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Portland State Graduate Student Jessica Carlson: Miss Oregon USA 2005

A Portland State University graduate student now wears the 2005 Miss Oregon USA crown. Jessica Carlson, 23, beat out 25 others to win the statewide contest in November, and will compete for the title of Miss USA in April 2005. In the meantime, she will continue working toward her master's in biology and as a graduate teaching assistant in human anatomy and physiology for her faculty adviser, Randy Zelick.

Carlson, a high school valedictorian who also earned her bachelor's at PSU and a self-described "science nerd," is researching the auditory system of Cuban tree frogs, an invasive species now common in the southeastern United States.