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Though she had an interest in science at an early age, Raissa Mendonca had no idea she would end up over 4,000 miles away from her hometown of Recife, Brazil studying and doing award-winning ecological research in the College of Arts and Sciences at ������ in Kent, Ohio. She probably did not expect to be wearing a bug net over her head in Manitoba either.  Now, while pursuing her Ph.D. at ������, Mendonca conducts research in Costello’s lab that focuses on ecotoxicology and biogeochemistry and how environmental disturbances affect aquatic communities and ecological processes. One of her recent projects resulted in her being first author on a peer-reviewed journal article and earned her a $5,000 award to continue pursuing her research.