Katelyn Flitcroft is a fourth-year student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee pursuing an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and a certificate in Forensic science. She started her undergrad research after her second semester at UWM, being awarded a fellowship through the California Sea Grant Undergraduate Research Experience (CA-SURE) for Underrepresented Students. Under the guidance of UWM mentor Felipe Alberto and colleagues at MLML, the project surrounding this fellowship aimed to assess inbreeding depression in bull kelp, providing valuable information for forming conservation programs when restoration efforts might fail. Regarding this project, Katelyn has participated in the 2022 UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium and has ongoing efforts towards a publication. Additionally, Katelyn has recently become a UWM SURF recipient in Claire de la Cova’s Lab. Alongside her mentor Nicole Wicker, Katelyn is helping to understand how FGFRs can signal dynamically over time and how they use different adaptor proteins in different tissues using C. elegans. She plans to present her findings at the 2024 UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium. Katelyn looks forward to furthering and exploring different aspects of her undergrad research experience! Email: Flitcro2@uwm.edu.