Meredith DeBoom
Class of 2009
There is a cornfield in a corner of northwest Iowa where, each spring, genetically unmodified corn seeds sprout up around acres of biotech varieties. The farmer who sows this field does so as a gift to the monarch butterflies—and to his daughter.
"I've always loved nature," says recent University of Iowa graduate Meredith J. DeBoom (2009 B.A.). "When I told my dad that pollen from genetically engineered corn could kill monarch butterflies, he began planting unmodified corn around the edges of his field."
It is this kind of unwavering love and support, from both of DeBoom's parents, that helped her become not only the first in her family to attend a university, but also a member of USA Today's Top 20 All-USA Academic Team in 2009 and one of 65 national recipients of the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship Award in 2008.
The DeBooms began saving for their only child's college fund when she was just seven years old—shortly after her Sibley, Iowa, school enrolled her in a talented-and-gifted program—and during her senior year, the couple drove her to college visits on the East Coast.
Though she was accepted to all her application schools, including Georgetown University, DeBoom chose the UI because it offered her family the best scholarship package. "Not only was the financial aid important, but I also felt like I'd have the support I needed at Iowa," she says.
This certainly turned out to be true. During her four years on campus, DeBoom earned numerous scholarships, including the Bill and John Fenton Scholarship in Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Chi Omega Scholarship, the Donald B. Johnson Memorial Scholarship, and the William and Effa McMeans Scholarship—as well as awards from the Clementine M. Miller Liberal Arts Student Aid Fund, the James D. Robertson Award Fund, and the Liberal Arts and Sciences General Scholarship Fund.
Such resources allowed the double major in political science and international studies to take advantage of a wide range of UI opportunities. DeBoom studied abroad in both Moscow and South Africa and also interned with the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Change Division in Washington, D.C.
She was a charter member of the UI Civic Analysis Network, which conducts nonpartisan policy research for the Iowa Legislature, and served as a three-term student government senator. In addition, she was president of the Delta Zeta sorority and was the 2008 UI homecoming queen. All of these enriching experiences helped the Iowa farm girl broaden her focus—from cornfields to oil fields.
In her two senior theses, she analyzed the inverse relationship between development and oil revenues in sub-Saharan countries, just one of many issues she'd like to address by specializing in energy and environmental policy.
"When I first arrived at Iowa, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do," DeBoom says. "Now I feel a sense of excitement about my plans. I've started with this one-year fellowship, and then I'll move on to graduate school and a career."
Her fellowship, through the Truman Foundation, is with the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she is exploring everything from light-rail travel and alternative fuels to hydrogen energy. And though she's far from the butterflies and corn plants on her family farm, DeBoom's Iowa roots remain strong, thanks to the support she received at home—and at school.
"Those UI scholarships were an affirmation that somebody believed in me," she says. "They've energized me to do the very best work I can."
