Alumni 2008

Alina Ali is a sophomore Animal Science major, contemplating a minor in Education. She loves to share with people, especially kids, her love for animals and nature in general. She is intrigued by invasive animal species and how they encroach on exotic ecosystems. In her spare time, she enjoys performing in Cornell’s Humor Us!  sketch comedy group, reading, and horseback riding.
Presentation: Animal sounds

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Sarah Chang is a junior Natural Resources major and is particularly interested in marine biology and conservation. She spent this past summer at Shoals Marine Lab studying the conservation of marine resources and the current state of our oceans. Sarah hopes to continue studying coral reefs and spread the enthusiasm she has for biodiversity to everyone else!
Presentation: Endangered species

Rebecca Daley is currently a junior and a Biology & Society major with a focus on Ecosystem Function and Management.  She is also pursuing a minor in Entomology. She has experience in ecological research (both field and laboratory) as well as in science communication. Some examples include participating in a leatherback turtle conservation project in Saint Croix, working as a lab assistant in a limnology lab, and giving presentations to visitors at the San Francisco Zoo. This summer she carried out her own research project analyzing the chemistry and hydrology of a forested watershed in the White Mountains. She enjoys public speaking and looks forward to communicating her excitement for science to children through this outreach program.
Presentation: Forest Ecosystems: From a small frame to a big picture

Taro Eldredge is a senior entomology major interested in beetle evolution and biodiversity. Ever since he was young he remembers collecting and observing insects. Even now he loves spending his free time outdoors, backpacking, skiing, and collecting beetles. He hopes to continue on with academics in the future and get people excited in the fascinating world of insects.
Presentation: Ants

Patricia Eliasinski is a junior majoring in Biological Sciences and concentrating in Plant Biology. Her concern for the environment and the organisms living in it has led her to spend the majority of her summers conducting pollution and water toxicology research. She has also volunteered her time tutoring her peers in difficult science courses and working with elementary school students. She has a strong passion for medicine and hopes to be a doctor one day where she will be able to use and convey the information she had learned to others. However, it is never too early to start and she is excited to inspire younger students to study and appreciate the environment in which they live.
Presentation: Bats

Benjamin Golas is a senior in Animal Sciences at Cornell University hoping to go into veterinary medicine for wildlife.  Animals have been his passion since well before he could remember, and large mammals hold a particularly special spot in his heart.  He spent this past summer tracking lions, hyenas, and rhinoceros in Uganda and Kenya, and the year before that working with wild black bears in Minnesota, where he did outreach work teaching people to understand and live peacefully with their backyard neighbors.
Presentation: Bears

Margaret Kellogg is a senior pursuing a degree in Natural Resources with a concentration in Applied Ecology. She has so far enjoyed a variety of jobs in California and Costa Rica including environmental education for adults and youth, and ornithological research. Margaret hopes to continue researching wild birds and connecting the public to the world of scientific discovery.
Presentation: Birds: feathers for flight

Jamie Kopco is a sophomore Entomology major with a particular interest in conservation and ecology. He has five years’ experience keeping honeybees and two summers’ experience as the ecology director at a Boy Scout summer camp. He is still unsure of his future career goals, but hopes that his future holds teaching or environmental work, or some combination of the two.
Presentation: Honey Bees

Hi! My name is Shu Yang Lu, called Dennis. I am currently a sophomore Biological Sciences major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.  Being a biology major, I fascinated by science, especially mammalian biology and cellular biology as well as evolutionary biology.  I am originally from China, but currently residesin Rockland County, NY (the smallest county in New York).  In the past, I have worked as an elementary to high school tutor as well as a percussion leader for my high school marching band.  Currently in Cornell, I am involved in many extracurricular clubs as well as participating in research in the Tumbar Lab, studying the effect of Runx1 in hair follicle stem cells.  In my spare time however, I enjoy playing, writing, and listening to music as well as spending quality times with my friends.  Although I can’t wait until I get accepted into medical school, I am looking forward to sharing my passion for science with all the eager kids as well as future scientists.
Presentation: Fossils

Jordan Perlman is a junior Entomology/Biology and Society major. Originally, Jordan was drawn to insects because of her interest in vector-transmitted disease and tropical medicine. After taking introductory insect biology, Jordan developed a more generalized love for insect ecology, and physiology. She likes to explore the fingerlakes area, searching for new places to hunt for cool bugs! Jordan has scattered outreach experience with wildlife/refuge biology, as well as in the completely unrelated field of emergency preparedness. She hopes to go to medical school and focus in diagnostics, where there is plenty of opportunity to encounter bizarre insects! Jordan can’t wait to share what she believes are the most fascinating aspects of bugs with others!
Presentation: Insects have super-powers

Samuel Ramsey is an entomology/biology double major with a minor in statistics.  He plans to become a research entomologist studying predatory insect behavior and eventually Samuel plans to have an entomology themed show on Animal Planet.  He has been interested in entomology since he was 7 years old after conquering severe entomophobia.  Now he wants to explain, using the charisma he can muster, that insects are amazingly interesting creatures that should be revered not feared.
Presentation: Predatory arthropods

My name is Kourtney Reynolds and I am Senior in Biological Sciences, with a concentration in Animal Physiology and a minor in Education in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I am focusing my career to be in medicine, but also enjoy teaching. My favorite things in life revolve around my family, friends, animals and the desire to push myself. I attended a very small rural high school in eastern San Diego County and am the first graduate to attend an Ivy League college. I believe that you have to make things happen by getting involved in life, not just sitting on the sidelines hoping for a chance to play. I spent a semester in Hawaii last year and enjoyed working with the many species of animals and plants. Working with the dolphins was a life long dream of mine and reinforced my belief in making your dreams come true through hard work, tenacity, and a bit of good luck.
Presentation: Skulls

Oliver Schaufelberger is from Clinton, New Jersey and is a sophomore in the Science of Natural and Environmental Systems major. He wants to concentrate in biology and ecology and hopes to pursue a career in research. His hobbies include birding, backpacking, and skiing.
Presentation: Bird migration

Robert Schintzius is a junior studying Entomology.  Growing up in Buffalo, New York, Robert has attained a deep appreciation for all of its unique flora and fauna.  Although he enjoys studying all aspects of insects, he plans on attending medical school after undergraduate.  Robert has had outreach experience doing medically related workshops, and is really looking forward to branching out into the natural world!
Presentation: Aquatic insects

Sarah Schoenberg is a sophomore majoring in Natural Resources with a concentration in Applied Ecology. She developed her passion for the environment early and continues to enjoy hiking, camping, and rowing.  She has worked as a Summer Naturalist, exciting young students about marine ecosystems and hopes to continue to instill others with enthusiasm for scientific inquiry in the outdoor.
Presentation: Animal relationships in the Cayuga lake

Jessica Walden is a senior double-majoring in Biology and Entomology. She recently returned from Moab, Utah and Jackson, Wyoming where she studied the insects that visit the evening primrose.  Jessica plans to pursue her fascination with the natural world in graduate school. In her spare time she runs, bikes, canoes and hikes to find new and exciting places.
Presentation: An insect’s view of pollination

Diane Wang is a junior Biology major in CALS.  She loves the great outdoors and enjoys backpacking, climbing, and paddling.  She has spent the last two summers and school year doing research in the McCouch Rice Lab, learning about the modern techniques involved in the process of rice improvement to alleviate food shortages the world is facing. Diane has recently become interested in plant diversity and adaptations and hopes to share with students all the unique and interesting traits plants have evolved!
Presentation: Plant-pollinator coevolution

Timothy Woolley hails from Rockland County, New York and is a junior studying Landscape Architecture at Cornell. He has always been interested in the outdoors, and has participated in many camping and backpacking trips with the Boy Scouts and for sheer enjoyment.  Tim hopes to share this love and interest so that others can know more about the natural world in which they live.
Presentation: Life in the woods