Three UCF students have been awarded the highly competitive Astronaut Scholarships for 2023 麻豆精品 S� raising the university 麻豆精品 S檚 student awards from the organization to 57 since 1989.
In 2023, 68 students from the nation 麻豆精品 S檚 top research institutions were awarded up to $15,000 each through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). Students must be nominated by a faculty member at their institution and must demonstrate considerable dedication to their field of study. In addition to the monetary award, scholars receive a paid trip to ASF 麻豆精品 S檚 Innovators Weekend as well as the chance to connect with Astronaut Scholar alumni, the Foundation, and the astronauts themselves.
NASA 麻豆精品 S檚 first space travelers, the Mercury 7 astronauts, sponsored the original seven Astronaut Scholarships. It 麻豆精品 S檚 awarded to explorers, but not necessarily the kind that wear spacesuits and helmets. These are students who dedicate their research to making a difference in this world and beyond.
UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 2023 Astronaut Scholars are:
A natural-born writer who turned to biology for personal reasons; a soccer player turned planetary scientist; and a competitive dancer studying the universe through the lenses of physics and art.
Samantha Stoltz
Major: Biology
Mentors: Elayraja Kolanthai (biomaterial science), William Crampton (analysis of electric fish species), Sudipta Seal (materials science and engineering)
Four years ago, Samantha Stoltz could not have envisioned herself speaking in front of brilliant people at Kennedy Space Center. Yet here she is, invited to the podium because of her ambitious research, her honor as an Astronaut Scholar and perhaps partly because she exudes so much enthusiasm.
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Personal reasons also drive her research. Her dad is among millions of people suffering from illnesses that are sometimes undetected and often under-researched. Stoltz herself experienced fibromyalgia chronic pain and fatigue symptoms as early as 13 years old.
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It 麻豆精品 S檚 also why Stoltz decided to study something other than literature or writing, which came more naturally to her. Instead, she accepted the challenges of biology and embraced a motto: the growth is in the discomfort.
麻豆精品 S淪cience has never come easy for me, but the more I learn, the more I enjoy it because research helps me understand what 麻豆精品 S檚 going on with people like my dad and me. Now I 麻豆精品 S檓 in a position to do something about it, 麻豆精品 S� she says.
Stoltz has funneled her research interests into the mysteries of oxidative stress, where antioxidants in the body cannot keep up with unstable molecules, or free radicals. Her preliminary research has found cerium oxide nanoparticles effective at offsetting oxidative stress and reducing inflammation, with what appear to be limited side effects.
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She 麻豆精品 S檚 writing a research article and hopes to be published in the spring. But Stoltz is not the same person who once dreaded public speaking and needed a detailed plan. After graduation, she 麻豆精品 S檒l spend a month in Italy. Maybe she 麻豆精品 S檒l find a research opportunity there or a gateway somewhere else before pursuing a Ph.D.
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Luis Santori
Major: Math
Mentors: Kerri Donaldson Hanna (planetary geology), Adrienne Dove (thermal conductivity), Eduardo Teixeira (math)
When Luis Santori first heard about the Astronaut Scholarship, he responded the way many students do: 麻豆精品 S淚t must be for students doing aerospace research. 麻豆精品 S�
One of his research advisors, Kerri Donaldson Hanna, told Santori the scholarship is for students studying biology, chemistry, life sciences and math.
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He 麻豆精品 S檇 been using his newfound math creativity 麻豆精品 S� yes, math creativity 麻豆精品 S� to help Donaldson Hanna make lunar maps and examine the composition of anorthosite on the moon. From day one, Santori has wondered, 麻豆精品 S淗ow did the moon get there? 麻豆精品 S�
He asks a similar question about himself: 麻豆精品 S淗ow did I get here, into a lab at UCF? 麻豆精品 S� His interest in STEM started with his drive on the soccer field, long before he knew was STEM meant. The laws of physics crept into the nuances of the game and into Santori 麻豆精品 S檚 conscious. For a high-school science project, he used physics to model kicks: how ball spin, angle, and force affect the path. During a course in astronomy his first year at UCF, his interest in soccer shifted to space. That 麻豆精品 S檚 when he contacted Donaldson Hanna to ask if she might have a research opportunity. A few weeks later, he sat in awe among a group of graduate students and Ph.D.s, listening and nourishing his mind.
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The change of perspective also led Santori to change his major from physics and computer science to another subject he didn 麻豆精品 S檛 take seriously in high school: math.
麻豆精品 S淪tudying is like sports: you reap what you sow, 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淭he more I got into math at UCF, the more I realized it isn 麻豆精品 S檛 just numbers on rinse and repeat. You use creativity and reasoning. The only limitations are in your head. 麻豆精品 S�
Santori has applied these skills to research projects on thermal conductivity with Adrienne Dove, on calculus of variation and PDEs with Eduardo Teixeira, and on modeling DNA self-assembly (making structures for optimal drug delivery). Meantime, the Astronaut Scholarship inspires his long-term commitment to study the composition of rocks on the lunar surface so he can gain a better understanding of where they, and the moon, came from.
麻豆精品 S淭he award validates the work I 麻豆精品 S檝e put into this research 麻豆精品 S� the weekends, the late nights, and the progress. It fuels the same kind of enthusiasm I had as a kid playing soccer, except now the accomplishments are more gratifying. 麻豆精品 S�
Olivia Bitcon
Major: Physics
Mentors: Julie Brisset (properties of asteroids), Jim Cooney (cosmology)
At an event in downtown Orlando to honor Astronaut Scholars from around the country, Olivia Bitcon found herself in the company of astronauts and STEM researchers. She asked them a few questions and, in a twist, they asked herquestions. One came up often: What are you researching?
Bitcon explained her research on inflationary cosmology and primordial gravitational waves to this new network of colleagues 麻豆精品 S� topics she became passionate about because of mentors like UCF planetary scientist Julie Brisset and physics instructor Jim Cooney.
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As a teenager and competitive dancer, Bitcon noticed an artistic quality about stars, especially on the rare nights when she could look up and see beyond the ambient city light near Chicago. But she saw everything in a new light shortly after she arrived at UCF on a Benacquisto Scholarship for National Merit Scholars. One night she looked to the east and saw a flare rising from Earth.
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Around the same time, Bitcon began research with the Florida Space Institute. Under Brisset 麻豆精品 S檚 guidance, she studied the properties of asteroid surfaces.
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An astronomy class with Cooney took her where she wanted to go.
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Bitcon 麻豆精品 S檚 subsequent research became the foundation of her Honors Undergraduate Thesis on inflationary cosmology and primordial gravitational waves. On her Astronaut Scholarship application, Bitcon conveyed how she had to self-direct the research into the subject of astroparticle physics.
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After graduating, Bitcon plans to pursue a Ph.D. in physics and continue her research on the interface of cosmology and particle physics. She 麻豆精品 S檇 also like to teach.
麻豆精品 S淚deally, I want to make this topic more approachable for students, the same way my mentors did for me. A student could be like me 麻豆精品 S� they just need someone to show them the beauty of physics and art coming together in the universe. 麻豆精品 S�
If you are interested in the Astronaut Scholarship or other prestigious awards, please reach out to the Office of Prestigious Awards at OPA@ucf.edu.
