Florida Tech Seniors Elizabeth Beraducci, McKenna Taylor Named 2024 Astronaut Scholars

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BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Elizabeth Beraducci may help spacecraft navigate autonomously as they explore the cosmos. McKenna Taylor may help future colonists grow produce when Mars is settled. United by their fascination with our universe, the two Florida Tech seniors now share something else: Each has been named a 2024 Astronaut Scholar.

Beraducci and Taylor are among 71 students from 48 U.S. universities to receive the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation’s annual honor this year, which brings its recipients up to $15,000 each in financial support.

The scholarships are awarded to junior and senior college students studying science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) with the intent to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree.

Other 2024 winners attend Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, MIT and elsewhere.

“For 40 years, ASF has been at the forefront of nurturing the next generation of STEM leaders and fueling their passion for exploration and innovation,” said Caroline Schumacher, ASF president and CEO. “Each year, it’s thrilling to see the exceptional talent and dedication each new scholar brings to the ASF community. We welcome the 2024 class and look forward to supporting them in their quest to make their unique mark on our society.”

Beraducci’s passion in space was sparked by a classic Space Coast experience: watching a launch from the beach. It was June 2021. Now an aerospace major, she has worked in The Autonomy Lab run by her advisor and mentor, Madhur Tiwari.

At the lab, she worked on spacecraft control, used C++ code for computer vision programming for autonomous vehicles, and helped solve problems and foster collaboration, actions indicative of her leadership and teamwork skills, Tiwari said in his letter of recommendation.

“Elizabeth embodies the qualities of an Astronaut Scholar: intellectual curiosity, innovative thinking, and a strong commitment to contributing to the advancement of the aerospace field,” he wrote.

“I am confident that she will leverage this opportunity to further her contributions to our understanding of space and aerospace engineering.”

Outside of the lab, Beraducci is president of the Florida Tech chapter of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. She is also an active participant in Women in Aerospace Engineering and Drone Club.

“The Astronaut Scholarship will assist me during the final year of my bachelor’s program and propel me to further my research endeavors as a graduate student where I will be continuing my focus in autonomous vehicles,” she said in her personal essay. “I enthusiastically look forward to shaping the future of autonomy in outer space and contributing to humanity’s exploration beyond the confines of our home on Earth.”

Taylor, an astrobiology and astronomy & astrophysics double major, thanks her grandmother for first exposing her to the wonders of the night sky. She gave the young McKenna books about constellations and took her on moonlight strolls.

The Arkansas native attended small, rural schools that grappled with underfunding, but her family and teachers encouraged her, and a trip to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex exposed her to a new love – astrophysics.

Taking college classes in high school – she graduated as class valedictorian with 47 college credits – Taylor was able to borrow a telescope from a physics professor.

“My family sat outside for hours, taking turns gazing through the telescope wherever I pointed it (most memorable being the comet NEOWISE),” Taylor wrote in her personal essay. “I had no doubt that I wanted to spend my life studying the universe and its mysteries.”

Now a member of Andrew Palmer’s chemical ecology and astrobiology lab, Taylor has researched the algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that displays quorum-sensing tendencies.

Her current research is focused on studying bacterial samples from the International Space Station to determine their co-culture abilities along with their plant-growth-promoting properties.

As she peered through a microscope observing cells she had grown, it became clear to Taylor that she wanted a career “focused on research and the pursuit of discovery,” she said in her essay. But she wanted it to be bigger than that, too.

“I aspire to become an inspiration to students who may think a STEM career is unattainable,” Taylor said.

“I want little girls to believe that they can one day become astronauts, and I hope to become another name in the long list of women who have proven that through hard work, dedication, and passion, anyone can shoot for the stars.”

Outside of classes and research, Taylor has served leadership roles in in multiple groups, including secretary for the Student Government Association; president of the Panhellenic Council; president of Gamma Phi Beta; and secretary at Phi Eta Sigma. She is a member of the Student Astronomical Society, Campus Activities Board and several honor societies and is among the inaugural cohorts of the President’s Ambassadors.

Underlying all of this is an innate curiousness and a willingness to put in the work.

“I was McKenna’s professor for Physics 2 and Modern Physics. I saw she had a genuine curiosity to understand how the universe works. I also observed her ability to work with people of varying science and math skills,” said instructor Paul Martin in his letter of recommendation.

“McKenna has excellent analytical ability with a strong sense of curiosity. She is also hardworking and dedicated to her research.”

Created in 1984, ASF awarded its first seven scholarships in honor of its founding members, the Mercury 7 Astronauts — Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton.

Each founding member sponsored a $1,000 scholarship and began to fundraise to support future scholarships by donating proceeds from their speaking engagements.

The incredible efforts of these legends have shaped ASF’s mission to support and reward exceptional college students pursuing degrees in STEM fields. Over the past 39 years, more than $8.3 million has been awarded to nearly 800 students.

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