Supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, UVM’s Robert Noyce Scholarship Program is dedicated to preparing and supporting the next generation of highly qualified STEM and computer science educators for high-need schools.

This scholarship provides substantial support to graduate students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Secondary Education program.

Get to know our 2025–2026 Noyce Scholars and discover the experiences and motivations that drive their commitment to teaching and inspiring future learners.

Jes Bennett

I decided to pursue a Computer Science degree for my undergrad because I just loved the math and logic involved in programming. As I continued into my degree, I fell in love with the community that my educators were able to curate, and I began to really appreciate the work that went into it. I began to consider pursuing education when I started teaching lessons for the Girls Who Code club of Burlington and found a lot of fulfillment through this community-building. I am so excited to do some of the same work that made my undergrad experience so amazing!

Eric Kapner

Growing up in New Jersey, I had always done well in math class, but it wasn't until I was in college at Middlebury that my love for mathematics truly developed. Math can be very abstract, but the beauty in its structure and the challenge of problem-solving kept me coming back. After graduating, I worked as a data analyst for some time, but I found myself pulled towards teaching.

I am currently interning at U-32 Middle and High School in East Montpelier, where I teach Geometry and Algebra alongside my mentor teacher. It has been a blast, and I have enjoyed getting to know my students, watching them work together, and building their confidence. I believe deeply that anyone can do mathematics, and I hope my passion for the subject rubs off on my students.

I am thankful that the Noyce Scholarship has allowed me the opportunity to pursue a career in teaching and make a positive impact on students, the community, and the world!

Gwen Lybarger

I recently graduated from my undergrad at Syracuse University (May of 2025) with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Neuroscience. For most of my childhood and teenage years, becoming an educator was not my first plan. I had aspirations to go to medical school and become a doctor, but after generous amounts of personal reflection, and inspired by my many years of running a non-profit organization for children whose parent/guardian(s) have cancer and facilitating small groups for general biology students in my undergraduate years, I decided that teaching was the right path for me. I was able to combine my love for science and working with children into the perfect career.

I’m originally from Vermont, so getting to come back home to complete my MAT program was very important to me. My placement at Montpelier High School has been nothing short of amazing. Getting to connect with my students and share my passion for science with them has been the most incredible experience. The school-wide community is contagious and really makes me excited to be a part of one once I have a classroom of my own. My experience in both the MAT and Noyce Scholar program has been so inspirational and only make me more excited and optimistic for my own journey as an educator.

Sophie Schneider

Growing up, science didn’t always click inside the classroom, but the place-based education I received through local trips with my high school’s outdoor adventure program ignited my deep care for the natural world and desire to protect it. This care inspired me to study biology as an undergraduate at Smith College. Through summers spent in a marine ecology lab, time working on a community farm, and a job leading ecological restoration events for volunteers, I kept coming back to the fact that what I loved most about science was sharing it with others, particularly young folks. I realized that teaching was the perfect platform to share about science as a framework for exploration and to create opportunities like the ones I had for hands-on, place-based environmental education. I am now completing my internship at U-32 High School in East Montpelier and enjoying getting to know the students as well as the Vermont landscape as I teach Earth Science and Biology through a local lens. 

Mia Weyant

I have always loved science, the process of exploring, and how it can build a stewardship for the outdoors. Through my undergraduate career, I studied Biology at UVM and worked a variety of different jobs such as an orientation leader, interning at the ECHO center, afterschool programming, and summer camps that all centered around working with youth. It was through these jobs and my field of study that inspired me to apply to the MAT program, and one of the many reasons I decided to stay in Vermont for another year was due to the emphasis that the education system here places on connecting with the natural world. 

 

One of my main goals as a science educator is to build up student’s confidence in learning and understanding that their voice and opinion hold so much power. Each student offers such a unique and important perspective to understanding the world and it has been such a privilege to be a part of so many different classrooms this semester! I am working at Harwood Union High School with the MAT program this year and have immensely enjoyed getting to teach and be a part of the integrated science, human physiology, and AP Biology classrooms.