Julie F. Jameson, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Florida Department of Chemical Engineering, was awarded the Attributes of a Gator Engineer Award for Leadership. Jameson is a member of the Stoppel Lab, which is directed by Whitney Stoppel, Ph.D., an assistant professor.
“Julie has demonstrated that she is an exceptional graduate student,” Dr. Stoppel said. “Her positive attitude, resiliency, and willingness to try new, difficult things speaks to her current and future successes as a leader in STEM.”
Jameson served as the 2019-2020 Chair of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Graduate Student Council (EGSC), where she helped organize and execute the college’s graduate student programing. She was voted by her peers to address prospective Ph.D. students during the spring 2020 Ph.D. recruiting weekend, where the best and the brightest students are encouraged to attend UF engineering Ph.D. programs in the fall. Jameson has also served in many mentoring roles through leadership in Tau Beta Pi’s GatorTrax program, the NSF MRET K-12 teacher training program, the college’s Summer Undergraduate Research at Florida (SURF) program, and many EGSC events. Through many avenues, she continues to contribute to advancing STEM diversity and inclusion efforts within the College, UF, and across the Gainesville community.
Calen Leverant, a Ph.D. candidate, was awarded the Attributes of a Gator Engineer Award for Integrity. Leverantis advised by professor Peng Jiang, Ph.D.
“Calen is honest, ethical, intellectually curious, hardworking, persistent, well-mannered, and has been an exceptional student and a role model in my research group,” Dr. Jiang said.
Dr. Jiang credits Leverant for his contributions to innovative scientific research, including having coauthored many peer-reviewed papers and U.S. patent applications.
Leverant has several professional honorsincluding the best presentation award in Photonics at the NanoFlorida Conference. He has trained many junior graduate and undergraduate students in Dr. Jiang’s research group and has served as both the chair of the department’s student safety council, and as the research group’s safety manager.
Considered the greatest distinction of any student award given by the college, the Gator Engineering Attribute Awards are intended to provide an ideal guide for all members of the Gator Engineering community. They honor five undergraduate and five Ph.D. students who strongly model one of the five Gator Engineering Attributes: Creativity, Leadership, Integrity, Professional Excellence, and Service to the Global Community.
