Digital Fellows
The EEB Digital Fellows Program provides an opportunity for graduate students to gain skills in and a deeper knowledge of science communication and digital media. For more information on the fellows' duties and benefits, check out our About the Digital Fellows page.
With support and training from mentors Sue Nichols and Daniel Trego, the EEB fellows produce a story project on EEB research in their chosen medium – such as writing, visual arts or podcasting.
Sue Nichols
Sue is a communications strategist with 30 years of experience developing innovative approaches to enhancing and sharing scientific research. She is Michigan's first science communicator to be elected a AAAS Fellow.
Daniel Trego
Dan is a digital media specialist with expertise in video production. He works to design effective media for learning and is passionate about storytelling and helping others create and cultivate their digital presence.
2025 Digital Fellow
Alyssa Saunders
Alyssa Saunders is a PhD student in integrative biology and a members of the MSU Electric Fish Lab studying the evolution of mormyrid sperm. A recognized science communicator, she was awarded MSU's Graduate Student Award for Science Communication and Outreach. Her work received top popular votes in this year’s EEB Art in Science competition for her Crochet Lab. Alyssa will continue to make her integration of needlecraft and science accessible to EEB and others.
2024 Digital Fellows
Jamily Lorena
Jamily Lorena is a PhD student in integrative biology and a member of MSU's Fish Evo Devo Geno Lab. She is interested in the gene regulatory foundations of vertebrate evolution and development. Jamily is a highly talented scientific illustrator and created an interactive science communication board as an EEB digital fellow.
Bruna Rodrigues do Amaral
Bruna is a PhD student in integrative biology and a member of the Zipkin Quantitative Ecology Lab. Her research focuses on understanding how birds cope with the challenge of surviving in the Anthropocene. She examines and compares avian species and communities in temperate and tropical regions. Bruna has contributed to outreach programs helping elementary school students learn about the role of statistics in the study of ecology.
2023 Digital Fellows
Ayley Shortridge
Ayley is a PhD student in integrative biology and a member of the Ecological and Evolutionary Herpetology Lab at MSU’s Kellogg Biological Station. Her research focuses on the evolution and ecology of freshwater turtles and conservation biology.
2022 Digital Fellows
Inaugural fellows Beth Gerstner and Katrina Culbertson completed their training by
writing news articles exploring research topics visited upon by several EEB faculty
and labs. This work was part of a longer goal of articulating EEB's commonality -
the different ways change in nature is examined, and what becomes of discoveries.
Katrina Culbertson
Katrina is a PhD student in Carolyn Malmstrom's Plant and Microbial Ecology Lab in the Department of Plant Biology in the College of Natural Science. She studies host-vector interactions in both natural and cultivated ecosystems.
Beyond the gut - scientists explore big impacts of nature's tiniest worlds
Beth Gerstner
Beth is a PhD student in Phoebe Zarnetske's Spatial and Community Ecology Lab in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Her research focuses on generating range maps for data-poor species of conservation concern in Central and South American cloud forests.
Save the umbrella for a rainy day: an alternative way forward for conservation
