Student and Alumni Spotlight
UCF Graduate Student Awarded Prestigious Marine Conservation Scholarship Named After Distinguished Marine Biologist Susan L. Williams
Carla Perscky, a master’s student in the UCF Department of Biology and Navy veteran, received the Women Divers Hall of Fame’s (WDHOF) Susan L. Williams Memorial Graduate Marine Conservation Scholarship, a prestigious award that will help her fund critical research on how varying ocean temperatures affect tropical seagrass — a first-time study on this specific species.
As a first-generation graduate student, Perscky’s passion for marine conservation was shaped by her childhood in Panama, where she grew up in a culture deeply connected to the ocean. Her love for the sea led her to a career in the U.S. Navy, where she spent more than a decade as a boat captain and engineer, broadening her understanding of ocean ecosystems.
Following her military service, Perscky transitioned to the corporate world, but quickly realized it didn’t align with her passions and goals. Her desire to protect and restore ocean ecosystems was still at the forefront of her mind.
“I’m very mission-driven and I was looking for my next mission — the corporate world wasn’t it,” says Perscky. “But after I started volunteering with Dr. Linda Walters at the UCF Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab, it gave me purpose again.”
College of Sciences Hosts 2025 Distinguished AlumKnight Awards
The evening of March 27th was filled with joy, laughter, and community at the annual College of Sciences Distinguished AlumKnight Awards, to recognize the College’s most outstanding alumni.
Kelsey Larsen, Assistant Professor in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs and Associate Director of UCF’s Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence, hosted the award ceremony.
“UCF is a university for the future. We are on the path to become a preeminent university in Florida. The College of Sciences is supporting that vision—increasing the number of students that complete their undergraduate education in four years, growing the number of doctoral degrees, and catalyzing research,” Maggy Tomova, former College of Sciences Dean, says. “Our strategic plan is helping shape the future aligned with three pillars: student success, research and innovation, and community and culture.”
Yvette Kanouff Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree
The College of Sciences Spring 2025 commencement ceremony featured a special guest speaker, alumna Yvette Kanouff, who received one of the highest honors bestowed by UCF, an honorary doctoral degree. Kanouff earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from UCF and has remained engaged with UCF in the subsequent years, currently serving on the College of Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board.
“I am so humbled by this honor,” Kanouff says. “When I received my master’s degree, Dr. Ahmed Zayed — my ‘thesis father’ and mentor — told me that my work in math was worthy of a doctorate. However, I was not in a position to pursue that level of education at the time. I am so grateful, proud and honored to stand here now and receive this degree from UCF.”
In her commencement remarks, she expressed appreciation to her family and friends and spoke to the power of mentorship in her life, encouraging graduates to give back, especially to their alma mater.
Meet the College of Sciences 30 Under 30 Awardees
The College of Sciences is celebrating its eight alumni who were selected as 30 Under 30 awardees. These exceptional AlumKnights have gone above and beyond in their careers while making an incredible impact in their post-collegiate journeys at a young age.
Katy Sullivan, who received her master’s in political science in 2019, says that attending UCF has made a profound impact on her career and achievements. She shared that her love for politics sparked at a young age, as she grew up with an immigrant parent, and had experience learning about American politics from different perspectives.
“The most rewarding part of my career is celebrating the signature of bilateral treaty level agreements that have been several years undertakings that advance U.S. space cooperation and industry,” Sullivan says. “To see all your hard work become culminated through becoming a legally binding international agreement is very special.”
Doctoral Student Uses Applied Sociology to Create Change Locally and Globally
Lisa Rodriguez, a fourth-year sociology doctoral student in the College of Sciences, is using her academic path and shared experiences to make an impact in communities through research, outreach, and applied sociology. Grounded in her Puerto Rican heritage, her work spans a number of research areas, including disaster response and STEM engagement among youth.
In 2024, Rodriguez says she served as a Habitat for Humanity International Practicum Fellow in the Dominican Republic, a role focused on disaster response in rural communities. Drawing from both academic training and personal experience with hurricanes, she created workshops that helped residents prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.
“You build rapport with the community first and then offer resources and work together to come up with viable solutions,” Rodriguez says. “At the end of the day, that’s the point. To help people in these communities.”
College of Sciences Doctoral Student Combines Archaeology, Geospatial Science, and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University’s Spatial Data Lab
Bryce Peacher, second-year doctoral student studying Integrative Anthropological Sciences, is currently in a fellowship with Harvard University’s Spatial Data Lab. His unique research engages Geospatial Artificial Intelligence to look at ancient landscapes.
This unique form of storytelling, Peacher says, requires alternative techniques to generate more timely and informative results.
“My research focuses on training large language models (LLMs) to analyze ancient landscapes using archaeological datasets. Traditionally, archaeologists use GIS and remote sensing to understand how past societies interacted with their environments.” Peacher says.