Kaitlin Gardner is a 4th year EAS major minoring in Public Policy. She is currently working with Dr. Andrew Newman on seismology. This past spring, after receiving the PURA award, Kaitlin joined Dr Newman’s group to Costa Rica to assist with onsite research. Kaitlin also took part in a project at the University of Reykjavic in Iceland on nuclear energy on a study abroad program this last summer. 

Matthew Meister is in his 6th year in Mechanical Engineering and will be graduating this December.  In his line of research he works with Dr. Britney Schmidt on underwater vehicles and CubeSats, specifically mechanical design and system integration. For the underwater vehicle research he primarily focuses on Icefin, which is the vehicle Dr. Schmidt built using her startup funds. Matthew is the lead mechanical engineer on the vehicle and is responsible for the mechanical design and analysis.

Namrata Kolla is a 4th year student double-majoring in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Public Policy. She says that Dr. Dana Hartley, Dr. Richard Barke, and Ms. Leslie Ross have been her greatest mentors through college. Namrata is currently researching the crossroads of earth sciences and public policy, such as how to quantify the negative social effects of environmental damage or how to improve the communication between scientists and policymakers.She is also researching the predictability and long-term trends of ocean acidification with Dr. Emanuele Di Lorenzo.

Lauren Merritt is a 4th year student in Earth and Atmospheric Science concentrating in Meteorology. Her interests include severe weather, aviation, and mathematics. She first became interested in meteorology in the 4th grade when she read books about severe weather and natural disasters. Her freshman year in college she volunteered at the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, where she shadowed forecasters and learned how to launch weather balloons.