Sydney Schmidt

College of Science

Chemistry and Biochemistry Department

Sydney grew up on a 50 acre ranchette near Missoula, Montana in a close knit family. She is well rounded and has always enjoyed a challenge. At an early age she earned the nickname Sydlapedia for her prowess at family quiz games, and has excelled throughout her academic career. Sydney is creative and artistic, and in high school she collaborated with her mother to publish a children's book which she illustrated. She enjoys physical activities and especially the sport of jump rope, in which she has competed at a national level for many years and is now coaching. Sydney has always had a concern for the health of the planet, and has gotten her hands dirty volunteering on many recycling and waste reduction projects through the years. Sydney was accepted at Dartmouth College but chose to attend Utah State where she was offered a 4 year full ride for academics and fell in love with the spirit of the school. She decided on a major in Environmental Chemistry with a minor in Math. Her insightful questions and high test scores in Dr. Yi Rao’s Quantitative Analysis class led to an invitation to work in his research lab. She has enjoyed the problem-solving aspects of research and the possibilities of real-world applications that it offers.