# News from Brown

**Source**: https://www.brown.edu/news/2025-03-20/eva-erickson
**Parent**: https://www.brown.edu/news

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[Student Life](https://www.brown.edu/news/student-life)

Date

March 20, 2025
2025-03-20

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Maggie Spear\
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## [Student Stories](https://www.brown.edu/news/student-stories)

Exceptional students from across the spectrum of the Brown educational experience are embracing unique opportunities to advance knowledge and make an impact through research, community engagement, entrepreneurship and more.

# Eva Erickson: Blending science, sports and the ultimate test of survival

Whether she’s captaining the men’s club hockey team or participating as the first openly autistic cast member on “Survivor,” the Brown graduate student in fluid and thermal science finds success in authenticity.

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Brown University graduate student Eva Erickson, left, cuts through bamboo with fellow contestant Thomas Krottinger during a challenge on “Survivor.” Photo by Gaye Ann Bruno/CBS

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Eva Erickson conducts most of her seal-whisker experiments in a 2,000-gallon flume in Brown’s School of Engineering. Photo by Cherie Daniel/Brown University.

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In addition to serving as an NCAA hockey official, Eva Erickson is captain of the Brown’s club team. As an undergraduate at Georgia Tech, Erickson was the first and only woman to play on the men's hockey team. Photo courtesy of Eva Erickson.

**PROVIDENCE, R.I.** [Brown University] — As a kid growing up around the lakes of Minnesota, Eva Erickson saw her fair share of kayaks — but she had never seen one like her uncle’s.

The kayak had a unique pair of fins at its back, and when its pedals were put into motion, the fins moved side-to-side, propelling the kayak forward. The feature was inspired by penguins, her uncle explained: the movement mimicked how a penguin’s wings allow it to glide through water.

“I was like, ‘Wait, so somebody had to study how a penguin swims in order to make this kayak?’” Erickson said. “That’s so cool. That’s what I want to do.”

So she did.

In college, Erickson studied centipede locomotion at the Georgia Institute of Technology, researching how the arthropods traversed complex terrain. After graduating in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in physics, she enrolled in a doctoral program at Brown’s School of Engineering.

“I wanted to find research that I’m really passionate about,” Erickson said.

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As a Ph.D. candidate in engineering and fluid and thermal science, Erickson conducts research in the laboratory of Professor of Engineering [Kenny Breuer](https://sites.brown.edu/breuerlab/), studying how seals use their whiskers to locate objects in water and how those mechanisms might be implemented in new technologies.

Erickson attributes her laser focus on her goals and academic interests to a “superpower” of autism — a childhood diagnosis that was initially predicted to hinder her development, but through which she persevered and excelled with therapies and a supportive family.

“I’ve learned to channel it for good in my life, and it’s part of what makes me special and has made me successful in my life,” Erickson said. “There are some drawbacks, things that make my life a little more challenging, but I’ve persevered through those.”

That grit has helped Erickson navigate and excel in environments where she’s often the only woman in the classroom — or the rink.

### Eva Erickson: Ph.D. Candidate and "Survivor" Season 48 Runner-Up

From working towards a Ph.D. to finishing as the runner-up on Season 48 of “Survivor” — what can’t Eva Erickson do? Erickson gave a look inside her research, while also drawing parallels between her experience on “Survivor” and her work at Brown.

[@brownuniversity](https://www.youtube.com/@brownuniversity)

At Georgia Tech, Erickson became the first and only woman to play on the men’s ice hockey club team. Gaining acceptance and respect on the team was tough, Erickson said. So when she attended the Student Activities Fair during her first year at Brown, Erickson steeled herself as she approached Brown’s club hockey table. She was prepared for pushback against her joining the team and ready to go on the defense.

“I was like, ‘I mean business, and I’m going to play on this team,’” she said. “But then one of the boys was like, ‘Oh, my mom told me about you! You’re really good!’ It was great to be so accepted immediately with the team at Brown. Those guys are the best.”

It didn’t take them long to see that Erickson did, in fact, mean business. She is currently the [club team’s captain](https://brownrec.com/sports/mens-ice-hockey/roster/2024-25), and beyond Brown, she’s an NCAA hockey official, serving as a linesperson during surrounding schools’ games. When she’s not in the Breuer lab, Erickson said there’s a pretty good chance she’s in the rink.

But a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity found Erickson ditching the ice for the tropics last summer, when she took a leave from her studies at Brown to join the cast of the 48th season of the CBS series [“Survivor”](https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/) in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. The show follows groups of players who are split into “tribes” and required to complete challenges while living outdoors. Each week, contestants vote each other out with the goal of being the last person standing to win a $1 million prize.

“It was actually so brutal,” Erickson said. “You don’t have any of your support system. You don’t even know what time it is. You’re just out there sleeping in the dirt and eating nothing but coconuts… The amount of coconuts I consumed will make me never, ever, ever want to eat a coconut again.”

Covered in mud, Eva Erickson (left) helps haul a chest across the beach as part of a challenge on "Survivor." Photo by Robert Voets/CBS

While sworn to secrecy on the results until the season finishes airing, Erickson is celebrating two major “Survivor” milestones: In addition to being the youngest cast member on the season, she’s the first openly autistic cast member in the show’s history.

“My biggest message is that autism is not something wrong with you — and I want to share that with people who are on the spectrum, or who have children who are on the spectrum,” Erickson said. “It was a big thing for me to be open and vulnerable in this experience, and I think it is a different portrayal of autism than most people are used to seeing. I am so proud of myself for going out there, making a point and sharing my story.”

As she continues her graduate studies at Brown, Erickson hopes to unite her interests in fluid mechanics and sports. Harking back to the awe she felt watching her uncle’s kayak effortlessly glide through the water, she is looking to apply her research in the Breuer lab — particularly her work in vibration analysis — to develop state-of-the-art sports equipment.

“Whether it’s helmets, shin guards, chest protectors or even the hockey sticks themselves, the equipment has to be able to withstand vibrations from all the different impacts that happen in a game,” Erickson said. “There's a lot a lot of science that goes into sports equipment, and I'd love to be someone who’s in the lab helping develop the next best thing.”

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[Student Stories](https://www.brown.edu/news/tag/student-stories)

Student Life

### [Student-led benefit concert celebrates Providence, raises $20,000 for local nonprofits](https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-03-10/thank-you-pvd-benefit-concert)

March 10, 2026

Organized by Brown University students, the “Thank You PVD” concert brought performers, students and Providence residents together for a night of music, gratitude and collective healing.

[Read Article](https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-03-10/thank-you-pvd-benefit-concert)

Open details for Student-led benefit concert celebrates Providence, raises $20,000 for local nonprofits

Student Life

### [More ways to play: Penner Field House expands access to athletics and recreation at Brown](https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-02-11/penner-field-house-indoor-turf)

February 11, 2026

Since opening its doors in January, the University’s new, all-season indoor turf facility is already changing the game for both competition and community on campus.

[Read Article](https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-02-11/penner-field-house-indoor-turf)

Open details for More ways to play: Penner Field House expands access to athletics and recreation at Brown

Student Life

### [A throwback menu for a timeless institution: Celebrating 75 years of the ‘Ratty’](https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-02-06/sharpe-refectory-ratty-75)

February 6, 2026

A 75th anniversary dinner and 1950s-inspired menu marked a milestone for Brown’s largest dining hall, celebrating the generations of students who have enjoyed meals and community at Sharpe Refectory.

[Read Article](https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-02-06/sharpe-refectory-ratty-75)

Open details for A throwback menu for a timeless institution: Celebrating 75 years of the ‘Ratty’

## [Student Stories](https://www.brown.edu/news/student-stories)

Exceptional students from across the spectrum of the Brown educational experience are embracing unique opportunities to advance knowledge and make an impact through research, community engagement, entrepreneurship and more.