SKC grads receive prestigious NIH scholarship

By Jennifer McBride

Leader Staff

One brother drove a garbage truck. Another was a dishwasher. Now recent Salish Kootenai College grads Josh and Caleb Marceau are getting up to $20,000 a year from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to study molecular biology and biochemistry.

In order to qualify for the funds, the Marceaus had to maintain a 3.5 G.P.A. or be within the top 5 percent of their class. The scholarships will be renewable for up to four years. Along with the money, every summer the brothers will have the opportunity to work a 10-week internship at the NIH under one of more than 200 available mentors, each with their own specialties. After graduation, the Marceaus will work one year as full time employees with the NIH for every year they received a scholarship.

"You can do pretty much anything you want to there," Josh Marceau said of his future employer.

The brothers got to tour NIH headquarters when they, along with 14 other finalists, were flown to a suburb of Washington, D.C. for their last round of interviews. Only seven people in the nation ended up receiving the scholarship, including the two local SKC grads.

The NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program offers money to undergraduates who are committed to careers in biomedical, behavioral and social science health-related research, according to the NIH website. Started in 1996, the scholarships offer up to $20,000 a year to pay for tuition, education expenses and reasonable living expenses.

Caleb said they probably got the scholarships "because the research we're doing is really advanced for undergraduates." They also have had some interesting summer internships. The brothers spent one summer working for NASA at the NASA/American Indian Higher Education Consortium Research Experience.

"It was a lot of fun," Josh said. "We got to work on some really cutting edge experimentation."

Josh has also won several prestigious awards at national and regional competitions. His science poster and presentation both took first at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Conference in Green Bay, WI last year. He and colleague Katie McDonald also edged out Stanford to win first place with an oral research presentation at the American Indian Science and Engineering Conference in Detroit.

Experience wasn't the only attribute that gave the Marceaus a leg up over the other scholarship finalists.

"Coming from a tribal college gives you a unique point of view," Josh Marceau said.

The brothers' one-of-a-kind perspective is even more unusual due to their educational background. Home-schooled by parents who never had more than a high dchool diploma, Josh Marceau said he and his brother received a first-class education while growing up in Ronan.

"We were always free to pursue what we were interested in, unlike at a public school," he said. "Mom and dad were very supportive of what we wanted to do."

Caleb agreed that their parents were very supportive of their interests. His early enthusiasm for science stemmed from episodes of "Bill Nye the Science Guy," but was fostered later by one of their SKC professors.

After the Marceaus received high marks in one of SKC teacher Michael Ceballos' physics classes, Ceballos helped the brothers become full-time students by helping them find scholarships and workstudy jobs.

"Michael is the one who really brought us into the lab," Josh Marceau said. "He supported us so we could quit our job and start being students full time."

Ceballos, a Tepehuan/Choctaw Indian, is in his fourth year teaching physics and chemistry at the SKC.

"My number one career drive is to train native scientists," he said. "It's amazing to me that natives are so underrepresented in the scientific community."

He said the documented disparities between the quality of healthcare on and off reservations prove there's a need for more Native researchers. Statistics from the federally-run Indian Health Services show that diabetes rates are 200 percent higher among Natives than the general population, for example.

"Natives shouldn't be just the subjects, but also should be the ones conducting the tests," Ceballos said. "We should have Native science for Native needs."

The Marceaus are the kind of future scientists Ceballos lives to find.

"Some people come [to the lab] for the money, not because of a general interest," he said. "But they [the Marceaus] are not only interested in science but in the way science can help in the community."

Cellabos has been fighting hard to ensure students can get a good scientific education. He lobbied hard for the nation's only molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics and biomedical-related research lab at any tribal college or university.

"It took a lot of long hours writing grants," Cellabos said.

The lab cost $200,000 and drew opposition from some members of the community.

"To move into the area of research brings out the red flags for some people," Cellabos said.

Cellabos constantly has to remind people how valuable research is, given the long-term nature of the studies' results. Researchers can spend 10 to 20 years perched over a microscope before they take any significant scientific strides.

"There are always growing pains," Cellabos said. "People don't always see the value in the projects."

He credited SKC President Joseph McDonald for his strong support for Cellabos' vision. Because of his help, the SKC Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Research Lab opened its first test tubes for operation in 2005. According to Cellabos, the lab may be "small, but it's top-of-the line."

Colleagues from the University of Montana have dropped by to express professional jealousy over Cellabos' new equipment.

"Almost every night after classes we'd go and read the instruction manuals for freezers and centrifuges," Josh said.

The Marceaus use the new lab to research two different proteins. Caleb Marceau studies microorganisms called "extremophiles," which thrive in conditions that would kill other species. Extremophiles have been found living in polar ice caps, undersea hydrothermal vents and even nuclear reactors. The extremophiles Caleb studies are from Glacier's hot springs and love to live in hot, acidic environments. According to him, these extremophiles excrete sulfuric acid and "pretty much live in boiling battery acid."

The research is "a good way to understand how things live in extreme conditions," Caleb said, and may be used to help humans in the future. When the temperature rises, his microorganisms shut down all other functions to excrete a certain protein, which cushions them against the heat. Human bodies host similar heat shock proteins.

Josh Marceau is also excited about his cutting-edge research. He works with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which is similar to HIV in humans.

"We study the proteins, which tell us how efficient a virus is," Josh said. Proteins also tell him how long the virus lives, how the virus' single-stranded RNA adapts to human double-stranded DNA and how many errors FIV causes when it transcribes itself onto DNA. One day, his work could unlock the reason FIV remains dormant in large felines but kills smaller house cats. If Josh's work can offer insight into HIV and AIDS in humans, it could benefit the millions of people infected worldwide.

"It's good that I can help society and that I can be the first one to do something," Josh said.

Though the brothers have been educated together since birth, the NIH scholarship allows them to pursue their own interests at different universities. Caleb is enrolled at Portland State University to study molecular biology with Dr. Ken Stedman, who also studies extremophiles. Josh is planning to go to Pennsylvania State University because of its excellent biochemistry program. He said he already has a work-study job lined up at the laboratory with Dr. Mary Poss at Penn State's Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, where he will continue to study Feline Immunodeficiency Virus.

The boys' mentor is proud of the their accomplishments and expects they'll have a bright future.

"They are future leaders of this community," Cellabos said. "They have great dedication and work ethic."