In Summer 2012, the campus founded a new Summer Teaching Associate Mentoring Program that expanded the opportunities for Summer Teaching Associates to receive mentoring from an experienced faculty member. In recognition of the importance of Teaching Associates in the teaching mission of the campus, Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas is requesting the expansion of the faculty mentoring component of the Summer Teaching Institute for Associates to ALL interested Summer Teaching Associates.

Summer Sessions and Instructional Development are pleased to facilitate this benefit to the campus. All Associates teaching in Summer 2013 will have the opportunity to partner with an experienced faculty member and with a peer group to share experiences, insights, and knowledge related to successful teaching at the university level. UCSB remains the first UC campus to offer this program.

Why participate?

Here’s what some recent summer associates said about their mentoring experience in the Summer 2012 Associate Mentoring Program:

The most useful part of the mentoring meetings? Touching base with other associates, seeing what worked and what didn't, and being able to talk in depth about our teaching as it went along.

I liked that we were in a group of 5-6 teaching associates. We had good discussions around assigning readings, facilitating discussions, planning lectures, managing conflicts and balancing our workload.

Just the advice, from someone that's been in our shoes as new instructors, that was particularly useful; especially the feedback on my syllabus.

When you have completed the entire mentoring program, you will receive:

• A certificate of completion suitable for inclusion on your CV;
• Credit toward UCSB’s Summer Teaching Institute for Associates program, and
• Credit towards the Certificate in College and University Teaching (CCUT), subject to satisfactory completion of all participation and documentation requirements.

What’s involved?

You will meet with your mentor and peer group (up to seven other Associates) once before the start of the session and three times during the session. Before the term begins, your mentor will work with you to refine and polish your course syllabus. During the term, the mentor will lead discussions on teaching strategies and pedagogies, and participants will be able to address issues as they arise in the classroom.

What’s next?

If you have not done so already, please get in touch with your department to let them know that you wish to participate in the Summer Associate Mentoring Program.

Questions?

Contact Cindy Bumgarner, Acting Director/Assistant Dean, UCSB Summer Sessions, at c.bumgarner@summersessions.ucsb.edu.

A “constructive and formative experience” while he was an undergrad at UC Irvine inspired Comparative Literature M.A./Ph.D. student Earl Foust to initiate a similar effort at UCSB – an interdisciplinary conference that will showcase undergraduate research.

The new initiative, called “Critical Intersections,” will provide undergraduates an opportunity to present their work in a conference setting; receive mentorship from graduate students; improve their public speaking skills; and add a valuable experience to their resumes or grad school applications.

Earlier this year, a call was made to undergraduates for papers and projects from all disciplines on the topic of “Identities in a Global Age.” Eighteen undergraduates were selected to present their papers at the Critical Intersections conference, to be held May 18 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Lobero Room at the UCen. The undergrad presenters come from a variety of diverse disciplines, such as Sociology, Italian, History, Environmental Studies, Global Studies, English, Chicana(o) Studies, Psychology, and Political Science.

“I feel that developing a paper for a conference, for public presentation and feedback, is an invaluable skill which we as scholars should be training our students more to do. Not only will it help them if they're deciding to pursue graduate education, but it is also a completely new way to relate to your ideas.”
– Earl Foust, M.A./Ph.D. student, Comparative Literature

Earl Foust, M.A./Ph.D. student in Comparative Literature at UCSBEarl explained that presenters’ development will include pre-conference workshops facilitated by grad student mentors to help the undergrads prepare for their conference research presentations.

“We solicited for graduate student volunteers to mentor the presenters,” Earl said. “Once we had a list of participating graduate students, we supplied them with the abstracts and they told us which students they would like to mentor.” The Critical Intersections Participants page gives a complete list of undergraduate presenters and their mentors.

The undergrads’ projects “describe ways in which identities are constructed and how we can understand these processes in an increasingly ‘global’ institution,” Earl said. “The paper topics are quite diverse,  ranging from literary topics to more social science oriented projects.  Some papers are on geographically focused areas like the American South, Chiapas, or even here in Santa Barbara. Others are more abstract in concept but still focused on the very concrete position of ‘identity’ today.”

Critical Intersections is the work of a seven-member organizing committee of Comparative Literature graduate students. Serving on that committee along with Earl are: Ph.D. student Lauran Elam; Ph.D. student Michael Grafals; M.A./Ph.D. student Alexandra Magearu; Ph.D. student Shari Sanders; Ph.D. candidate Meaghan Skahan; and M.A./Ph.D. student Becky Stewart.

Earl explained why the organizing committee decided to have pre-conference workshops. “The conference will have about five panels,” he said. “Each panel will be given the opportunity to present their papers to one another a few weeks before the conference along with the panel respondent. This is in order to give the students an exposure to the research of their fellow panelists prior to the conference. They will then have an opportunity to do some final revisions before the actual conference. Our motivation for having pre-conference workshops comes out of our own frustrations with participating in conferences without any prior opportunity to know more about our fellow panelists. We want the panels to have a cohesive, conversational quality, and we think these workshops may facilitate precisely that.”

It was Earl’s past positive experiences rather than the frustrating ones that led him to propose the conference. He explained that he entered UC Irvine as an undergrad majoring in History and later declared Comparative Literature as his double major. “The Comparative Literature Department there hosts an annual Undergraduate Critical Theory Conference. I participated in this conference twice.  This was a constructive and formative experience,” Earl said.  When he discovered that UCSB’s program did not have such a conference here, “I wanted to contribute something to the academic community that could similarly have such a transformative impact on our students,” he added.

“I feel that developing a paper for a conference, for public presentation and feedback, is an invaluable skill which we as scholars should be training our students more to do,” said Earl. “Not only will it help them if they're deciding to pursue graduate education, but it is also a completely new way to relate to your ideas. I wanted to work toward providing this same opportunity to the undergraduates at UCSB.”

The conference day will include a talk by keynote speaker Dr. Carrie J. Noland from UC Irvine. Dr. Noland, who received her Ph.D. from Harvard University, is Professor and Director of French in UCI’s Department of French and Italian; as well as an Affiliate Faculty member of the Comparative Literature and Anthropology departments.

Dr. Catherine Nesci, Chair, UCSB Comparative Literature ProgramDr. Catherine Nesci, Chair of UCSB’s Comparative Literature Program & Professor of French Studies, and Affiliate in Feminist Studies, has served as a consultant on the Critical Intersections project, but said that the graduate students have been doing all the work on their own – from website development, advertising, and panelist selections to distribution of mentoring activities and the recruitment of the mentors.

Critical Intersections, Dr. Nesci said, is “a superb way of connecting undergraduate and graduate students on research projects and developing mentoring relations. Graduate students are used to doing such work in their teaching in Comparative Literature, the Writing Program, Feminist Studies, Black Studies, and other units in which they teach. Now they will develop their mentoring abilities outside of the classroom.”   

“What I also find remarkable,” Dr. Nesci added, “is that the undergraduate student panelists come from all areas of social sciences and the humanities, so dialogues are being generated across divisions and disciplines at the two levels of mentors and student panelists. As a result, the Critical Intersections Undergraduate Conference will incorporate a wide range of voices and perspectives, and will help create and reinforce communities of learning.”

Dr. Nesci touted the benefits to all students of participation in this program. “It is an excellent model of pedagogical and intellectual initiatives that will enrich graduate and undergraduate students alike, and will strengthen our contributions to extracurricular learning models on campus,” she said. “I am extremely proud of our students and really honored to work with, and for, them and I support them in this effort.”

For more information on the initiative, visit the Critical Intersections Web page.

University Awards are given annually to any student who is conferred an undergraduate or graduate degree in the 2012-13 year who has performed above and beyond the call of duty in service to the University, the student body, and the community. All students, faculty and staff may submit nominations.

There are six categories of awards: Thomas More Storke Award; Jeremy D. Friedman Memorial Award; Alyce Marita Whitted Memorial Award; Yonie Harris Award for Civility in Public Discourse; University Service Award; and University Award of Distinction. Graduate students are eligible for the latter three awards: Yonie Harris, University Service, and University Award of Distinction.

The deadline for nominations this year is Monday, April 15, at 4 p.m.

Associate Dean of Students Katya Armistead will chair the awards committee this year. If you have any questions, please contact her at katya.armistead@sa.ucsb.edu or 805-893-8912.

For more information about all six of the awards, and to access the online nomination form, visit this University Awards 2013 page.

Here are descriptions of the three awards graduate students are eligible to receive:

Yonie Harris Award for Civility in Public Discourse
This award is presented annually to graduates who best exemplify the principles of free speech and respectful dialogue and who foster a campus climate of civility and open-mindedness. It recognizes those who are principled leaders, conscientious citizens, and constructive and compassionate community members.

University Service Award
Service Awards, presented annually to graduating seniors and graduate students, acknowledge a depth of involvement in several different areas of campus life. GPA requirements are based on academic performance that is equal to or higher than a cumulative GPA of 3.036, which is the scholastic average of the undergraduate student body as a whole.

University Award of Distinction
These awards are presented annually to graduating seniors and graduate students who have made an outstanding contribution to a particular (perhaps fairly narrow) area of UCSB student life. The awards recognize in-depth or focused involvement and significant achievement in campus or community activities. As with the Service Awards, GPA requirements are based on academic performance that is equal to or higher than a cumulative GPA of 3.036, which is the scholastic average of the undergraduate student body as a whole.

On behalf of the GradPost, we would like to congratulate the following continuing students for receiving the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship:

• Elizabeth August-Schmidt, Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology
• Jeffrey Bowen, Psychological and Brain Sciences
• Darcy Bradley, Environmental Science & Management
• Jason Douglas, Materials
• Phillip Ehret, Psychological and Brain Sciences
• John Eickhoff, Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Maxwell Fisch, Materials
• David Jacobson, Physics
• Kevin Kuns, Physics
• Benjamin Michel, Physics
• Arash Nowbahar, Chemical Engineering
• Celeste Pilegard, Psychological and Brain Sciences
• Shankari Rajagopal, Physics
• Zachary Rengert, Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Laura Reynolds, Earth Science
• Kimberly Schlesinger, Physics
• Christopher Sweeney, Computer Science
• Carol Tsai, Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Morgan Vigil, Computer Science
• Hannah Yates, Linguistics
• Christie Yorke, Marine Science

In addition to these winners, many more of our students received honorable mentions. Congratulations to you all! If you're interested to learn more about the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, you can check out their website here and view the full list of winners from this year's competition. Planning to apply next year? Keep in mind that we have a binder of example NSF proposals (from previous award winning UCSB students)  in the Graduate Student Resource Center and also have compiled a list of NSF resources (including a video from a previous NSF fellowship workshop) on the GradPost.

Lindsey Peavey with a Baby TurtleLindsey Peavey, a third-year Ph.D. student in Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, spends her time in graduate school traveling the globe, swimming with turtles, and working on a plan to change the world (through mapping, conservation, and management of the olive ridley turtles). Lindsey has found a way to share her passion with the public by crowdsourcing money for her research, while also raising the public interest about the olive ridley turtle species. I asked Lindsey to share her experience as a graduate student and here is what she had to say:

Tell us a little about your research.

When I decided to go to grad school, I quit my job and went to sea for four months to lead a sea turtle research project for the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, knowing that I would probably use the data I collected for my graduate research project. I already knew that I wanted to study sea turtles in grad school, but after being at sea, collecting data in a place where not many others had been able to, and seeing turtles in open-ocean environments (new for me at the time), I fell in love with pelagic ecology.

At that time, I had too many research questions for one Ph.D., but through the years I’ve managed to narrow my focus to a few questions that are digestible during my Ph.D. tenure (I hope). One thing I’m investigating is what vulnerable olive ridley sea turtles eat in the eastern Pacific Ocean when they are far from shore, and what role they play in pelagic foodwebs. I’ve previously collected skin samples from individual turtles that I encountered at various distances from shore and at various latitudes across the eastern Pacific. I am currently analyzing those samples for stable isotopes (carbon and nitrogen) to determine what they eat, and where. Specifically, I want to know if they utilize distinct open-ocean foraging areas.

In short, I’m trying to develop an open-ocean foraging roadmap for olive ridleys in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which will inform natural resource management, such as reducing the accidental capture of olive ridleys in fishing gear. In addition to this, I’m developing an accurate individual growth model for this species, as well as a flexible population model that will enable managers to choose optimal management strategies based on specific desired conservation goals and limited resources.

What has your experience been like crowdfunding your research?

Crowdfunding through the SciFund Challenge was a great experience. It gave me an opportunity to raise some much-needed funds for my field and lab work, and it also forced me to communicate my science to a much larger audience than perhaps I would have. I was able to utilize social media (Twitter, @lepeavey; and Facebook), and I started a blog (turtlesinthedeep.org). It allowed me to connect with people from all over the world who are interested in my research and want to help my project be successful.

I encourage all grad students to try crowdfunding, and/or to find a way to engage the general public in your research. It’s easy to get stuck in the “ivory tower.” Connecting with people outside of academia gave me new perspectives on my research and its broader impacts, as it’s made my job even more fun and rewarding!

What has graduate student life been like for you?

I started grad school as a master’s student at Duke in 2008. It’s now 2013 and I’m still a grad student!

Lindsey's Group Pyramid in AntarcticaAlthough the grad student salary (especially in Santa Barbara!) and living on a shoestring can be trying at times, I really can’t complain. I’ve been very fortunate to have amazing fieldwork and research opportunities come my way. As a grad student, I’ve done research in Antarctica (e.g., Humpback Whale Song and Foraging Behavior on an Antarctica Feeding Ground), the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (e.g., Good News from the Field), Costa Rica, the Channel Islands, San Diego, the North Western Hawaiian Islands, NCEAS, and right now, at the University of Hawaii (e.g., Turtle Wrangler Turned Lab Rat).

Aside from all the exciting research, being immersed in university life has been a treasured experience. I love the hustle and bustle of campus life, especially when campus is nestled in a gorgeous place like Santa Barbara. I do not take for granted being able to take a work break and walk my dog on the beach, or sit in the courtyard and eat a sunny lunch with my lab mates, or attend a provocative lecture on something totally different than what I study, or play an intramural sport with my friends in the evening. The university is teeming with life, and we all contribute to it and get to reap the benefits.

When I started grad school as a master’s student, I didn’t lead as balanced a lifestyle as I should have. It’s easy to get swallowed up in the day-to-day grind of going to class, meeting deadlines, jumping through hoops, going to every interesting talk, meeting with every visiting lecturer, and dipping your toes in every project you can, so you don’t miss out on anything. While that is a very exciting, full, and sometimes fruitful way to push through grad school, it’s not sustainable.

As a Ph.D. student at UCSB, I’ve tried to balance out my life so that I can be as productive, efficient, and effective with my research as possible, but also maintain a healthy life outside of school. It’s hard to do sometimes, but I think it’s important. I’ve learned to not jump at every opportunity in order to stay focused, and I’ve learned to prioritize and say no. After surviving a few years of grad school, I know myself and the things I need to be happy and productive, and to graduate! For me, socializing outside of school is important, exercise is a necessity, keeping most nights and weekends reserved for non-work activities is re-energizing, sleep is something I can’t do without, and keeping up with my non-work interests and hobbies makes me enjoy and appreciate my work more.

What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?

After college, I knew I wanted to go to graduate school because I wanted to keep climbing higher in my field, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to study. I was drawn to marine conservation, so I worked in that field for about 6 years before returning to school. During that time, I worked for small nonprofit organizations that coordinated long-term sea turtle monitoring programs in Baja (www.grupotortuguero.org), and I worked closely with other sea turtle research projects in San Diego. I gained valuable skills while working, and I also found a passion for studying charismatic and endangered sea turtles. Once I was confident in my career trajectory and research questions, I was super excited to start grad school.

Having the motivation to return to graduate school was the easy part; maintaining the motivation and endurance going on five years of grad school, with a few more to go, that’s the hard part. It definitely ebbs and flows, but I think the reason I’ve been able to stay motivated is because I truly love what I do. A big part of it is that it’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle. Some people have to go to jobs every day that they don’t necessarily believe in, or feel strongly about. I realize that I am extremely lucky that I go to work every day and I am surrounded by smart, enthusiastic people who are passionate about what they do, which is contagious. I think another part of it is that I feel that I’m contributing to the greater good. There are lots and lots of professions that make the world a better place, so I am sure I am not alone in drawing motivation from knowing that what I’m doing, if I’m doing it right, is improving the lives of people, and sea turtle populations. Then, of course, there is that notion that my dream job is in store. After seven years of graduate school, there will be an interesting, well-paying, worth-all-the-blood-sweat-and-tears job with my name on it, right?

NOAA NMFS PRD Permit #774-1714What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

When I was working for a nonprofit organization called Wildcoast in 2003, I started an education program for underserved youth called Ocean Connectors. Through the program, school kids in San Diego engaged with school kids in Mexico, as students on both sides of the border learned about one of their shared resources, migratory endangered green sea turtles. I started the program with a small grant from the Port of San Diego in 2003.

In 2004, the program and I moved to a different organization called ProPeninsula, and I was able to secure a larger grant from the California Coastal Commission to expand the program to include field trips to San Diego Bay. This allowed students in San Diego to see live green turtles and also observe the monitoring activities of Southwest Fisheries Science Center researchers. For some of the classes of students, this was their only field trip of their school year. The kids loved it and learned a lot and so the program grew each year. When I left my position to return to grad school, I handed it off to a fabulous marine biologist (Frances Kinney), who has continued to grow the program, which now includes gray whales and seabirds. Every time I hear about how successful the program has become, it makes me smile, in part because it probably wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t gotten it off the ground 10 years ago, and that’s a nice feeling. I hope it keeps growing and growing!

What do you do to relax? Any hobbies, collections, pastimes, favorite places to go, favorite things to do?

June Mountain Ski TripTo relax I like to go hiking, beachcombing, or paddleboarding – all with my dog, Carita Feliz. I love to play basketball, but I’m too competitive for it to be a relaxing activity. I love to watch sports, especially college basketball and football. Doing almost anything outdoors and active makes me happy and feel alive. I love the ocean, but I also love the forest, mountains, lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, islands – I love it all.

Over the past few years I’ve gotten into photography. I have a lot to learn, and it’s such a fun hobby! I really enjoy traveling, and I find that when I go long stints stationary, I feel a little empty. Experiencing different cultures, exploring new places, and meeting new people reminds me of how big the world is and how many great people and landscapes make it remarkable. It inspires me to be a better person. However, I also thrive on dropping roots and engaging in my local community and enjoying quality time with family and friends. It’s really important to me to feel grounded.

Things that make me happy include: Introducing someone else to something I know they’ll really love (e.g., I’m a little pushy with the kale, but I really do think everyone should love it) or doing something for someone that I think they’ll really like (e.g., taking photos to help capture a memory). I like bringing people and things together that mesh; it makes me feel valuable when I see something special in someone or something and others appreciate it, too. That’s a cool feeling. I definitely get more enjoyment out of giving gifts than receiving them – that kind of thing. The ocean, waves, sunshine, and warm breezes make me happy, too, of course.

I run because I should, and sometimes I like it, but most of the time it’s just to prove to myself that I can (and to get a quick workout in, outdoors). I have so many favorite places, even just here in Santa Barbara, too many to name! We are lucky to live here, that’s for sure.

What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I’m afraid of heights, and it stinks. It wasn’t always like this. I’m trying to get over it, but I think I’m aging in the opposite direction for that to be an easy task. I’m working on it! And I love singing karaoke. Those who aren’t surprised by that probably know it all too well.

What do you hope to be doing 5 or 10 years out of graduate school?

Five years after grad school I hope to be chasing a kiddo or two of my own around the beach, and settled into “home,” wherever that ends up being, hopefully, close to my family (who are on the east coast…unless I can convince them to move west). Ten years out of grad school I’d like to be shuttling the kiddos around town (hopefully to basketball practices) and settled into a rewarding job that allows me the flexibility to kick-butt at work, and have a full life at home, too.

Recently I’ve been having doubts that a career in academia will allow for that (see the plethora of recent articles about women shying away from academic careers, e.g., Nature’s “Women in Science” feature: http://www.nature.com/news/specials/women/index.html). Working for the National Marine Fisheries Service, or a similar agency, seems like a nice place to land. They do a lot of work on the pelagic ecology and management of endangered migratory species that excites me. It would be fun to be coaching high school girls basketball, again, too. I do enjoy teaching.

Do you have any advice for current grad students?

Gaines Lab Retreat on Santa Cruz IslandExercise. Eat well. Sleep. Play as hard as you work. Be kind, humble, and merry. Be sure to love what you do.

Grad school is too long and challenging to not finish it knowing that you have just spent many prime years of your life studying something you’re really passionate about that you would have done for free (and basically did). And, perhaps even more important, I’ve found, is to surround yourself with a killer support network of folks who care about you as a person (not just as a brain), e.g., family, friends, colleagues, workout buddies, happy hour homies. And, make sure this network includes many people outside of your work life. Your life should be fuller than, and reach beyond, the grad school bubble. Don’t get me wrong, I love the bubble, but it’s not the center of the universe, and that’s a good thing. Don’t spend time around people that bring you down. It seems silly to say, but we all do it to ourselves. So many people lift us up, and those are the gems that should get our time.

Also, try and be one of those people that lift others up. Its not always easy (especially if you’re feeling down yourself), but it feels good (it will make you feel better), and it all comes back around. Hunter Lenihan gave me the great advice: Be sure to celebrate successes, even the small ones. As academics, our lives are full of critiques and rejections, so when you get that paper accepted for publication, or a proposal funded, or have a really great meeting with a committee member, or give a stellar presentation – soak it in, smile, enjoy it, and celebrate.

Anything else you’d like to add?

UCSB is a special place. Something that I’ve had to remind myself of recently is that I can’t spend too much time thinking about what is next for me, because what is happening for me right now, today, here in Santa Barbara, is pretty incredible. There are amazing people here, and this is an awesome work environment, so take advantage of it and thrive while you’re here. The other day I read, “Stop looking for something better elsewhere and instead make wherever you are better.” It’ll be hard to make Santa Barbara better; it's pretty great. But we can try our best. Like Community Seafood and the Goodland Kitchen!

The Graduate Division is pleased to present the Graduate Student Showcase, April 12-23, a celebration of our extraordinary graduate students and their remarkable accomplishments. The Showcase includes many opportunities for graduate students to present their work to the broader campus public, and for departments across campus to celebrate and acknowledge the essential contributions of graduate students to the academic mission of UC Santa Barbara.

The featured event of the Showcase is the Grad Slam, a campus-wide competition for the best three-minute talk. This is an opportunity for graduate students to tell the campus about their research or share their thoughts on ‘big ideas that matter.’ Eighty-two graduate students representing thirty-six departments and programs are scheduled to compete.

Graduate students who attend preliminary rounds of the Grad Slam, the Grad Slam finals, the Performance and Poster Showcase, and any of the graduate-student-led tours will be entered to win an Apple iPad. Be sure to sign in at each event!

A full schedule of events and more details are available at http://graddiv.ucsb.edu/showcase

Friday, April 12

• Bren School Class of 2013 Master’s Project Final Presentations, Noon to 6 p.m., Bren Hall and the Marine Science Institute (various rooms)
• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 1, 1 to 2 p.m., IHC McCune Conference Room, HSSB 6020

Monday, April 15

• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 2, 11 a.m. to noon, Elings 1601
• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 3, 3 to 4 p.m., GSA Lounge, 2nd floor Multicultural Center
• The Dumas Collection of Greek Pottery Tour, 3 to 4 p.m., Department of Classics, HSSB 4080
• Library Wine and Cheese Reception, 4:30 to 6 p.m., Davidson Library Mary Cheadle Room, 3rd floor: 21+ Please bring a driver’s license or other form of ID with your birthdate.

Tuesday, April 16

• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 4, 11 a.m. to noon, IHC McCune Conference Room, HSSB 6020
• Religious Studies Collections Tour, Tuesday, April 16, noon to 1 p.m., Library Special Collections, 3rd floor
• GSRC Ice Cream Social, Tuesday, April 16, 2 to 3 p.m., Graduate Student Resource Center, SRB 1215
• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 5, 3 to 4 p.m., Student Resource Building Multipurpose Room

Wednesday, April 17

• Graduate Students Association Bagel Hour, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., GSA Lounge, 2nd floor MultiCultural Center
• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 6, 11 a.m. to noon, Elings 1601
• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 7, 4 to 5 p.m., Davidson Library Mary Cheadle Room, 3rd floor

Thursday, April 18

• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 8, 11 a.m. to noon, Engineering Sciences Building 1001
• Grad Slam Preliminary Round 9, 1 to 2 p.m., Student Resource Building Multipurpose Room
• Graduate Student Picnic, Thursday, April 18, 5 to 7 p.m., Arrowhead Green, San Clemente Apartments: Taco bar! Live music featuring Brengrass! All graduate students welcome! 

Friday, April 19

• Tours of the AlloSphere, Systemics Lab, transLAB, Experimental Visualization Lab, Open House, 10 a.m. to noon, Elings Hall 2nd floor
• Performance and Poster Showcase, 1 to 3:30 p.m., Theater and Dance West 1507 and courtyard
• Grad Slam Finals, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Theater and Dance West 1701
• Graduate Student Reception, 4:30 to 6 p.m., Hatlen Theater patio overlooking the lagoon and Faculty Club green

Saturday, April 20

• Graduate Students Association Spring Party, 9 p.m. to late, Creekside, 4444 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara

Monday, April 22

• First Year MFA Art Exhibition and Reception, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Building 534 (Art Building) Student Gallery 1328

Tuesday, April 23

• Marine Science Poster Session, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Marine Science Research Building 2nd floor balcony

Questions? Email Whitney Winn at whitney.winn@graddiv.ucsb.edu

Grad Slam Round 1 was held in the McCune Conference Room, HSSB. Credit: Torrey Trust

How does the imagination work?

Wouldn't it be great if we could change who we are and get rid of the things that are holding us back? 

How do nano-motors unzip your genes?Grad Slam Round 1 winner: Bob Lansdorp. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Why do parents play favorites?

These were some of the research questions proposed by the first round of participants in the Grad Slam competition. Each of the eight graduate student participants had three minutes to present their research to wow a panel of judges. And "wow" they did. 

Three of the participants presented about the impact of literacy on society. Cheryl Jaworski described how fictional narratives can change our minds. Adrianna Simone asked whether she could tie the "Mestiza" way with literature. Lois Harmon demonstrated how her research will help improve literacy education for Spanish-speaking English Language Learners. 

The remainder of the participants focused on scientific exploration, innovation, and psychology.

Stephanie Tsang explained how to detect the Azimuthal Anisotropy in Southern California from Array-Analysis of Love-wave. Nathan Emery taught us how fire can transform landscapes.

Lois Harmon, Nathan Emery, and Round 1 winner Bob Lansdorp. Credit: Patricia MarroquinBob Lansdorp described how his research on nano-motors with a new machine will help scientists better understand the replication of viruses (like HIV). James Benson demonstrated how to create sustainable aquaculture in the U.S. to address the enormous seafood debt ($10 billion). Eva Padilla shared about the connection between parents' resources and children's health. 

After the presentations concluded, the audience asked the participants questions about their research. The judges left the room to tally scores and determine the winners.

When the judges returned, the top three participants were asked to step forward (Lois Harmon, Nathan Emery, and Bob Lansdorp) and the final winner was revealed (Bob Lansdorp). Bob will be sharing his innovative research in the Grad Slam Finals on Friday, April 19, at 3:30 p.m. in Theater and Dance West 1701. 

The Grad Slam preliminary rounds continue next week (April 15-19) and conclude with the top presenters from each round sharing a 3-minute talk in the Grad Slam Finals (see full schedule). 

Bob Lansdorp from Materials presents his three-minute talk at Grad Slam Preliminary Round 1. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Day 2 of the Grad Slam featured two preliminary rounds, 16 fierce competitors, and many jaw-dropping presentations. 

Grad Slam Round 2 winner Jasmin Llamas. Credit: Patricia Marroquin Just when I thought the student presentations at the Grad Slam could not get any better, I was pleasantly surprised with the high quality and high impact of the work and research that graduate students carry out at UCSB.

Round 2 of the Grad Slam, featuring seven contestants and held in Elings Hall, kicked off with Faye Walker’s presentation about the use of mobile phones as point-of-care medical diagnostic tools for identifying people with Chagas disease.

Two of the seven competitors shared how media can change the world. Alisa Alexander told the audience to spend time looking at photos the way we stop and smell the roses. According to Alisa, “Knowledge begins by first stopping and looking closely at what is in front of you.” Sarah Stark described how her environmental education media project, Smarty Pants, will change the way students take care of the planet.

Two of the presenters discussed the value of understanding culture and history. Alex Shultz explained how our search for the perfect image of ruins (the one without other tourists and locals “ruining” our photo) and the designation of UNESCO historical sites have led to a separation of local knowledge and culture from history. Jasmin Llamas described the value of understanding intragroup marginalization and family support in relation to Latino students’ college adjustment and their ability to thrive in college.

Kane Anderson takes on a Superman persona. Credit: Patricia MarroquinRodrigo J. Bombardi took the audience to the tropics and back with his science-packed presentation describing how the South Atlantic Dipole affects weather, precipitation, and temperature.

And finally, what Grad Slam round is complete without reference to superheroes? Kane Anderson entertained the audience as he transformed from Clark Kent to Superman in the blink of the eye. Kane explained how his research focuses on the transformation of identity and body of “cosplayers” (people who dress up in costume and take on the identity of various characters) at Comic-Con.

The three judges had the challenging task of selecting the top three participants and the overall winner. After much deliberation, the judges selected Kane Anderson, Sarah Stark, and Jasmin Llamas as the top three participants with Jasmin Llamas designated as the Round 2 champion. Jasmin will be joining Bob Lansdorp in the final Grad Slam competition on Friday, April 19.

Grad Slam Preliminary Round 3 winner Torrey Trust. Credit: Patricia MarroquinRound 3 of the Grad Slam, held in the MCC Theater on Monday, featured fascinating research from our exceptional graduate students, ranging from molecules and hairy monsters to graffiti and exploding brains.

The nine presentations for the three-minute talk were judged on three criteria: clear and compelling presentations; impact on an academic field or on society; and how well they are geared for general audiences. Any contestants who exceeded the three-minute limit were penalized, though that wasn’t a problem with this talented group as they all held their talks within the time limit.

Niva Ran from Chemistry & Biochemistry spoke about organic solar cells for green energy. Joseph Brooks of Linguistics discussed his research on three languages in Papua New Guinea. Next we heard from Sarah Abdul-Wajid of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology whose research on the marine sea squirt has implications for the “exploding brain” defect.  Things got a little hairy after that, when David Baillargeon of History talked about some hairy families in Britain’s Empire. Materials grad student ChelseaHistory grad student David Baillargeon discusses "The Hairy Business of Britain's Empire." Credit: Patricia Marroquin Catania spoke of biology’s power in harnessing microorganisms for energy. Samantha Chang of History of Art and Architecture broke out the spray paint for her presentation on graffiti art and archives in Germany. Physics student David Jacobson spoke about folding biomolecules, and Anand Shukla of Economics addressed racial animus and labor market outcomes. Finally, Education grad student Torrey Trust described her research collecting, organizing, and categorizing more than 2,500 open educational resources in the K-12 Tech Tools Database, a website designed to help teachers instantly access high-quality online resources that meet their students' learning objectives.

After all the presentations were made, guests stepped out for refreshments and socializing in the lobby. Then the judges’ decisions were announced: The top three contestants were Sarah Abdul-Wajid, Anand Shukla, and Torrey Trust, who each won $50 gift cards to the bookstore. The Round 3 winner advancing to the final round is Torrey. She’ll join Bob Lansdorp of Materials and Jasmin Llamas of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, as well as the other finalists, for the Grad Slam Finals on Friday, April 19. See the full Grad Slam schedule for other events this week.

Grad Slam Round 3 guests socialized in the lobby while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Grad Slam Round 4 winner Britney Pennington. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe fourth round of the Grad Slam competition kicked off Tuesday with a dynamic and engaging presentation from Britney Pennington, a Biomolecular Science and Engineering grad student, who described how her research on directly reprogramming human cells can be used to treat ocular diseases.

Following Britney, Alex Troesch shared how symmetry is an important concept to understand for complex physics theories, like string theory, as well as everyday problems like packing things neatly. Next, Hannah Kallewaard engaged the audience in a hands-on demonstration of the proper way to wash your hands, which is the number one practice for living healthy.

Kitty Currier took the audience on a journey around the globe as she shared how sailing taught her about shipshaping, navigation, and Fiafia (Polynesian for “happiness”). Steven Pokornowski walked the audience through the history of viruses and zombies and how this fascination and fear of transformation can overpower more important issues such as race and politics.

Hannah Kallewaard demonstrates how to properly wash your hands. Credit: Patricia MarroquinStephanie Gamble Morse emphasized the value of preserving languages because when a language is lost, so too are the culture, contexts, history, and human knowledge associated with that language. Rafael Hernandez discussed how his research on racial microaggressions aims to make the invisible visible and to help Latino students build resilience in the face of subtle and implicit acts of racism.

Aaron Elmore pitched his idea for using smartphones to crowdsource decisions and to spread the word when the Internet is down or disrupted. Miles Detrixhe shared how parallel computing can provide faster solutions in a time when the clockspeed of computers is no longer increasing at exponential rates. Philip Deslippe described the importance of the digitization of records and how it allows people to find figures hiding in the archives who “may change the way we view our past.”

After much deliberation, the judges selected the top three participants: Britney Pennington, Miles Detrixhe, and Aaron Elmore. Britney was selected as the winner of round four. She will be competing against Bob Lansdorp, Jasmin Llamas, Torrey Trust, and the rest of the Grad Slam preliminary round winners on Friday, April 19.

See the full Grad Slam schedule for other events this week.

While the judges deliberated, the audience got a chance to ask questions of the Round 4 competitors, led by Graduate Division Dean Dr. Carol Genetti. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Grad Slam Preliminary Round 5 winner Cyrus Dreyer. Credit: Patricia Marroquin Grad Slam Preliminary Round 5 on Tuesday afternoon in the Student Resource Building took the audience to such diverse places as Southeast Asia, Capitol Hill, dance studios, and even the head of a pin.

Seven grad student contestants presented their three-minute talks in Round 5 of the Grad Slam, part of Graduate Division’s Graduate Student Showcase events that are designed to highlight and celebrate the remarkable contributions and achievements of our university’s grad students.

The talks were judged on several criteria: clear and compelling nature of the presentations; perceived impact on an academic field or on society; and how well the talks were geared for general audiences. In addition, any contestants who exceeded the three-minute limit had points deducted from their scores.

Political Science grad student Skylar Covich spoke about religion, poverty, and the state in American politics. LEDs were the focus of Materials student Cyrus Dreyer’s talk on "Lighting the World from the Head of a Pin." Bryan Goldsmith of Chemical Engineering helped us understand catalysts on amorphous materials. Next we heard from Psychological and Brain Sciences grad student Rachelle Oldmixon, who told us that “antibiotics are our nuclear weapons, not our grenades.”

Whitney O'Malley discusses dancing and other social interactions. Credit: Patricia Marroquin Accompanied by photographs of festive dance competitions, Education student Whitney O’Malley spoke about the sense of belonging that comes from college student organizations such as dance clubs and the social interactions they create. Amy Parks of the Bren School discussed her master’s class group project on creating an adaptive management tool to link natural resource academics and practitioners. And finally, Esther Taxon of Biomolecular Science and Engineering explained how Golden Rice and other genetically modified foods are helping the people in Third World as well as First World countries.

While the judges retired to another room to deliberate, the students were asked questions about their research and passions. And then the results were announced: the top three finishers named were Cyrus Dreyer, Amy Parks, and Esther Taxon, who each won $50 gift cards to the bookstore.

The winner of Round 5 is Cyrus Dreyer. He will go on to compete against Bob Lansdorp (Round 1 winner), Jasmin Llamas (Round 2), Torrey Trust (Round 3), Britney Pennington (Round 4) and the rest of the preliminary round winners on Friday, April 19, in the Grad Slam Finals.

See the full Grad Slam schedule for other events this week, which include a Performance Showcase, tours of the Experimental Visualization Lab, a Graduate Student Picnic, and a final reception.

Grad Slam Round 5 contestants answered questions while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Grad Slam Preliminary Round 6 winner Briana Simmons. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe sixth round of the Grad Slam was another heated competition. Student presentations ranged from how to rethink time to understanding how and why complex life began on Earth.

Rusha Rawaf started Round 6 with an enthusiastic presentation about museum education and how she plans to evaluate and improve informal and formal learning at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (opening in Saudi Arabia in 2014). Randy Drake took us into the world of music, identity, and transgender issues with a presentation and a cappella song.

Stephanie Robbins described how her research on the Bystander Effect in social networking sites will shed light onto how people can appropriately respond to difficult disclosures, such as suicide notes posted on Facebook. Briana Simmons shared about the value of rethinking the history of the products that we consume in order to make life better for the individuals who grow our food today. Christopher Proctor philosophized about the notion of time as a human construct. Christopher explained that even though we are all caught up in a race against time, it’s the timeless moments (e.g., birth, death, weddings) that define our lives.

Faisal Nawab discusses cloud computing. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMichael Gaultois shared that his goal of making more efficient thermoelectric materials may help reduce our dependence on oil. Forrest Horton described his theory about the role of phosphorus in the evolution of complex life on Earth. Ryan Wilson taught the audience about biochar, an efficient, effective, and environmentally friendly product that can enrich soil and increase the efficiency of the land that is being used for farming.

The final two participants took the audience into the world of data and technology. Faisal Nawab told a story about Derp, a cartoon character who tried to solve the world’s problems by storing and using large amounts of data in the cloud. Unfortunately, Derp’s story did not have a happy ending, but Faisal hopes to change that with his efforts to improve cloud computing by employing two data centers that communicate with one another. Song Gao focused his presentation on the relationship between telecommunications and movement and talked about his use of extensive mobile phone data to assess the role of distance in spatial interaction.

While the judges had the challenge of selecting the top three participants, the audience enjoyed a long question-and-answer session with the presenters. After the judges returned to the room with the results, the top three participants (Michael Gaultois, Ryan Wilson, and Briana Simmons) were asked to step forward to receive their $50 UCSB Bookstore gift cards.

Briana Simmons was awarded first place and she will be moving on to compete in the finals on Friday, April 19, at 3:30 p.m.

Grad Slam Round 6 participants gather at the front of the room for a question-and-answer session while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

UC Santa Barbara has another impressive global credit to add to its galaxy of honors. The latest Leiden Ranking, which ranks the top 500 major universities in the world on their impact in the field of the sciences, has placed UC Santa Barbara in second place. UCSB is second to MIT, and ranks above such prestigious universities as Stanford (No. 3), Princeton (No. 4), Harvard (No. 5) and Rice (No. 6).

The figures come out of the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. UC Berkeley was No. 7 on the list, and Caltech took the No. 8 spot. UC San Francisco ranked No. 9, and Yale University was No. 10. Other UC campuses that made the list include UC Santa Cruz (No. 11), UC San Diego (No. 15), and UCLA (No. 25).

"We are very proud of UC Santa Barbara's No. 2 ranking in Leiden University's four-year study of the top 500 universities in the world," UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang said in an Office of Public Affairs and Communications news release. "Such recognition is a resounding affirmation of our faculty's unwavering commitment to excellence. The high citation rate of our colleagues' publications in prestigious journals reflects the far-reaching impact of the research being conducted on our campus."

For more information on this prestigious honor, read the Office of Public Affairs and Communications news release. For the complete 2013 Leiden Ranking, visit http://www.leidenranking.com/ranking.

Grad Slam Round 7 winner Peter Mage. Credit: Patricia MarroquinGrad Slam Preliminary Round 7 on Wednesday afternoon in the Mary Cheadle Room of Davidson Library included slimy snails and rich kelp forests, wi-fi devices and quantum computers, unions and unicorns.

Nine grad student contestants presented their three-minute talks in Round 7 of the Grad Slam, part of Graduate Division’s Graduate Student Showcase events that are designed to highlight and celebrate the remarkable contributions and achievements of our university’s grad students.

The talks were judged on several criteria: clear and compelling nature of the presentations; perceived impact on an academic field or on society; and how well the talks were geared for general audiences. In addition, any contestants who exceeded the three-minute limit had points deducted from their scores.

Ana Garcia of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology demonstrated the magical nature of snails in her talk about snail parasites and the division of labor. Yingjie Hu of Geography discussed citation maps and visualizing the spread of scientific ideas through space and time. Next the audience heard from Daniel Iland of Computer Science how crowd-sourced data collection using smartphones can assist in disasters such as those in Haiti, Japan, and Mexico.

Daniel Iland discussed emergency communication using wi-fi devices. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMaterials grad student Peter Mage discussed the future of personalized medicine as enabled by new technologies involving biosensing and drug delivery. He shared his group’s research on real-time detection and control of drugs in the body, and how this research could revolutionize treatment strategies for cancer, acute injuries, and chronic conditions such as diabetes. 

Sophia McCabe from History of Art & Architecture asked the question: What does a unicorn horn, a sixteenth-century watercolor of a rabbit, a sixteenth-century clock, and the Mars Rover have in common? Her answer: Each one facilitates learning and the production of knowledge. She discussed the best way to learn.

Physics grad student Eugeniu Plamadeala told the audience why quantum computing is so cool. History grad student Samir Sonti shared statistics that showed that as union membership drops, wealth inequality increases. He argued that unions matter now more than ever. Daniel Sheinson of Statistics and Applied Probability talked about how disease epidemics could be predicted using particle filtering.

Finally, Marine Science grad student Tom Bell discussed the spatial and temporal variability of kelp forests in the northeast Pacific and how kelp changes with environmental conditions.

While the judges deliberated elsewhere, the audience had a chance to ask questions of the Round 7 participants. When they returned, the three top finishers were announced: Ana Garcia, Peter Mage, and Tom Bell. They each received $50 gift cards for the UCen bookstore.

The winner of Round 7 is Peter Mage. He will go on to compete against Bob Lansdorp (Round 1 winner), Jasmin Llamas (Round 2), Torrey Trust (Round 3), Britney Pennington (Round 4), Cyrus Dreyer (Round 5), Briana Simmons (Round 6), and the two remaining preliminary round winners on Friday, April 19, in the Grad Slam Finals.

See the full Grad Slam schedule for other events this week, which include a Performance Showcase, tours of the Experimental Visualization Lab, a Graduate Student Picnic, and a final reception.

Round 7 competitors in the Grad Slam. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Grad Slam Round 8 winner Mohammad Mirzadeh. Credit: Patricia MarroquinIn the eighth round of the Grad Slam competition, the presenters piqued the audience members’ interest with stories about animals, pain, music, divorce, and technology.

Erik Nielsen of Sociology started off the eighth round with a presentation about the impact of suburban sprawl on the environment and whether smart growth models can counteract that impact. Economics grad student Jennifer Milosch asked the audience, “What makes a marriage last?” Jennifer’s research focuses on the impact of two key economic factors (changes in one spouse’s income and changes in household’s wealth) on divorce rates. Ultimately, according to Jennifer, what makes a marriage last is "prosperity."

History grad student Brian Tyrrell talked about the history of breeding thoroughbred horses for speed. Desmond Ramirez of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology shared his enthusiasm for octopuses, which according to him are “really amazing.” Desmond is researching octopus skin in order to better understand animal and human senses.

Desmond Ramirez discusses his research on octopuses. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMusic and Media, Arts, and Technology student David Gordon taught the audience how to visualize sound. David’s goal is to create an interactive framework for spatially representing music. Mechanical Engineering grad student Mohammad Mirzadeh shared about the potential of super-capacitors and how his research focuses on the use of computer-guided optimal design to better understand the physics of super-capacitors.

Communication student Samantha Coveleski challenged the audience’s assumptions about pain. Samantha’s research focuses on chronic pain and how she can help bring more awareness to and empower the 100 million individuals suffering from this "invisible" disease. 

After a quick Q&A with the presenters, the judges shared the final results. Samantha Coveleski, Mohammad Mirzadeh, and Jennifer Milosch were recognized as the top three participants. Mohammad Mirzadeh was selected as the overall winner.

Mohammad will join Bob Lansdorp (Round 1 winner), Jasmin Llamas (Round 2), Torrey Trust (Round 3), Britney Pennington (Round 4), Cyrus Dreyer (Round 5), Briana Simmons (Round 6), Peter Mage (Round 7) and the remaining preliminary round winner on Friday, April 19, in the Grad Slam Finals.

Grad Slam Round 8 participants take questions from the audience. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Grad Slam Round 9 winner Misty Riddle. Credit: Patricia MarroquinIn three-minute increments, the audience at Grad Slam Preliminary Round 9 were transported to Cuba, Mexico, the inside of a worm, and even near-death realms.

Eight grad student contestants presented their talks in Round 9 of the Grad Slam, part of Graduate Division’s Graduate Student Showcase events that are designed to highlight and celebrate the remarkable contributions and achievements of our university’s grad students.

The talks were judged on several criteria: clear and compelling nature of the presentations; perceived impact on an academic field or on society; and how well the talks were geared for general audiences. In addition, any contestants who exceeded the three-minute limit had points deducted from their scores.

The finalists from all nine rounds will compete tomorrow, Friday, for the title of Grad Slam Grand Prize Winner, which comes along with a $2,500 research fund. Second- and third-place finishers will each receive a $1,000 research fund.

Round 9 kicked off with a talk by Prateek Choudhary of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who proposed a for-profit grassroots model to mobilize the community, and be self-sustaining as well as empowering. Latin American and Iberian Studies grad student Marcus Cuellar discussed how baseball diplomacy can help improve U.S.-Cuba relations. Grayson Maas of Anthropology talked about his research into the ways, and conditions, in which underrepresented youths develop and maintain successful “science identities,” and the implications for future engagement in the sciences.

Chicana and Chicano Studies grad student Marla Ramirez spoke about her investigation of four mixed legal status families whose grandparents were U.S. citizens of Mexican descent repatriated during the early 20th Century. She examined the legal ramifications of the experiences of the expatriates’ descendants with a focus on race-based exclusions. History grad student Caitlin Rathe, whose academic trajectory changed focus from the natural sciences to the social sciences and finally to the humanities, discussed why humanities matter and how she can make a positive impact on the world as a Ph.D. student in History.

Michael Kinsella's talk focused on near-death experiences. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMisty Ridder, a Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology grad student, told the audience about her research with the small worm C. elegans to forcibly reprogram cells and organs to take on alternative identities, and the significance of this to biologists and to the general community. Michael Kinsella of Religious Studies discussed the emergence of a movement surrounding near-death experiences. He talked about his research involving visits to meetings of the Santa Barbara chapter of the International Association of Near-Death Studies and the Shared Crossing Project, whose members are interested in the afterlife. Brian Haggerty of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology spoke of his work to establish the USA National Phenology Network in 2007 as the nation’s first coordinated scientific effort to track climate change effects on natural resources. He talked of his focus on California’s national parks and UC Natural Reserves.

There was a question-and-answer session after the judges left to deliberate. When they returned, the top three finishers were announced: Misty Riddle, Marla Ramirez, and Marcus Cuellar. They each received a $50 gift card to the UCen bookstore. The contestant going on to the finals is Misty Riddle.

The Grad Slam Finals will be held at Theater and Dance West 1701 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a Graduate Student Reception on the Hatlen Theater patio until 6 p.m. Make sure to come out and cheer your fellow grad students on in the Finals and then enjoy the reception celebration afterward.

Round 9 contestants answered questions from the audience while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia MarroquinTo recap, here are the nine finalists. Good luck to all of them!

Bob Lansdorp, Materials  (Round 1 winner)

Jasmin Llamas, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (Round 2)

Torrey Trust, Education (Round 3)

Britney Pennington, Biomolecular Science and Engineering (Round 4)

Cyrus Dreyer, Materials (Round 5)

Briana Simmons, History of Art & Architecture (Round 6)

Peter Mage, Materials (Round 7)

Mohammad Mirzadeh, Mechanical Engineering (Round 8)

Misty Riddle, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (Round 9)

The nine Grad Slam finalists: From left, Bob Lansdorp, Mohammad Mirzadeh, Peter Mage, Torrey Trust, Jasmin Llamas, Misty Riddle, Cyrus Dreyer, Britney Pennington, and Briana Simmons. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

A lively Performance Showcase with opera and play readings, a dazzling 3D tour of the AlloSphere, and a Poster Showcase featuring more than a dozen exhibits were among the events that preceded UC Santa Barbara's Grad Slam Finals and Graduate Student Reception on Friday afternoon.

Grad Slam Grand Prize Winner Peter Mage with finalists Misty Riddle and Britney Pennington. Credit: Patricia MarroquinIn welcoming the audience to the Grad Slam Finals, part of Graduate Student Showcase, Dr. Carol Genetti, Dean of the Graduate Division, thanked the sponsors, the judges for each of the rounds, and all those who worked to plan Graduate Student Showcase events, especially Retention Services Director Whitney Winn, who she called “the organizational genius behind the Showcase.”

“Most of all,” Dr. Genetti said, “I want to thank the graduate students themselves, all of the participants who have taken the time out of their very busy lives to enrich us with their work, their thoughts, and their grand ideas.”

She praised the diversity of the more than 80 talks, on topics including mathematical symmetry,  quantum computing, U.S. diplomacy with Cuba, kelp beds, even effective hand-washing.

“This Showcase has given us the opportunity to hear from passionate scholars and to connect with the big ideas at the creative cutting edge,” Dr. Genetti said.  “Graduate students both reflect and enable their faculty, and the synergy between these populations is the central force, the fuel, that drives research productivity on this campus.”

The following are the nine Grad Slam finalists, their disciplines, and the titles of their talks.

Bob Lansdorp, Materials, “How Do Nano-Motors Unzip Your Genes?”

Jasmin Llamas, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, “The Importance of Familia for Latina/o College Students: Examining Familial Support on Intragroup Marginalization”

Torrey Trust, Education, “K-12 Tech Tools Database: Understanding How Open Educational Resources Shape Student Learning”

Misty Riddle, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, “Reprogramming Cell Fate and Remodeling Organs in a Tiny Worm”

Mohammad Mirzadeh, Mechanical Engineering, “Direct Numerical Simulation of Supercapacitors' Charging Dynamics”

Britney Pennington, Biomolecular Science and Engineering, “Directly Reprogramming Human Cells to Treat Ocular Diseases”

Cyrus Dreyer, Materials, “Lighting the World From the Head of a Pin: Engineering Across Length Scales”

Peter Mage, Materials, “Taking the Guesswork Out of Medicine: Sensors, Steamships, and Loops”

Briana Simmons, History of Art & Architecture, “The Plantation Economy: Material Culture, Architecture, and Global Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Brazil”

Grad student Brian Granger introduces a reading of his play, "Cold Hill Road." Credit: Patricia MarroquinAfter spirited presentations, the judges left the auditorium to deliberate while the audience asked questions of the finalists. When the judges returned, the top three finishers were announced: Misty Riddle, Peter Mage, and Britney Pennington. The Grand Prize winner of a $2,500 research fund is Peter Mage. Misty and Britney each received $1,000 research funds.

Following the Grad Slam, students and their guests dined on Middle Eastern fare on the Hatlen Theater patio while enjoying the Indian and Middle Eastern music of Professor Scott Marcus’ grad students. Before the Finals, a Graduate Playwrights’ Showcase featured new work of grad students Gregory Dodds ("The Happiest Place on Earth"), Donald Molosi ("Dear Zibanani"), and Brian Granger ("Cold Hill Road").

Coverage of each of the preliminary Grad Slam rounds may be found here:

Grad Slam Round 1: Students Impress Panel of Judges With Their Research

Grad Slam Round 2 Recap: Superman to Smarty Pants, and More

Grad Slam Round 3 Recap: Solar Cells, Exploding Brains, and More

Grad Slam Round 4 Recap: From Curing Diseases to Finding Happiness

Grad Slam Round 5 Recap: From Lighting the World to Feeding the Hungry

Grad Slam Round 6 Recap: Rethinking Time, Energy, and the History of Products

Grad Slam Round 7 Recap: Talks Include Diseases and Disasters, Unions and Unicorns

Grad Slam Round 8 Recap: From Suburban Sprawl to Super-Capacitors

Grad Slam Round 9 Recap: Natural Resources, Near-Death Experiences Among Talks in Last Qualifying Round

Guests got a 3D tour of the AlloSphere, taking a simulated peek inside the brain, top, and the arteries of a human body. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Polls are open for campus elections. Graduate students can vote now through Thursday, April 25 for next year's Graduate Students Association officers and student fees. Read on below for more information about the candidates and the proposed student fees.

Graduate Students Association Officers:

Read candidate statements at ucsbgsa.org/2013-spring-elections/. Write-in candidates are permitted for all positions.

• GSA President
  • Gary Haddow
• GSA VP, Academic Affairs
  • Marcel Brousseau
• GSA VP, Student Affairs
  • Gary Fox
• GSA VP, External Affairs
  • Katie Koehler
• GSA VP, Communications and Records
  • Ester N Trujillo
• GSA VP, Budget and Finance
  • Caitlin Rathe
• GSA VP, Committees and Planning
  • Dusty Hoesly
• GSA VP, Internal Affairs
  • No Candidate (write-in candidates allowed)

Graduate students will vote on two GSA fee reaffirmations:

Night and Weekend Parking (Reaffirmation)

Do you wish to continue a $5.00 (includes return to financial aid of $.42) per graduate student per quarter (excluding summer) mandatory fee to fund annual Nights & Weekend parking passes for all graduate students. If passed, the fee will be collected fall 2013 through spring 2015 and be subject to reaffirmation in 2015.

Student Medical Emergency Relief Fund (SMERF) (Reaffirmation)

Do you wish to continue a $0.89 per student per quarter, including summer, mandatory fee in order to provide funding for the Student Medical Emergency Relief Fund (SMERF), which provides grants for students who are not able to cover the costs of medical procedures? If reaffirmed, the fee will be collected fall 2013 through summer 2017 and be subject to reaffirmation in 2017.

Graduate students will vote on two new campus-wide fees:

Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity (WGSE, formerly known as the Women’s Center) Support Fee Increase

Mandatory fee increase of $3.92 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter, including summer, in order to further support the Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity Department (WGSE, formerly known as the Women’s Center).

The WGSE currently collects $4.25 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter (including summer), currently up for reaffirmation, through a campus lock-in fee. 

If passed, the fee would begin fall 2013, be subject to joint reaffirmation (base fee of $4.25, plus increase of $3.92 = $8.17) in spring 2017, and would raise the total undergraduate and graduate per student quarterly fees for this service to $8.17 (fall, winter, spring and summer). 

Failure of the reaffirmation of the campus lock-in base fee of $4.25 negates the increase whether or not the increase passes (see below).

The Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity support fee increase will help maintain staff and programs including Campus Advocacy Resources and Education (formerly the Rape Prevention Education Program); Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resources; Women's Center programming; and Non-Traditional Student Services. The support fee will maintain the public spaces within the Women’s Center, Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, and Non-Traditional Student Resource Center (e.g., libraries, art galleries, meeting rooms) through the addition of new technology, library acquisitions, art gallery resources, and replacement of aging equipment. It will also help to improve current WGSE programs and services such as 1) the Campus Advocacy Resources and Education; 2) help for individuals in crisis; 3) support for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/intersex/ally communities; 4) student-initiated activities and events; 5) student employment opportunities; 6) student internships; and 7) educational programming.

Health & Wellness Programs Fee

Mandatory fee of $7.13 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter, including summer, in order to support Health & Wellness Programs, (Breakdown: $5.35 goes to Health & Wellness, $1.78 is for return to aid). Of the $5.35 for Health & Wellness, a 7% administrative assessment will be charged to all non-capital expenditures. If passed, the fee would begin fall 2013 and would be subject to reaffirmation in spring 2017.

This fee will allow Health & Wellness to preserve the staff necessary to continue student-centered and student-requested programs on topics such as sex and relationships, healthy eating, drugs, stress-reduction techniques, and positive psychology. The Wellness class (ED 191W) and internship program provide professional training and leadership certification for more than 330 students per year.  Annually, Health & Wellness interns facilitate over 90 workshops, 26 field trips, 120 healthy food demos and 20+ events such as Dog Therapy Day, HIV Testing, Love Your Body Day, Liquid Lab/DUI Prevention, Random Acts of Kindness, Sex Affair, and National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.  An affirmation of this fee will also allow Health & Wellness to continue providing resources such as weekly massage, organic apples, and condoms to students at no additional cost. If this ballot measure does not pass, Health & Wellness will be forced to reduce and/or eliminate services and staff.  This fee will preserve Health & Wellness services and help UCSB students to continue to thrive academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. 

Graduate students will vote to reaffirm two existing campus-wide student fees:

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS, formerly Counseling Services) and Career Services Support Fee

Do you reaffirm a mandatory fee of $5.85 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter, including summer, in order to provide funds to maintain service levels for Counseling & Psychological Services and Career Services ($2.69 goes to CAPS, $3.16 goes to Career Services)?  If reaffirmed, the fee will continue to be assessed until subject to reaffirmation in spring 2017.

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) currently collects an additional $10.85 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter (including summer), collected through a campus lock-in fee, for a total of $13.54 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter to support CAPS. 

Career Services currently collects an additional $5.55 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter (including summer), collected through a campus lock-in fee, for a total of $8.71 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter to support Career Services. 

Counseling & Psychological Services receives $2.69 (of the $5.85 fee) to see graduate and undergraduate students who are in emotional distress. Along with providing confidential individual counseling, we work with roommates, friends, parents, teaching assistants, faculty, and staff to help them get counseling for someone in need. Students also now have access to counseling 24/7 through our phone consultation services.

Reaffirmation of this fee will allow us to continue to support psychologist positions, and budget permitting, avoid co-payments and reduced hours. A yes vote for this reaffirmation will ensure that we are able to continue to offer these essential services to all graduate and undergraduate students in need. 

Career Services receives $3.16 (of the $5.85 fee) to assist approximately 10,000 students per year with career-related issues such as major and career selection; access to internships and part- and full-time jobs; assistance with graduate school applications; provision of job search tools such as workshops, employer information sessions, job fairs, and on-campus interviews assistance.  Specifically, these monies support one career counselor, one job developer and related marketing efforts, and the free three-month grace period for students after graduation. 

Reaffirming this fee will support employer development, outreach, career counseling staff, and budget permitting, enable us to avoid reducing hours and instituting or increasing fees for testing, job fairs, and workshops. By reaffirming this fee, you ensure Career Services will continue to be available for your career counseling needs and continue to offer quality services.

Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity (WGSE, formerly the Women’s Center) Support Fee

Do you reaffirm a mandatory fee of $4.25 per undergraduate and graduate student per quarter, including summer, in order to enable the Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity Department to maintain programs and staff positions?  If reaffirmed, the fee will continue to be assessed until subject to reaffirmation in spring 2017.

The Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity support fee will help maintain staff and programs within the Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity department such as the Campus Advocacy, Resources, and Education program (formerly the Rape Prevention Education Program); the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (RCSGD); and the Non-Traditional Student Services.

For more on the proposed new fees and fee reaffirmations, check out Upcoming Campus Election Material from February.

Jennifer Guerrero in the Daugherty lab. Credit: Sylvia LanatiIf it hadn’t been for a visit to the campus in 2009 for College of Engineering Graduate Study Preview Day, Jennifer Guerrero might not be working in a UCSB laboratory today doing important research on engineered enzymes that could potentially be used to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

While she was an undergraduate studying Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA (B.S., 2010), a professor there encouraged her to visit UCSB and apply to graduate school here. During her Preview Day visit to UCSB, she was impressed with the research being conducted here as well as the “highly collaborative atmosphere” she found between faculty and departments. In addition, it pleased her to hear from UCSB grad students that they were able to strike a good balance between their research work and their extracurricular activities.

Jennifer – a native of Montebello just east of downtown L.A. and the daughter of two educators – returned to UCSB in the summer of 2010 as a participant in the Summer Doctoral Research Institute (SDRI) program before beginning her graduate studies here. The goal of SDRI, geared toward first-year underrepresented graduate students, was to provide students “with the opportunity to begin a course of research prior to fall quarter enrollment,” according to a welcome letter at the time by Graduate Division’s Admissions and Outreach Director Walter Boggan. “You will enjoy the benefits of hands-on mentoring, advance introduction to your respective program and departmental expectations, and early exposure to the professional academic environment that is UC Santa Barbara,” he wrote to them.

'One of the great things about being a graduate student is that you get to fill in the blanks where most textbooks leave off. I have learned over the years to celebrate the small victories while staying focused on the big picture.'
–Jennifer Guerrero

The SDRI program enabled Jennifer to work for eight weeks in Dr. Patrick Daugherty’s lab identifying peptides that bind to Herceptin, an antibody used in the treatment of breast cancer. “Being able to rotate in the Daugherty lab for the summer allowed me to determine if the lab was a good fit for my graduate studies before choosing my advisor in the fall,” she said.

Jennifer began her graduate studies armed with a newly won NSF fellowship, which she had applied to during her last year as an undergrad at UCLA. She attributes her success at winning the fellowship to her outreach efforts through such organizations as SOLES (a UCLA chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, or SHPE) and SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science). “The NSF review criteria are based on broader impacts in addition to intellectual merit,” she explained. “Having the NSF fellowship has allowed me to work on a project that is high-risk and maybe less likely to receive grant funding.”

Jennifer, who is now a third-year graduate student in Chemical Engineering with an emphasis in Biotechnology working in Professor Daugherty’s group, took some time to talk with the GradPost about her life inside the lab as well as outside of it. She shared with us the challenges of her research; her least favorite thing about grad school; how her greatest accomplishment resulted in a national honor; what she does to “allow my brain to rest”; and more. Read on. …

Please tell us a little about your participation in UCSB’s Preview Day while you were a student at UCLA.

I was very lucky to have heard about the UCSB Preview Day from a professor at UCLA who encouraged me to apply and visit UCSB. At the time, I was narrowing down the schools I would be applying to for graduate studies. During the visit, I was able to speak with graduate students in the Department of Chemical Engineering about their research and graduate life and I also listened to a research presentation given by faculty in the department. I was overall impressed by the research being conducted in the department as well as the highly collaborative atmosphere between faculty and departments at UCSB. I was also happy to hear from the graduate students that they felt UCSB provided an ideal environment to have a good balance between work and extracurricular activities.

What was the Summer Doctoral Research Institute program like for you?

I participated in the Summer Doctoral Research Institute program (SDRIP) during the summer of 2010, before I began my graduate studies. Through the program, I was able to work for eight weeks in Dr. Patrick Daugherty’s lab identifying peptides which bind to Herceptin, an antibody which is used in the treatment of breast cancer. During the summer, I was able to learn the basics of flow cytometry, a technology commonly used in the Daugherty lab, through shadowing a current graduate student. Being able to rotate in the Daugherty lab for the summer allowed me to determine if the lab was a good fit for my graduate studies before choosing my advisor in the fall. I also enjoyed exploring the city of Santa Barbara before the academic year started.

During the summer of 2011, I mentored one of the SDRI participants and incoming Chemical Engineering graduate. It was a great experience being able to impart my knowledge on common techniques in the lab and help train the next crop of students. I was also able to answer many of her questions concerning the coursework and milestones of the first year of graduate studies. 

How did these diversity-related programs help you?

I have been very fortunate to have participated in multiple research programs aimed at increasing the diversity of students in the sciences. Had I not participated in these diversity-related programs as an undergraduate, I may not have considered going on to graduate school simply due to the lack of information concerning research and a career in science. Diversity-related programs such as the UCSB Preview Day and the SDRI program have allowed me make more informed decisions when choosing which graduate school I would attend and which professor I would ultimately choose as my advisor. 

Please tell us a little about your research.

Jennifer Guerrero presented her work at a Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) conference. My thesis project involves redesigning the specificity of proteolytic enzymes, which are used in both technology applications as well as in therapeutics. For example, an engineered protease that selectively degrades amyloid-beta, a peptide which aggregates in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), could potentially be used for the treatment of AD. To date, the use of proteases as therapeutics has been limited. A major challenge in developing protease therapeutics is that there currently does not exist a high-throughput platform for evolving human proteases with high specificity for a target substrate. My project aims to create a cell based screen for protease variants that selectively cleave a target substrate using yeast. 

As an undergraduate, I became fascinated by the idea of engineering proteins with novel functions using microbes such as bacteria and yeast. When I came to graduate school, I knew I wanted to join a biotechnology-based lab. After joining the Daugherty lab, I spoke with my advisor about potential thesis projects. Having the NSF fellowship gave me the freedom to work on a project that at the time, did not have grant funding. My approach to solving the problem of engineering target-specific proteases has evolved over the past two and a half years but the overall goal still remains. I have thoroughly enjoyed the research process – running into roadblocks, thinking about solutions, and carrying out those experiments in the lab. At the end of the day, it is also nice to be working on a project that has important biotechnological and therapeutic applications.

How did you become interested in biotechnology?

I first became interested in biotechnology as a sophomore at UCLA. During that time, I was actively searching for a lab to join and came across Professor Yi Tang's lab in Chemical Engineering. His lab uses microbes to over-express enzymes from fungi in order to produce important molecules such as cholesterol-lowering and anti-cancer drugs. I was intrigued with the idea of using microbes to do "green chemistry." Traditional multi-step chemical synthesis often generates many toxic byproducts, which is inefficient and expensive. I had never really appreciated biology as a high school student, but once I started reading more about the applied research being done in the field of biotechnology, I enrolled in multiple biology and biotechnology courses in order to learn more. I worked in Professor Tang's lab for three years and was able to learn many techniques used in biotechnology which have been critical in my research as a graduate student.

What has graduate student life been like for you?

Currently, I cannot complain – living in a beautiful city such as Santa Barbara has really made it easy to relax and take breaks from lab work. During my first year of graduate school, I wasn’t able to maintain a good balance between work and extracurricular activities. I worked long hours in the lab and was pretty unhappy. I was mainly concerned with getting results, but working on a hard project means that results sometimes don’t come as quickly as you would want them too. I soon realized that I could not sustain that kind of lifestyle without burning out. Since then, I have made it a point to relax and have downtime at night and during the weekends to do many of the fun activities I enjoy such as running and cooking.

I feel very lucky to be at an institute with so many talented and enthusiastic professors and students.  Academic life as a graduate student has been incredibly fulfilling. I enjoy sitting down at a seminar and listening to someone who is passionate about their research. I like that I can take the bus home and discuss science with some of my graduate student colleagues. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a TA for undergraduates in the bioprocess engineering course. There is a constant exchange of academic knowledge and I wouldn’t rather be any place else at this point in my life.

What do you wish you had known before you started grad school?

That it can often be months or even years before you hit a milestone in your thesis project and that patience is important. As an undergraduate, I was so used to constantly receiving feedback from homework and test grades, but research is much different than taking classes. Things often don’t work as you thought they would or how a book says they should. One of the great things about being a graduate student is that you get to fill in the blanks where most textbooks leave off. I have learned over the years to celebrate the small victories while staying focused on the big picture.

What do you like most about grad school and what do you like least?

My favorite thing about graduate school has been the freedom to think independently and creatively about my thesis project and test my ideas in the lab. I often like to look back at my first lab notebook and see how much I have grown in my way of thinking and solving problems. I am certain that over the next few years of my Ph.D. I will continue to grow as a scientist.

What I have liked the least about graduate school has been the uncertainty. I wish someone from the future could tell me that my thesis project is going to turn out great, but for now I have to be patient and keep chugging along.

What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?

Jennifer with her heroes: her parents. Her mother is a kindergarten teacher and her father teaches preschool in a low-income neighborhood of Los Angeles.My biggest support and motivation for me to continue in my graduate studies has been my family. I come from a large Mexican family and I am lucky that the majority of my family members live in Los Angeles. When I go home, my family always asks how my research is going and my cousins often ask me about what kind of grades they should be getting in high school in order to be accepted into a top college. It makes me happy that I can be a positive role model in their lives and give them advice so they can succeed in their own college careers. 

I have also been involved with organizations such as the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) to increase the diversity of students pursuing degrees in STEM fields.  As an undergraduate, I was able to mentor two Latina chemical engineering students who were interested in conducting undergraduate research. I was also involved in giving science workshops to disadvantaged high school students in the Los Angeles area. As a graduate student, I have remained involved with SACNAS by speaking with undergraduate students about graduate school and the process of applying. All these experiences have shown me how important it is to have more minority women scientists as role models for these students and have increased my drive to finish my graduate studies.

Who are your heroes or mentors?

My heroes have always been my parents. My mother teaches kindergarten and my father teaches pre-school in a low income, predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood of Los Angeles. Their passion for teaching and enthusiasm in the classroom is contagious. Since their classrooms are usually the first introduction their students have to school, they make learning as fun. 

Jennifer Guerrero grew up in Montebello, just east of downtown Los Angeles.

My parents made sure my brother and I knew the value of an education from a young age and always encouraged us to work hard. Now I have come to appreciate how much an education can change your life by allowing you to explore new ideas, travel, and open up career paths that you may have not considered. 

Name an accomplishment you are most proud of and why.

My final year at UCLA I, along with three other students, started a UCLA chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), for which I served as president. I and the other members of the chapter believed it was important to have an organization on campus where minority students interested in research could network with graduate students and professors in order to increase our likelihood of pursuing advanced degrees and positions of leadership. As president, our chapter grew from four students to 30 active members, including graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow. Our group also focused on outreach to the community through tutoring and visiting local community colleges and high schools to speak about research opportunities at UCLA available to them. We also held a large outreach event at UCLA where 300 underrepresented students from Los Angeles district high schools were invited to engage in four science workshops. For our academic and outreach work, the UCLA SACNAS chapter was recognized as the 2010 SACNAS Chapter of the Year at the National SACNAS Conference in Anaheim, Calif.      

What do you do to relax? What makes you happy?

One of my favorite ways to relax is by going for a run. I love running outdoors especially along the beach.  Running is a way for me to meditate and let go of anything that might be weighing on my mind by focusing on my breathing. I also enjoy going on hikes, playing volleyball, dancing the night away, and cooking – especially Mexican food! I am most happy when I am traveling, especially to somewhere I have never been. A few weeks ago I went camping at Joshua Tree National Park for the first time. I couldn’t believe that my whole life I had been a short car ride away from such a beautiful and interesting place. Now I am determined to visit and camp at as many national parks as possible.

Regarding your love of cooking Mexican food, please tell us what your favorite Mexican dish is to prepare.

I love to fry tacos and serve them with homemade salsas. I mainly cook for friends here in Santa Barbara. Whenever I go home, I love to help my abuelita prepare molé or tamales and probe her with questions so that someday I can make these traditional dishes for my family. My parents and abuelita have taught me almost everything I know about Mexican cooking and making their recipes always makes me feel closer to them.  

What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I completed my first half marathon in November running the Santa Barbara International Half Marathon and am signed up for the Santa Ynez Half Marathon in May. I first signed up for the race to prove to myself that I could finish, but I didn’t realize what an exhilarating experience it would be. Training for the race has forced me to eat healthy and find times to exercise throughout the week.

What do you hope to be doing 5 or 10 years out of graduate school?

After graduate school, I hope to be working at a job that allows me to combine my passions for biotechnology and mentoring students. More importantly, I hope to be starting a family of my own. I would love to be able to settle close to Los Angeles so that my kids will get to spend plenty of time with their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins during their childhood.

Do you have any advice for current grad students?

Do your best to enjoy life and the city you are living in during your studies. Academic growth is definitely important, but I feel I am most productive in my academic studies when I allow my brain to rest and do fun activities outdoors. Make sure you have a good support network of family, other graduate students, and also friends outside of graduate school. Also, try your best not to complain and have fun along the journey.

Jennifer Guerrero, a native Southern Californian, only recently discovered the beauty of Joshua Tree National Park. Now she plans to visit and camp at as many national parks as possible.

Several UCSB graduate students have recently won awards to conduct research or study abroad. Congratulations to all on their successful applications!

2013-14 Fulbright Student Program

• Joseph Figliulo-Rosswurm, Ph.D. student in History, awarded research grant to Italy
• Kimberly Hartson, Ph.D. student in Psychology, awarded research grant to Lesotho
• Nicholas Williams, Ph.D. student in Anthropology, awarded research grant to Nicaragua

2013 Critical Language Scholarship Program

• Nicholas Ragheb, Ph.D. student in Ethnomusicology, awarded scholarship to study Arabic in Morocco

2013 National Security Education Program (NSEP) Boren Fellowship

• Andrew Kirst, Master's student in Global and International Studies, awarded fellowship to Mozambique