Community Engagement, Mentoring, Outreach, and Broader Impacts

Outside of research, I am dedicated to increasing diversity in STEM research, fostering safe and welcoming spaces, peer mentoring, and increasing collaboration. For my work in DEI and community involvement, I was awarded the Catherine Lyons Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Undergraduate Student Award and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Academy for Global Experience (EMSAGE) Award.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

PSU Millennium Scholars Program and Millennium Society

As an undergraduate, I was a member of the Penn State Millennium Scholars Program (MSP), a merit-based scholarship program for undergraduate students interested in obtaining a Ph.D. and increasing diversity in their respective fields. I served as a tutor and peer mentor for other scholars from underrepresented backgrounds. I tutored classes including ecology and evolution, geochemistry, and honors calculus. I also served as Vice President and Interim Treasurer for Millennium Society, the service organization for MSP.

Minorities in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

I also served as secretary and one of the founding members of Minorities in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (MEMS). MEMS was founded by minority students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) to make a safe, welcoming, and uplifting space for all students, simplify the pathway to research, graduation, and graduate education, and increase networking and professional development opportunities for underrepresented students. As secretary, I assisted in organizing social events, study sessions, and inviting minority researchers to discuss their journey.

Association for Women Geoscientists

As an undergraduate, I was a member of the Penn State Millennium Scholars Program (MSP), a merit-based scholarship program for undergraduate students interested in obtaining a Ph.D. and increasing diversity in their respective fields. I served as a tutor and peer mentor for other scholars from underrepresented backgrounds. I tutored classes including ecology and evolution, geochemistry, and honors calculus. I also served as Vice President and Interim Treasurer for Millennium Society, the service organization for MSP.

Mentoring

Through undergraduate research, I gained the confidence and passion to pursue graduate school, and I want to spark that in others, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. I am currently overseeing an undergraduate honors student (PJ Przybylski, seen above) on describing the insect damage present in the Pakistan Ghazij flora. My mentoring style includes designing a comprehensive and unique project that interests the student, training future researchers on how to think like a scientist and dissect academic literature, and treating each student as a researcher, not just an assistant. Previously, I also mentored an undergraduate researcher (Kevin Johansson) in the SE Asia paleo-heritage project and a high school student (Khel Gordhan) in the cassiduloid paleobiology project.

Image above: Myself and PJ Przybylski in the PSU Paleobotany Lab unboxing the Ghazij Flora from the Smithsonian, Oct. 2022.

Additional Community Outreach

As VP and interim treasurer for Millennium Society, I organized and ran multiple fundraisers and events including houseplant and merchandise sales for the Mid-State Literacy Council, which helps increase English literacy in Centre County, PA, and THON, the nation’s largest student-led philanthropy, focused on supporting families struggling with pediatric cancer. I also participated as a volunteer for six years with East End Hospice's Camp Good Grief (CGG), a camp dedicated to helping children properly grieve after the loss of a loved one. I assisted in teaching proper grieving practices to groups of approximately 15 campers each year and was the recipient of the Helping Makes You Happy Award from my time at CGG.

Image above: MSP Cohort 6 Graduation, May 2022.