Meet the Scholars

Grady Anderson

Hometown: Fruitland Park, Florida
Major: Political Science and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Minor: Research Intensive Bachelor's Certificate
Career Goals: Political Scientist and University Administrator.
Research_interests: Public opinion, political polarization, survey methodology, education policy, higher education.  Grady Anderson has held two research assistantships this academic year. Working under Dr. Modi in the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, he has contributed to their project which seeks to examine the impact of political polarization on critical thinking skills of college students. He and Dr. Modi are currently planning their experimental design, and are expecting to start running the experiment in Fall 2024. Additionally, Grady has served as a research assistant in the Office of the Provost. In this role, he has contributed to the university's accreditation efforts. Specifically, he has contributed to the university's Quality Enhancement Plan, especially in the area of doctoral student success.
Community Involvement: Research Assistant, Department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences; Applied Politics and Policy Learning Experience; Research Assistant, Office of the Provost; Office of Governmental Affairs; Honors Colloquium Leader; Unconquered By Debt, tabled around campus; Office of Governmental Affairs, developed a student body survey, conducted policy analysis, assisted in the creation of legislative stances for the Student Government Association.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Real Housewives of New York City
Favorite Meal: Chicken hibachi and boba

Alyssa Balliett

Hometown: Lake Wales, Florida
Major: Philosophy
Minor: Psychology
Career Goals: Law
Research_interests: Sociology and Educational Theory (social behavioral trends specifically in an academic setting)
Community Involvement: church organizations, volunteering, lacrosse, and UROP
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu Edition)
Favorite Meal: Chicken Alfredo

Kyleigh Bishop

Hometown: Ocala, Florida
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience
Minor: STEM Entrepreneurship
Career Goals: My career goals are to attend medical school and eventually become a surgeon.
Research_interests: Pre-health and Social Sciences; Women’s mental health.
Community Involvement: The Torch Society, Phi Delta Epsilon Pre-med Fraternity,  Power of WE, The Alzheimer's Project, and Second Harvest.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: New Girl
Favorite Meal: Pad Thai & Sushi

Ashley Boudreaux

Hometown: Sarasota, Florida
Major: Creative Writing & Humanities Dual-Degree
Minor: French
Career Goals: Ashley is unsure what her exact career goals are, although she knows that she would like to work in the literary field. She follows the philosophy that dedicating oneself to one's passions will result in career doors opening, as long as one remains dedicated and tenacious. She plans to continue working within her field and letting a career reveal itself to her.
Research_interests: Feminist Performance Art of the 1970's, Feminist Economics.
Community Involvement: Southeast Review, Calvin's Coffee House, Presidential Scholars, Mental Health Council, Unconquered by Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Favorite Meal: Sushi and Boba

Kailen Christian

Hometown: Plant City, Florida
Major: Chem Engineering and Economics
Minor: Math, Chemistry, General Business, Global Citizenship Certificate
Career Goals: Kailen hopes to start out her career in pharmaceutical research and development or manufacturing, and eventually work up into a project management role.
Research_interests: Pharmaceuticals, maybe something in microeconomics, or color chemistry ( ie how do pottery glazes work, how (cellularly/ biophysically) have animals evolved to have bright colors)
Community Involvement: Freshman Leadership Institute, Student Engineering Leadership Board, Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity, National Society of Black Engineers, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Bend, Florida State University Student Foundation, FSAB x Camp Boggy Creek.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Infinite Powers by Steven Strogatz
Favorite Meal: Sushi

Carson Dale

Hometown: Columbia, Missouri
Major: International Affairs
Minor:
Career Goals: Public policy for an environmental law firm or nuclear energy company.
Research_interests: Constitutional Law.  University of Missouri Constitutional Law Research on Libel Law in America with Professor John Wright during the Summer of 2023.
Community Involvement: ForwardFSU, Student Foundation, Student Government Association Executive Branch, Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity, Social Science Scholars Program, Honors Legal Scholars Program.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Shogun
Favorite Meal: Peanut Pad Thai

Erica Darcy

Hometown: South Daytona, Florida
Major: Studio Art
Minor: Anthropology
Career Goals: Still not 100% sure, but have been looking into museum work as a future career!
Research_interests: Visual anthropology; how art represents history.
Community Involvement: Throughout the past year, Erica has been most involved with FSU's Film Committee at the ASLC. This organization is devoted to running the movies that run weekly in the theater, alongside deciding which movies will play. Twice a week, the committee holds meetings where students can attend - here, they are able to debate and vote on titles that may fit certain themes best.  Erica has also volunteered for Garnet and Gold Goes Green, where she collected recyclables throughout home basketball games, and cleaned up any recyclables left behind in the stands once the game ended, and Unconquered By Debt, where she tabled for the organization, handed out flyers to students, advocated for workshop attendance, and attended workshop.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Favorite Meal: BBQ Mac n Cheese

William Dhana

Hometown: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Major: Biological Sciences
Minor: Chemistry
Career Goals: Physician-Scientist
Research_interests: Oncology, cancer biology, cell and molecular biology.  At Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering, Will worked with Professors Denis Wirtz and Ashley Kiemen under Lucie Dequiedt as a preceptor for a study on pancreatic cancer (PDAC) detection. Using a novel CNN, the team worked to uncover correlations between current methods and AI to detect pancreatic cancer lesions.  At FSU's own National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Will worked with Dr. Amrit Venkatesh to create deliverables and run NMR spectroscopic tests on solar cells and organic compounds.  At the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, Will worked with Dr. Michael Gottesman and Preceptor Dr. Robert Robey in the Laboratory of Cell Biology of the NIH to research methods of drug delivery and fighting drug resistance among cancers.
Community Involvement: Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, Academic Recruitment Organization, The Torch Society, The Student Council for Undergraduate Research and Creativity, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Medical Response Unit, FSU Snow.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Parasite (2019)
Favorite Meal: Bulgogi Tofu

Fiona Dininger

Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Major: Biochemistry
Minor:
Career Goals: Cancer Researcher
Research_interests: Health and Human Wellness.  As a research assistant at the Hickner Lab, Fiona has continued her investigation into the Impact of Resistance Training on Fat Modulation of Post-Menopausal Obese Women. Under Dr. Robert Hickner and Dr. Mostafa Ali, Fiona has assisted in gathering data and conducting a trial aiming to see if endurance training is an effective method of preventing diabetes through improving the metabolic flexibility of the participants. Through the use of fat biopsies, microdialysis, and more, this research project will be able to determine if participants have become better at switching between burning carbs and burning fat, a key preventor of developing diabetes. Fiona has assisted in performing microdialysis, laboratory prep work, teaching new lab assistants, fat biopsies, analyzing samples, training participants, analyzing data, and analyzing samples. This research was done internally at FSU and is still being conducted to determine the impacts. Fiona will continue with this research project in the coming years.
Community Involvement: Fiona was involved in many organizations this year including Alpha Chi Sigma Professional Chemistry Fraternity, Phi Sigma Pi Honors Fraternity, UROP Leader Training, and research in the Hickner Lab.  She also volunteered in the post-operative care ward at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, and assisted patients with basis tasks to aid in their recovery such as getting them water and helping them change.  In addition, she volunteered as a study group leader for organic chemistry 2 and helped answer questions and prepare students for their exams. Finally, she worked shifts tabling and at marketing minutes to help increase the financial literacy of FSU students and make them aware of the different opportunities on campus for Unconquered By Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Masters of the Air
Favorite Meal: Baked Potatoes.

Sarah Foy

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Major: Social Science Education
Minor: Masters in Curriculum and Instruction
Career Goals: I aim to be a passionate educator with the ability to bring positive, sustainable change to the leadership and administrative side of education within the United States.
Research_interests: Education, Data-driven instruction, Curriculum, Education Policy, Education Demographics.
Community Involvement: N2UPF Higher Education Leadership Program, Delta Zeta Sorority, FSU Fraternity and Sorority Life, FSU Student Government Association, FSU University Ambassadors, FSU Light the Night.  I also worked with Neighborly in Tallahassee a bit throughout this semester. Every Tuesday morning, they have a group called the Breakfast Brigade that goes out to labor pools in Tallahassee and feeds breakfast to those who may otherwise miss out on free meal programs.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The UnXplained
Favorite Meal: The Suwannee Room!

Ella Garcia

Hometown: Mount Dora, Florida
Major: Political Science and English
Minor: Pursuing a Degree in Three/More in Four Master's Degree in Applied American Politics and Policy
Career Goals: Ella aspires to become a civil rights lawyer and pursue a career advocating for environmental equity in both law and policy. Additionally, she hopes to become a published author and obtain a Doctorate!
Research_interests: Ella's research interests include environmental justice, felony disenfranchisement, and the history of U.S. led involuntary sterilization in Latino communities.  Ella was recently accepted into the Honors in the Major Program, which she will begin in the Fall of 2024. Ella hopes to study environmental justice movements, particularly how they gain momentum, span ideological differences, and overcome obstacles. Under the mentorship of Dr. Christopher Reenock, Ella will examine how marginalized communities in Florida protested against sugar cane burning and how they were treated by the government in comparison to well-resourced groups.
Community Involvement: Ella's main campus involvements for this year have been in Student Senate and the APPLE Program at Florida State University.  Ella also volunteered with FSU Votes and Unconquered by Debt throughout the Spring Semester, where she helped table at events, and assist in student civic engagement.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Favorite Meal: Unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks from Olive Garden

Grace Hickey

Hometown: Niceville, Florida
Major: Cell and Molecular Neuroscience, Computational Science
Minor: Chemistry and Mathematics
Career Goals: Computational neuroscience researcher.
Research_interests: Grace's primary research interests are in social and developmental neuroscience, computational neuroscience, and neurotoxicology.  Grace conducted research as a Directed Individual Study (DIS) student at FSU this year under Dr. Elizabeth Hammock. In the fall semester, she finished work on her project from the previous year on oxytocin, an important hormone in social behavior, as an anti-inflammatory to cultured microglial cells, which are the innate immune cells of the brain. In the spring, Grace has been pursuing a project on the expression of oxytocin in mouse vaginal cells. Both of these projects have implications for our understandings of social behaviors, especially in regards to matters like neurodevelopment, birth, and maternal behaviors.  In the summer, Grace will be conducting research with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base. The work will be focusing on understanding and modeling the visual systems of insects.
Community Involvement: Grace has been involved with FSU's Swing Dance Club and FSU's ESA S.E.E.D.S chapter, Second Harvest of the Big Bend, FSU Mathematics Department, and Unconquered by Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky
Favorite Meal: My mom's chili.

James Hudson IV

Hometown: Brandon, Florida
Major: Computer Engineering and Business Administration
Minor: Marketing
Career Goals: I want to run my own business.
Research_interests: technology and information
Community Involvement: entrepreneurship, financial literacy education, STEM education advocacy, travel, tennis, Star Wars, procrastination, and half glasses of water
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Florida State University Student Financial Responsibility Agreement
Favorite Meal: pulled corn beef brisket with South Carolina barbecue sauce, loaded baked potato, balsamic carrots, Mountain Dew, and banana pudding

Elisa Kim

Hometown: Wake Forest, North Carolina
Major: Neuroscience
Minor:
Career Goals: Not 100% sure yet, as of now psychiatry.  I would also love to eventually actually use my real estate license when I have more time.
Research_interests: Elisa's research interests in the past year have been in TMS in cognitive neuroscience and social psychology.  Elisa has been involved as a DIS student with 2 FSU labs this past year.  In the Nee lab, Elisa has been assisting with the TMS/Anhedonia project with participant transcranial magnet stimulation, helping with fMRI scans, and EEG data collection.  This research hopes to lead to novel, non-invasive treatment of sub-cortical dysfunction, an aspect of many psychiatric and neurological disorders.  In the March lab, Elisa has been assisting with several projects related to racial bias, utilizing technology such as fEMG, a VR shooter task, and force plates.  Through the dual implicit model, the research applies threat versus valence distinction to research areas such as prejudice, aiming to advance our understanding of information processing.
Community Involvement: International Programs; Presidential Scholars E&U Board; Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (Patient Experience dept.); Big Bend Hospice (patient companionship).
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh
Favorite Meal: Pasta

Jimi Korec

Hometown: Pensacola, Florida
Major: Political Science and Economics
Minor:
Career Goals: Law
Research_interests: Finance, Mass Incarceration.
Community Involvement: FSU Consulting Group, Center for Advancement of Human Rights, Student Senate.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Get Out
Favorite Meal: Sushi

Patrick Laciuga

Hometown: Ocala, Florida
Major: Computer Engineering
Minor:
Career Goals: To engage in research/hands on work with optimization of electrically programmed systems used in human/machine integration for both entertainment and health benefits (i.e., think musk's Neuralink or Facebook's Meta).
Research_interests: Computer Science/Engineering (although I am currently in civil engineering research with a computer science focused role).  I have been conducting research on analysis of pavement/asphalt binders with Dr. Michael Elwardany and other assistants from the colleges of Civil and Environmental engineering. My role began as optimization of calculation procedures for parameters related to load-displacement data of asphalt binders in a fracture strength test abbreviated as DENT. Since then I have refined the DENT project and am close to submitting for publication as a co-author, and I have also assisted Dr. Elwardany and assistants in FTIR imaging projects as well as temperature function modeling using programs written by myself in Python as-needed.
Community Involvement: Set building for plays, volunteer lifeguarding, Unconquered by Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Imitation Game
Favorite Meal: Garlic chicken/sauce combo paired with white rice.

Lucie Lovato

Hometown: Pensacola, Florida
Major: English Literature Media and Culture
Minor: Humanities: Religion and Gender Studies
Career Goals: Attorney
Research_interests: Women's Studies.  I was a research assistant for Danielle Wirsansky on the project Ungentlemanly Warfare which focused on the female spies of the SOE during World War II, specifically the French section. This was my UROP project and I concluded research in the summer.
Community Involvement: Phi Mu Fraternity, Dance Marathon, Honors Colloquium, Undergraduate Research, End It Movement, Recruitment Counselor, 1910 Honorary, Order of Omega, Dance Marathon.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Favorite Meal: Sushi

Aryan Manohar

Hometown: Lake Mary , Florida
Major: Political Science
Minor:
Career Goals: Lobbyist, campaign strategist, foreign diplomat, running for office
Research_interests: Environmental policy, statewide and local demographic change, food science
Community Involvement: ModelUN, mock trial, sustainability on campus, oven grate pizza
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Losing America by Robert Byrd
Favorite Meal: Varan bhat (dal rice)

Sophia Miller

Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Mathematics
Career Goals: Either to attend medical school or conduct medical research
Research_interests: Methods to alleviate disability inclusion, and research pertaining to brain injury/trauma
Community Involvement: Member of a sorority, Women in STEM, UROP, and hopefully Leadership Board for Presidential Scholars
Last Book, Show, or Movie: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Favorite Meal: Sushi (especially if I’m not paying for it)

Melanie Mitchell

Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience
Minor: Spanish and Chemistry + Global Citizenship Certificate
Career Goals: To attend Medical School upon graduation
Research_interests: Mental health and/or Environmental Science.  Currently applying for DIS.
Community Involvement: Sophomore President of Class Councils, Kappa Epsilon Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Inc., SISTUHS Inc., SAA Director of Homecoming Parade,  Chief, and Princess, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital - May 2023 - January 2024, Second Harvest, Alzheimer's Project - Summer 2024 - Future
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau
Favorite Meal: Indian Food! (Paneer makhni)

McKenna Oakley

Hometown: Hamilton, Ohio
Major: Creative Writing and Media/Communications Studies
Minor: Humanities and Religion
Career Goals: McKenna plans to either pursue an MFA in Creative Writing or a career in Social Media Content Creation and Management following her undergraduate years.
Research_interests: McKenna is interested in research that can inform her poetry, such as research on topics of identity, feminism, self-image, and faith systems.  During her freshman year, McKenna conducted a research project in FSU's Digital Postcard Archive that explored racial representation within the American fashion scene from the late 1800s to present day. This experience helped her develop integral humanities research skills, such as evaluating qualitative data. Her work in the Archive was supervised by Dr. Michael Neal of the English department. Throughout her sophomore year, McKenna has spent her time developing the rough draft and overall framework for the creative project that will serve as her Honors in the Major thesis for the 2024-2025 school year. This project will be a portfolio of original poetry adhering to a memoir/coming-of-age theme. McKenna has conducted extensive research in the work of other poets, such as Dorianne Laux, to inform this creative process. Her research thus far has been supervised by Dr. David Kirby of the English department, who will serve as her Honors in the Major faculty advisor.
Community Involvement: McKenna has served as a member of layout team for the Kudzu Magazine, a worldwide literary publication for undergraduate students, throughout both semesters of the 2023-2024 school year. Furthermore, McKenna has been an active member of the international English honor society known as Sigma Tau Delta. She attended the society's national Centennial Convention in Spring 2024 to present a portfolio of her original poetry.  McKenna also volunteered for the Food for Thought Pantry, breaking down and disposes of recycling materials, helping students check out their groceries, sorting through food donations, and taking inventory of food donations.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Immigrants' New Camera by Maryfrances Wagner
Favorite Meal: Just a quesadilla with lots of toppings inside.

Rachel Olson

Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Major: Editing, Writing, & Media and Classical Civilization
Minor:
Career Goals: Rachel has rather widespread goals and would be happy to be a technical writer, an editor, a creative writer, or work in a museum.
Research_interests: Rachel has research interests in early Tallahassee history, the ways that textual interpretations shift over time as new audiences reinterpret old media, and the history of mythology - specifically the myths of mystery cults and festivals - within ancient Greece.  Through her internship with Theater With a Mission's Dr. Benjamin Gunter and Ms. Idy Codington, Rachel spent the Summer of 2023 research into a series of Yellow Fever Epidemics in early Tallahassee, drawing connections between the reactions of people at the time and the reactions modern Tallahassee residents had during the COVID pandemic.
Community Involvement: Rachel is involved with the FSU Fencing Club.  Rachel has worked with Aunt Louise's Farm in October of 2023 when she helped run their Halloween Trunk or Treat event. She has also worked with Second Harvest of the Big Bend from August of 2023 - April 2024.  In that time she has packaged and sorted a variety of food donations and helped make calls for their food box donation service.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Our Wives Under the Sea
Favorite Meal: Shepherd's pie

Jesse Olsson

Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida
Major: Dual degree in physics/math
Minor: Computer science
Career Goals: Physics research
Research_interests: Condensed matter, nanophotonics
Community Involvement: Instrumental jazz, quiz bowl
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
Favorite Meal: Fried grouper

Samantha Randall

Hometown: New York, New York
Major: Public Relations
Minor: English, Political Science
Career Goals: Professional dancer as well as something science related
Research_interests: How scientific and anatomical knowledge help a dancer better understand the intricacies of their body and improve their overall performance.
Community Involvement: Student Senate, ForwardFSU, University Ambassadors, University Comms, Mental Health Council, Freshman Leadership Institute, Unconquered by Debt, Food For Thought Pantry.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: La La Land
Favorite Meal: New York pizza

Olivia Seely

Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Major: Environmental Engineering
Minor:
Career Goals: While she is still discovering the many opportunities within environmental engineering, Olivia was immediately grabbed by the idea of working on and improving wildlife bridges, geotechnical engineering, and in ephemeral wetland conservation.
Research_interests: Like with her career goals, she is still discovering new opportunities every day. However, in addition to the topics in her career goals, Olivia is interested in using the arts to promote engineering education, specifically using theatre to encourage young women to pursue engineering.  
Community Involvement: White Mouse Productions, the Environmental Service Program, Disabled Student Union, Unconquered By Debt, FSU Environmental Service Program (served as temporary fundraising chair, created some social media posts, removed invasive plants from local parks, helped build a butterfly garden for a local elementary school).
Last Book, Show, or Movie: What Bees Want: Beekeeping as Nature Intended
Favorite Meal: Spanakopita and Tiropita

Hannah Squier

Hometown: Stuart, Florida
Major: Biological Sciences, Economics
Minor: Chemistry
Career Goals: Business, STEM commercialization.
Research_interests: Genome assembly, speciation, behavioral genetics, computational science.  Under the mentorship of Dr. Alan and Dr. Emily Lemmon in the Lemmon Lab at FSU, Hannah has been helping to develop a new genome assembly method. Current genome assembly methods are not efficient enough to assemble large, repetitive genomes such as the chorus frog genome, so a new method is needed. Her group's method uses selected, single-copy sequences to connect reads before the rest of the sequencing data is overlaid to form the assembly. Future directions include optimizing this process and testing their methods on actual data instead of simulated data. If this new genome assembly method works as predicted, large genomes will be able to be assembled overnight, instead of the current months-long process.
Community Involvement: FSU International Programs, Torch Society, Presidential Scholars Outreach Board, Lemmon Lab, FSU Climbing Club, Honors program, IM sports, Seminole Organic Garden, Unconquered by Debt.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Agony and The Ecstasy
Favorite Meal: Poke Bowl

Alexis Staveski

Hometown: New Port Richey, Florida
Major: Computational Science and Economics
Minor: Mathematics
Career Goals: Professor of Computational Social Science
Research_interests: Computational Social Science. 
Community Involvement: Alexis was involved in the Student Senate, Programming Allocation Committee, Women's Student Union, ForwardFSU, and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement.  Alexis volunteered with Unconquered By Debt at their tabling initiatives to educate students on the resources of the organization. In the area of financial wellness, she also volunteered at the Presidential Scholar's Financial Wellness Fair, helping to coordinate the event and ensure it ran smoothly. She volunteered in financial wellness for a total of 5 hours. Alexis also volunteered with the Women's Student Union in her capacity on the Women's History Month Committee. She planned the organization's Women's History Month Leadership Panel, designing questions centered around women's experiences in leadership, imposter syndrome, and allyship. She also co-moderated this panel. A sentiment from this panel that struck her was "oftentimes, taking on larger leadership roles is not about yourself or your work, it is about handing the microphone to other people." She also tabled at the organization's intersectional kickoff event to educate students on the mission of WSU and the events of the month. Furthermore, the second part of this event included a tour of the other identify-based agencies on our campus where attendees assembled a bouquet of flowers by collecting flowers at different agency spaces. She volunteered with this organization for a total of 8 hours in the spring semester.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Modern Family
Favorite Meal: My favorite meal is a chicken tender wrap from Publix.

Avery Vargason

Hometown: Pensacola, Florida
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Career Goals: Veterinarian
Research_interests: Avery is a research assistant in a biology lab. They are measuring the growth/decline of natural and restored coral reefs.  The research that Avery conducts is mostly computer work. She scans through photos taken of a large part of a coastline and outlines specific corals, labeling them, and determining their size. This is done for many photos taken over many years by divers in the lab and the data is then compiled, and the size and recruitment of new corals are noted. This lab is supervised by Andre Rassweiler at FSU.
Community Involvement: Unconquered by Debt, Food Recovery Network, FSU Animal Society, FSU Environmental Service Program, IM soccer, outdoor pursuits.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: 10 Things I Hate About You
Favorite Meal: Sushi

Josie Whelan

Hometown: Miami, Florida
Major: Biological Sciences
Minor: Chemistry, Anthropology
Career Goals: I aim to become a wildlife biologist/researcher.
Research_interests: Animal behaviour, human-wildlife conflict, sexual selection, foraging.  From 2023-2024, I continued my work with the Okamoto (and Hughes)  lab studying lipid content in Heterandria formosa as a DIS student. We examined the effect of harvest and food treatments on lipid and embryo mass content. I also worked on a bird-window strike project with the FSU Spoonbills Society under Dr. Duval. This project will be continued for the next few years with the intent of reducing bird-window collisions in the future. This summer, I will be studying sexual selection in Lance Tailed Manakins with the DuVal lab in Isla Boca Crava, Panama.
Community Involvement: Academic Trainers, FSU Strategies for Ecology, Education, Diversity, and Sustainability, FSU Spoonbills Society, Unconquered By Debt, FSU Saves, G4, Coastal Plains Institute.
Last Book, Show, or Movie: Good Omens
Favorite Meal: Lamb and oven roasted potatoes with an ice cream bombe dessert.

Ella Windlan

Hometown: Hudson, Florida
Major: Editing, Writing, and Media, potentially pre-med
Minor:
Career Goals: Potentially something involving expanding access to healthcare or something in journalism. In general I just want to do good and make a true impact on the lives of others.
Research_interests: Urban planning, economics, genetic science
Community Involvement: "Past: Several projects to aid with food insecurity at my school, volunteering to aid in the transition to online school during COVID-19, helping local kids with problem solving skills at summer camps. Interests: Sustainability efforts, food insecurity, providing whatever is needed to struggling people in my community."
Last Book, Show, or Movie: The Feather Thief
Favorite Meal: Enchiladas