CARA CASTELLANA KRIESMAN (2006, B.S. in Economics with honors, Summa Cum Laude).
Named a Truman Scholar in 2005, Cara’s honors thesis, Examining the Robustness of the “Natural Resource Curse” to Definitions of Growth, was directed by Professor Stefan Norrbin (Economics). Cara earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago in 2008. While in graduate school, she worked for then Senator Barack Obama as well as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. She was hired to set up the Office of Presidential Correspondence after the 2008 presidential election. Cara returned to Chicago in 2010 to serve as the Chief of Policy for the Office of City Treasurer. She has worked to bring financial education to 200 schools in Chicago, and to grow the city’s micro-loan program from $750,000 to 3 million dollars.

JOSHUA MIKEL (2007, B.A. in Theatre with honors and Creative Writing, Magna Cum Laude).
Joshua debuted his Honors in the Major creative project at the 2006 ACC Meeting of the Minds at Clemson University. “Quentin G” has since been published by Playscripts, Inc. He is the playwright in residence at Endstation Theatre Company in Lynchburg, VA. His play, “Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island”, debuted at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival and will begin a summer 2011 run at Endstation Theatre on June 1. Joshua continues to work with fellow FSU alumni on multiple projects such as screenwriting, music videos, television shows, and art and design. He was recently cast in the movie “Crackerjack”, a Jeff Foxworthy film about competitive little league baseball. Filming begins in Savannah, GA in fall, 2011.

HOLLY MONROE (2007, B.S. in Biochemistry with honors, Summa Cum Laude).
Holly completed her Honors in the Major thesis, Identifying molecular markers of early invasive human breast carcinoma, under the director of Dr. Amy Sang in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She graduated from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in spring 2011. She plans to complete her residency in Dermatology. Her research at UCLA has important clinical implications, regarding future vaccine development, prevention and treatment of Staphylococcus aureus skin infections. Holly is active in her community as a volunteer at the Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the United States for uninsured patients.

PANKAJ PAL (2007, B.S. in Biochemistry with honors, Summa Cum Laude).
While at FSU, Pankaj completed the general Honors program and wrote her Honors thesis, Establishment of a stable mammalian cell line supporting AAV infection without helper virus, under the direction of Dr. Michael Chapman (formerly in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, now at the Oregon Health & Science University). She was a recipient of the 2006 Howard Hughes Fellowship in Mathematical and Computational Biology and the 2007 Marjorie Schoch Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship. She is currently a fourth year student in the Medical Scientist Training Program (combined M.D. /Ph.D) at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. More..

MICHAEL HENDERSON (2008, B.S. in Biological Science with honors, Summa Cum Laude).
Michael completed the general Honors program and defended his Honors thesis, Glucose and diet-induced obesity modulation of ion channel biophysics, under the direction of Dr. Debra Ann Fadool. He is currently in the Ph.D program in Neuroscience at Yale University.

RYAN JENKINS (2008, B.A. in Philosophy with honors, Summa Cum Laude).
Ryan was named the 2008 Phi Beta Kappa Marion Jewell Hay Award winner for outstanding research. His Honors in the Major thesis, You’ve Earned It! Searching for a defensible basis for desert in wages, was completed under the direction of Dr. David McNaughton (Philosophy). His thesis examined questions regarding the living wage movement. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

JEFF GODBEY (2009, B.S. in Biological Science with honors, Summa Cum Laude).
Jeff’s honors thesis, Environmental and genetic modulation of morphology, memory, olfactory ability, and anxiety in mice, was directed by Professor Debra Ann Fadool (Biological Science). He is currently a second year student in The College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. He describes the coursework as “challenging; the content is always interesting.” Jeff spends most of his time studying and gaining clinical experience, but he makes time for cycling, intramural sports, fraternity life, and creative writing. A native of Tallahassee, he plans to return home after graduation in 2012 to set up his own veterinary practice.