On November 14^th, 2018, the FSU Department of Biological Science held their annual awards ceremony. The Department gives awards to undergraduate and graduate students to recognize scholastic and scholarly achievement. At this year’s ceremony, the Department awarded over $40,000 to deserving students. The Rokyta Lab’s own Micaiah Ward won several awards recognizing her hard work and scientific excellence. Micaiah is a graduate student in the Cell and Molecular Biology program and an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. The Trott Scholarship will provide funds to support Micaiah’s research and is awarded based on the importance and originality of the proposed research. Micaiah received the Thrower Scholarship, which is awarded to a Ph.D. candidate who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement. Finally, Micaiah received the Margaret Menzel Scholarship, which is based on faculty nomination to recognize graduate students for outstanding achievement in their research. 2018 has been a busy year for Micaiah! In addition to these awards, she won the award for Best Short Talk at the Gordon Research Conference on Venom Evolution, Function, and Biomedical Applications. Additionally, she was chosen to host the first Gordon Research Seminar on Venom Evolution, Function, and Biomedical Applications in 2020. On top of all these awards, Micaiah has already published five papers this year, including an invited review article. Congratulations on an incredible 2018, Micaiah!