{"id":140014,"date":"2024-03-07T12:19:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T17:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=140014"},"modified":"2024-03-08T13:10:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T18:10:15","slug":"what-is-an-astronaut-scholar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/what-is-an-astronaut-scholar\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is an Astronaut Scholar?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three UCF students have been awarded the highly competitive Astronaut Scholarships for 2023 \u2014 raising the university\u2019s student awards from the organization to 57 since 1989.<\/p>\n

In 2023, 68 students from the nation\u2019s 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\u2019s Innovators Weekend as well as the chance to connect with Astronaut Scholar alumni, the Foundation, and the astronauts themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s first space travelers, the Mercury 7 astronauts, sponsored the original seven Astronaut Scholarships. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

UCF\u2019s 2023 Astronaut Scholars are:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Samantha Stoltz<\/h2>\n

Major:<\/strong> Biology<\/a><\/p>\n

Mentors: <\/strong>Elayraja Kolanthai (biomaterial science), William Crampton (analysis of electric fish species), Sudipta Seal (materials science and engineering)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Burnett Honors Scholar<\/a> can use terms like \u201cepigenetics\u201d and \u201cradical scavenging\u201d and make them sound fun<\/em>. The smile you see while she\u2019s volunteering with the Girl Scouts of Citrus is the same one you see in the UCF lab where she\u2019s trying to find elusive cures for people suffering from a plethora of diseases.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love a good challenge,\u201d Stoltz says, \u201cand the Astronaut Scholarship has added to my desire to innovate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started using a holistic approach \u2014 nutrition, exercise, mental well-being \u2014 to crack my own code in an effort to alleviate the symptoms,\u201d Stolz says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cScience has never come easy for me, but the more I learn, the more I enjoy it because research helps me understand what\u2019s going on with people like my dad and me. Now I\u2019m in a position to do something about it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve moved it into biological studies to see how it might work on breast cancer cells and hope to eventually apply them to other diseases. If this can help combat oxidative stress, it would help so many people, almost like a panacea.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s 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\u2019ll spend a month in Italy. Maybe she\u2019ll find a research opportunity there or a gateway somewhere else before pursuing a Ph.D.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more I live, the more I appreciate going with the flow. I\u2019ll take whatever path allows me to help make the world healthier and happier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luis Santori<\/h2>\n

Major:<\/strong> Math<\/a><\/p>\n

Mentors: <\/strong>Kerri Donaldson Hanna (planetary geology), Adrienne Dove (thermal conductivity), Eduardo Teixeira (math)<\/p>\n

When Luis Santori first heard about the Astronaut Scholarship, he responded the way many students do: \u201cIt must be for students doing aerospace research.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his research advisors, Kerri Donaldson Hanna, told Santori the scholarship is for students studying biology, chemistry, life sciences and math.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me it\u2019s for students like me,\u201d says Santori, a Burnett Honors Scholar.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been using his newfound math creativity \u2014 yes, math creativity<\/em> \u2014 to help Donaldson Hanna make lunar maps and examine the composition of anorthosite on the moon. From day one, Santori has wondered, \u201cHow did the moon get there?\u201d<\/p>\n

He asks a similar question about himself: \u201cHow did I get here, into a lab at UCF?\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not expect to get hooked on research,\u201d Santori says. \u201cI\u2019ve poured the same passion I had for soccer into planetary science.\u201d<\/p>\n

The change of perspective also led Santori to change his major from physics and computer science to another subject he didn\u2019t take seriously in high school: math.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudying is like sports: you reap what you sow,\u201d he says. \u201cThe more I got into math at UCF, the more I realized it isn\u2019t just numbers on rinse and repeat. You use creativity and reasoning. The only limitations are in your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe award validates the work I\u2019ve put into this research \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia Bitcon<\/h2>\n

Major:<\/strong> Physics<\/a><\/p>\n

Mentors:<\/strong> Julie Brisset (properties of asteroids), Jim Cooney (cosmology)<\/p>\n

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 her<\/em>questions. One came up often: What are you researching<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Bitcon explained her research on inflationary cosmology and primordial gravitational waves to this new network of colleagues \u2014 topics she became passionate about because of mentors like UCF planetary scientist Julie Brisset and physics instructor Jim Cooney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made concepts that you can\u2019t see or touch come to life,\u201d says Bitcon, a Burnett Honors Scholar.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking, \u2018Oh, wow, that\u2019s a rocket. I can see it with my own eyes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Around the same time, Bitcon began research with the Florida Space Institute. Under Brisset\u2019s guidance, she studied the properties of asteroid surfaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was exciting to wear a lab coat and explore something as distant as celestial bodies. I wanted to keep going farther.\u201d<\/p>\n

An astronomy class with Cooney took her where she wanted to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a unique way of making abstract ideas understandable, like how gravity works when objects are accelerating. You can\u2019t show it. You have to explain it. He did it so well that I wanted to look deeper into the science of cosmos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitcon\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear about trial and error in research. With cosmology, it\u2019s more of a test of patience and perseverance, which aligns with my personality,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

After graduating, Bitcon plans to pursue a Ph.D. in physics and continue her research on the interface of cosmology and particle physics. She\u2019d also like to teach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, I want to make this topic more approachable for students, the same way my mentors did for me. A student could be like me \u2014 they just need someone to show them the beauty of physics and art coming together in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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