2023 Mentors

Dr. Gastel teaches subjects like science communications, medical humanities, and medical writing at many institutions. She writes many books and articles on the topic of science communications, and she is also one of the co-directors of the Science Influencers program!

Dr. Gastel is a mentor to Fernanda Arcos.

Find out more about Dr. Gastel’s work here.

Dr. Adams studies bat ecology for conservation, researching through Bat Conservation International. She strives to bridge the gap between research and implementation using collaboration and outreach. Currently, she is working on bat conservation in Texas, specifically combatting white-nose syndrome in bats.

Dr. Adams is a mentor to Jeremiah Wright.

Find out more about Dr. Adams’ work here.

Dr. Polcyn is a paleontologist whose research involves exploration of evolutionary patterns and development of explanatory models. In his research, he sets out to understand why animals may have evolved the way they did, focusing broadly on marine amniotes and specifically on mosasaurs.

Dr. Polcyn is a mentor to Jared Cooke.

Find out more about Dr. Polcyn’s work here.

Dr. Woolbright is the Nutrition Program Director for Whole Foods Market. She is responsible for establishing corporate health programs, creating and running several retreats annually, improving corporate wellness initiatives, and developing online and social media strategies.

Dr. Woolbright is a mentor to Hope Bigbee.

Find out more about Dr. Woolbright’s work here.

Dr. Qi’s aim is to understand human health and develop medical technologies. By integrating predictive models and experimentation, she and her team tackle various challenges in biomaterial design and drug development. Dr. Qi and her team are currently researching topics of microphysiological systems, biomaterial design, cellular biomechanics, and engineering.

Dr. Qi is a mentor to Camryn Couvillion.

Find out more about Dr. Qi’s work here.