Awards

CNAS student Maritssa Nolasco wins 2025 ASA/CSSA/SSSA National Student Recognition Award

owenw — Wed, 28 May 2025 17:41:22 +0000

CNAS student Maritssa Nolasco wins 2025 ASA/CSSA/SSSA National Student Recognition Award owenw Wed, 05/28/2025 - 10:41 More Blog Posts May 30, 2025

Maritssa Nolasco, a fourth-year Mathematics for Teachers of Secondary School (MTSS) major at the UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences and a Digital Agriculture Fellowship (DAF) participant, has been awarded the 2025 National Student Recognition award.

Co-sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), the award is given annually in recognition of scholastic achievements, including research.

"Maritssa was a great member of my team," says Dr. Elia Scudiero, Associate Professor of Precision Agriculture and Agronomy and DAF coordinator. "She had a constant enthusiasm for learning new things, and was a great team player when helping other lab members."

Maritssa Nolasco

Maritssa grew up in the Coachella Valley, and found herself interested in agriculture from an early age. "In the valley, you see farmers, a lot of soil, a lot of [food] production," she says. "Every time I would pass by, I would think, 'I wonder what goes into this...how does the produce grow?'"

"Maritssa grew up surrounded by agriculture, but never had the chance to get involved with it until she became a DAF student," explains Dr. Scudiero. "I hope she will consider the agricultural sector as a possible future career."

Despite her interest in agriculture, Maritssa came to UC Riverside to pursue another subject: math, and more specifically to become a certified math instructor.

"In high school, my math teachers would ask me to tutor the other students or help them with their homework," explains Maritssa. "My students would say, 'Oh, you teach really well!' I thought, okay, this is my calling...that's why I applied to UC Riverside and enrolled in the Mathematics for Teachers of Secondary School (MTSS) major."

Maritssa credits a visit to UC Riverside's campus as a ninth grader with helping her decide to enroll at the university. "Once I stepped foot on campus, I saw that all the students looked really happy to be here," she remembers. "They were really nice, too...when I would ask questions they would immediately talk to me. It felt like a very friendly environment, and not competitive at all. I really liked that, because I could tell we'd all help each other out."

After she enrolled at UC Riverside, Maritssa learned about a unique opportunity for budding teachers during her freshman seminar, the California Teach-Science and Mathematics (CalTeach-SMI) Initiative, a UC systemwide program providing STEM undergraduate majors with opportunities to explore STEM teaching as they complete their STEM degrees. Maritssa joined the initiative to help prepare for the eventual challenges of teaching in a classroom.

"CalTeach-SMI gives you field experience," explains Maritssa. "You actually get into the classroom and teach lessons. Coming into the program, I was really shy, but these fieldwork experiences, where I'm actually in the classroom observing or teaching a lesson, really helped me find my voice as a teacher."

"During Maritssa's three years of involvement, I've seen her come out of her shyness, becoming a confident and competent leader," says Leslie Bushong, Director of CalTeach-SMI. "She is friendly, creative, and always eager to assist...a natural teacher!"

While preparing for her career as a teacher, Maritssa also kept an eye out for opportunities to explore her interest in math in different contexts. An opportunity presented itself at the end of her freshman year, when she applied for the Digital Agriculture Fellowship (DAF).

"I wanted to see of there was another pathway with math that I wanted to explore as a career," says Maritssa. "Being in the DAF program, you area also placed in the Research in Science & Engineering (RISE) summer research program, so that's how I found out about RISE."

"RISE transforms undergraduate students into undergraduate researchers by providing them with an opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty mentor on a research project," says Noel Salunga, Assistant Director for Student Success and RISE director. "Participants also get to be part of a summer undergraduate research community that also offers professional development workshops and community building events."

Maritssa remembers being pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the digital agriculture field. "You can work with drones, you can map fields using ArcGIS Pro...it's nice because you really don't have to have much experience in research at all...they help you through everything!"

"Maritssa used on-the-go gamma-ray spectrometry to characterize soil spatial variability in lettuce fields in the Salinas Valley," explains Dr. Scudiero. "Fields with high soil spatial variability are often sites where water and fertilizers are overused, causing a high environmental footprint from agricultural practices. Mari also used high-resolution satellite data to track crop growth and understand its response to soil spatial variability."

While Maritssa admits there was a bit of a learning curve at the beginning of her fellowship, she credits Dr. Scudiero's lab with supporting her throughout her research projects. "When I first started, I new nothing about soil," remembers Maritssa. "We started off slow...I started learning about their research and then moved to doing hands-on soil research. I was really surprised by how welcoming the lab was...I came in knowing nothing and they still took the time to teach me everything!"

Among the many different facets of the DAF fellowship, Maritssa says she enjoyed putting her math skills to work in a new way. "With each soil sample, I was taking and analyzing data and then putting it into ArcGIS, which I had to learn as well. It was cool seeing how you can make data maps that tell you how much water is in the soil and how it affects the growth!"

Despite her lack of experience, Dr. Scudiero describes Maritssa's research as impactful. "At the beginning of her fellowship, Maritssa was a novice in the field of precision agriculture and geographic information systems," says Dr. Scudiero. "Through her time in my lab, her research and analytical sills improved remarkable. Maritssa's research represents a step toward increasing water and fertilizer use sustainability in the Salinas Valley."

"Dr. Scudiero was wonderful and amazing," remembers Maritssa. "He was very welcoming and kind, and very reassuring that it was okay that I didn't know that much about this field."

As a result of her research and scholarly contributions, Mari was also awarded the 2023 Golden Scholar Opportunity by the American Society of Agronomy, which enabled her to present her work at conferences in Fresno, CA and St. Louis, MO.

According to the ASA, the Golden Scholar Opportunity serves to "develop the agronomy, crops, soils, and environmental sciences professions by strengthening the next generation of leaders in the profession."

When Noel asked her to serve as a peer mentor for the DAF program, Mari used her experience to advise other students about scientific presentations.

"One of the questions that came up a lot was DAF participants feeling nervous about having to present their research posters," says Maritssa. "I told them to imagine their audiences were classmates, because that's what really helped me...I told students to not be nervous because the audience will see those nerves. You want your audience to know that you're confident in your research."

"Maritssa was able to share her journey with the students, both as a peer mentor and student assistant during the summer and academic year," says Noel. "She helped DAF students navigate the challenges and stresses of undergraduate research. She is a great example of how, if you are inquisitive about research, work hard to learn with a professor, and open-minded about exploring new fields, you can thrive."

According to Maritssa, serving as a DAF peer mentor gave her the opportunity pay her experience forward. "I got to talk about my experiences, and because I was already in the program, the students felt comfortable coming to me about their research and abstracts," says Maritssa. "It was a nice way to help them out and give them the help I know I would've wanted in the DAF program."

For students considering DAF in the future, Maritssa's advice is simple.

"Definitely apply!" she says. "Even if you don't have that much research experience, you'll learn along the way. DAF really gives you the opportunity to explore your options in that career and research."

After graduation this June, Maritssa will return to UC Riverside to continue working towards becoming a teacher. "I'm entering the UC Riverside credential and master's program for teaching in single-subject math," she says. "I'm looking forward to helping my students and supporting them throughout the math classes I'm going to be teaching."

As she reflects on her UC Riverside experience, Maritssa credits the relationships she built along the way with helping her thrive. "It was pretty amazing!" she remembers. "You build these relationships with other peers...I'm still friends with the students I met during my first year in the dorms. Being a peer mentor and a part of the CalTeach-SMI and DAF programs...it's been helpful sharing my experience with my peers."

Maritssa continues, "These different experiences really helped to mold who I am today, and who I want to be in the future."

MORE ABOUT THE DIGITAL AGRICULTURE FELLOWSHIP

ASK A CNAS PROF: ELIA SCUDIERO

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Student Spotlight

Awards

CNAS Awards 2025: Honoring student achievement, innovative research, and scientific community impact

owenw — Mon, 19 May 2025 22:08:19 +0000

CNAS Awards 2025: Honoring student achievement, innovative research, and scientific community impact owenw Mon, 05/19/2025 - 15:08 More College News May 22, 2025

Each year, the UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) proudly recognizes a select group of students who have distinguished themselves through exceptional academic achievements, innovative research, and a commitment to making a positive impact on the science community.

These outstanding individuals are more than just award recipients—they are a testament to the transformative power of scientific exploration and education at CNAS. Their achievements reflect the very best of what CNAS has to offer, demonstrating not only intellectual excellence but also resilience, leadership, and a passion for discovery.

We are honored to celebrate these remarkable students and their accomplishments:

2025 CNAS Outstanding Achievement Award

The Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes one graduating senior from the entire college, selected from the Rosemary S. J. Schraer Award nominations, for their exemplary achievement in academics, research or creative activity, their breadth of involvement within the college, and their commitment to service and citizenship.

Hannah Jeanette Moore
CNAS Outstanding Achievement Award
Academic Excellence Award
Rosemary S. J. Schraer Award Nominee
Biochemistry major Hannah Jeanette Moore began working in Dr. Hollis Woodard’s lab during her second year, managing an experiment designed by a graduate student, before developing her own experiment to examine the impact of starvation on bumble bee pheromones. This research, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Kerry Mauck and Dr. Jocelyn G. Millar, was funded by the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship and presented at the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting. In her third year, Hannah also joined Dr. Samuel Mann’s lab, where she designed de novo protein scaffolds with the goal of studying P450-like intermediates, research she later presented at the annual SoCal Bioinorganic meeting. Outside of her research, Hannah worked as a learning assistant for Dr. Matthew Casselman, supporting undergraduate chemistry education, and has been on the Dean’s list every quarter at UC Riverside.

2025 Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award

In honor of Rosemary S.J. Schraer, who served as UCR Chancellor from 1987-1992, the Schraer Award recognizes two graduating seniors from the entire college for their academic excellence, leadership, and participation in activities.

Arnav Kacker
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Biology major Arnav Kacker is a stellar student at UC Riverside. He wrote a successful minigrant proposal on the “Synthesis and Alkylation of the Chemotherapeutic Molecule Bersavine and Derivative Molecules” that was funded. He is also co-author on two recent publications on the synthesis of biomedically relevant natural products, and will be the first author on an upcoming chemoproteomics study. He maintains a 4.0 GPA and has been admitted to the University of California, San Diego and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s medical school programs.

Theodore Adams
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Academic Excellence Award
Entomology major Theodore Adams is a highly motivated and accomplished undergraduate with a strong record of academic and research excellence. As an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Mark Hoddle’s lab for over a year, he has actively contributed to ongoing projects, including supervised research on cotton seed bug egg population dynamics and surveys for egg parasitoids of this pest. His dedication is evident in over 600 hours of data collection. Beyond research, Theodore demonstrates leadership as co-president of the Botany and Entomology Undergraduate Student Association, where he plans their weekly meetings, recruits new members, and communicates with faculty about events. His academic achievements are consistently outstanding, earning him Dean’s List honors each quarter.

2025 Academic Excellence Award

The Academic Excellence Award for the College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences recognizes one graduating senior who are selected by faculty from each major for their academic success, research, and/or creative activity.

Biology
Naran Luvsanravdan
Naran Luvsanravdan has undertaken two undergraduate research projects over two years while at UC Riverside. In Dr. Margarita Curras-Collazo’s Neuroendocrinology Lab, she studied how environmental toxicants such as PBDEs disrupt the social brain to cause autistic-like traits. She received 3 UC Student Minigrants and one travel mini-grant while at UC Riverside to carry out her research studies. Naran has presented her research findings at the 2023 RISE Symposium and 2024 UCR Undergraduate Symposium, and will be presenting her findings at the 2025 Physiology Summit, sponsored by an international professional society, the American Physiological Society. She is a co-author on several abstracts submitted by the Curras-Collazo lab and is a co-author on a manuscript currently in preparation. In addition to research, Naran worked as a COPE Health Scholar, member of the Mini-Medical School and UCR Highlander Emergency Medical Society, and President of the Chinese Student Association, all while receiving Dean’s or Chancellor’s Honors list every quarter.

Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology
Samiha Alam
Samiha Alam has undertaken two undergraduate research projects over three years while at UC Riverside. Samiha extracted and studied chromatophores from the bacteria in the Quantum Materials Optoelectronics Lab, and later studied gut-brain interactions that contribute to Gulf War Illness in a mouse model in Dr. Margarita Curras-Collazo’s Neuroendocrinology Lab. She received two UC Student Minigrants to carry out her recent study and presented her research findings at the Spring UCR Undergraduate Symposium. She is a co-author on several abstracts submitted by the Curras-Collazo lab and is a co-author on a manuscript in preparation. In addition to research, Samiha worked as a COPE Health Scholar and Leader, providing patient care in multiple clinical areas, all while receiving Dean’s list honors every quarter.

Chemistry
Lina Mai
Lina Mai spent three summers as a research intern in Dr. Thuy Doan’s biomedical lab at the University of California, San Francisco, where she used RNA deep sequencing to identify pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in nasal and conjunctival swabs. With an interest in pharmaceutical sciences and after completing the organic chemistry series, she joined Dr. Kevin Kou’s lab in the Fall of 2023. Over the past 18 months, Lina has contributed to three projects spanning methodology development, natural product semi-synthesis, and total synthesis. Her work on the semi-synthesis of bersavine derivatives resulted in the identification of a series of potent anti-leukemia molecules and co-authorship on a study recently published in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. She is currently developing a new chemical reaction to enable the total synthesis of bersavine and related natural products. After graduation, Lina plans to work in industry for a year to gain additional synthesis experience in medicinal chemistry and then pursue graduate studies in organic chemistry.

Data Science
Eve Caroline Fraczkiewicz
Eve Fraczkiewicz's strong performance in both STAT 169 and STAT 171 demonstrated her deep understanding and genuine passion for statistics. Throughout both courses, she was consistently attentive, thoughtful, and highly engaged with the material. In STAT 171, she stood out as a team player and natural leader in her group project, taking initiative in model development and clearly communicating statistical findings. Beyond the classroom, Eve has built an impressive portfolio, including leading an R'Workshop at the Women in Data Science Conference, completing multiple applied machine learning and data scraping projects, and conducting research through UC Riverside’s RISE program on distinguishing AI-generated from human-written text. Her combination of academic strength, initiative, and leadership make her highly deserving of recognition.

Earth and Planetary Sciences, Geology, Geophysics
Qirui Lin
Qirui Lin has worked within Dr. Maryjo Brounce’s lab for three years, analyzing the critical mineral content of rock samples from the Salton Sea as part of a project funded by the Department of Energy. He received the McKibben-Turner Scholarship in 2025. In addition to research, Qirui worked as a Highlander Orientation Leader, a Campus Escort, a test writer and Chemistry helper for three Science Olympiads, was an active member of four student organizations (Geology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences and Cheese), worked as a Museum Assistant in the Geology Museum, and earned Dean’s list honors every quarter, and Chancellor’s list honors every year as a dual major in Geology and Environmental Sciences.

Environmental Sciences
Liem Nguyen
Liem Nguyen has demonstrated exceptional academic performance since starting at UCR in Fall 2021. Liem has consistently earned a place on either the Dean’s Honors List or the Chancellor’s Honors List every single quarter and shown remarkable dedication to academic excellence.

Mathematics
Jason Patrick Palos
Jason has been actively involved in research on neutrophil chemotaxis dynamics with Dr. Qixuan Wang and active matter transport with Mykhailo Potomkin. The results of both projects are being submitted for publication, with Jason as co-first author on one paper. He will be attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota as an NSF graduate fellow.

Mathematics for Teachers of Secondary School
Michelle Thanh Pham
In addition to her excellent grades, Michelle has worked as one of the Mathematics Department’s first student lab leaders for the new Math 003 course. This year, she has also served as the president of the “Tomorrow’s Teachers in Science and Math” student organization.

Microbiology
Anastasia Ghilenschi Colton
Anastasia Ghilenschi-Colton received a UC Student Minigrant and Campbell Research grant to carry out her research, and a Travel Minigrant to present her research findings at the upcoming annual conference for the American Physiology Society (APS). The APS awarded her a 2025 Barbara A. Horowitz and John M. Horowitz Outstanding Undergraduate Abstract Award for this work. Anastasia presented her research findings at the 2023 RISE Symposium, 2024 UCR Undergraduate Symposium, the 2024 MolMed Mini-symposium – Drug Development and Capacity Building and the 2025 Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions Conference. She is an author on several abstracts and on a manuscript in preparation. Anastasia has earned other honors at UC Riverside, including the Regents Scholarship and Dean’s Honors list.

Neuroscience
Tara Duo Gao
Tara Duo Gao conducts research in Dr. Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka’s lab at UCR, where she investigates the neural basis of innate fear behaviors in mice. Her independent project examines the role of the medial amygdala in innate fear responses to olfactory predator cues. Recognized as a TRIO McNair Scholar and recipient of the Austin and Helen Riesen Neuroscience Award, Tara has presented her findings at multiple research conferences across California. Driven by her continued curiosity in neuroscience, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. at Caltech following graduation. Outside of academics, Tara continues to excel in piano and oriental dance, performing and competing at advanced levels.

Physics
Shane Levin
Shane Levin has worked in the research lab of Dr. Jonathan Richardson since the Fall of 2022. Her research contributions include the construction, commissioning, and monitoring of a Class 100 cleanroom which is used to assemble and test optical instruments developed in the Richardson lab at UCR for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). She led the development of the lab’s LIGO real-time system, which is a self-contained version of the same system used to read out signals from and control the LIGO interferometers. She is a co-author on a journal article published in Physical Review Letters, which is the premier research journal of physics. She is an outstanding student and a regular participant in Physics and Astronomy outreach events. Shane won the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research. She has multiple offers of admission to some of the most selective physics Ph.D. programs in the country.

Plant Biology
Abigail Noguera
Abby Noguera's passion for research and academic excellence sets her apart. In Dr. Exequiel Ezcurra’s lab, Abby explores the ecological role of extrafloral nectaries in Ferocactus, contributing critical insight and independent research. She developed her own germination protocol for Ferocactus seeds—discovering rare tricotyledons in the species—and designed a project comparing the phenotypic plasticity of extrafloral nectaries in native habitats vs. botanic gardens. Abby is also a certified Nursery Master, skilled in native plant taxonomy and entomological collections. With previous research in lichen ecology and plant genetics, she brings both depth and versatility to her work. Among the top GPAs in Botany and Plant Sciences, Abby exemplifies scientific curiosity, initiative, and commitment to plant science and conservation.

Statistics
Srisai Saavarni Chilukuri
Srisai Saavarni Chilukuri has an exceptional breadth of research and public health experience. She was awarded “Best Insight” at the Biostatistics Symposium of Southern California for her poster presentation, reflecting her ability to communicate complex findings effectively. Her research includes a study on the impact of Alzheimer’s disease in Down Syndrome and late-onset populations using longitudinal models, and a public health internship where she led a quality improvement initiative to enhance tuberculosis reporting and address health disparities. With experience spanning regression analysis, big data, and bias mitigation in predictive modeling, she brings both technical depth and a passion for health equity to her work.

Congratulations to our students!

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Awards

CNAS Awards 2024

owenw — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 21:25:57 +0000

CNAS Awards 2024 owenw Fri, 06/14/2024 - 14:25 More College News June 14, 2024

Each year, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) honors students who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and accomplishments throughout their time at UC Riverside.

"Over the past few years, you've all navigated through these times with remarkable resilience, perseverance, and commitment—that is your legacy," said Peter W. Atkinson, CNAS Interim Dean, in his remarks at the 70th CNAS Commencement ceremony on June 17. "When history unfolds, future generations will look to you as beacons of resilience, a collective of young individuals who persevered and remained steadfast in their commitment to shaping their own futures… and the futures of those around them. You make us all proud."

Please join the CNAS community in recognizing the 2024 academic award winners on their phenomenal achievements:

Outstanding Achievement Award
Selected by the CNAS divisional deans, the Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes one student from all the Excellence Award nominees for their exemplary achievement in academics and research or creative activity, their breadth of involvement in the college, and for their commitment to service and citizenship.

The 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award winner is...

Peter Carney, Physics
Peter Carney has worked in the research labs of Professor Jonathan Richardson, developing advanced optics for the LIGO gravitational wave observatory, and Professor Miguel Arratia, contributing to building, designing, and testing a nuclear physics calorimeter prototype, where he is a co-author on a published, peer-reviewed journal article describing that work. He has also participated in two selective summer research programs at Caltech and CERN. In 2023, Peter won the national-level Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Peter has accepted an offer of admission from the Physics Ph.D. program at Caltech.

Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
In honor of Rosemary S.J. Schraer, who served as UCR Chancellor from 1987-1992, the Schraer Award recognizes the academic excellence of two outstanding graduating seniors in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

The 2024 Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award winners are...

Alyssa Ashley Menor Fundal, Environmental Sciences and Psychology
A 2024-2025 CORO Fellow in Public Affairs, Alyssa has also served as a Chancellor's Research Fellow and peer mentor through the College of Natural & Agricultural Science's Transfer Connections program. Alyssa served as the vice president of the UCR Environmental Sciences Club and the co-project manager for the UCR Food Waste Reduction Program through UCR Dining Services. She presented a poster presentation on her food waste research at the UCR Undergraduate Research Symposium and served as copy editor for the UCR Undergraduate Research Journal. Alyssa served as air quality intern as part of the University Innovation Alliance's Bridging the Gap Between Education and Employment Program, researching community health and environmental injustice in the Salton Sea. She also served as an undergraduate research assistant in the Gray hydrology lab. After completing the CORO Fellowship, Alyssa plans to pursue a graduate degree and continue affecting positive environmental change on a community level.

Academic Excellence Award
The Academic Excellence Awards for the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recognizes students who are selected by their faculty for achieving excellence in their academics and research or creative activity.

The 2024 Academic Excellence Award winners are...

Andrea Barajas, Environmental Sciences
Andrea Barajas, a first-generation graduate whose parents migrated from Mexico, has worked both as a Digital Agriculture Fellow, where she conducted research on spatial temporal differences between crops and weeds using drone-mounted sensors, and as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in Dr. Gan’s Environmental Science Lab at UCR. Andrea's dedication to environmental science and her commitment to research have earned her the Outstanding Senior Award from the American Society of Agronomy in March 2024. As an Undergraduate Research Assistant, Andrea has conducted extensive laboratory work and field experiments to monitor environmental contaminants. She was named a National Student Recognition award winner by the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America in June 2024. She plans to continue pursuing research to further contribute to the field of environmental science.

Emilia Lynn Marie Burnham, Entomology
Emilia is a senior Bachelor’s + Master’s student in the Entomology Department. She applies her scientific expertise to combat honeybee parasites. Since 2022, she's researched the honeybee fungal parasite Nosema ceranae with Dr. Boris Baer at the Center for Integrative Bee Research. She has orchestrated K-12 school and community events for two years as the Entomology Department Outreach Coordinator. Emilia showcased her work at the Entomological Society of America Conference 2023 through a department travel grant. She honed her leadership skills in various leadership roles, such as Co-President of the Botany & Entomology Undergraduate Student Association and Executive Board Member of the American Medical Women’s Association. Continuing her project on N. ceranae immunity, she'll pursue her Master’s degree, exploring novel treatments using heat-killed fungal spores.

Justin James Diab, Biology
Justin Diab enrolled as a Biology Major at UC Riverside in Fall 2020 and is a first-generation college student. He joined the Glassman lab as a researcher in 2022 and spent two years culturing bacteria and fungi and assessed the thermotolerance of various Aspergillus species cultured from wildfires. During his time at UCR, Justin was a supplemental instruction leader for Organic Chemistry and also volunteered at the Temecula Valley Hospital. Justin is a proud recipient of the Roger Hayes scholarship and has been on the deans and chancellors list for all years of his undergraduate biology degree. Justin will be graduating in June 2024 with a 3.98 cumulative GPA and is enrolled in Pharmacy School at Loma Linda University starting in Fall 2024.

Joseph Feldman-Peterson, Earth & Planetary Sciences
Joseph worked with Dr. Andrey Bekker's Bekker’s Stable Isotopes for Innovative Research Lab for almost 1 year on detrital zircon geochronology of the late Ediacaran sedimentary successions of the East European platform. Joseph spent two weeks at the University of Wyoming separating detrital zircons from sandstones and several days at UC Santa Barbara doing their U-Pb analyses. He received Winter 2024 Undergraduate Research Minigrant and Terracon Scholarship 2023-2024. Joseph participates as a Mentee in Geoscience Education & Mentorship Program and serves as a Secretary for Geology Student Association at UCR, both since 2023. He will present his research at the 2024 Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities
Symposium.

Riley Hunke, Mathematics for Secondary School Teachers
Riley has been a part of the CalTeach - Science Math Initiative program as a Peer Leader and Mentor where he served as the Office Team Lead. Along with this leadership role, he participated in two year-long field assignments at local secondary schools to prepare for his future career as a math teacher. Riley was also the Vice President of Tomorrow's Teachers of Science and Math for the 2023-2024 term. As they prepare to graduate, Riley has been accepted into UCR's dual Masters and Credential program starting this summer and plans to teach in the Inland Empire upon graduation.

Mitchel Howard Larsen, Plant Biology
Following a need to leave his career as a chef due to disability, Mitchel attended Mt. San Jacinto College to find a new path. There, he was inspired by his professors to emulate their mentorship and passion for teaching. His excellent academic performance earned him the Regents Transfer Scholarship. After earning five Associate degrees, he transferred to UC Riverside to study Plant Biology where he continued to excel as a student. He tutored local elementary school students in math and English as a CollegeCorps Education Fellow, earning him the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. He joined Dr. Amy Litt’s research lab studying plant diversity using phylogenetics, population genetics, and other methods in 2023. Following graduation, Mitchel will be pursuing a career in ecological field research before returning to UCR to earn a PhD. He hopes to teach biology and inspire the next generation of young scientists.

Linlin Liu, Statistics
Linlin transferred to UCR in Fall 2022 as a Statistics major from Riverside City College. She joined Dr. Kate Ostevik’s lab in the following summer through the RISE program to explore the impact of different seed dispersal methods on the gene flow of alpine plant species. Additionally, she was actively involved on campus as a CNAS Science Ambassador and a student assistant at the International Students and Scholars office. After graduation, she will continue her graduate studies at UCR in Applied Statistics starting in Fall 2024.

Ray Lopez-Amaya, Biology
Ray worked in Dr. Joel Sach's lab, where he took on a variety of complex tasks involved in two large greenhouse experiments that occurred during his tenure, including making important media for plant or bacterial culture, the dissection of plants, and gathering and recording data, and helping with work in the fields of the Agricultural Experiment Station. In addition to working in Dr. Sach's lab, Ray works as a medical scribe and volunteers at a local emergency room and a donations center. His post-graduate plans include working on his application for the 2024-2025 medical school cycle.

Adelric Low, Data Science
Since youth, Adelric has always enjoyed the logical nature of math and sciences, leading to his passion in data science. This passion led Adelric to his paid internship last summer where he synthesized ideas for the possible implementations of data within an automated process. Adelric furthered his passion for data science this year as a research assistant in Dr. Lyubomirsky’s Positive Activities and Well-Being Lab where he assists with data extraction, cleaning, and analysis. Adelric also serves as the Internal Vice President of the Chinese Student Association while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.98. He wants to pursue a Master’s degree in Data Science and use his knowledge to provide data-driven answers to the extensive questions of the world.

Ibrahim Bassem Maaz, Biochemistry
Ibrahim has significantly contributed to the UCR community as an undergraduate, including serving as a Senior Chancellor’s Research Fellow, President of the Neuroscience Club, a RISE Summer Scholar, and an Undergraduate Researcher at the Murn Lab for three years. As a member of the Murn Lab he has focused primarily on understanding the molecular and behavioral importance of microexons to neural development and has utilized a wide breadth of biochemical to behavioral assays. Due to his rigorous academic and research pursuits he has been awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Senior Chancellor’s Research Fellowship. As a Senior Fellow he leads the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship mentorship division, working to prioritize increasing equity, accessibility, and diversity in research across all disciplines. Following his graduation, Ibrahim will begin his Ph.D in Biochemistry at Stanford University, where he plans to begin his career towards becoming a professor.

Sudhir Gajanan Murthy, Mathematics
Mentored by Dr. Estela Gavasto and Dr. Michael Nelson, Sudhir has published in UCR’s Undergraduate Research Journal and presented at UTD’s Fourth Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. He also attended a funded workshop at the Lorentz Center, in Leiden, on machine-verified mathematics. He then presented his experience to the 2024 Joint Mathematics Meetings, discussing the prospective future of computerized mathematics and AI. Currently, working under Dr. Patricio Gallardo, he leads a team of undergraduates to formalize Euclidean Geometry using computerized proof assistants. Having accepted UCR’s Ph.D. program in mathematics, Sudhir is eager to continue his interest in algebra, logic, and computer science.

Kelli Nguyen, Cell, Molecular & Developmental Biology
Kelli is a junior student majoring in CMDB, and she has worked on an undergraduate research project in Yinsheng Wang’s laboratory. During high school, Kelli demonstrated her leadership by guiding students on health profession-related resources and delivering educational presentations as an officer of the Medical Aspirants Club. Currently, she is a member of the Medical Scholars Program at UCR with an impressive 3.94 cumulative GPA. Over the past few years, she has accumulated substantial patient caring and administrative experience by working at Dr. Friedman's Family Practice and Barstow Community Hospital. With a strong passion for biology and healthcare, Kelli is committed to making significant contributions through research and academic excellence.

Joshua Roth, Physics
Joshua Roth has performed research with Professor Anson D'Aloisio for three years. He is the first author on a journal article describing his work on the interpretation of quasar spectra measurements and the reionization of the early universe, which has been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In addition to being a top physics student, with a 3.95 GPA, he is a Division-1 athlete on the UCR Tennis Team. Joshua has accepted an offer of admission from the Astrophysics Ph.D. program at Princeton University.

Maricela Toops, Microbiology
Marcie is a Microbiology major with a 3.90 GPA. She is conducting research in the lab of Dr. Caroline Roper as part of the California Alliance for Minority Participation program and has also worked at the USDA Salinity lab as a research assistant. In Dr. Roper’s lab she researches the molecular interactions that underlie the tritrophic interactions among the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, it insect vector and its plant host. She has participated in the UCR RISE program, served as the MARC U Star Club president and recruitment coordinator as well as the UCR STEM Club president. Marcie is a current and rising star in microbiology with a bright career ahead of her.

Lena Xiaoyu Williams, Chemistry
Despite debuting as a new college student during the pandemic, Lena has excelled in her undergraduate studies, tutoring her peers in math and science and receiving Chancellor’s honors every year with a 3.99 cumulative GPA. Conducting research in two labs since her senior year, her recent focus has been expanding our knowledge of atmospheric pathways beginning with ozonolysis. In addition to research, Lena has been a member of the Women’s Club Soccer team since the winter quarter of her junior year and began coaching the team at the beginning of her senior year. After graduating from UCR, Lena will pursue a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at USC, where she intends to further her learning.

Patrick James Williamson, Neuroscience
Patrick Williamson worked on his Capstone Research Project in Dr. Martin Riccomagno's laboratory for almost two years. His work aimed to define the genetic programs that control the formation of the cerebellum, a region of the brain essential for motor coordination and learning. This research contributed to a peer-reviewed manuscript currently in preparation. For his achievements, he received the UCR Honors Excellence in Research Scholarship. Additionally, Patrick volunteered extensively on and off campus, including providing assistance during Highlander Day and Brain Awareness Day. He also held several leadership positions and mentored students in the Future Physician Leaders and Medical Leaders of Tomorrow programs.

Congratulations to all of our 2024 academic award winners!

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Barry Barish to be Honored on Campus for Being Awarded National Medal of Sciences Last Fall

owenw — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 22:20:45 +0000

Barry Barish to be Honored on Campus for Being Awarded National Medal of Sciences Last Fall owenw Mon, 04/22/2024 - 15:20 More College News April 22, 2024

RIVERSIDE, CA - In a day-long series of campus events on Tuesday April 30, UCR will honor Barry Barish, Nobel Laureate, Distinguished Professor, and Endowed Term Chair for Teaching, Research and Service, on being awarded the 2023 National Medal of Sciences – the highest award given to American scientists – this past fall by President Joe Biden.

The medal is awarded to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in one of six different fields. Professor Barish was awarded the medal in the category of physical sciences along with Myriam Sarachik, a Belgian-born American experimental physicist.

The first medal in the physical science category was awarded 60 years ago in 1963. The Committee on the National Medal of Science under the auspices of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is responsible for recommending medal candidates to the President.

The citation for Prof. Barish’s award reads:

“For exemplary service to science, including groundbreaking research on sub-atomic particles. His leadership of the Laster Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory led to the first detection of gravitational waves from merging black holes, confirming a key part of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. He has broadened our understanding of the universe and our Nation’s sense of wonder and discovery.”

Professor Barish was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017 along with Rainer Weiss and Kip Thorne for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.

The on campus celebration for Professor Barish is entitled The Frontiers of Physics: A Celebration Honoring Barry Barish. The day begins with an invitation-only luncheon at 11:30 a.m. followed at 1:00 p.m. by the discourse: Presentations on the Frontiers of Physics, at the UCR University Theater. At that lecture, attendees will learn about research at the frontiers of physics being pursued by the Experimental Cosmology group that Professor Barish established at UCR. Keynote speakers will include Professor Art McDonald, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize, and Professor Chang Kee Jung, winner of the APS 2022 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize.

At 3:00 p.m. the schedule of events continues in the Physics Building with a tour of the research lab and the opportunity to meet faculty and students, followed by a reception in University Theater at 5:00 p.m. for the second installment of UCR’s Science Lecture Series (link). The reception will then give way to the honoree himself when Professor Barish gives a presentation on Gravitational Waves: Unraveling the Mysteries of our Universe.

In 1916, Albert Einstein conjectured that gravitational waves exist. They were discovered a century later by LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. Now, less than a decade after discovery, gravitational waves are becoming a powerful new tool to explore and understand our universe. Professor Barish and collaborators observed them coming from the collision of two black holes in the distant universe a century later, using their precision instrument called LIGO. The discoveries, some puzzles and future possibilities will all be explored by Professor Barish’s who will explain his work developing the LIGO detector (work for which he was awarded both the Nobel Prize and the National Medal of Sciences).

Professor Barish received his bachelor’s and doctorate in physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1957 and 1962, respectively. He was a research fellow at Berkeley from 1962 to 1963 and then became a research fellow at Caltech. Professor Barish began is career in high-energy physics when he worked on experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Fermilab, where he was among the first to observe the weak neutral current, a linchpin of the electroweak unification theories of Glashow, Salam and Weinberg. In the 1980s he directed MACRO, an experiment that searched for exotic particles called magnetic monopoles and also studied penetrating cosmic rays, including neutrino measurements that provided important confirmatory evidence that neutrinos have mass and oscillate.

From 2005 to 2013, Professor Barish was director of the Global Design Effort of the International Linear Collider (ILC), a proposed 19-mile long linear particle accelerator. The ILC is the highest priority future project in the world for particle physics.

Professor Barish joined the UCR faculty in 2018 as Distinguished Professor. In addition to the Nobel Prize and National Medal of Sciences, he has received numerous other awards, including the Enrico Fermi Prize and election to the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society in London.

All events on April 30th are open to the public (except the luncheon), but registration is required.

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CNAS Awards 2023

tomwt — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 18:22:25 +0000

CNAS Awards 2023 tomwt Thu, 06/15/2023 - 11:22 More College News June 15, 2023

Each year, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences honors students who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and accomplishments throughout their time at UCR. Below are the descriptions of each award and the award winners. Congratulations to our students!

Academic Excellence Awards
The Academic Excellence Awards for the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recognizes students who are selected by their faculty for achieving excellence in their academics and research or creative activity.

Cheyenne Darrow '23
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Academic Excellence Award
Cheyenne Darrow is a first-generation and non-traditional transfer student that transferred to UCR in 2021. She started research in Dr. Quinn McFrederick’s entomology lab in Summer 2021 through a paid internship (RISE) investigating the microbiome of bumble bees which propelled her interest in academia and research. At UCR she has continued to conduct research in the McFrederick Lab, present at conferences, maintain a 4.0 cumulative GPA, receive scholarships, become a Six Legs Program student mentor, participate in outreach events, and conduct NSF-funded research at Montana State University (MSU). Her experiences inspired her to continue with her academic career. She recently was awarded the NSF-GRFP and a Microbiology NSF-Traineeship which will fund her graduate studies at MSU that she will start in August.

Joshua Wong '23
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Academic Excellence Award
Joshua Wong has made significant contributions to a wide range of areas across UCR – including as a CNAS Ambassador, Associate Editor-In-Chief of the Undergraduate Research Journal, and during a four-year term as President of the Fencing Club. He has also fenced for UCR at regional competitions. He received the Biochemistry Department’s Leland M. Shannon Award for excellent performance in undergraduate laboratory coursework. He has been a long-standing member of Dr. Timothy Su’s research group in the Department of Chemistry, with a focus on exploring the conductance properties of linear polysilane and poly (germoxane) wires. He has also conducted structural biology research in the group of Dr. Li Fan in the Department of Biochemistry. After graduation, Joshua will begin his Ph.D. studies in Chemical Biology at Cornell University. His ultimate career goal is to become a professor, where he hopes to explore the intersection between chemical synthesis and biological systems and guide students aspiring to become scientists.

Advyth Ramachandran ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Outstanding Achievement Award
Advyth Ramachandran has served as the vice president and research coordinator of UCR’s Strategies for Ecology, Education, Diversity, and Sustainability club. He has conducted independent research in the Spasojevic labs and has presented this research at several local and national conferences. He has helped lead two undergraduate research projects for which he helped secure five grants to fund these projects. He recently received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and has been accepted to a Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado – Boulder.

Jonathan Benedum ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Jonathan Benedum studied neurophysiology at UCR and was awarded the 2019 UCR Undergraduate Research Mini-Grant. He also worked as a member of Prof. Joshua Morgan’s Tissue Injury & Mortality Engineering (TIME) lab, operating at the interface of aging biology and tissue engineering to develop strategies for healthier living. With Jonathan's help, TIME is working to pioneer a class of in vitro models that match the scale and complexity of chronic aging-associated disease (AAD), but are tractable through routine use throughout aging research and other fields.

Peter Carney ’24
Academic Excellence Award
Peter Carney is a third-year physics major deeply engaged in undergraduate research. He began research in gravitational-wave detection in October 2021, working in LIGO with Prof. Jon Richardson. He went on to conduct LIGO research with Prof. Rana Adhikari at Caltech during Summer 2022. While continuing to pursue research in the Richardson lab, he also joined Prof. Miguel Arratia’s lab to gain exposure to particle accelerator physics. These experiences have given Peter the opportunity to travel to Geneva, Switzerland, where he will be participating in a research program at CERN for Summer 2023. Peter has won several awards, including the Carl A. Rouse Fellowship, Outstanding First- and Second-Year Undergraduate Student in the Physics & Astronomy Department, and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Peter has a 3.97 GPA, and will be graduating in 2024. He plans on attending graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in physics.

Marco De La Torre ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Marco De La Torre has been working in the Dehesh lab at UCR since June 2022 where he participated in the NSF-CEPCEB REU Program and has been continuing to work on different research projects and is actively being trained on metabolomics. Born from Mexican-immigrant parents, Marco strives to further recruit individuals from underrepresented backgrounds within plant biology. During his time at UCR, his academic achievements have been recognized of which he was on the Dean’s Honors List during the Spring 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, and Winter 2023 quarters. Beginning in September 2023, he will be starting a Ph.D. program in Plant Biology at UCR of which he has been awarded the Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship Award.

Ellen Green ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Ellen Green has been targeting the chemical synthesis of the anti-inflammatory natural product, spiroalanfurantone A, in the Kou Lab and is the key personnel for the preparation of an advanced intermediate needed in our research that requires 6 steps to synthesize. Her efforts were instrumental in solving the two key reactions in the synthesis plan. As her mentor is wrapping up the project, Maude is currently tackling a side project aimed at synthesizing skeletally diverse derivatives to probe structure activity relationships. Maude balanced her studies as an actor when beginning her studies at UCR and retired from the industry as she transitioned to focus on her academic and research interests. She currently maintains a GPA >3.98 in science (>3.95 cumulative) not including the 10 A/A+'s achieved over the last year.

Andrew Her ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Andrew Her is diligent and enthusiastic about his continual pursuit of entomological understanding. With a cumulative GPA of 3.81 and as a consistent member of the Dean’s Honor List, he strives to honor the memory of his late father and inspire pride as a first-generation college student from his family. After graduating, Andrew seeks to continue in higher education with the ultimate goal of optimizing the progression of agricultural practices alongside the conservation of the natural environment.

Hannah Rose Hoover ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Hannah Rose Hoover is a top-performing undergraduate student (3.82 GPA), making the Chancellor’s List in 2022. She works in Dr. Maryjo Brounce’s analytical geochemistry laboratory since 2021 on several projects, resulting in authorship to a special paper presented by a UCR Ph.D. student at the Stanford Geothermal Rising Conference in 2023, and participation in a particle accelerator experiment at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory with Dr. Brounce. HannahRose has also constructed a new museum display case in the UCR Geology Museum to communicate the importance of igneous rocks to our understanding of the Earth to the UCR public. Through her enthusiastic contributions to the classroom, research laboratories, and museum, HannahRose has made an immensely positive impact during her time at UCR.

Yeprem Hovhannisyan ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Yeprem Hovhannisyan transferred to UCR as a chemistry major from Glendale Community College. After a year at UCR, he joined Dr. Beran’s research group to further his fascination with computational chemistry. Due to his incredible work ethic in his studies was awarded the 2023 ACS undergraduate award in Physical Chemistry. Yeprem has faced numerous hardships while attending UCR, which motivated him to strive to be the best version of himself. Throughout his studies at UCR, he maintained a 3.94 GPA and will be the first-generation STEM graduate in his family. After graduation, he strives to pursue a career in medicine, where he plans to become a surgeon.

Camille Korbut ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Camille Korbut has a passion for education concerning underrepresented students in the STEM field with an emphasis on bolstering community college students. Her professional goals are to become a lead researcher in industry or government while collaborating on initiatives that promote mathematics\ education outreach in K-12 and undergraduate education. She has been actively participating in the Association for Women in Mathematics Chapter at UCR and has run the chapter as the president for two years. She organized various activities including diversity workshops and visiting K12 schools to promote STEM. During her presidency, UCR chapter has been selected as the winner of 2022 AWM student chapter award for community outreach. Camille also actively participated in STEM Connections (STEM Pathways Program at UCR), and Research in Science and Engineering (RISE) program at UCR. She has been selected to participate in California Alliance for Minority Participation at UCR (2021/2022), Undergraduate Research Opportunities Consortium (UROC) at the University of Arizona (2021), and the Research Training Group in Data Discovery REU at the University of Arizona (2022) which allows underrepresented minority students to engage in active research with faculty mentors. Her CAMP faculty mentor is Dr. Weitao Chen. At the University of Arizona, she worked under the supervision of Dr. David Glickenstein, Dr. Kevin Lin, Dr. Avinash Karamchandani, and Alexa Aucoin. She also conducted research under the guidance of Dr. Mykhailo (Misha) Potomkin in a research undergraduate course. She will start her Ph.D. study in Fall 2023.

Artha Lam ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Artha Lam was a research trainee and assistant in the Curras-Collazo Lab, studying gut-brain interactions in a mouse model of Gulf War Illness. She received a UC Mini Grant to conduct her experiments and she presented her work at the UCR Undergraduate conference. Artha also worked as a research assistant at the Brain Game Center where she was tasked with administering various cognitive studies on human subjects. Moreover, Artha contributed to a postdoc's research project using molecular biology to study the stress response in Arabidopsis thaliana plants. These activities have allowed her to generate new knowledge in human cognitive science, neuroscience and plant biology. In addition to research, Artha has excelled in her academic program, earning a 3.95 cumulative GPA and receiving Chancellor's and Dean’s list honors since Fall 2019.

Thai Le ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Thai Le has worked with the Gray Lab on the fate and transport of microplastic pollution in the Southern California Bight for close to two years. In addition to his involvement in research, he also had the opportunity to gain insight into the legislative aspect of environmental sciences as a water quality intern with the California Ocean Protection Council. Due to his focus on academics, Thai remained on the Chancellor’s and Dean’s Honors List throughout his undergraduate studies and was able to complete his degree in just under three years. He intends to continue working to improve the quality of California’s environment as an Air Pollution Specialist with the California Air Resources Board.

Samantha Lee ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Samantha Lee has interned in Dr. Zlebnik’s Neuroscience Lab for over a year, studying the role of endocannabinoids and dopamine in cognitive flexibility. She presented her work at the Western Psychological Association Annual Convention and will be an author on an upcoming manuscript. In addition to this, Samantha serves in leadership positions within Future Pharmacists and Health Queers, an organization that provides safe space for LGBTQ+ students to discuss healthcare issues. She is also involved in a number of other extracurricular and volunteer organizations, all while maintaining an outstanding academic record and regularly earning a place on the Dean’s Honors List as well as Chancellor’s Honors List. Samantha plans to pursue a Pharm.D. and will attend UCSF School of Pharmacy after graduation.

Alliyah Munir ’23
Academic Excellence Award
Alliyah Munir is a dedicated and serious student with a desire to expand her knowledge. A member of Mu Sigma Rho, the National Honor Society for Statistics, Alliyah strives to increase her experience and develop her statistical skills beyond the classroom. She performed statistical research with Dr. Weixin Yao, Vice Chair of the Statistics Department, and also worked with Dr. Daniel Jeske as a data assistant for a research project in UCR’s Statistical Consulting Collaboratory. An active member of the Highlander Statistical Society, she also participated in the 2023 ASA DataFest challenge at UCLA, a 48-hour data analytics hackathon where students collaborate to provide the best insights from a large, complex dataset. Alliyah is also a representative member of the Statistics Department’s DEI Committee, which promotes inclusion and diversity in the department. Through her role, she led and organized DEI events, including an innovative “speed dating” event where undergraduates met and asked questions of graduate students in the Statistics program.

Congratulations to all of our winners!

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CNAS Awards 2022

joanny — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 16:47:41 +0000

CNAS Awards 2022 joanny Wed, 06/15/2022 - 09:47 More College News June 15, 2022

Jesus Gonzalez Camba '22
Academic Excellence Award
Jesus’ passion and drive for research are immediately apparent in the eagerness with which he jumps to learn new skills in the lab. A first-generation college student having immigrated to the United States at the age of 18, Jesus overcame significant adversity in his academic journey. But this only further fueled his passion. A transfer student from Chabot Community College, Jesus completed two internships prior to attending UCR. At his first internship at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Jesus worked to help bring historically marginalized groups into STEM. His second internship at UC Berkeley studying Mycobacterium developed his interest in microorganisms. Carrying that interest to UCR, he took Dr. Glassman's Field Mycology class in Winter 2022 and simultaneously joined the Glassman Lab as a MCBL 197 student where he has been assisting in the research of post-fire microbial traits. Jesus plans to continue his pursuit of research after graduation, with an eventual goal of earning a doctoral degree.

Beatrice Diep '22
Academic Excellence Award
Beatrice has worked in Dr. Rasmussen’s lab since the summer of 2019 where she presented her work on TANGED1’s localization in a maize mutant with division plane defects at the RISE Symposium. She received the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship in 2021 and is the current president of Queens of STEAM, a student-led organization dedicated to empowering women to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. Beatrice will be the first in her family to earn a Bachelor’s degree and will pursue a Ph.D. this fall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Cellular and Molecular Biology program.

Valeria Figueroa '22
Academic Excellence Award
As a transfer student, UCR provided Valeria with exciting opportunities to explore career options through the many upper-division classes she took. In particular, the intensive laboratory experiences in senior Microbiology and Neuroscience courses, along with a Human Genetics course, have cemented her long-term goals of pursuing graduate study in a molecular genetics field and to pursue a career in research. Valeria is proud to be graduating cum laude as the first-generation STEM graduate in her family.

Celeste Hofstetter '22
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Academic Excellence Award
Celeste has had an unconventional route to a Bachelor’s degree in Geology. After graduating high school she worked as a bookkeeper, a full time mom, a teacher’s aide, and a lunch lady – before a visit to the famous Mt. St Helens volcano inspired her to return to school to study the Earth. Since transferring to UCR in 2020, Celeste has conducted research on magnetostratigraphy of marine sediments, via an REU placement at Oregon State University — generating results that she presented at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting — and has continued that work for a senior thesis at UCR. She has also worked as an undergraduate grader, has received Dean’s List honors every quarter, and earned a cumulative GPA of 3.97, all while raising two teenage daughters. After graduation and completing the capstone Geology field camp, Celeste will return to UCR to start Ph.D. research on the oxygen fugacity of lavas from Hawaii, working with Dr. Maryjo Brounce.

Gabriel Johnshon '23
Academic Excellence Award

Jun Yim Lum '22
Academic Excellence Award
Jun Yim completed his Honors capstone project under Dr. Chow-Yang Lee on the anthropogenic influence on long-legged ant and Argentine ant distribution, receiving an Undergraduate Education Mini-Grant and the Carl Strom/Western Exterminator Company Scholarship. He presented his research at the 2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium and is presently drafting the work for submission to the Journal of Economic Entomology. Jun Yim has served as the Natural History Museum Club secretary since 2020 and has consistently received the Dean’s Honors List while completing his B.S. in Entomology in three years with a 3.93 cumulative GPA.

Derek Ly '22
Academic Excellence Award

William Mol '22
Academic Excellence Award
William took on a fascinating and challenging project in the Behavioral Neuroscience area of Psychology in Fall 2021. As a transfer student from Saddleback Community college, Will came to UCR in 2020 and despite the tumultuous pandemic phase, he has excelled. Will has been on the Dean's Honors list, every quarter since he came to UCR and has a stellar 4.0 GPA. His research is focused on understanding timing impairments in Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). Disorientation with respect to time and other timing issues are common to individuals with FXS. Using a novel paradigm that William co-designed with a graduate student, he is using a mouse model of FXS to understand how dysfunctional circuits in the brain contribute to timing impairments in FXS. Will is planning to pursue a Ph.D. in systems neuroscience so he can understand how neurons communicate to give rise to language and thought.

Alexandria Richardson '22
Academic Excellence Award
Alexandria is a senior undergraduate student at the Department of Statistics. She was part of the Summer Research In Science and Engineering Program (RISE) program where she was supervised by Professor Weixin Yao. She also participated in the Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience Program and the David H. Blackwell Summer ‘21 Scholars Program at the University of Illinois. After graduating she plans to pursue an MD/Ph.D.

Andrea Romero '22
Academic Excellence Award
After winning a position in the NIFA-funded Six Legs Program Andrea worked within the Groen Lab on the genetic basis of plant defense against nematode parasites, where she received a prestigious U-SPARC fellowship last fall that funded her research. Andrea’s work on tomato and the genetic model plant Arabidopsis will form an invaluable contribution to a scientific manuscript that will be submitted for publication this summer. In addition to research, Andrea worked tirelessly and selflessly as a mentor in the Six Legs and Chicano Link Peer Mentor programs helping students from underprivileged and/or minoritized backgrounds with pursuing academic studies in STEM serves as secretary and national liaison for the UCR Chapter of the Society for Advancements of Chicano/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Tyler Rosauer '22
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Academic Excellence Award
In his undergraduate years, Tyler spent his time researching in Dr. Yongtao Cui’s Nanowave Electronics Lab, and in Dr. Jonathan Richardson’s Experimental Gravity group. This summer he will be serving as a mentor for the prestigious LIGO SURF program at UCR, assisting a visiting student in completing a comprehensive project related to his current research. Along with his involvement as a board member of the Society of Physics Students and the Geology Student Organization, Tyler has been placed on the Dean’s Honors list every quarter and has a 3.99 cumulative GPA. He was awarded two additional awards from the physics department: Outstanding Third and Fourth Year Undergraduate Student. In the fall, he will begin pursuing his Ph.D. here at UC Riverside, continuing in the field of Experimental Gravity.

Rany Tith '22
Academic Excellence Award
Research has played a major role in Rany’s life as a student. Before transferring to UCR, Rany worked on LiFePO4 battery synthesis at CE-CERT and published in two peer-reviewed conference journals. In addition to that, his interdisciplinary take on research is what distinguishes his academic history from others. Afterwards he would go on to present research on natural language processing at SoCal NLP at USC and present original research at AMS Fall 2019 on machine learning and category theory. While at UCR, Rany spent time with Dr. John Baez and his students to explore the connections between systems and how category theory can be applied. Now Rany works with Dr. Qixuan Wang on optimizing algorithmic runtime of biological models to better understand the life cycle of hair follicle cells. He is also on the board of the competitive coding club where he represented UCR at SoCal ICPC regionals.

Walker Woodard '22
Outstanding Achievement Award
Academic Excellence Award
Throughout his time at UCR, Walker has worked within the Biomedical Sciences Department under Dr. Iryna Ethell investigating a form of genetic autism called Fragile X Syndrome. His contributions have been substantial with two co-author publications within the Journal of Neurochemistry and Neurobiology of Disease. In addition to research, Walker has been heavily involved in the campus community as a CNAS Scholars Peer Mentor and Advancement Ambassador, all while maintaining a 3.96 cumulative GPA. Upon graduating, he will take part in the Coro National Fellowship in San Francisco to merge his interest for scientiﬁc research and public policy. Walker plans to be a connection between scientists, policy makers, and business leaders in the future after obtaining his Ph.D. in Biology.

Heather Zechiel '22
Academic Excellence Award
Heather’s journey to the university has been a nontraditional one. After years in the workforce, she began attending community college at night. In 2020, Heather transferred to UCR from Irvine Valley College, where she earned Associate’s degrees in Chemistry, French, and Physical Science. Along with her coursework, she successfully juggles employment and a long commute, all while maintaining a 3.93 GPA. Heather currently serves as an intern at the Irvine Ranch Water District, where she performs water quality tests with their Inorganic Chemistry group. After graduation, Heather hopes to continue her work as a lab analyst to help keep water clean.

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Two professors receive Chancellor’s Award for Excellence

tomwt — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 17:45:55 +0000

Two professors receive Chancellor’s Award for Excellence tomwt Wed, 06/01/2022 - 10:45 More College News Imran Ghori | Inside UCR May 19, 2022

INSIDE UCR - Cell biologist Manuela Martins-Green and parasitologist Adler Dillman are this year’s recipients of UC Riverside’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement.

The award is presented every spring to faculty members with a distinguished record of fostering undergraduate research or creative activity. The selection is ratified by the Academic Senate.

Faculty members must be nominated by at least one colleague and one student, and receive support letters from students. Recipients are selected based on their involvement in student mentoring, enhancing diversity, and student achievements in contributing to publications, putting on presentations or exhibitions, and going on to graduate school.

Manuela Martins-Green

Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology, has received numerous awards and honors, including the UCR Distinguished Service Award, the UCR Innovative Teaching Award, and the Oliver Johnson Award for Distinguished Leadership in the UC system-wide Academic Senate.

She said this award has special meaning as it involves mentoring students — one of the main reasons she chose to teach at a public research university.

“One of my most important missions has been to teach students how to think, how to solve problems, and how to find solutions that help humanity,” she said. “I am particularly proud that as a diverse woman in STEM, I have encouraged many other young women to follow in my path. This award gives me the confidence that I have indeed inspired my students to be better people and productive citizens of this country.”

Martins-Green has mentored more than 50 undergraduate students with many receiving prestigious awards or co-authoring journal articles with her. Students described her as a supportive and scientifically rigorous mentor, with one stating in their letter she “motivated me to strive to seek discomfort, to grow, and to be inspired.”

Dillman, an associate professor of parasitology, led a team of scientists that recently identified a new species of worm that kills tarantulas, naming it after actor Jeff Daniels. In 2020, Dillman received an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Alder Dillman, left, in his lab. (UCR/Stan Lim)

Dillman has mentored 44 undergraduate students in research projects in his laboratory and said undergraduate students are a meaningful part of his program and he devotes significant time and resources to training them.

When he was an undergraduate student, Dillman said he benefited tremendously from working in a research lab and participating in research papers. He said it’s only fitting to provide such opportunities to students in his lab.

“We have bright, talented, capable students at UCR and they shine when given opportunities such as performing research and writing up the results of their hard work,” he said.

His students have contributed to scientific publications and presented at conferences and society meetings. Many have gone on to graduate or medical school. One student wrote that Dillman was “the most influential professor I have ever met.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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Christopher T. Cosma, Ph.D. candidate, University of California, Riverside, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology was awarded the Forest Shreve Research Award

tomwt — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 21:50:17 +0000

Christopher T. Cosma, Ph.D. candidate, University of California, Riverside, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology was awarded the Forest Shreve Research Award tomwt Wed, 04/20/2022 - 14:50 More College News April 19, 2022

Christopher T Cosma. Photo by Elijah Hall.

ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA - Forest Shreve Research Award: Christopher T. Cosma, Ph.D. candidate, University of California, Riverside, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology

Forest Shreve was an internationally known American botanist devoted to the study of the distribution of vegetation as determined by soil and climate conditions, with a focus on desert vegetation. The Forest Shreve Research Fund award supplies $1,000-2,000 to support ecological research by graduate or undergraduate student members of ESA in the hot deserts of North America (Sonora, Mohave, Chihuahua, and Vizcaino).

The winner of this year’s Forest Shreve Research Award is Christopher Cosma, for his dissertation work on moth pollinator networks in the Sonoran Desert. His work uses a 2,400-meter elevation gradient and DNA metabarcoding to identify pollen-transport across space and time. This work simultaneously identifies some of the abiotic and biotic drivers of pollinator network composition and structure, while also providing predictions for how pollinators and associated plant species may respond to climate change. While most research has focused on highly specialized interactions such as the yucca-yucca moth relationship, there is growing evidence that entire communities of moths and plants are involved in nocturnal pollination networks that rival their diurnal counterparts in scale and complexity. By analyzing how network structure and stability vary in relation to abiotic and biotic factors along an elevational gradient, this research will help inform predictions about how plant and insect communities will be impacted by climate change.

Chris checks a moth light trap the morning after a successful sampling night in the creosote bush scrub desert of Boyd Deep Canyon. Photo by Annika Rose-Person.

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New work has potential to accelerate development of nanotechnology

ilseu — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 21:09:58 +0000

New work has potential to accelerate development of nanotechnology ilseu Mon, 03/09/2020 - 14:09 More College News IQBAL PITTALWALA | UCR News March 09, 2020

Nanoscale technology has greatly improved our daily lives with products such as computers, phones, and solar cells. To develop the next-generation nanotechnology, new classes of materials need to be explored. Two-dimensional “valley semiconductors,” such as monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) and tungsten diselenide (WSe₂), have remarkable properties and novel applications.

When these materials absorb light, some electrons can get freed, leaving behind vacancies called holes. The electrons and holes can form bound quantum states called excitons, which govern the materials’ optical properties. Moreover, these materials possess two different valleys, which are energy minima in the electronic band structure. The excitons can occupy either valley; their valley index can be used to encode information. Novel applications in excitonic and valleytronic technology can be found by exploring and manipulating these valley excitons.

Chun Hung (Joshua) Lui

Chun Hung (Joshua) Lui, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and his research team recently combined ultraclean devices and strong magnetic fields to reveal new properties of valley excitons in monolayer WSe₂. In particular, they observed the magnetic quantization of excitons, manifested as quantum oscillations.

“Remarkably, excitons at different valleys show different quantization behavior under a magnetic field,” said Lui, whose lab focuses on laser spectroscopy and ultrafast science of innovative materials. “This reveals interesting fundamental properties of the valley excitons, which can contribute to excitonic and valleytronic technology.”

The results were recently published in Physical Review Letters.

Lui is the recipient of the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2020. The five-year CAREER award with a total funding of about $500,000 will allow Lui’s team to conduct pioneering research on the novel excitonic physics of 2D materials.

Read the original article on Inside UCR:
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Jason Stajich elected as Fellow into the American Academy of Microbiology

ilseu — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 19:43:46 +0000

Jason Stajich elected as Fellow into the American Academy of Microbiology ilseu Thu, 02/20/2020 - 11:43 More College News Joanna Urban | American Academy of Microbiology February 19, 2020

Washington, DC – In February, the American Academy of Microbiology (Academy) elected 68 new Fellows to the Class of 2020. Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology, an honorific leadership group within the ASM, are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. The Academy received 118 nominations this year and accepted 58% of nominees.

There are over 2,500 Fellows in the Academy representing all subspecialties of the microbial sciences and involved in basic and applied research, teaching, public health, industry, and government service. In addition, Fellows hail from all around the globe. The Class of 2020 represents fellows from 11 different countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, France, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The 2020 Academy Fellows are:

Christopher Aiken, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University Medical Center
David Alland, M.D., M.Sc. DTM&H, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Lauren Bakaletz, Ph.D., Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Jimmy Ballard, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma Health Science Center
Gregory Barton, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Richard Bennett, Ph.D., Brown University
Kristen Bernard, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine
David Blehert, Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center
Robert Bourret, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine
Miriam Braunstein, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine
Shi Chen, Ph.D., Wuhan University
Peter Chien, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst
Jeffrey Cirillo, Ph.D., Texas A & M University, College of Medicine
Cynthia Cornelissen, Ph.D., Georgia State University
Robert Cramer, Ph.D., Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Christina Cuomo, Ph.D., Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Andrew Darwin, Ph.D., New York University
Valérie de Crécy-Lagard, Ph.D., University of Florida
Christophe d'Enfert, Ph.D., Institut Pasteur
Anna Dongari-Bagztoglou, M.D., Ph.D., University of Connecticut
Michael Federle, Ph.D., University of Illinois, College of Pharmacy
Matthew Fisher, Ph.D., Imperial College London
Katherine Fitzgerald, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School
Nisha Garg, M.D., University of Texas Medical Branch
Wendy Garrett, Ph.D., Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Uri Gophna, Ph.D., Tel Aviv University
Mark Goulian, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Sarah Gurr, Ph.D., Exeter University
Randall Hayden, Ph.D., St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Eric Houpt, M.D., University of Virginia
Akiko Iwasaki, M.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine
Dong-Yan Jin, M.D., Ph.D., Sc.D., University of Hong Kong
Dennis Kyle, Ph.D., University of Georgia
Scott Landfear, Ph.D., Oregon Health & Science University
Luis Larrondo, Ph.D., Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Cornelia Lass-Flörl, M.D., Ph.D., Medical University of Innsbruck, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Mycology, CD Laboratory for Invasive Fungal Infection
Benhur Lee, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jian Li, Ph.D., Monash University
Purificacion Lopez-Garcia, Ph.D., Centre National de la Recheche Scientifique
Chuanbin Mao, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma
Pietro Mastroeni, M.D., Ph.D., Sci.D., University of Cambridge
Kalai Mathee, Ph.D., Florida International University
Robin May, Ph.D., University of Birmingham
Sandra McLellan, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin School of Freshwater Sciences
Douglas Nixon, Ph.D., Weill Cornell Medicine
Suzanne Noble, Ph.D., University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
Henry Paulus, M.D., Ph.D., University of Chicago
Andrew Pekosz, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Mircea Podar, Ph.D., Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Sanjay Ram, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School
Lalita Ramakrishnan, Ph.D., University of Cambridge
Michael Riscoe, Ph.D., Oregon Health & Science University
Marcio Rodrigues, Ph.D., Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Carlos Chagas Institute
Louise Rollins-Smith, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Tony Romeo, Ph.D., University of Florida
Cliona Rooney, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine
David Rudner, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
Nasia Safdar, M.D., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Jason Stajich, Ph.D., University of California, Riverside
Chad Steele, Ph.D., Tulane University School of Medicine
Roger Stephan, D.V.M., Ph.D., University of Zurich, Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene
Eva Stukenbrock, Ph.D., Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Biology
Matthew Sullivan, Ph.D., Ohio State University
Joyce Sutcliffe, Ph.D., Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship
Christine Szymanski, Ph.D., University of Georgia
Brenda Wilson, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Tanja Woyke, Ph.D., U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute
Hui Wu, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham

Read the original announcement on the AMS website:

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