Meet the Scholars

Annie Blanchard she/her

Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Major: Criminology and Public Relations with a Political Science minor
Minor:
Career Goals:
Research_interests: Understanding injustices present in the American prison system.  Annie's UROP project was As If We Were Already Free: Unmaking the Myths of American Justice.
Community Involvement: Phi Aloha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy Student Leadership Council, Academic Recruitment Organization, Women’s Glee, University Ambassadors, Global Scholars Program
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Favorite Meal: Home cooked shrimp and grits!

Aidan Carley he/him

Hometown: Boynton Beach, FL
Major: Biological Sciences and Sociology
Minor: Chemistry and Psychology
Career Goals: Primary Care Physician
Research_interests: Biology, Sociology, Psychology.  Aidan completed an Honors in the Major project analyzing the connections between CBD and a fatty diet on maternal behavior, alongside other health metrics. This work was conducted under supervision of Dr. Debra Fadool at FSU. Clinically relevant for a range of reasons, I hope to work closely with these issues in my future aspirations in healthcare.  He explored the connections between these two interventions as a way to better understand clinical interventions for the broader public.  Aidan's Honors Thesis was titled How Does the Interaction of Cannabidiol and an Obesogenic Environment Influence Maternal Behavior?
Community Involvement: Phi Delta Epsilon, FSU Food for Thought Pantry, Second Harvest of the Big Bend, Big Bend Hospice.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
Favorite Meal: Chicken parmesan

Syd Cole she/they

Hometown: Elkhorn, NE
Major: English and Sociology
Minor:
Career Goals: Not entirely sure.  Something in humanitarianism.
Research_interests: Environmentalism.  Syd works in the Center for Biological Diversity, so she is consistently doing research.  Her UROP project was on The Open Call Podcast.  She also wrote a Master's Thesis titled Women, Climate, Action: An Intersectional Analysis of Women's Agency in Climate Policy.
Community Involvement: FSU Athletics, Presidential Scholars Service Board, Seminole Organic Garden.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Favorite Meal: Sarma with Poğaça

Olivia Csernecky she/her

Hometown: Thiells, NY
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience
Minor: Chemistry and Psychology
Career Goals: Olivia's goal is to work in the healthcare field as a doctor. She is taking a gap year working as a medical assistant and she is applying to medical school this cycle.
Research_interests: Research on drug addiction, cancer, the brain, etc.  Olivia's UROP project was on Chemogenetic manipulation of nucleus accumbens medium spiny neurons in ketamine reinstatement. Olivia also participates in research as a research assistant in Dr. Dewan's lab at FSU. They study the olfactory system which is the system that controls how we smell. They are studying how the parts of the brain encode different scents and the mechanisms behind it in the brain. There is not a lot known about how we smell or why people smell different scents. Dr. Dewan's is one of the labs at the forefront studying these mechanisms to better understand not only the olfactory system but the overall brain.
Community Involvement: Best Buddies, Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Fraternity, Volunteer for Big Bend Hospice, Unconquered by Debt, Presidential Scholars Outreach Board, Research Assistant of Dr. Dewan Lab.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: New Girl
Favorite Meal: Chicken Parmigiana and Penne alla Vodka.

Jordyn Dees she/her

Hometown: Tampa, FL
Major: Editing, Writing, and Media & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Minor:
Career Goals: Museum curator, journalist, author, or other writing-related fields.
Research_interests: Women of color in literature and film, perspectives of historical narratives, the interdisciplinary nature of social studies, and more!  Jordyn's UROP project was The Empire of American Science: Photographic Narratives and Visual Evidence.
Community Involvement: Honors Experience Program, Academic Recruitment Organization, Her Campus, University Ambassadors.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Favorite Meal: Jerk chicken with rice and peas.

Julia Earnest she/her

Hometown: Jupiter, FL
Major: Exercise Physiology
Minor: Chemistry
Career Goals: Physician
Research_interests: Genetics & Nutrition
Community Involvement: FSU Academic Center for Excellence (ACE), Sergeant Ernest I. Boots" Thomas VA Clinic", TMH Neurology/Neurosurgery & Outpatient Neurology Rehab Volunteer.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Wellness by Nathan Hill
Favorite Meal: Cozy Chili

Natalie Griffiths she/her

Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
Major: Biological Sciences
Minor: Chemistry
Career Goals: Physician
Research_interests: Genetics, immunology, virology, epidemiology.  Health Information-Seeking Behavior of Pregnant Women.
Community Involvement: The Torch Society, Big Bend Hospice, Smitten with Kittens Cat Rescue.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Star Trek: Voyager
Favorite Meal: Chicken Tender sub from Publix

Jamie Guterman she/her

Hometown: Fort Myers, FL
Major: Information, Communication, & Technology
Minor: Innovation
Career Goals: Creative Technologist (entertainment, experiential marketing, etc).
Research_interests: Human-centered design.  Jamie's UROP project was on The Empire of American Science.
Community Involvement: Power of WE, Seminole Innovators, Students & Technology in Academia, Research, & Service (STARS) at Montford Middle School, Unconquered By Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
Favorite Meal: My grandma's matzo ball soup!

Gabe Herschelman he/him

Hometown: Raleigh, NC
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Career Goals: Physician
Research_interests: Species Interactions.  Gabe's UROP project was on Understanding Fishing in Coral Reef Ecosystems.
Community Involvement: The Torch Society, Department of Chemistry, Leon County Humane Society.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Favorite Meal: Octopus

Brylee Hester she/her

Hometown: Port St. Lucie, FL
Major: Political Science and Interdisciplinary Social Science
Minor:
Career Goals: Work for a social service nonprofit, work on a campaign, or run for public office.
Research_interests: I would like to research how developing economies depend on child labor and how one could restructure the economy to dismantle child labor systems.  Brylee's UROP project was Drunk on Democracy: Investigating how religion and alcohol have influenced the image of a good American citizen.
Community Involvement: Kappa Kappa Gamma, Dance Marathon
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Becoming by Michelle Obama
Favorite Meal: Any kind of gluten free pasta

Sami Humeda he/him

Hometown: Pensacola, FL
Major: Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences
Minor:
Career Goals: Physician
Research_interests: Biology and Chemistry.  Sami's UROP project was on contrasting how General Electric depicted their workers in unpublished photographs and articles in comparison to other major magazine corporations.
Community Involvement: Boys Town
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Shining
Favorite Meal: Sushi

Sofia Lavidalie she/her

Hometown: Gonzales, LA
Major: English - Editing, Writing, and Media
Minor: Education
Career Goals: Professor
Research_interests: Education, child psychology, classic literature, gender studies, historical fiction.
Community Involvement: UROP, Honors Experience Program, FSU Childcare/Early Learning Center, PeaceJam, Unconquered by Debt
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Girls
Favorite Meal: The El Diablo quesadilla at Burrito Boarder

Kevin Miller he/him

Hometown: Fairfield, CT
Major: Economics
Minor:
Career Goals: Neurosurgeon
Research_interests: Hearing Loss, PTSD in Veterans, Brain Tumors, and Direct Primary Care.  Kevin's UROP project was on Emergent Literacy Training for Parents of Children with Hearing Loss.
Community Involvement: Boy Scouts of America, Catholic Student Union, and Nu Rho Psi
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Favorite Meal: My mom's homemade chili

Sydney Mullen she/her

Hometown: Tarpon Springs, FL
Major: Criminology
Minor:
Career Goals: Something law related, possibly criminal law, or forensic psychology.
Research_interests: Psychology and Sociology.  Sydney's UROP project was on Investigation into the History of Race Relations in Tallahassee.
Community Involvement: Volunteered at the summer camp I went to as a kid, organized school events / clubs
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee
Favorite Meal: Chocolate cake

Ian Mutschler he/him

Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL
Major: Meteorology
Minor: Mathematics Minor
Career Goals: Work at a National Weather Service Office / The National Hurricane Center
Research_interests: Improving tropical cyclone forecasting, tropical cyclogenesis, rapid intensification of tropical cyclones, Tropical cyclone climatology, tropical cyclone dynamics and structure.  Ian conducted research under the supervision of Dr. Robert Hart, through the Honors in the Major program.  Ian's research investigated the climatology and common aspects of forecast failures in rapid intensification in Atlantic Hurricanes. Results showed that RI forecast failures occurred in environments with lower 500/700mb RH, lower raw SSTs, and higher raw 200mb PVU values, compared to RI forecast successes. The title of his Honors Thesis is Climatology and Common Aspects of Forecast Failures in Rapid Intensification of Atlantic Hurricanes.  There are many future opportunities, including investigating model guidance, more environmental variables, and investigating the implications in actual RI forecasting.
Community Involvement: North Florida Chapter of the American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association, FSU club Water Polo, Unconquered by Debt, Food for Thought Pantry, Seminole Organic Garden, Keep Tallahassee Beautiful, Tallahassee Science Festival.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Dune
Favorite Meal: My Mom’s homemade spaghetti and meatballs

Elizabeth Orraca

Hometown: Celebration, Florida
Major: Biology/Statistics
Minor: IDS/Math
Career Goals: Epidemiologist
Research_interests: Statistical Genetics, Health, Bioinformatics, Epidemiology.  Magnetic Molecules for Quantum Information Processing.  Through an online internship with the University of Colorado, Elizabeth researched the relationship between cognitive brain function and the progression of COPD, under Dr. Erin Austin.
Community Involvement: Seminole Organic Garden, Greenhouse Farms, Kappa Kappa Gamma.  Hunger Free America, Seminole Garden.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Midnight Library
Favorite Meal: Empanadas

Caroline Owen she/her

Hometown: Jacksonville, FL
Major: International Affairs
Minor:
Career Goals: I hope to be a diplomat to a Middle Eastern country/embassy.
Research_interests: I don’t plan to continue researching in the future, it’s not what I’m really interested in.  Caroline's UROP project was called Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Experience of Women Spies of the SOE in WWII.
Community Involvement: At FSU, I’m involved with the Presidential Scholars Diversity and Inclusion Board and I work with New Student and Family Programs as a 2021 Orientation Leader!
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Favorite Meal: I love sushi, it’s probably my favorite meal to spend money on and enjoy with friends.

Gabriel Pfeuffer-Ferguson he/him

Hometown: Cantonment, FL
Major: Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Minor:
Career Goals: Politician
Research_interests: Educational Policy, Impacts of Professional Development on Teachers, Diversity and Inclusion within Schools.  Gabriel's UROP project was on Morphological Instruction: A Survey of Teacher and Speech Language Pathologists' Perceptions and Experiences.
Community Involvement: Presidential Scholars Executive Board, Vietnamese Student Association, Best Buddies, Honors Experience Program, University Ambassadors
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Favorite Meal: My grandma’s Bánh Xèo and egg rolls

Chandler Pruett he/him

Hometown: Waxhaw, NC
Major: Meteorology & Statistics
Minor: Physics
Career Goals: My goal is to earn a PhD, join NOAA as a hurricane hunter, and then spend my late career years as a professor.
Research_interests: Severe Weather, Tropical Meteorology and Hazard Communication, Tropical cyclones and data assimilation.  Through UROP, Chandler researched fractional dimensions relating to meteorology equations.  In the Summer of 2023, he studied how sea level rise is impacting the amount of rain necessary for coastal flooding. Research was done externally and not under the supervision of a particular person. Chandler also completed an Honor's Thesis titled Climatology of Tropical Cyclone Reconnaissance Missions and Implications: When forecasting changes in Atlantic tropical cyclones, data availability is often a limiting factor due to the lack of observing systems in the Atlantic Ocean. Consequently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Air Force Reserves conduct flight missions to collect crucial information, such as wind speeds, to capture characteristics of tropical systems and aid models in forecast initialization. This study presented a comprehensive analysis of six years of reconnaissance flight missions to understand the observed structure of tropical cyclones. Utilizing a dataset of stepped frequency microwave radiometer observations, the analysis first cataloged the average frequencies of observations in specific windspeed intervals, as determined by the intensity of the tropical cyclones. Subsequently, the study chronologically evaluated the success rates of potential intersections of the gale-force wind threshold (GF-PIs), demonstrating that earlier GF-PIs are the most successful. The study also analyzed the statistical relationship between the number of successful GF-PIs and the peak wind speeds of the tropical cyclones. Although weak, the statistically significant inverse relationship indicates that reconnaissance missions more frequently fail to detect the gale-force wind extent in stronger hurricanes.
Community Involvement: RMS Meteorological Analyst, FSU Weather, FSU Navigators, FSU Hiking Club, FSU Climbing Club, North Florida Chapter of American Meteorological Society / National Weather Association, Cajun Navy, Unconquered by Debt, Second Harvest Food Bank.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Red Rising Saga
Favorite Meal: Teriyaki Salmon

Grace Robinson she/her

Hometown: Orlando, FL
Major: Finance
Minor:
Career Goals: Grace plans on working as a financial analyst in the aerospace industry.
Research_interests: Universal Design, children with disabilities.  Playground Accessibility for Children with Disabilities.
Community Involvement: Alpha Chi Omega, Best Buddies, Unconquered by Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Favorite Meal: Steak

Lauren Russell she/her

Hometown: Sarasota, FL
Major: Public Health
Minor:
Career Goals: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Research_interests: Infectious disease epidemiology, computer science, disease/health surveillance.  Lauren's UROP project was on Medical Applications of Exosomes.
Community Involvement: (current) FSU SHAP, Pschols diversity and inclusion board, (past) model un, math tutoring
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Dinner by Herman Koch
Favorite Meal: Quesadillas

Nick Schwab he/him

Hometown: Sarasota, FL
Major: Media Communications Studies
Minor: French and Criminology
Career Goals: Nick wants to be a film/television writer/director.
Research_interests: Law.  For his UROP project Nick created A Comprehensive Mass Shooting Database.
Community Involvement: Sigma Phi Epsilon, Friday Night Live at FSU, Sustainable Tallahassee, Gretchen Everhart School, Project Annie, FSU Food Pantry.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Shogun
Favorite Meal: Veal Piccata

Haley Thomasson she/her

Hometown: Iverness, FL
Major: Psychology & Advertising
Minor:
Career Goals: To work as a strategist at an advertising agency.
Research_interests: Interpersonal Relationships and Decision Making.  Haley completed an FSU Speed Dating Project for UROP.
Community Involvement: Arrowhead Advertising Team, Food for Thought Pantry, Unconquered by Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: When Harry Met Sally
Favorite Meal: Anything breakfast or anything with bacon.

Rose Walters she/her

Hometown: Boca Raton, FL
Major: Commercial Entrepreneurship and International Affairs
Minor:
Career Goals: PCUSA Pastor and Founder of social enterprises
Research_interests: Political Science, International Affairs, Psychology.  Rose's UROP project was on Direct Democracy and State Social Policies.
Community Involvement: Although Rose has taken a step back from many involvements this year, it is only so she could invest more into the communities that truly uplift and inspire her. This school year Rose has been involved in UKirk Tallahassee, the Jim Moran College Student Board, and The Seeker's Circle, Faith Presbyterian Church, Dogwood Acres, Unconquered by Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Manifest
Favorite Meal: Breakfast tacos. Rose has been perfecting her craft of making homemade tortillas for quite some time now!

Finn Wright he/his

Hometown: Orlando, FL
Major: Computer Science / Editing, Writing & Media
Minor:
Career Goals: software design or journalism
Research_interests: Emerging technologies, political polarization.  Finn's UROP project was on the application of media literacy to current events.
Community Involvement: service trips and food drives
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Favorite Meal: lunch