Dornsife Undergraduate Academic Advising

With nearly 200 majors and minors, USC Dornsife encourages students to explore their interests in our three academic clusters: humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

In addition to providing students with an academic advisor based on their major and minor, students may also use pre-health, pre-law, and pre-graduate school advising services, all of whom work together to help prepare students for life after USC.

We would like to recognize Mira Delfino, a Senior majoring in Environmental Studies with a focus on “Oceans, Life, and People.” Mira has made the most of her time at USC, gaining hands-on experience that complements her academic pursuits. She has conducted vegetation surveys in the Eastern Sierra, analyzing how drought and heavy rainfall impact the region’s flora and interned with the Catalina Island Conservancy, where she contributed to long-term vegetation monitoring in post-burn areas, and engaged in seabird observation and fox tracking. Mira is collaborating with Dr. Victoria Petryshyn on a research project, “Saline endorheic (terminal) lakes: A comparative, environmental characterization of Owens Lake and Mono Lake”, which focuses on understanding pollution dynamics around these unique saline lakes.

In addition to her research, Mira has actively participated in the Joint Educational Project (JEP), where she implemented environmental science lessons for local elementary students, and served as a mentor with USC Science Outreach (SCout) for second graders. She is deeply grateful for the enriching opportunities at USC Dornsife that have shaped her journey and inspired her future endeavors.