High Point University sophomore Jake Ankrum, a biochemistry and physics double major from Monument, Colorado, has been named a 2026 Barry Goldwater Scholar — one of only 454 selected from more than 5,000 applicants nationwide. In Dr. Keir Fogarty’s lab he studies fluorophores, particularly a family of compounds called rhodamine dyes, using advanced microscopy to track their light signals and piece together chemical and biological processes far too small to see under a conventional microscope. Ankrum is also the first HPU student to win a Research Internships in Science and Engineering scholarship and will conduct research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. He has been recognized with an Outstanding Student Poster Award at an American Chemical Society national meeting.