Celebrating Our Schubot Aviary Care Staff
In honor of Texas A&M Student Worker and Employee Appreciation Week, the Schubot Center is very proud to recognize and thank the wonderful students who help care for the birds in the Schubot Aviary.
Our Spring 2026 Aviary Care Staff is an exceptional group of student workers and volunteers. Their dedication, compassion, and enthusiasm make a difference every day, and their commitment to animal care, learning, and professional growth helps make the aviary a very special place for both the birds and the people who work with them.
We are proud to recognize them here.
Pictured are some of the outstanding members of our Spring 2026 Schubot Aviary Care Staff
Mya Burkes – Students performing a medical exam to a bird.
While not everyone is pictured here, we are proud to recognize all of the students who contribute their time, care, and talent to the Schubot Aviary.
We are deeply thankful for this extraordinary group of students.
Their time, care, dedication, and talent help make the Schubot Aviary a place of excellent animal care, learning, and community.
Dedicated Care Team Members
These students help keep the aviary running with consistency, kindness, and dependable daily care.
- Nikoli Alsman continues to volunteer despite a heavy semester focused on sheep.
- Madison Blisset brings curiosity and a genuine love of learning.
- Trinity Bushey, a senior, is a dependable team member balancing academics and many extracurricular activities.
- Sofia de la Pena brings energy, reliability, and generosity to her volunteer work.
- Kat Gay enjoys learning more about aviary care.
- Natalie Kramer is our Saturday ray of sunshine, consistently providing excellent care to our cockatiels and larger parrots.
- Chloe Stone quietly and confidently delivers high-quality care while balancing several jobs.
- Koryn Tomasek is our self-motivated “silent ninja,” working independently and consistently providing excellent care.
Research, Training, and Growth
These students are building skills through hands-on experience in animal care, training, and research.
- Mya Burkes, a graduate student, supports both the laboratory and the aviary while managing her graduate studies.
- Mason Colvard is learning a great deal and will enter the Honors Program next semester.
- Brenna Hong works with the larger parrots in positive behavior training while balancing academics, work, and volunteer service.
- Ayla Adams-Luong is spending her second semester with us and continuing work in positive behavior training with the larger parrots.
- Stephen Satchfield, a senior, assists Dr. Mencio with Avian Bornavirus research benchwork and is also a Schubot Director’s Awardee this year.
Academic and Professional Achievements
We are also proud to celebrate the academic and professional accomplishments of our student team.
- Alyssa Gracia is a fast learner and excited to graduate this semester.
- Jackie Hernandez is one of our kindest and hardest-working student volunteers and has been accepted to join the research team in Peru later this year.
- Kayden Mace, a senior, has been accepted into the Fall 2026 professional class of veterinary students.
- Kaitlin Martin was one of only four students selected to attend the National Collegiate Honors Council 2025 Annual Conference in San Diego with the Honors Program.
- Chaitali Padidem, a junior and volunteer, earned 1st Place in the State for Veterinary Science at the HOSA Post-Secondary competition last month.
Long-Term and Special Contributions
Some students bring especially unique strengths and long-term dedication to the aviary.
- Ella Rydell, a senior, has worked with us for three and a half years, contributing to both bird care and outreach. Under the mentorship of Dr. EV Voltura, Ella presented her poster, “Sustaining Psittacine Research in Aviculture through Digital Preservation of Physical Media,” at the Rio Brazos Audubon Beyond the Backyard Conference and at the Texas A&M Undergraduate Research Symposium earlier this year.
- Hannah Tuck, a senior English major, is our bird whisperer, with a special connection to the birds and a remarkable eye for noticing details in their appearance and behavior.
