Veteran and Ahmanson Scholar Alex Johnson on Choosing Caltech and Giving Back

His community college professor's encouragement plus some fellowship support helped put Alex Johnson on a path to graduate school. Now he wants to pay it forward.

The Ahmanson Foundation's Veteran Scholarship Initiative, together with additional funds from the National Science Foundation, have provided the U.S. Navy veteran with time and space to explore his research on methane-consuming microbes. His goal is to reengineer metabolisms in these microbes to produce fuels and other materials we use every day.

Johnson is also working on plans for a project that will bring veterans to campus to conduct research over the summer.

After Caltech, he hopes to make a positive impact by bringing his understanding of climate, biology, and biotechnology to the growing biotech field. Johnson is considering starting his own company, or possibly helping other people with their startups.

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