Meet our 2022-2023 Peer Mentors!

The Peer Mentoring Program is designed to provide support to undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing research and inquiry. Our peer mentors are wonderful undergraduate and graduate students who represent active researchers and role models from FAU's colleges and partner campuses. If you are interested in participating in undergraduate research or have questions related to how you can get started in research please email one of the mentors in your college to set up a time to meet. Mentors are available to meet in person or virtually. The Peer Mentor page can tell you more about how YOU can become a mentor too!

To meet with a Peer Mentor, visit them during their office hours, or send them an email to set up an appointment. The Peer Mentor's office hours schedule can be found here.

Peer Mentor Name	College	Peer Mentor email address
Katherine Horan	A&L	khoran2018@fau.edu
Priyanka Perumalraja	BUS	pperumalraja2019@fau.edu
Danny Alice	ENG&CS	dalice2021@fau.edu
Mia Lin Amato	HON	mamato2020@fau.edu
Jessica Young	SWCJ	youngjessica2015@fau.edu
TBD/Alternative Contact-Angelica Wiggins	NUR	ouri@fau.edu wigginsa2019@health.fau.edu
Melanie Hart	MED	melaniehart2020@fau.edu
Selah Brammer	SCI	sbrammer2018@fau.edu
Kia Ghods	SCI	kghods2020@fau.edu
Gina Cipriano	EDU	gcipriano2020@fau.edu
Kayla Ahlness	Broward	kahlness2020@fau.edu
Numana Luqman	FAU High	nluqman2019@fau.edu

Peer Mentor Bios

Katherine Horan

College & Major College of Arts and Letters; History
Research Interest(s) History of medicine, social history, scientific history
Hobbies & Awards/Scholarly Programs I love video games, reading, podcasts, and drawing. I’m also learning Latin! Awards: Traci Jill Edelman award for best paper in Latin American history, Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Travel Study Award
Email khoran2018@fau.edu

Mia Lin Amato

College & Major Wilkes Honors College; Cellular Neuroscience
Research Interest(s) The circadian rhythm of Drosophila melanogaster, the transcriptomic changes occurring in the microglia of visually stimulated mice
Hobbies Exercising, reading fiction (sometimes non), traveling, being in nature, listening to science podcasts
Email mamato2020@fau.edu

Priyanka Perumalraja

College & Major College of Engineering and Computer Science; Computer Engineering
Research Interest(s) Computer science, AI and machine learning in transportation and detection optimization, autonomous vehicles
Fun Fact I love playing tennis and trying out new food spots!
Email pperumalraja2019@fau.edu

Kayla Ahlness

College & Major College of Science; B.A. in Anthropology, Graduate Student Masters of Science in Biological Sciences
Research Interest(s) Animal conservation, behavioral ecology, data science, citizen science, and biological education
Hobbies & Awards/Scholarly Programs I love playing the drums and learning new songs. I’ve also played competitive roller derby for 10 years. When I have free time, I play board games with my family and friends. Awards: OURI Undergraduate Research Grant, Fall 2021; Poster Winner at the FAU Data-Driven Science and AI Conference, Spring 2022; William Jerald Kennedy Faculty Award for Outstanding Anthropology Major, Spring 2022
Email kahlness2020@fau.edu

Danny Alice

College & Major College of Engineering and Computer Science; Data Science and Analytics, Minor in Computer Science
Research Interest(s) Artificial Intelligence for Social Good
Hobbies/Fun Fact I can binge-watch a whole season of a tv show in a day. Sleeping, trying new foods, hanging with friends and cats
Email dalice2021@fau.edu

Selah Brammer

College & Major College of Science; Biological Sciences
Research Interest(s) Cell Biology, Immunology, Virology, Bacteriology
Hobbies & Awards/Scholarly Programs I’m interested in the arts and love to draw, write and perform music. A fun fact about me is that I am a black belt in karate. Programs: 2021-2022 LEARN Program Alumni
Email sbrammer2018@fau.edu

Kia Ghods

College & Major Wilkes Honors College; Biochemistry & Interdisciplinary Mathematics
Research Interest(s) Computational Chemistry, Epidemiological Modeling
Fun Fact I am learning to play the piano and love animals!
Email kghods2020@fau.edu

Gina Cipriano

College & Major College of Education; Graduate Student in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Research Interest(s)Infidelity; Therapeutic Relationship
Fun FactI lived in Canada for six years.
Email gcipriano2020@fau.edu

Numana Luqman

College & Major College of Science; Cellular Neuroscience
Research Interest(s) Cellular and Behavioral Neuroscience and Cell Biology
Hobbies Listening to music, Swimming, and Reading
Email nluqman2019@fau.edu

Melanie Hart

College & Major Wilkes Honors College, Cellular Neuroscience
Research Interest(s) Medicine, neurotransmission, mental disorders
Fun Fact & Awards/Scholarly Programs I can recite over 250 digits of pi. Programs/Awards: OLLI scholarship, John Nambu Internship
Email melaniehart2020@fau.edu

Jessica Young

College & Major College of Arts and Letters, B.A in Writing and Art, B.S. in Enviromental Science and Geoscience; Graduate Student
Research Interest(s) Native species conservation, Irish literature, and visual communication
Fun Fact & Awards/Scholarly Programs I enjoy walking in nature preserves and swimming. Awards: Outstanding Thesis Award, 2022; OURI Undergraduate Research Grant, Spring and Fall 2019
Email youngjessica2015@fau.edu