Ryan graduated from the University of Florida in the spring of 2022 with her BA in Classical Studies with a minor in Art History. She grew up visiting museums all around the world and desired to combine her love of art, culture, and history into her profession. After graduation, she volunteered at the Orlando Museum of Art at their Visitor Information Services and Design Store and helped out at multiple museum events. These experiences fostered a newfound interest in curation and museum education. Her undergraduate honors thesis explored the controversy surrounding the Parthenon marbles and the challenges of repatriation. At UF, she hopes to study how museums reevaluate their collections’ histories and origins to further decolonize their institutions. 

My name is Genesis Leonard, a native of Montgomery, AL. I am a recent graduate from Alabama State University, receiving my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts. I’m currently a graduate student at the University of Florida, majoring in museum studies. Not only is it my passion to become a director of my own gallery to provide space and opportunity to underprivileged artists, but I also enjoy creating my own art. 

Caroline Davis is pursuing a Masters in Museum Studies. She is from St. Augustine, FL where she graduated from Flagler College in Art History, Class of 2020. Following college, she worked for the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, a local Black history museum. Some of her hobbies and interests include piano, live music, and cats!

Isabella received her BA in History at the University of Florida. A proud double gator thankful for the opportunities she got at UF, like working in the Florida Museum’s Herbarium. Here she worked in the bryophyte collections, organizing and digitizing, solidifying her desire to work in museums. Being from Miami she was surrounded by many different cultures and their histories. She felt that there weren’t many spaces or opportunities for her to learn about these things. She believes she can make an impact on community understanding and change the way histories are shared.

Maile grew up in Neptune Beach, FL and moved to Mililani, HI in high school. She received her undergraduate degree in history and anthropology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. During her undergraduate career, Maile completed a field school at Volcanoes National Park and worked as an archaeology lab assistant. Maile has research interests in collections accessibility, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, historical epistemology, and exhibit development. She currently works as an archival processing assistant for Dr. Gifford Waters in the Historical Archaeology collections department of the Florida Museum of Natural History, and is pursuing the Historic Preservation graduate certificate.

Kaitlin graduated from the University of South Florida in 2024, with her BA in History and a minor in Art History. Through a class in her undergraduate program, she was able to help create a specialized tour for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s at the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art. She also served as the Exhibitions and Collections intern at the Florida Holocaust Museum. Both experiences made her fall in love with museum work, behind the scenes and public facing, and encouraged her to pursue a degree in Museum Studies. She hopes to use what she learns to help preserve the histories of our world and to work towards making museums more accessible to all.

Shelby graduated in the fall of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Spanish from Mississippi College. In 2020, she began working in Memphis, TN as an English as a Second Language (ESL) educator. After deciding on a career shift and with her passion for museums, she decided to pursue a master’s in Museum Studies. While interested in all aspects that make up a museum, her main interest lies with museum education. In addition, she is passionate about trauma-informed practices and youth outreach in museums. Shelby was drawn to the program at the University of Florida because of their emphasis on change and the interdisciplinary nature of the program. She endeavors to be part of the work that make museums more accessible and community-oriented.

I have always had an interest in archaeology and museums and graduated in 2009 with a BA in Anthropology from Northwestern University. During that time, I was able to attend field school at an Etruscan site in central Italy, and despite having a spectacular time, it never really felt like that was my path. In 2014, I started volunteering at the Environmental Archaeology Lab at the Florida Museum, and not only did I really enjoy working with the collections, but I also found mentors that supported me and encouraged my growth as a student of the museum. I was later hired on as a collections assistant working primarily with the legacy collections. I’m excited to join the Museum Studies Graduate program in order to delve more into the accessibility, ethics, and management of legacy museum research collections.

Azariah is from the Orlando area and completed her B.A. in Anthropology at Florida International University in Miami, along with two minors in History and Art History in 2024. She has always had a passion for history and knew she wanted to pursue a career in museum work even as a teenager. Her past experiences include internships and volunteering in archives, libraries, and collections in Miami institutions like Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, FIU Special Collections, The Wolfsonian-FIU, and Everglades National Park. Her research has focused on highlighting underrepresented stories in Miami's development, and as a current Museum Studies graduate student, wants to continue this work while gaining the technical skills needed for this field. She is excited to be studying at UF and living in Gainesville and hopes to get the opportunity to live in major cities like New York and D.C. and work in major museums like the Smithsonians upon graduation.

Citlali Navarrete Falcon is a recent graduate of Davidson College, where she double majored in anthropology and Hispanic studies. A Mexican American scholar born and raised in New York City, she is pursuing museum studies with a focus on cultural preservation, education, and the study of Mesoamerican artifacts and culture. She is committed to decolonizing museum spaces and expanding access to cultural resources for underrepresented communities. Her experience includes volunteering with the NYC Department of Records and Information Services, serving as a research assistant to anthropologist Dr. Matt Samson, and conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Yucatán. She aspires to become a repatriation specialist dedicated to working with communities to preserve and return cultural heritage.

Willett graduated from Santa Fe College in 2019 and UF in 2022 with a BA in History and Political Science. His undergraduate history thesis focused on the Union Academy, Gainesville's first institution for Black education. Originally from rural Georgia, Willett is especially interested in underrepresented histories and expanding museum collaboration with local communities. Willett's love for history led him to start working at the Matheson History Museum in 2023. In his free time, he enjoys going to the springs, visiting historic sites, and gardening.

Elise, originally from Orlando, Florida, graduated in 2025 with a BFA in Fibers and minors in Museum Studies and Art History from the Savannah College of Art and Design. During her undergraduate education, she worked as a curatorial intern at the Savannah African Art Museum to develop exhibitions and related educational workshops. She also completed a collections management internship at the SCAD Museum of Art further developing a loan tracking system for the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art. Elise hopes to pursue a career in collections and exhibitions, with a focus on improving the care and presentation of textile and other craft collections.

Karina graduated from the University of North Florida in 2024 with a BA in Art History and a minor in Spanish. During the third year of her undergraduate studies, she began working on digitizing the University of North Florida’s Permanent Teaching Art Collection. While working on the art collection, she curated exhibits, digitized artworks, created promotional materials, and programs to make the collection more accessible to the university’s students and faculty. For her Undergraduate Research Senior Thesis, she researched Puerto Rican resistance, folkloric, and Indigenous symbols in contemporary art. For this project, she completed on-site research and documented street art. She is passionate about working towards making museums multicultural and accessible spaces. While attending the University of Florida, she hopes to volunteer in different cultural and museum programs. In the future, she plans to use those skills to help develop outreach initiatives and museum collections.