Camilo Ponton ‘03

After graduating from FIU’s Honors College in the spring of 2003, Camilo Ponton was accepted with a full scholarship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, where he will pursue doctorate studies in oceanography beginning this fall.

In addition to MIT, Camilo was offered a full scholarship by Rice University, The University of Chicago, Brown University, Columbia University, and Stanford University. Although he is leaving tropical Miami for the slightly colder Boston, the opportunity to attend MIT is truly his dream come true.

“I allocate a significant portion of my achievement to The Honors College, and especially the faculty and staff that worked closely with me and were always supportive and engaged in my progress,” wrote Camilo recently, in an appreciation letter addressed to Honors College faculty and staff who encouraged his academic pursuits. It was also thanks to FIU’s Presidential scholarship that Colombia-born Camilo was able to afford the opportunity to pursue his higher education studies in the U.S. and FIU’s Honors College.

As a student, Camilo was selected and sponsored by The Honors College, under the mentorship of Professor Peter Machonis, to present a poster at the 2003 National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, where his research portrayed groundwater as one of the most important and valuable resources for South Florida. While enrolled in Professor Machonis’ fourth-year Honors Everglades seminar, taught at The Everglades National Park, Camilo wrote on the topic, identifying some of the new technologies employed to provide water to the Everglades and South Florida in the coming decades. "Camilo was the true honors student: an avid learner, an astute scientist, a creative writer ... the type of inquisitive student that professors love to have in class,” said Professor Peter Machonis, Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Honors College Fellow.

Prior to applying to his doctorate program, Camilo pursued his M.S. in Geology at FIU and conducted field research in the south of France. He presented his research on national conferences from the American Geophysical Union (2004) and the Geological Society of America (2003) as well as international conferences in Romania (2004) and Switzerland (2005), sponsored by the International Geoscience Programme, as part of UNESCO and IUGS, the International Union of Geological Sciences .

To learn more about Camilo and other outstanding FIU Honors College alumni, visit http://honors.fiu.edu/alumni/

Past Alumni Spolight - (Christina Ceballos) (Camilo Ponton) (David Cohen) (Anitere Flores)                                  (Kelsey Vaughan) (Victoria Gitman) (Frank Ramos) (Garth Graham)