Caylee Weintraub
Writer | Teacher | Researcher
Education
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), expected 2027
College of Arts and Sciences
Ph.D in English
Research and Teaching Areas: Critical Animal Studies, Blue Humanities, Science Studies, Ecomedia, World Literature, Modernism, Children’s Literature
School of Forestry, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences
Certificate in Environmental Education and Communication
Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers, FL), 2020-2022.
College of Arts and Sciences
M.A. in English, May 2022
B.A. in English, December 2020
Minor: Creative Writing
Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Program (Middlebury, VT), June 2022.
Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, (Gambier, OH), June 2021.
Yale Writers Workshop, (New Haven, CT) June 2019.
Selected Conferences
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“Lit from Within: Bioluminescence and Decolonial Imaginaries in Contemporary Deep Sea Media,” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2025.
“‘Down She Looked into the Depths of the Sea’: Oceanography and Blue Humanities in The Voyage Out,” International Conference on Virginia Woolf, University of Sussex and King’s College London, London UK, July 2025.
“Climate Change, Community, and Coral in Ada M. Patterson’s Broken from the Colony,” Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MS, March 2025.
“Climate Resilience and Bioluminescence in Lily Brooks-Dalton’s The Light Pirate and Edwidge Danticat’s Claire of the Sea Light,” International Study for the Society of Narrative, Miami, FL, April 2025.
“‘The Glow of this Living Light’: Seeing Bioluminescence and Climate Catastrophe in Florida and Haiti,” South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Georgia State University, Jacksonville FL, November 2024.
“Towards a Nonhuman Ethics of Care in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway,” Caring Futures: Contradictions, Transformations, and Revolutionary Possibilities, The American University of Paris, Paris, France, virtual presentation, May 2024.
Co-Organizer, “Virginia Woolf and Ecologies II,” International Conference on Virginia Woolf, Virtual, October 2023.
“Ecologies of Illness in The Voyage Out and Flush,” 33rd Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, June 2023.
“‘Her Poor Dog was Howling’: Zoonotic Illness and Cross-Species Suffering in Mrs. Dalloway,” Modern Language Association, San Francisco, California, January 2023.
“‘World of the Infinitely Small: Microbic Networks in Mrs. Dalloway,” Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, Lamar University, Virtual, June 2022.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Bioluminescence and Deep-Sea Decoloniality in Contemporary Diasporic Literature, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment (ISLE), revise and resubmit, in progress.
“‘Down She Looked into the Depth of the Sea’: Deep Sea Ecology, Blue Humanities, and Constructions of Womanhood in The Voyage Out (1915), Cusp: Late 19th-/Early 20th-Century Cultures, Johns Hopkins UP, vol. 3, no. 2, July 2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/cusp.2025.a968840.
“Ecologies of Illness in The Voyage Out and Flush,” Selected Papers from the 32nd Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, edited by Laci Mattison, Clemson UP, 2023.
“‘World of the Infinitely Small:’ Microbic Networks in Mrs. Dalloway,” Selected Papers from the 31st Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, edited by Amy Smith, Clemson UP, 2022.
“Object Power: Gender Materiality in Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland and Catharine Sedgwick’s The Linwoods.” Studies in American Culture. 45.1 (October 2022): 83-101.
Fiction
Sunk (novel), under consideration, represented by Barbara Bova Literary Agency.
“How to Become a Regional Cryptid,” Terrain.org, November 2022.
“Clearing,” Wild Roof Journal, no. 119, November 2022.
“Blight,” Narrative Magazine, Story of the Week, November 2019.
Reprinted in The American Paradox, January 2024.
“Seawalls,” The Mangrove Review, July 2018.
“Lake,” Polyphony Lit Magazine, vol. 17, no. 13, June 2018.
“Natural History,” The Word Exchange, July 2017.
Teaching
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Florida, (Gainesville, FL), August 2024-current
Instructor of Record
LIT 2120: World Literature 1865 to Present, Fall 2024
ENC 1145: Special Topics in Composition: Writing about Science, Spring 2025
LIT 2110: World Literature Ancient to Renaissance, Fall 2025
Awarded English Department Teaching Award in February 2025. This award is given to the top-ranked graduate student teachers in the English department at University of Florida
Prepared original course materials and syllabus related to course themes.
Maintained a considerate, welcoming classroom community conducive to learning and expression of diverse opinions.
Ensured students felt supported in their writing process by holding weekly office hours to assist students with assignments and papers.
Adjunct Instructor, Florida Gulf Coast University, (Fort Myers, FL), August 2022-December 2023
Instructor of Record:
ENC 1101: Composition I with Special Topics Writing About Animals (two sections), Fall 2021
ENC 1101: Composition I with Special Topics Environmental Writing (one section), Fall 2022
ENC 1102: Composition II with Special Topics Monsters in Literature, Film, and Culture (two sections), Spring 2022/23
CRW 2001: Introduction to Creative Writing (one section), Fall 2023
Prepared original course materials and syllabus related to course themes.
Successfully held regular office hours to support student learning
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers, FL), August 2021-May 2022
Instructor of Record:
ENC1101 with Special Topics Writing for Animals (two sections) Fall 2021
ENC1102 with Special Topics Monsters in Literature, Film, and Culture, (one section) Spring 2022
Prepared original course materials and syllabus related to course themes.
Evaluated and graded student assignments to ensure adequate preparation for Composition II and the professional workforce.
Maintained a considerate, welcoming classroom community conducive to learning and expression of diverse opinions.
Ensured students felt supported in their writing process by holding weekly office hours to assist students with assignments and papers.
Service
Wilmot Botanical Garden, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, May 2025-present
Collaborate with adults with developmental disabilities to develop horticultural skills
Lead exercises in seed-planting, watering, misting, and plant maintenance to effectively tailor activities to individuals with different needs
Scientist in Every Florida School, University of Florida, (Gainesville, FL), July 2024- present
Volunteer position to present research on environmental humanities to K-12 Title I schools to foster partnerships between teachers and scientists
Share research on how literature can be a tool to learn about the environment with K-12 teachers
Create resources K-12 public school teachers can use to teach environmental humanities
Creative Writing Instructor, My Autism Connection, (Fort Myers, FL), July 2020-May 2023
Volunteer position to facilitate monthly creative writing workshops to adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Designed original lesson plans about elements of creative writing such as character, world-building, conflict, and dialogue
Created lesson plans best suited for the learning habits of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Researched teaching methods most beneficial for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Editor-in-Chief & Founder, the tiny journal, June 2018- present.
Founded 501(c)3 international nonprofit literary magazine that publishes flash fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Established Board of Directors and Advisory Committee and registered nonprofit with SunBiz.
Created a website using Squarespace and InDesign software to maximize readability and ease of access. Website receives 1,000+ visitors a month.
Oversaw editorial review of over 2,000 (approx. 500 submissions per issue) prose, poetry, and nonfiction submissions from diverse writers in America, Europe, the Philippines, Middle East, Africa, and South America.
Created and published blog post series on different elements of creative writing in order to provide free, accessible creative writing education to our readership.
Raised $400 for the World Literacy Foundation in 2020 as part of our mission to support writers and readers everywhere.
Featured on NBC-2 “Story2Share: After Amanda Gorman’s Words Captivated Nation, Young Poets See New Potential”
Grants + Awards
Recipient, Suzanne Bellamy Travel Fund, February 2025
Awarded $300 in travel funds to Virginia Woolf Conference in Sussex, UK
Travel Grant, Center for European Studies, March 2025
Awarded $1,200 travel grant to Virginia Woolf Conference in Sussex, UK
Travel Grant, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, March 2025
Awarded $400 travel grant to Virginia Woolf Conference in Sussex, UK
Finalist, Narrative Magazine 2023 Spring Story Contest, August 2023
“Head to Wind”
Second Place, Sigma Tau Delta International English Convention, April 2022
Awarded second place in the American Literature category for my paper “Subversive Objects in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.”
Undergraduate Student of the Year: College of Arts and Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, May 2020
Selected to receive the Undergraduate Student of the Year Award for the College of Arts and Sciences.
This award recognizes undergraduate students who embody entrepreneurship, community engagement, leadership, and academic achievement.
Scholarly and Creative Undergraduate Research Award, Florida Gulf Coast University, May 2018
Selected as one of four undergraduate students to receive this award, which recognizes outstanding undergraduate research, based on my creative writing portfolio.
Claudia Ann Seaman Award for Fiction, Polyphony Lit Magazine, November 2018
My short story, “Lake,” was selected from an applicant pool of 1,200+ fiction submissions to Polyphony Lit Magazine (Issue XIII) by editorial staff as the sole recipient of this award, which recognizes excellence in fiction writing
Winner, Florida Gulf Coast University Writing Awards, March 2018
My short story, “Seawalls,” was selected as the winning entry from an application
pool of 100+.
Winner, Florida Gulf Coast University Writing Awards, March 2017
My creative nonfiction story, “Lake,” was selected as the winning entry.
Professional Memberships
Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment
British Society for the Study of Literature and Science
Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative
International Virginia Woolf Society
International Society for the Study of Narrative