My Rollins Gateway
Seismic Scholar By Elsa Wenzel | Photo by Scott Cook
Armed with rigorous lab work, extensive research experience alongside her faculty mentor, and five prestigious scholarships, Lauren Neldner ’20 is ready to make the world a safer place. Lauren Neldner ’20 became fascinated with earthquakes after experiencing tremors as a child in Southern California. When she started high school in Florida, she began studying these seismic shifts under the tutelage of Sarah Evans ’06, who performed research alongside physics professor Thomas Moore and now runs a STEM retention program at a major research university. Neldner’s relationship with Evans set in motion her academic career at Rollins and started her on a path to pursuing her life’s passion. “[Sarah Evans] introduced me to Dr. Moore while I was in high school, and I kept coming back to campus for tours,” says Neldner. “I loved the personalized interactions I saw and the research I’d be able to do. This made me certain that I wanted to come to Rollins.” 16 | ROLLINS
After her first semester, Neldner began conducting musical acoustics research alongside Moore through Rollins’ Student-Faculty Collaborative Scholarship Program. By the end of the summer, she had presented at professional conferences and published a research paper. This early research experience helped earn her a spot in the IRIS Internship Program, a paid seismology program funded by the National Science Foundation, which led her to win a 2019 Goldwater Scholarship, the preeminent undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, engineering, and the natural sciences. From learning through fieldwork to developing the persistence it takes to do real-world research, explore some of the pivotal waypoints on Neldner’s personalized pathway through Rollins.
