UD senior Bailey Weatherbee wins prestigious scholarship to study physiology, development and neuroscience

Bailey Weatherbee’s passion for developmental biology stems from her childhood. Her mother had multiple miscarriages leading to the discovery that her father had a genetic mutation called chromosomal translocation.

Weatherbee, a senior at the University of Delaware studying biology, said this experience inspired her curiosity to learn the basics of human life on a biological level.

“My dad always had this mentality of explaining things to me at the highest level and expecting that I had the capability to understand,” Weatherbee said. “So when I asked why I didn’t have siblings, he tried to explain this to me. I didn’t really get it, but I wanted to, so that started me down the path of asking biological questions.”

Weatherbee was recently awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. The honor goes to applicants who demonstrate outstanding intellectual ability, leadership potential and a commitment to improving the lives of others. The scholarship covers all fees while a student earns a master’s or doctoral degree at Cambridge University in England.