Incoming natural sciences freshman lands Cards Against Humanity STEM scholarship

Cards Against Humanity might best be known for its edgy humor and as a staple game at parties, but for incoming freshman Anna Reichenbach, it means something else: opportunity. Though she's only played the game once, what really stuck with her is the Science Ambassador Scholarship funded entirely from sales of Cards Against Humanity's science-themed expansion packs. This year, Reichenbach is one of five awardees receiving a $20,000 scholarship for women and non-binary students pursuing undergraduate degrees in STEM.

"After I started birding two or three years ago, I founded a young birders club and was teaching everyone about birds," said Reichenbach. "But I deal with a lot of imposter syndrome and there was always this thought that I'm so new to it and I'm so young that maybe I'm not as qualified to teach as I think I am. But after getting this scholarship, it really solidified my dedication to wildlife and birds. People really do believe in me and I really can do this."

Eschewing a standard essay, the Science Ambassador Scholarship tasked applicants with submitting a three-minute video of themselves delivering a mini-lecture on a STEM topic they are passionate about. Reichenbach's winning submission tackled an advanced concept: how birds might use quantum mechanics to navigate during migration.

Referred to as magnetoreception, the idea proposes that birds can perceive Earth's magnetic field thanks to quantum reactions in proteins called cryptochromes, located in their eyes. These reactions involve radical electron pairs influenced by magnetic fields, potentially allowing birds to "see" directionality in the form of subtle visual cues.

"I wanted to talk about an advanced topic, but didn't know what," said Reichenbach. "So I started Googling cool scientific things about birds and came across an article about how birds use quantum mechanics to migrate. I knew that was what I wanted to talk about, so I took a long time watching videos and reading books to really understand what was going on because I'm not a quantum physicist. But it was just so fascinating and I wanted to tell everyone about it because it was just so cool."

While her submission video touched on advanced physics, Reichenbach's connection to birds began in a much more personal way - with pets. "I got two parakeets when I was 10 and they really started my love for birds," she said. Over time, her flock grew to include a lovebird and a conure, and she even started a TikTok channel focused on parrot care. But it wasn't until a family vacation to Maryland at age 15 that her horizons broadened. "I went birding for the first time and was blown away. The birds outside are just as fascinating as the parrots I had inside."

That moment changed her life. Previously, she hadn't been particularly interested in science or the outdoors. Growing up in suburban Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, everything seemed "the same shade of green," she said. But Maryland's coastal ecosystem opened her eyes. "Seeing the creeks, the shells, the birds and all these vibrant colors in the sky - I realized there's this incredible world outside that most people never take the time to notice."

Determined to study birds, Reichenbach initially looked at East Coast universities - but cost proved to be a major barrier. Then, almost by chance, she received a mailer from one of UAA's community campuses. Intrigued, she did some research and discovered UAA offered classes taught by ornithologists Doug Causey, Ph.D., and Jess McLaughlin , Ph.D. "When I saw there were professors doing seabird research, I knew this was where I wanted to go," she said.

This fall, Reichenbach will begin her UAA journey, majoring in natural sciences with a concentration in environmental science - the closest track to her realizing her dream of becoming an ornithologist. She is also minoring in journalism, capitalizing on her love for making videos that inform. Reichenbach is already thinking beyond the classroom: She hopes to start a birding club on campus to help reduce window strikes, a common but preventable threat to birds in urban areas.

"At UAA I really want to start a birding club," said Reichenbach. "We toured the campus and I really loved it. But I saw they don't have a birding club and I also saw a lot of window strikes on the sky bridges. Window strikes happen everywhere, all the time. They kill billions of birds every year and it's not something people think about. So I'd love to do something about that this fall."

To Reichenbach, birds are much more than just a subject of study - they're barometers of ecological health and constant sources of curiosity.

"Birds are found on every continent and they're great readers of what's happening in the environment, so it's important that we conserve them specifically," said Reichenbach. "Also, birds sing! That is what fills the air when you go outside, and I can't imagine what it would be like to walk outside and no longer hear the birds or see them flying between the trees, because there is nothing to fill that."