Garavaglia has been a forensic pathologist for more than 23 years. She has testified in several high-profile court cases. Garavaglia also serves as a clinical associate professor for the Florida State º£½ÇÖ±²¥ College of Medicine.

The medical examiner will speak about her educational and career journey as part of UCF’s First Generation Speaker Series. The series presents inspirational leaders and scholars who have excelled in their academic and professional fields while also engaging with and giving back to their community. Speakers discuss their career paths, scholarly endeavors, personal philosophies and philanthropic endeavors.

Though the speakers will inspire and provide insight to all UCF community members, the series was developed to create role models and mentors for first-generation college students – those who are on track to be the first in their families to earn bachelor’s degrees.

MASS’ First Generation Program and PRIME STEM Project Student Support Services developed the speaker series. Sponsors of this month’s talk include the UCF Parent and Family Fund, Student Development and Enrollment Services, Career Services, the McNair Scholars Program, RAMP, the Office of Undergraduate Research, EXCEL, L.E.A.R.N and Pre-Med AMSA.

A graduate of the St. Louis º£½ÇÖ±²¥ School of Medicine, Garavaglia was a medical examiner at the Bexar County Forensic Science Center in San Antonio for 10 years before she moved to Florida. During her tenure, she served as a clinical assistant professor for the Department of Pathology at the º£½ÇÖ±²¥ of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She also has worked as a medical examiner in Jacksonville and the metropolitan Atlanta area.

WCF provided more than $110,000 to support the students as they gain valuable work experience in UCF laboratories and with high-tech companies affiliated with the university’s Business Incubation Program.

Students’ on-campus projects include research related to neural networks, which are computer models that function similarly to the human brain, and developing a field test for how to best clean water discharged from construction sites.

In one of the high-tech company projects, an aerospace engineering student interning with RINI Technologies is working on a project related to the development of diver suits that regulate body temperature through an automated heating and cooling system.

“The goal is to have these students in an environment where they see what they’re learning, but they also see what life outside of that degree is going to look like,� said Gary Earl, president and CEO of WCF. “Students can imagine themselves as a professor, researcher, engineer or scientist and have experience under their belts at 18 or 19.�

To continue reading about this summer research program, click here.