.

It begins with their first year on campus. The scholars take a dedicated research seminar together and then spend at least two summers interning at top-tier labs in the United States or abroad based on their interests. The Pulver Science Scholars Program creates space and opportunities for students to discover and explore scientific questions they care most about. The program matches scholars with mentors, projects, and organizations, and then provides funding for the hands-on experiences.

In the United States, research partners include the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard-MIT Biomedical Optics Engineering Program in the Boston area, the Center for Discovery and Innovation and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in New Jersey, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, among many others. Several of Maine’s science institutions also host Pulver Scholars, including the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, The Jackson Laboratory, and the Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative.

Science faculty consult with the Admissions Office to select each year’s scholars. All must demonstrate high science achievement, a strong commitment to the sciences with academics and cocurricular activities, and what Andrea Tilden, director of the Pulver Science Scholars Program and the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation, described as “an unbridled sense of engagement in broader scientific issues on and off campus.”

With her expertise, Tilden connects students with research experiences and scientists and also actively recruits scholars to participate. She is grateful that Colby has the resources to provide career-defining research platforms at the undergraduate level. In doing so, Colby stands out among liberal arts colleges, she said.

“The generous support provided by David and Carol allows us to create these research experiences and cover the additional expenses that students might encounter, like travel, room, and board,” said Tilden. “Because of this, our students can access these extraordinary experiences. I’m so proud of the amazing things they’ve been able to do over the past five years.”

The success of the Pulver Scholars has helped fuel Colby’s continuing investment in innovative science programming with the goal of making the College a national leader in scientific education. These investments include the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment, McVey Center for Computational and Data Science, Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation, Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship, the Island Campus, Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences, and many others.

Tilden credits the Pulvers for their vision to create the program at a liberal arts college, where students can combine critical-thinking skills with modern science.

“You don’t think of a liberal arts school as being a place where scientists go, but Colby is such a visionary place,” Tilden said. “The faculty and administrators understand how important it is to be nimble and innovative—and try new things. Research is so important not just for an individual’s career, but for the scientific community at large, and we’re carving out a space for it.”

Lily Moy ’25, a biology and environmental science double major, loved science but wasn’t sure what that looked like for a career. She used several summer research opportunities to figure out what she wanted to pursue after graduation.

She spent her first summer doing marine biology research at Colby’s Island Campus. “Each week we’d alternate between on-campus research and staying over at the bunkhouse on the island. We would wake up at 3 a.m. and hike by headlamp to where we would collect our field samples, rain or shine, in heavy fishing gear,” she said.

The following summer she interned at The Jackson Laboratory, where she explored neurobiology research with a team of scientists studying the disease Charcot-Marie-Tooth, an incurable neurological disorder. Moy worked with a strain of genetically diverse mice that carry the mutation to study this disease. Nerve histology from genetically diverse mice may help scientists determine if strain background influences the severity of certain types of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

She then spent another summer at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego exploring interactions between the nervous and immune systems and their role in cancer growth, and now she knows what her future will look like.

“All of the skills and experiences I’ve had each summer have led me here,” she said. “I really loved my project this summer, which has inspired me to want to continue with cancer immunology in graduate school. Now I know what I want to do.”

For students with a laser focus on one area, like Dimitri Lin ’25, the Pulver program gives them the experience and skills they need to distinguish themselves from their peers. The biochemistry and Russian double major wants to pursue a career in cancer research, so he created a course of study and summer research plan to make that happen.

He spent his summers interning at major cancer research centers, including the MD Anderson Cancer Lab in Houston and the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore. In the Futreal Lab at MD Anderson, he focused on a computational approach to investigating the field of tumor heterogeneity, as well as genetic/epigenetic variations among various cancers with an emphasis on rare cancers to explain the success, failure, efficacy, and inefficacy of current treatments and medical approaches.

Over the last five years, what has impressed Tilden is students’ diverse interests. They come from all over the United States and around the world and bring vibrancy and enthusiasm to disciplines ranging from physics, geology, math, statistics, and neuroscience to chemistry, biochemistry, biology, psychology, computer science, and data science.

“Each one of them has created their own pathway, whether it’s sticking with a singular interest or taking coursework across disciplines to get a broad understanding of a particular scientific issue,” Tilden said.

While scholars spend their summers at lab benches or in the field in far-flung and nearby locations, they come together on campus during the academic year to help sustain Colby’s thriving scientific community. Each cohort organizes regular dinners, social activities, and networking events with students, faculty, and alumni.

Each cohort has a dedicated faculty mentor. Currently serving as faculty advisors are Jen Coane, professor of psychology; Ron Peck, associate professor of biology, associate chair of biology, and chair of cell and molecular biology/biochemistry; Dasan Thamattoor, Warren Merrill Professor in Chemistry and Natural History; and Kevin Rice ’96, associate professor of chemistry and chair of the Natural Sciences Division.

With 40 Pulver Science Scholars on campus together at any one time and a growing community of Pulver graduates out in the world, David Pulver is pleased to witness the growth of the program and the camaraderie among different classes of scholars. He hopes that with time, this community of scholars will retain its bonds individually and collectively.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that you have got to help other people. We’re building a community of scientific scholars so they can help one another succeed,” he said.

The students agreed. The best part of the program? The community and mentorship from faculty, they said. “Honestly, the best part of the Pulver Scholars Program is being able to talk with Professor Tilden and have her support meeting different people,” said Lin.

“As a first-year and sophomore, I didn’t know what kinds of opportunities even existed,” Moy said. “Professor Tilden helped guide me and show me what kinds of industries and research experiences are out there, and what they look like. I’m so grateful to have that relationship and support.”

All of this adds up to a program focused on scientific excellence—one that will continue to make an impact on Colby and beyond.

For Pulver, watching his vision take shape has been satisfying as a proud alumnus, parent, and donor.

“This is Colby at its best. We’re trying to help people get better at what they love to do,” he said. “My hope is that one day, we can train someone who goes on to win a Nobel Prize.”