Environmental Science and Policy major Kathryn Michelle Benavidez ’14 received the 2014 BSS student research award for her research as a McNair Scholar on ocelot conservation in South Texas. She presented her research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and the Texas Academy of Science annual meetings where she was awarded second place for outstanding undergraduate student presentation.
After graduating from St. Edward’s, Michelle was accepted into master’s programs at Texas State University, Iowa State University, and St. Edward’s. Michelle chose to enroll in the MS program in Wildlife Ecology at Texas State University where she received a graduate assistantship funded by the USDA. While at Texas State University she researched human influence on the prevalence of Leptospira in small invasive mammals on small Puerto Rican dairy farms.