Carly Hester

Class of 2027
Majors in Biology and Earth & Climate Sciences

Growing up in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, I couldn’t help but fall in love with biology and the environment. Life-changing experiences such as working in the Vilgalys Mycology Laboratory, participating in DukeEngage, and receiving mentorship through the Duke SPIRE Fellows Program gave me the skills and confidence to pursue these passions as a future research scientist. I’m currently interested in using geospatial technology to study ecological phenomena, as well as using my platform as a scientist to inspire, uplift, and teach others in and out of traditional academia. When I’m not in the classroom, you can probably find me in Cameron Indoor Stadium as a Line Monitor, tap dancing with the Duke on Tap dance ensemble, foraging for mushrooms, or enjoying the water at the Duke Marine Laboratory.

Favorite Class: ECS 211L: Remote Sensing for the Earth and Environment. Taught by Dr. Jonathan Ryan, ECS 211L truly opened my eyes to the fascinating field of remote sensing! I was especially excited to discover how the skills we learned could be used to study life on Earth from space. Dr. Ryan made the course accessible to students with and without coding experience, which allowed me to strengthen my beginner Python skills while also learning the basics of GIS to carry out a variety of analyses in just one semester.