Ashley Agatep ’27, an environmental science and policy major in Chapman University’s Schmid College of Science and Technology, has won a 2026 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. She cold-emailed Professor Joshua Fisher before her freshman year and has worked in his lab ever since, using NASA satellite data on the Community Action for Equity and Environmental Justice grant. Agatep is lead author of a published study finding that public spaces in underserved South Los Angeles run hotter than those in West L.A. because they lack cooling surfaces — research that drew coverage from CBS News and the Orange County Register. She interns at NOAA this summer studying extreme heat and plans a Ph.D. in environmental sciences.