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Congratulations to Gianna Fanelli ’20 on her acceptance into graduate school at the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience! Gianna is an alumni of both the EXCEL program and Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida. During her time at UCF, she was heavily involved with EXCEL as a GEMS Mentor, GEMS Lead Mentor, and COMPASS Lead Mentor. She also participated in the Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) her sophomore year, and credits this experience for introducing her to research opportunities with the Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab (C.E.E. Lab) and UCF Marine Turtle Research Group.

Gianna will be pursuing a PhD in Zoology with a research specialization in molecular biology. She will be working closely with her PI and the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory to learn more about fibropapillomatosis (FP) in endangered sea turtles and contribute to both rehabilitation and conservation efforts.

Gianna is excited to start at UF this upcoming Fall semester and begin her thesis, but looks forward to checking in on all the amazing things still happening over at UCF!