Creating Curiosity

Oct. 15, 2024

The Mars Scholarship promotes exploration and helps offset the costs of education for College of Science students.

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Daniella Bone

In high school, first-year Neuroscience and Cognitive Science major Daniella Bone suffered an injury that forced her to write with her non-dominant hand for five months.

Bone had been interested in how and why people perceive the world differently for as long as she could remember, but it was this first-hand experience — or second-hand, as it were — that awakened her awareness to both the brain’s limitations and its seemingly endless capacity to adapt: In scientific terms, neuroplasticity. 

She was drawn to the neuroscience program at the University of Arizona but couldn’t reconcile costs with her internship ambitions and plans to study abroad. Then, she applied for — and won — a Mars Science Plus Scholarship.

Made possible by a $2 million gift from John and Adrienne Mars to the College of Science, the scholarship is designed to help science students broaden their education to incorporate studies in humanities or fine arts. The gift also supports student exploration of majors and research opportunities. In addition, the couple has designated another $2 million gift to benefit research into agrivoltaics — the practice of using solar panel arrays to help shade crops — at Biosphere 2.

After graduation, Bone hopes to become a surgeon, engage in clinical research and continue exploring the big questions she’s always asked. “The brain is so weird and quirky,” she says. “I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of it.