Ryle Alum wins astronaut scholarship

Congratulations to Taylor Lloyd!

by the Community Recorder

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has selected University of Kentucky senior Taylor Lloyd, of Union, as one of this year’s 26 recipients of the prestigious $10,000 scholarship.

The ASF Scholarship is presented to outstanding college students majoring in science, technology, engineering or math.

“Taylor is an extraordinary student who shows incredible success in her studies and undergraduate research,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “We are thrilled to see her hard work recognized by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. We believe she will be a major contributor to her field in the future, and this scholarship will help make that possible.”

Astronaut scholars exhibit motivation, imagination and intellectual daring, as well as exceptional performance, both in and outside the classroom.

Lloyd, the daughter of Gregory and Melinda Lloyd, attended Ryle High School before coming to UK. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in agricultural biotechnology and biology.

In addition to her studies, Lloyd is a Chellgren Fellow and member of the Society for the Promotion of Undergraduate Research and Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She is also a 2011 recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.

As an undergraduate, Lloyd has been active in the university’s research enterprise. She currently is part of a project examining the temperature and light signaling pathways that govern the germination of seeds. Understanding these mechanisms would allow researchers to improve agriculture and meet the world’s demands despite climate change.

Lloyd works out of the lab of Bruce Downie, associate professor of horticulture at the UK College of Agriculture.

Lloyd, who pursued the ASF Scholarship to help fund the rest of her undergraduate studies, hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in seed biology and plant pathology. Upon completion of her doctoral degree,

Lloyd would like to pursue research and teach at a major university, maybe even in Kentucky. “I would love to come back to UK to teach and establish my own lab,” she said.

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit organization established by the Mercury astronauts in 1984.

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