From Playing Men’s Ice Hockey To Studying Seals, This Survivor 48 Castaway Is More Than Meets The Eye

In our opinion, the most interesting cast member fighting for the title of "Sole Survivor" and the million-dollar prize on Survivor 48 is the one and only Eva Erickson, already proving to be so much more than meets the eye, even before the show begins.

Eva was recently announced as a part of the beloved reality television series, serving as a member of the Lagi tribe alongside Shauhin Davari, Joe Hunter, Thomas Krottinger, Bianca Roses and Star Toomey when the show premieres on Feb. 26 via CBS and Paramount Plus.

With two more tribes, the Civa and Vula tribes — consisting of six castaways each — beginning their respective Survivor journeys in mere days, the entire cast of Survivor 48 is as follows:

Despite being the youngest castaway to compete on Survivor 48, with hobbies and interests that are all across the board, Eva might be able to relate to her tribemates more than fans of the show may think.

What are said hobbies and interests, though? To find out everything you need to know about Eva ahead of Survivor 48, just keep scrolling.

Everything You Need To Know About Eva Erickson

Born and raised in Eagan, Minnesota, Eva is now 24 years old, pursuing her PhD in engineering and fluid and thermal science while living in Providence, Rhode Island.

"My research for my thesis is on how seals use their whiskers to locate objects in water, and how that can be implemented in sensory tech for the Navy," she told Survivor reporter Mike Bloom in an exclusive interview with Parade.

Delving into the nitty gritty details, she continued:

"Unfortunately, I don't work with live seals, but I do a lot of experiments. I have a big, scaled-up seal whisker model that I put in a very large water flume. It's like 2000 gallons, and I do different experiments to see its vibrational profile in response to disturbances."

"I'm basically creating a fake fish flapping, and then have my seal whisker respond to it by vibrating in different ways, so we can ultimately create a sensor that's very sensitive to different types of disturbances."

When Eva finishes her thesis, she will have "a really elite degree from a great school" (AKA Brown University), hopeful to pursue a career in aerodynamics or fluid dynamics, or perhaps a career in military research.

Nevertheless, while Eva has an affinity towards marine life, specifically seals, there is something that stole her heart first: hockey.

According to the "energetic, driven and competitive" castaway herself, Eva has played hockey her whole entire life — even on an all-male team — now working as an NCAA Division I hockey official on the side. "I'm a linesman, and I also do a ton of USA Hockey national tournaments. They bring me around the country. That's my side gig, as well as my PhD," she told Mike.

Because she played on an all-male team, Eva says she closely identifies with Survivor: Phillipines winner Denise Stapley. "She also played football, and I'm a woman on an all-men's hockey team. She was a woman on a men's football team, and so I also identified with her," the 24-year-old also told Mike.

Adding that she loves water sports and rollerblading — and that she despises lazy people and wet socks — in her official Survivor biography, it is safe to say that Eva is as versatile as can be.

Eva Erickson Has Already Made Survivor History

Aside from having a wide range of hobbies and interests, Eva is the first openly autistic individual to compete on Survivor, describing autism as "something that's very important" to her identity, as it allowes her to be wholeheartedly herself each and every day.

In the same interview with Parade, Eva discussed how having autism will both help and hinder her gameplay. "The thing with autism is that a lot of people think of autism as being something bad, and that it's a big roadblock to success, but I believe that I would not have been as successful in my life without having my autism," she shared.

She continued, "It's provided me with so much drive, because I get these fixations on things — which can be very bad — but I've learned in my life to channel that towards my goals and using my fixated mindset to achieve what I want."

Eva then transitioned to some of the downsides of having autism, delving into the details:

"There are times I'll get super overwhelmed and overstimulated, and that can have a very large physical effect on me, as well as other things with autism, like my inability to recognize social cues."

"I'm a very social person, have a ton of energy, love talking to people. But I don't pick up on the small social cues that everyone else does. This game where everyone's lying to me, a lot of that's going to go over my head, so that's where I have to really make sure I'm building strong alliances with people who I can trust to tell me the truth."

According to her official Survivor biography, Eva want to find a loyal ally who's "a number one to stick with through and through." Here's to hoping she finds that connection on the shores of Fiji!

Everything You Need To Know About Survivor 48

While we will just have to wait and see whether or not Eva secures the title of "Sole Survivor" and the million-dollar prize on Survivor 48, longtime host Jeff Probst is already teasing that this season will be filled with twists and turns, including a new and improved Tribal Council set.

Inspired by an imaginary civilization called Izadega, Jeff told Entertainment Weekly in an exclusive interview, “I want to build this civilization and use it for Tribal Council. I want to build it the way it was thousands of years ago, and then I want to age it in process. I want to show stages as we age it of the weather and the environment, and maybe there was a war and they had to patch things up.”

"What was really fun is in the name Izadega... Just for a fun little Easter egg, I put eyes at various places — 'The eyes of Dega,'" he continued.

Last but certainly not least, Jeff concluded:

“This is what you get when you're in your 48th season, is you give your teams a little license to have some fun, and then they come up with these crazy ideas. I got to say, we've had 48 Tribal Councils, this is probably top five for me.”

Tribal Council set aside, will Eva have what it takes to outwit, outplay and outlast her tribemates, emerging victorious come Final Tribal Council?

The only way to find out is to tune into brand-new episodes of Survivor 48 each and every Wednesday — beginning on Feb. 26 via CBS — or to stream them the following day via Paramount Plus.