Teresa, a suburban Pittsburgh native, has found a welcoming home and chosen a challenging course of study at the University of Pittsburgh. She is proud to have participated in three research fellowships through PittHonors, including the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Fellowship, the Brackenridge Summer Research Fellowship, and the Community-Based Research Fellowship. She has been able to publish, present, and receive awards for her research. Such awards include the Center for Supply Chain Management Symposium's first-place poster presenter for two years in a row and as a first-place poster presenter and "Best Paper" awardee at the Academy of Business Research Conference in San Antonio, Texas in 2017. Teresa also had the opportunity to take my research abroad to Copenhagen, Denmark with the assistance of the NRIEP Herbert E. Lieberkind Scholarship.

Outside of research, she has distinguished herself as a leader through my campus involvement in several organizations and honors societies, including Alpha Kappa Psi and Omicron Delta Kappa. She enjoys her roles as a mentor and ambassador through the PittHonors Peer Mentor and Ambassador programs. She is the recipient of the World Affairs Council of America National Conference Scholarship, the PittAdvantage Grant, the Berner International Award, and the Andrew P. Duli Scholarship. She also serves in leadership roles as a GenHERation college advisory board member, HERlead Fellow, Ambassador, and Grantee, and as the Executive Director and Founder of Co-OP: Connecting Ordinary People. Co-OP is a project that presents factual scientific, engineering, policy and economic expertise, coupled with the concerns and questions of community members, to educate and inform decision making in the Pittsburgh community. The project partners with local organizations to help create a series of forums to connect science and engineering experts with stakeholders from community development, government, industry, business, and "ordinary" community members in Pittsburgh. Advanced science communication training is one of the key strengths of this program.

Throughout her college experience, Teresa has been challenged inside and outside of the classroom, grown intellectually and personally, and fostered lasting relationships with mentors, colleagues, and friends. She is excited for what she will learn in the upcoming year as a Elsie Hillman Honors Scholar.