June 17, 2020 | UCSC | Lisa Renner

Every once in a while, professors meet a student who seems destined to be a star in their field.

For Carrie Partch, UC Santa Cruz associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, one of those students is Alfred Freeberg, this year’s winner of the prestigious Steck Family Award. The award is given for an outstanding senior research project chosen from 15 Chancellor Awards projects.

“Alfred is in this rare class – a few students that I’ve had that have wowed me with their perseverance and creativity and spirit in the lab,” Partch said.

Freeberg assisted in the Partch lab’s study of the molecular basis for circadian rhythms – biological processes that occur naturally in line with the Earth’s 24-hour daily rotation cycle.

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