Our August and September 2017 “Mentor in the Spotlight” is Katie Rocci. Katie is a new master’s student in Ecology and is starting her studies at Colorado State University this semester.  Katie says that she is really interested in ecology because it looks at the connections between different spheres (hydro-, geo-, atmo-, bio-) and between living and non-living things. She is particularly passionate about understanding ecological processes that will allow scientists to better predict the effects of climate change and hopefully act to mitigate them.

Katie participated in ecology-related field projects even before starting her Master’s studies at CSU. She has many fond memories from those projects, but one in particular. Katie told us that “Even summer in sub-arctic Sweden is still very cold. During my first week of field work it snowed and hailed and there were sub-freezing temperatures. This would have all been manageable except that I slipped off the boardwalk and fell into a pond which left me soaked and freezing. Luckily, my fellow scientists came more prepared than I and had extra socks and gloves that they let me borrow and the field station had a big snowsuit that I could warm up in. So from this I learned: 1) Always come prepared for the unexpected and 2) If you’re not prepared make sure your fellow scientists are!”

Katie is a new mentor with the PROGRESS program in the Colorado/Wyoming Front Range.  Please email Ilana if you would like to get in contact with Katie.