2022 Cohort

Hermosa Otero

  • 2022 Cohort
  • University of Texas, San Antonio
  • EERREC: Rachel Vannette lab
Hermosa currently is working in plant breeding as a research assistant.

Mason Henry Avelar

  • 2022 Cohort
  • CSU Channel Islands, Class of 2023
  • EERREC: Andrew Whitehead lab
Mason Henry graduated in May 2023 and joined the Scott Loss lab at Oklahoma State University as a field technician. He'll work with graduate student Tucker Taylor to study the interplay between birds and the ticks they carry, and woody plant encroachment in grasslands.

Luke Sparreo

  • 2022 Cohort
  • Connecticut College, Class of 2024
  • EERREC: Jeff Ross-Ibarra lab
Luke, a junior at Connecticut College, continues to work with the Ross-Ibarra lab to expand his summer project on the influence of indigenous languages on maize genomics. He spent part of the 2022-2023 academic year in a "study somewhere else" program at the University of Hawaii. He's been seriously bitten by the phylogenetics bug and is conducting research at the Smithsonian in summer 2023 on the phylogeny of newly-discovered species of grapes. In Fall 2024, he will enter a PhD program at Fordham and CUNY, with a fellowship from the NY Botanical Garden Fellowship.

Trey Ursillo

  • 2022 Cohort
  • Wake Forest University
  • EERREC: Rachael Bay lab
Trey earned honors in Biology and the Carolina Biological Supply Company award for undergraduate research at Wake Forest's 2023 commencement. He conducted research for a year at Wake Downtown, and in Fall 2024 will begin a PhD program at Michigan State University on urban avian ecology in the McGraw lab.

Bridget Patterson

  • 2022 Cohort
  • Bowdoin College
  • EERREC: Jay Stachowicz lab
Bridget got a Fulbright! She wrote, "I'll be taking classes at Bangor University and doing research this summer before graduating in August [2024] with an MSc in Marine Biology. I hope to be doing community outreach around the seagrass restoration meadow as part of my engagement with the local community."

Katelyn Sanchez

  • 2022 Cohort
  • Texas A&M University, Class of 2023
  • EERREC: Benjamin Sacks lab

Daisy Lewis

  • 2022 Cohort
  • Washington University, St. Louis, Class of 2023
  • EERREC: Kate Laskowski lab

Lizbeth Gonzalez

  • 2022 Cohort
  • CSU Fullerton, Class of 2022
  • EERREC: Louie Yang lab
Lizbeth graduated from CSU Fullerton in December 2022. She's held contract positions for several years, including working for the Great Basin Institute as a member of the Timber Stand Improvement Crew, inspecting contract vegetation management and restoration projects in El Dorado National Forest. In Summer 2024, she will begin a position as an Environmental Scientist in the Caltrans Biology Offices.

Brooke Culler

  • 2022 Cohort
  • Cal Poly Humboldt, Class of 2023
  • EERREC: Emily Meineke lab
Brooke Culler incorporated her EERREC research into a senior honors thesis, and will soon begin a MS program at Cal Poly Humboldt. In June 2024, Brooke wrote, "The work did with Dr. Meineke is still ongoing! We're currently working together, along with several other co-authors, to get that research published... I'm also working as an on-call biologist for an environmental consulting company while I pursue my masters at Cal Poly Humboldt."

Avery Davis

  • 2022 Cohort
  • Elon College, Class of 2023
  • EERREC: Nann Fangue lab
Avery, a 2023 graduate of Elon College, has a position with the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute as a Reintroduction Assistant. She'll work to reintroduce vulnerable species, such as Lake Sturgeon, brook trout, darters, and other aquatic animals, back into the Tennessee River. In Fall 2024, Avery will join the lab of Kit Wheeler at Tennessee Tech to study the federally threatened Spotfin Chub.