Photos by Patricia Marroquin

There’s nothing like having your own fellow students serenade you on your big day.  On Friday morning, June 15, Brengrass provided the musical accompaniment to the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management’s Commencement ceremony. Among the Brengrass musicians were two 2012 MESM graduates themselves, Ariadne Reynolds and Marina Feraud.

The festive Commencement ceremony was held in the Bren School’s Michael J. Connell Memorial Courtyard, where 10 Ph.D. students were hooded; and 77 students received their master’s degrees in environmental science and management.

The keynote speaker was Mary D. Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board. The Student Address, titled “Forging an Improved Future,” was given by Danni Storz, MESM 2012.

The Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award was presented by Fernando Accame (MESM 2012) to Professor Sarah Anderson. Bren School Professor Arturo Keller presented the MESM Academic Achievement Award to Marina Feraud.

Class Chairs Dana Jennings and Karly Kaufman presented the MESM 2012 Class Gift to David Parker, Director of Career Development and Alumni Relations: $2,200 for support of career services and alumni networking.

The Commencement program paid special tribute to Naomi Schwartz, who passed away June 4. Naomi – referred to as a Bren School champion, mentor, role model, and valued friend – was a former three-term Santa Barbara County supervisor who was a founding member of the Bren School Dean’s Council and had provided financial aid for student support every year since 2005.

To view more photos, go to our Facebook page, where you can “like” it, and see our 2012 Bren Graduation photo album.  A video of the event, featuring Brengrass performing “Home,” may be viewed below.

Congratulations, 2012 Bren School graduates!

If you're planning to apply for the Fulbright this coming year (or want to get more information about it in case you want to apply in future years), come to our information session Wednesday, July 25, at noon in the SRB Multipurpose Room. In this workshop, we’ll explain the Fulbright application process at UCSB and discuss tips for putting together the best Fulbright application possible. Dr. John Hajda, who has served on our internal faculty review committees, will provide his insights on what makes a good application and will be available to answer any questions you may have. If you'd like to attend, please RSVP to Francisco Herrera at francisco.herrera@graddiv.ucsb.edu with your name, department, and country of interest (if you've narrowed down a country you'd like to go to with a Fulbright). And, in case you missed it, be encouraged by our recent post on all of our fabulous Fulbright winners for this year.

Finally, after many months of waiting, Wahoo’s is pouring beer in the UCen. There are four beers to choose from: Pacifico, Firestone 805, Figueroa Mountain, and, coming soon, Pabst Blue Ribbon. Stop by for some tacos, burritos, and other nourishment and wash it down with a cool beverage. Wahoo's is located on the lower floor of the UCen in the Hub and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the summer.

Area highlighted is the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Credit: USGSA comprehensive study of the potential for tsunamis in northwestern California, co-written by UCSB Earth Science professors Edward Keller and Alexander Simms and published in the June issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, was based on the Ph.D. dissertation of UCSB alum Dr. David Valentine.

David earned his Ph.D. in Geologic Sciences at UCSB in 2000. Now a research programmer at the Spatial Information Systems Laboratory at UC San Diego, David was a student of Professor Keller’s and is first author of the paper.

The comprehensive, evidence-based work centered on the southern end of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ), which runs north from Mendocino, Calif. The authors studied sedimentation patterns in floodplains, estuaries, and salt marshes in the northwest corner of California for signs of seismic activity that could lead to tsunamis. An earthquake can cause coastal wetlands to become submerged, the researchers said, with sediment covering plants and animals inhabiting the area. This fossilized evidence points to a sea-level change in the region.

The research showed that the area had experienced three major quakes over the last 2,000 years, with sea-level changes at intervals of 300 to 400 years.

David told OurAmazingPlanet that in a subduction earthquake, the land “drops back down because the stress is released.” The size of the drop indicates the quake’s magnitude, he told the website.

For more information about the study, read the UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release, and OurAmazingPlanet’s interview with David.

If your dissertation research and writing has you boxed in creatively, we found two upcoming contests that encourage you to think about and present your research in some unusual ways.

The first comes from Jorge Cham and PhD Comics. For the 2 Minute Thesis Contest, twelve winners will have their theses illustrated and animated for all the world to see on PhD Comics. To enter, you need to record yourself explaining your thesis in a two-minute, easy-to-understand video. The public will choose the grand prize winner, who will also receive a variety of PhDComics merchandise. Eleven other entries will also be selected for the animation treatment. Entries are due August 1, 2012, so get to work!

Feeling a bit more abstract? Enter the Dance Your Ph.D. contest with a dance interpretation of your thesis or dissertation. Entries consist of a video of your dance and must feature at least yourself, though any number of dancers may be included. Cash prizes of $500 will be awarded to winners in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Social Science. A grand prize winner will also be selected to receive an additional $500 travel and accommodation to be crowned the winner at TEDxBrussels, in Belgium. Entries must be received by October 1, 2012. Need some inspiration? Check out last year's winning video below.

Ingrid with her daughter Grace and grandson by marriage, Jodell, in this 2010 photo.Dr. Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly believes strongly in paying back and paying forward. When she was a History Ph.D. student at UCSB just a few years ago, “graduate school was quite difficult for me. Not in terms of the intellectual rigors required but rather insofar as managing my life circumstances beyond school.” Pursuing a graduate degree is bound to be difficult when you are a disabled Navy veteran taking oral chemotherapy for a rare bone-marrow disease developed during Persian Gulf War duty; a single woman carrying a child in a high-risk pregnancy; and surviving an abusive past.

Financial awards she received from the History Department and History Associates, including a 2005 Donald Van Gelderen Memorial Fellowship, which recognizes nontraditional students who return to graduate study after pursuing career and family interests, allowed Ingrid to support her then-infant daughter, Grace.

“It was incredibly difficult to make ends meet while meeting my degree requirements,” she said. “However, earning my Ph.D. in History had become more than a mere personal goal. I realized that I was an example for other nontraditional students of color,” continued Ingrid, who is of African-American and Irish descent. “In fact, today African Americans still constitute only 1% of all graduate school students at UCSB.”

Ingrid overcame financial, health, and other obstacles to earn her Ph.D. in 2009, and today she is a U.S. History instructor both here at UCSB and at the University of La Verne’s Point Mugu Naval Air Station campus. She has been married since 2008 to Ritchie, and their blended family includes 11-year-old daughter Grace, Ritchie’s sons Landon and Zach, and Landon’s son, Jodell.

With gratitude for the assistance she received as a student, and mindful that “grad students need support now more than ever,” Ingrid established the Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly Award for parents raising children while working on their Ph.D.’s in History at UCSB. Her donation of $2,500, which she has committed to for the next 5 years, is being matched dollar for dollar by History Associates.

In June, the first two $2,500 awards were given to Munther Husain Al-Sabbagh, who is studying medieval commerce and exchange in the Indian Ocean basin; and Kenneth Charles Hough, who is writing on American perceptions of Japan before World War II.

“I was delighted to watch two fathers receive the first-ever Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly award and look forward over the next five years to watching those future relieved faces receive some funding,” Ingrid said. “Munther’s child had just come into the world the night before the ceremony,” she said, making him a father to three children. “I hope this award will inspire other grad students to do something similar or to even donate to already established awards.” 

Ingrid herself was also honored with an award in June. She was the recipient of UCSB’s  Margaret T. Getman Service to Students Award. History Ph.D. candidate Monica Garcia, in supporting Ingrid’s nomination for the award, called her “the epitome of selflessness and dedication as a professor and mentor” who “has always maintained focus on giving back and contributing to the success of others.”

Indeed, Ingrid doesn’t want grad-student alums to forget those who come after them. “After completing school many new Ph.D.s, if they are lucky, bring with them the best UCSB has to offer to their new job or academic institution. While we grow and develop our careers at new schools or in different venues, I believe it is essential for us to turn our gaze back to our home institution in order to support those still in need.”

Ingrid, who is finishing the final edits on her forthcoming book, “By the Least Bit of Blood: The Allure of Blackness Among Mixed-Race Americans of African Descent, 1862-1935,” discusses her experiences as a teacher, student, parent, philanthropist, and role model. Read on. …

Tell us about the Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly Award

I donated $2,500 to create the Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly Award to help graduate-student mothers and fathers finish their degrees. Mindful of the difficulties I faced as a single, graduate-student parent, I decided to pay back and pay forward the help I received and hoped that my giving would inspire other recent Ph.D. graduates to do the same. I committed to fund the award for the next five years and made sure that, if an appropriate candidate did not exist during a particular award season, the History Department could use the money as a recruitment tool. After I approached the History Associates (which offers annual funding to History students), they agreed to match my award.

What is your philosophy of working with students?

As a disabled veteran of both African-American and Irish descent, I see myself as a beacon by which other nontraditional students may navigate. Not in an abstract, trite way but as a woman scholar who has actually overcome insurmountable odds.

The fact is women like me typically don’t get Ph.D.s. We end up dead, institutionalized, drug-addicted, or stuck in a perpetual caldron of economic and educational poverty. Instead, my life is dedicated to the service of others, including those people who have yet to experience the fulfillment college provides.

In my community I mentor parolees, addicts, and victims of physical and sexual violence. This commitment to service is rooted in my past. After enduring years of abuse, I became a runaway at the age of 12, a “ward of the state,” and was sent to live in a home for girls run by the Sisters of Good Shepherd. Today, I edit college applications for many of their current residents.

Early in my academic career I linked learning to teaching. The progression of my academic pursuits paralleled my commitment to the education of others. While in graduate school, in the face of serious obstacles, this approach sustained me. For most of my graduate career I took oral chemotherapy to manage a bone-marrow disease contracted during the Persian Gulf War. While earning my master’s degree I learned that I was carrying an extremely high-risk pregnancy. Amazingly, my baby girl thrived as did my academic life. As a single mother, who commuted three hours a day to get to school, I remained motivated by the realization that my research and teaching were not just about me. My efforts inspired those students and community members who looked to me as an example. The fact remains that for many nontraditional students there lies just below the veneer of stoic countenance a fear of academic inadequacy. This fear often prevents disadvantaged or nontraditional students from using academic support services. Thus, individual examples, like me, make the difference.

For example, while teaching a course in U.S. History, I learned in the most poignant of ways just how important to students of color my very presence is. I had just given a lecture when an African-American woman approached me adorned with an ecstatic smile. I was stunned when this student, as if she were my daughter, hugged me and placed her head upon my bosom, exclaiming, “I have never seen a person of color in this position.”

How do you assist your grad students?

I read, edit, and help reconceptualize dissertation chapters, a task normally assigned to doctoral committee members or full-time faculty. I also spend countless hours on the phone or through email communication helping graduate students or my teaching assistants improve pedagogic techniques. I also mentor my teaching assistants by allowing them to give partial lectures so they may further develop their teaching abilities by receiving feedback, while they bolster their resumes. Finally, while reviewing fellowship applications, I help graduate students develop successful academic and career strategies.

Discuss your relationship with students beyond that of a lecturer

Typically, lecturers teach one or two courses and move on to their next opportunity. Because I have enjoyed the privilege of teaching at UCSB in some capacity for so many years, many of these students have grown up with me. That is, I have ushered many UCSB students from their freshmen years toward the road to achieving their post-graduate goals. This unique circumstance, in just the last 18 months, has positioned me to write at least 30 letters of recommendations. If I included my entire time at UCSB the number of letters I have written would be staggering. In addition, my relationships with these students often don’t end with one recommendation. Because they stay in contact with me I am often asked to write multiple letters for the same student.

I am not paid to do this; however, I do it in the spirit or tradition of UC President Clark Kerr’s original vision. I am a scholar-teacher in every sense of the word; as such, I partake in this kind of service because our students, families, and communities so desperately need the help.

For more information on how to give to graduate students, please see Graduate Division’s Giving page.

BY PEGGY LUBCHENCO, GUEST COLUMNIST

Editor’s note: Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died on Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Dr. Ride, who held a doctorate in astrophysics from Stanford University, joined the faculty of UC San Diego as a physics professor after leaving NASA. She also founded Sally Ride Science, a science education company dedicated to motivating boys and girls to pursue careers in science, math, and technology. Peggy Lubchenco, a lecturer in the Teacher Education Program in UCSB’s Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, worked with Dr. Ride as a STEM consultant for Sally Ride Science. Peggy, who taught biology and earth science in Santa Barbara and Massachusetts before coming to UCSB, pays tribute to a friend, colleague, and passionate science education advocate.   

Dr. Sally Ride, center, with the Santa Barbara School District team that attended SRS Academy. Peggy Lubchenco is below Dr. Ride at left. We lost an icon of science today as Sally Ride lost her battle with cancer.  At the age of 61, Sally was too young, too vibrant to go. I knew Sally through my work with her STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education company, Sally Ride Science (SRS).

I had the privilege of receiving an email from her in 2009, inviting me to join her faculty of educators. I count that invitation as one of the great honors of my life.

Sally’s vision was to make sure that elementary and middle school students understood the scope of STEM careers available to them. She and her team sought funding from Exxon/Mobil Foundation and Northrup Grumman Foundation to bring together elementary and middle school educators from around the country to give them the tools to not only teach vital science concepts but also to pair those concepts with living scientists and science careers. She used her celebrity to open doors that would in turn benefit thousands of schoolchildren around the country. That was classic Sally: She used the limelight to improve science education, not to fan her own ego.

The first time I met Sally was after a SRS Academy planning meeting in La Jolla. As she entered the room, two things became apparent – her approachability and her intelligence. We casually talked about walking in space (it’s better than SCUBA diving), our unmanned space program (she supported it but not to the exclusion of manned flights), and her tennis career (she loved being athletic but her career in science trumped all).

She never seemed exasperated when quizzed about her two space missions from the early 1980s. None of us will ever know how many times she gracefully answered the question, “How do you go to the bathroom in space?” She was generous and kind to all curious people.

Sally Ride’s life is an example for all of us. Work hard, break through glass ceilings, do great things, and understand that your legacy is not about your success but about your contributions to your community, to your world.

Sally Ride made this a better world through her passion for quality science education. She helped open traditionally closed science fields to talented people of any gender, ethnicity, or religion. Sally became famous when she was launched into space, but she touched our hearts when she dedicated the rest of her life to opening doors for others. We will miss you, Sally.

For more on Dr. Sally Ride's life, read a New York Times obituary. Below is a University of California TV video of Dr. Ride presenting the Regent's Lecture at UC Berkeley on April 4, 2011, titled "Reach for the Stars With Sally Ride."

The Graduate Students Association has obtained a limited number of  month-long bus passes for graduate students (at no cost to you!). Distribution will be in the GSA Lounge, Wednesday, August 1 from 1 to 3 p.m. These will be provided on a first come, first served basis. Bring your current student ID.

If you have any questions, please contact GSA President Mario Galicia at gsapresident.ucsb@gmail.com.

It's just about time for one of Santa Barbara's biggest celebrations. The Old Spanish Days Fiesta kicks off on Wednesday and continues through the weekend with parties, parades, markets, and plenty of food.

Fiesta has a long history in Santa Barbara, dating back to 1924. According to the official website, the festival celebrates the "colorful music, dance and song, together with a spirit of friendliness, hospitality and tolerance" to honor the "Spanish, Mexican and North American pioneers who first settled here and built the city."

For a taste of fiesta, check out the following free events:

El Mercado de la Guerra
11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Wed.-Sat.
De La Guerra Plaza, on the first block of East De La Guerra Street
Spanish and Mexican-American foods, crafts and souvenirs, and live entertainment

El Mercado Del Norte
11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Wed.-Sat.
Mackenzie Park at the corner of State Street and Las Positas Street
Food court, souvenirs, rides and attractions, and live entertainment

Our Lady of Guadalupe Mercado
11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fri.-Sun.
227 North Nopal Street
Authentic Mexican cuisine and entertainment

Las Noches de Ronda (“Nights of Gaiety”)
8 p.m., Thurs.-Sat.
Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens, 1100 Anacapa Street
Variety show of music, singing, Flamenco from Spain, and Folklórico dances from many regions of Mexico

El Desfile Histórico (Historical Parade)
Noon, Friday
Starts at the west end of Cabrillo Boulevard, proceeds east along the beach, to State Street, then up State Street to Sola Street

82nd Annual El Desfile De Los Niños (Children's Parade)
10 a.m., Saturday
Parade proceeds down State Street, from Victoria Street to Ortega Street

For a full listing of events, visit the Old Spanish Days Fiesta events calendar.

The Affordable Care Act, the health insurance reform legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, included some changes to women's preventive services that went into effect this week. According to the Act, new private health plans must cover specific women’s preventive services with no cost sharing, including annual well-woman visits and FDA-approved contraception, in plan years starting on or after August 1, 2012.

While these guidelines will not cover all privately insured individuals immediately, most will see the benefits within the year. Graduate students on the UC Student Health Insurance Plan (UC SHIP) will have access to no-copay contraceptives and other preventive services at the Student Health center. Coverage for 2012-13 begins September 23, 2012. For more information about what's covered under UC SHIP, please visit the Student Health website.

Students covered by other health insurance options should contact their provider to see how the guidelines apply to their plans. The National Women's Law Center has information about "How To Find Out If and When Your Health Plan Will Begin Covering Women’s Preventive Services with No Co-Pay."

More information about all aspects of the Affordable Care Act is available at HealthCare.gov.

The world's first Chicano Studies Ph.D.s: From left, Thomas Avila Carrasco, José G. Anguiano Cortez, and Jessie Turner. The three students were recognized at the Graduate Division Commencement ceremony in June. Photo credit: Patricia MarroquinUC Santa Barbara’s Chicana and Chicano Studies Department made history this summer, and it’s an achievement that has been at least 30 years in the making. In June, three students participated in Graduate Division’s Commencement ceremony, becoming the first graduate students in the world to earn Ph.D.’s in Chicana and Chicano Studies.

The students are Jessie Turner, Thomas Avila Carrasco, and José G. Anguiano Cortez. Jessie received a spring 2012 degree, while Thomas and José are filing for summer 2012 degrees. For Jessie, José, and Thomas, this degree is a “family accomplishment,” “a collective achievement,” and one that instills “great pride.”

The idea for a Chicano Studies Ph.D. program at UCSB has multiple origins.

According to the Chicana/o Studies website, UCSB’s Chicana/o Studies program was born in the spring of 1969, the first such program in the UC system. A group of Chicano activists and intellectuals met on the campus and prepared the foundational document El Plan de Santa Barbara. The group generated an educational model for institutions of higher learning that would be more responsive to Chicanos and would provide a bridge for a new generation of Chicanos to higher education. This Plan was the intellectual model for the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies and continues to exert a strong influence on the discipline today.

It is said that in 1981, Dr. Luis Leal, a UCSB professor whose career spanned more than 50 years and who made significant contributions to the study and understanding of Mexico, Latin America, and Chicanos in the U.S., first suggested the creation of a Chicana/o Studies Ph.D. program. But the department was still small and a plan did not move ahead during the 1980s.

Credit: UCSB Living History Project/The IndependentFast forward to April 1994, when 9 Chicano/Latino UCSB students staged a 10-day hunger strike.

Their demands included the hiring of more Chicana/o Studies faculty (the strikers sought 15 FTE’s at a time when there were only 3.5); freezing tuition; maintaining Building 406 (also known as El Centro, home to the Chicana/o student group, El Congreso, and original site of the Chicana/o Studies Department, the Chicano Studies Institute, and the Chicano Studies Library); the opening of a community center in Isla Vista; campus observance of the United Farm Workers union’s table grape boycott; increased recruitment and retention of Chicanos/ Latinos from the local tri-county area (Chicano/Latino undergraduate students represented 10% of the campus then); and creation of a Chicana/o Studies Ph.D. program. The strike was settled with an agreement signed outside Cheadle Hall, according to Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval, Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies.

In the wake of the strike, students and faculty began to draft plans for the Ph.D. program, Armbruster-Sandoval said. He said the first complete proposal was drafted in the late 1990s, but it took years to proceed through bureaucratic channels, with the plan finally gaining approval in 2003. The first cohort of students began the program in fall 2005.

Today the Chicana/o Studies Department has 11 faculty members and about 5 lecturers. The percentage of Chicano/Latino undergraduates on the UCSB campus has risen from 10% in 1994 to nearly 25% today, Armbruster-Sandoval said. And the department now has about 25 grad students pursuing master’s and Ph.D. degrees.

“From idea to first Ph.D.’s, you could say it took 30 years – a long time,” said Armbruster-Sandoval. He said that since UCSB founded its Ph.D. program, others have been established across the country, for example at Michigan State University and, more recently, at UCLA.

Dr. Leal didn’t live to see the dream of the first Ph.D.s become reality. He died in 2010 at the age of 102, and today the UCSB Chicana/o Studies Luis Leal Endowed Chair is held by the department’s chair, Dr. Aida Hurtado.

The GradPost caught up with Jessie, José, and Thomas, and asked them to tell us what this historic achievement means to them.  Read on. …

JESSIE TURNER 

Jessie’s dissertation title is "Mixed and Mixed: Inheritance and Intersectionality in the Identity Formation and Identity Migration of People with Mexican and Other Ethnoracial Backgrounds." Her doctoral chair was Chicana/o Studies Associate Professor Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval. This month, Jessie begins employment as a full-time permanent instructor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Florida, where she’ll be a member of the Status of Latinos (SOL) presidential advisory committee.  Here’s what the Ph.D. means to her:

“This achievement and degree hold various levels of meaning. To begin with, as the first in my very large family to have received a B.A., to now receive a Ph.D. is really a family accomplishment that references my forebears' sacrifices and support. Second, I am someone who identifies as multiracial/ethnic (White, Mexican, and U.S. Indigenous), and so to be in the first cohort of Ph.D. graduates in Chicana and Chicano Studies is significant because it speaks to the fact that the field and community are both broader and more nuanced than some may either know or wish to admit.

“There is a growing body of literature that speaks to the experiences of people with both Mexican and other ethnoracial ancestries, though the population itself is, of course, not new. The great majority of this work, however, exists outside of Chicana and Chicano Studies programs and venues, so it is significant politically that my work on this topic comes from within this department.” 

JOSÉ G. ANGUIANO CORTEZ

José G. Anguiano Cortez’s working dissertation title is "Latino Listening Cultures: Affect, Community, and Resilience in Latino Music Practices." His doctoral chair is Maria Herrera-Sobek. José has been teaching part time at California State University, Los Angeles. Here’s what he told the GradPost:

“I am honored to be part of a program and degree that the Latino community has been working towards since the 1960s. I view my personal accomplishment as a collective achievement that wouldn't have been possible without community activists, student hunger strikes, visionary artists, supportive family, and talented academic mentors. I came to this program to research Latino communities and serve as an educator. I hope to pave the way for the next generation of students, activists, and artists.

“I believe the field of Chicana/o Studies has never been more relevant given the changing demographics of the country. As a nation we need more discussion, training, and awareness of the opportunities and challenges.

“Many studies have concluded the future of the state and the nation depends on Chicanos and Latinos in terms of academic achievement, as a tax base and labor force – not to mention important artistic and cultural contributions. Chicana/o Studies at UCSB provides critical education and research on Chicano/Latino communities that enriches the education of all students and shapes future policy. 

“Supporting Chicana/o Studies means supporting the well-being of all.”

THOMAS AVILA CARRASCO

Thomas Avila Carrasco’s working dissertation title is "Oppositional Performance: A Social-Historical Analysis of the Avant-Garde Comedy Troupe Chicano Secret Service." Thomas’ doctoral co-chairs are Mario T. Garcia (Chicana/o Studies) and George Lipsitz (Black Studies & Sociology). Thomas was offered a tenure-track full-time position at Santa Barbara City College and will begin teaching there this fall. He will be joining the American Ethnic Studies Department at the college. Here’s what he told the GradPost:

“Becoming a Doctor of Philosophy in Chicano Studies has impacted me on a personal level and has also impacted the communities that I come from. I am born and raised in Oxnard, California. Students and community members from Oxnard have been involved with campus politics since the 1960s. It brings great pride to our community that I am one of the first Chicanos to earn a Ph.D. in Chicana/o Studies.

“Becoming a Doctor of Philosophy in Chicana/o Studies has allowed me to gain an expertise in documenting, describing, and analyzing Chicana/o cultural production and Chicana/o history. In the spirit of telling untold histories and revealing hidden histories with the goal of empowering the communities of Chicana/os is one of the biggest achievements that comes along with this accomplishment.

Thomas Avila Carrasco, right, with co-chair Dr. George Lipsitz. “It also reveals the historical moment that the University of California, Santa Barbara, is at. At this time the Department of Chicana/o Studies conducts the largest introduction to Chicano Studies classes in the nation. Chicana/o culture/history is American culture/history. It is exciting to be part of the changing American cultural landscape in an ancient and contemporary context. This degree represents American society at its best, revealing the syncretic process where Meso-American and European cultures that intersect/evolve to create new cultural inventions.

“Chicana/o Studies is a discipline that creates new forms of knowledge to solve problems in society and empower populations that have not been historically part of the American scholarly world. It is in this spirit that a Ph.D. in Chicana/o Studies brings to the local, national, and global perspective of UCSB students to create citizens of the world.”

Congratulations to Jessie, José, and Thomas on their history-making achievement!

 (If you’d like to give to the Chicana/o Studies Ph.D. program, go to the Graduate Division’s Giving page.)

UCSB's Institute for Energy Efficiency is offering a fellowship for students conducting research in energy or energy efficiceny. Read below for full details.

The Peter J. Frenkel Fellowships

Deadline: Friday, August 24, 2012

These fellowships are made possible by the generous support of the Peter J. Frenkel Foundation. These highly competitive awards recognize outstanding graduate research in energy or energy efficiency by two students per academic year who have advanced to doctoral candidacy.

The award is administered through a quarterly stipend of $1,000, for a total amount of $4,000. This award is meant to be additive to the student’s existing funding, but may also be used in cases where support for the student has been exhausted towards the end of his or her candidacy.

Institute faculty members can submit a nomination, or students may self-nominate for this award. Apply online here: http://iee.ucsb.edu/node/1854

Questions may be directed to Courtney Richardson at richardson@iee.ucsb.edu

Eligibility

• Recipients must have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy and be in excellent academic standing.
• Recipients must maintain continuous full-time enrollment at UC Santa Barbara throughout the entire tenure of the award.
• Recipient’s research must be conducted under the direction of an Institute for Energy Efficiency faculty member.

Submission

• Institute faculty members can submit nominations or students may nominate themselves.
• Nominations must be submitted online no later than August 24, 2012. An abbreviated one-page curriculum vitae, specifically calling out relevant publications, and a letter of recommendation (optional) should also be submitted with the application.
• A committee comprised of the Institute’s Solution Group Heads, the Institute Director and the Executive Director will select awardees.
• Selection criteria emphasize initiative, contribution and accomplishment in energy or energy efficiency research and will take into consideration statements of financial need.
• Award recipients will be announced mid-September.

Applying to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for research or study abroad? All currently enrolled UCSB graduate students must participate in the campus application process. (Note: current undergraduates may apply directly to the Fulbright program, due Oct. 17)

UCSB Deadline: Thursday, September 13, 2012

Campus Interviews: September 20 to 28

• UCSB Fulbright Information Sheet
• UCSB Fulbright Program Binder

Submitted application includes:

• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Official Transcripts (scanned and uploaded)
• Language Evaluation
• Letter of Affiliation (if applicable)

For more information about the application process, contact Francisco Herrera, Extramural Funding Advisor, Graduate Division, (805) 893-4231 or francisco.herrera@graddiv.ucsb.edu.

For more tips on strengthening your application, read these past GradPost articles:

• Fulbright Application Tips
• Fulbright Workshop Recap

We also have several samples of successful applications available to view in the Graduate Student Resource Center on the first floor of the Student Resource Building. Email Whitney Winn at whitney.winn@graddiv.ucsb.edu to make an appointment.

The Office of Financial Aid let us know about a new requirement that affects how your financial aid funds are disbursed. The details are below and also on the Financial Aid website.

"As you probably know, University charges are assessed to your UCSB BARC account. What you may not know is that Federal Aid may not be used to pay all of these charges without your consent.

Without your authorization, federal funds may only be applied to tuition, campus-based fees, and housing. Federal funds will not pay for other mandatory university charges such as student health fees, late fees, library fees, miscellaneous fees, etc. You will be prompted with whether or not you wish to authorize payment of these other charge with Federal Funds when you log in to My Aid Status.

What happens if I say yes?

Provided that you meet the normal disbursement requirements your Financial Aid will credit to your UCSB BARC account and will pay for the other mandatory charges listed above. This will help ensure that you meet fee deadlines each quarter. If your Financial Aid is greater than the balance owed, the difference will be refunded to you by the BARC Office.

What happens if I say no?

Students that do NOT authorize charges must pay their other mandatory charges out-of-pocket. Financial Aid refunds can be issued no sooner than 10 days before the start of classes each quarter. This is typically after the fee deadline each quarter. In other words, your refund will not be available to help you pay these mandatory charges.

If you do not pay these other charges prior to the deadline, you will be assessed late fees and may be dropped from your classes.

How do I authorize payment of these other charges?

Log in to My Aid Status. If you have not already answered the question, you will be prompted with it upon logging in. If you have already answered and wish to change your response, proceed to Tab 7 of My Aid Status and click on “Modify Your Decision” at the bottom of the page."

You’ve heard the stereotypes about that terrible “dorm food.” Tuna casseroles, greasy pizza, runny mashed potatoes, green Jell-O, mystery meat. Well, when it comes to campus dining here at UCSB, you can throw all those preconceived notions into the kitchen garbage disposal.

At the UCSB Dining Commons, you’ll find that all meals are freshly prepared and hot items are cooked to order. Healthy and specialty options are always available. Choices include salads, a deli, a Mongolian Grill, Euro, and pasta. How about Ginger Beef Stir Fry, Smoked Chicken Chipotle, Tomato and Leek Marinara, or Moorish Pork Chops? Or Herb and Garlic Crusted Tilapia, Nicoise Salad, Couscous Salad with Tomato and Herb? Eating at UCSB can be a fine-dining experience.

Graduate students who are off-campus residents are welcome to take advantage of UCSB residential dining. During the academic year, students may eat in any one of the three university-owned dining commons on the Main Campus: Ortega, Carrillo, and De La Guerra; as well as Portola on the Storke Campus. Summer meal plans are also available.

Dining Services will begin accepting Fall Quarter meal plan requests on Sept. 17. For more information, see Dining Services’ Off Campus Meal Plan information page. Or visit the main Dining Services page.

You definitely won’t be a starving grad student here. To whet your appetite, take a look at the yummy video below from UCSB Housing, which demonstrates its commitment to diners as well as to the environment. Bon appétit!

Chris Donlay traveled the globe in his high-profile role as Vice President of International Corporate Communications for eBay. He was a voice for the online auction company, being quoted all over the world on such matters as Internet scams, PayPal outages, Asia expansion plans, patent suits, and controversial auctions for flu vaccine vials and facial tattoo ads. But no winning bid could give Chris what was missing in his life: a deep passion for his career. 

As a child growing up in Kansas, Chris was fascinated with languages, learning several in school, an interest that served him well later in his international corporate career. Before coming to eBay in 2005, Chris worked at global PR company Hill & Knowlton in New York City; managed a start-up agency with a friend; and did corporate public relations for HBO.

Chris’ main responsibility at eBay was to help the international sites. “When I started, there were 5, when I left 25,” he said. “The eBay concept is based on very American values, and so we had to find a way to communicate them in a way that would appeal to people in other cultures,” Chris said. The job necessitated frequent travel to Europe and Asia. “At one time I was flying to Shanghai once a month,” he said.

He also handled other corporate issues such as acquisitions, financial announcements, and crisis communications, meaning “I was on call 24/7,” said Chris.

The pace was hectic, “and frankly after 5 years I was burned out,” he said. “So I began to think about a new career, and quickly settled on Linguistics.” Chris – who holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science & East Asian Language and Culture from the University of Kansas and an MBA in Marketing/International Business from New York University – left eBay in 2006 to return to school. Believing he needed to learn the basics of Linguistics in order to credibly apply to a Ph.D. program, he enrolled at San Jose State University and earned a master’s degree in Linguistics in 2008. He entered UCSB’s Linguistics Ph.D. program later that year. Chris advanced to candidacy in June 2011 and expects to receive his Ph.D. in Spring 2014.

Some colleagues were surprised at his big career turn. “But the people closest to me knew that I wanted a change,” he said, and Linguistics was a “natural evolution.” The move would also satisfy another one of his goals: to lead “a much less stressful lifestyle.”

Earlier this month, Chris, 50, learned that he was one of six recipients of a doctoral dissertation research award from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the agencies’ ongoing Documenting Endangered Languages program.

The $15,078 award will assist Chris as he documents Katso, a language in China with just 5,000 speakers. His research project, "A Grammar of the Katso Language in Yunnan, China," under the direction of Dr. Carol Genetti, currently the acting dean of UCSB’s Graduate Division, will contribute to the understanding of language contact and change.

Chris – who lives in Palo Alto, Calif., with his partner Colin Kent – took some time out before heading back to China to share with the GradPost his thoughts on his love of Linguistics, his research on the endangered Katso language, his advice for fellow grad students, and more. Read on. …

What prompted you to pursue Linguistics?

I was always interested in languages, studying French and Italian in high school and then majoring in Mandarin as an undergraduate. My corporate career took me around the world, where my interest in languages and cultures came in handy. Linguistics was a natural evolution for me, spurred on by the realization that we are in the midst of a global crisis in language endangerment. More than half of the world’s 7,000 languages are expected to die out this century – currently, one language disappears every 2 weeks. I felt that linguistics and language documentation was a worthy second career.

Please tell us about your dissertation topic and your specific interest in the Katso language. Why this particular language?

My dissertation will be a descriptive grammar of Katso, an endangered language spoken in a single farming village in Yunnan, China. In order to write the grammar, the language must first be thoroughly documented. This involves working with native speakers in the village over the course of a year to record a wide variety of natural language, from conversation, personal anecdotes and jokes to traditional stories and songs. The grammar, along with all supporting audio and video recordings, will be archived in the village so that the community has a permanent and comprehensive record of their language.

Because I already speak Mandarin, I was particularly interested in working in China, where there are many endangered languages but few documentary linguists. Yunnan Province, which is home to dozens of minority ethnic groups, is a linguistic hotspot and a natural destination for this kind of work. Katso is especially interesting because the speakers are ethnically Mongolian. They are descendants of the troops Kublai Khan brought to Yunnan when he conquered China in the 13th century. Due to centuries of contact with other minority languages, Katso has changed enormously since then. Today, speakers must speak Mandarin to get an education, find a good job or even watch TV, so there is increasing pressure to completely switch to the majority language. And because Katso is not a written language, it will completely disappear unless it is documented while we have the chance.

How has Dr. Genetti assisted you with your education/dissertation?

The Linguistics Department at UCSB is known for its training in language documentation, which is why I came here. Not only is Carol Genetti a leader in this field, she is also an expert on the Tibeto-Burman language family to which Katso belongs. She’s a great mentor.

Tell us about the NEH/NSF dissertation award. How will you use the funding?

The NSF, through its Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) program, is one of the few granting institutions in the world that provides funds specifically for language documentation. I applied for a dissertation improvement grant in order to extend my fieldwork to a full year, allowing me the time to create a comprehensive record of the language. Naturally, I’m happy the NSF is supporting my project.

Who are your mentors or role models?

There are a lot of great field linguists documenting endangered languages right now – too many to name. I’ve been able to meet quite a few and I try to learn something from each of them, because documentation is exacting work that needs to be done right the first time. I always keep in mind that the ultimate audience for my work is not my dissertation committee but the community of speakers themselves.

What advice do you have for other UCSB grad students?

Pursue your passions. I spent 20 years in a career that, while successful, I didn’t love. I’m lucky to have a second chance.

When not studying or researching, what do you like to do for fun and relaxation?

I love to travel and learn about new cultures, so fieldwork is both work and pleasure for me.

What are your long-term career goals after receiving your Ph.D.?

I have dual goals – to teach linguistics, especially language documentation, and to continue documenting endangered languages.

Visit the National Endowment for the Humanities' Documenting Endangered Languages page for more information about the program and how to apply. For information on how to give to UCSB’s graduate education initiatives such as dissertation year fellowships to help further important research, visit the Graduate Division's Giving page.

UC Santa Barbara has earned the distinction of being among the top 25 colleges and universities in the nation for the number of degrees awarded to Latinos in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The recognition comes from the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization Excelencia in Education and covers the 2009-10 academic year.

The rankings, listed by area of study and degree conferred, placed UCSB at No. 9 for master’s degrees in mathematics and No. 10 for doctoral degrees in mathematics. UCSB was 19th on the list for number of doctoral degrees conferred in the physical sciences. In the bachelor’s degree categories, UCSB ranked No. 10 for mathematics; and No. 11 for physical sciences.

“The STEM graduate programs at UCSB are truly committed to increasing diversity among our student population,” Walter Boggan, Director of Admissions and Outreach for UCSB’s  Graduate Division, told the GradPost. “Outreach programs such as the Summer Doctoral Research Institute (SDRI), UC LEADS, and the Academic Research Consortium (ARC) highlight our attempt to foster and support underrepresented students in their scholarly research endeavors. Additionally, these programs help them to achieve their personal and professional goals as undergraduates while preparing them for their next challenge – graduate studies at UCSB. For our Mathematics and Physical Science graduate programs to be ranked in the top 25 is definitely an honor and we, the UCSB community, must continue our strong efforts in the pursuit of diversity.”

Excelencia in Education is a national organization whose aim is to strengthen success in higher education for Latino students by promoting education policies and institutional practices that support their academic development.

For more information, read the UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release.

The prime factors of the number 15 are 3 and 5. Easy, right? Yes, but try figuring out the prime factors of a 600-digit number. Who has age-of-the-universe time to solve that? A group of UCSB researchers has designed and built a quantum processor that can factor a composite number.

In the UCSB experiments, the number 15 was used, and the processor factored it into its prime factors of 3 and 5. While this may seem like a minor project, it’s an achievement that takes a strong step forward in the longer-term quest to create a quantum computer that can factor much larger numbers. This work would have significant implications for the fields of cryptography and cybersecurity.

The work is published online in the journal Nature Physics, and its lead author is Erik Lucero, a Ph.D. student in Physics at the time the research was done and the paper was written. He received his Ph.D. in June 2012 and since May he has worked at IBM as a postdoctoral researcher in the experimental quantum computing effort at the T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

"Fifteen is a small number, but what's important is we've shown that we can run a version of Peter Shor's prime factoring algorithm on a solid state quantum processor. This is really exciting and has never been done before," Erik said in a UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release. See the video below to get a closer look at his research.

Since the concepts used are the same when factoring much larger numbers, "we just need to scale up the size of this processor to something much larger,” Andrew Cleland, a professor of physics at UCSB who also worked on the experiment, said in the release. “This won't be easy, but the path forward is clear."

“A quantum computer will be a game changer in a lot of ways, and certainly with respect to computer security,” Erik said in the release.

Erik himself is one of those game changers. He told the GradPost what this achievement means to him.

“Since I am the first in my family to complete a Ph.D., I have dedicated my thesis to my family,” he told us. “I feel like I have blazed a trail for the Luceros in the world and I couldn't have done it without the everlasting support of my family through the years. Of course, these accomplishments are still soaking in, but I can say that I sleep a lot better now that I have defended and my thesis work is published in Nature Physics.”

For Erik, there’s a certain prestige in having worked on research at UCSB. “Certainly in the field that I am working in, Quantum Computing, the scientific research conducted at UC Santa Barbara is among the best in the world. Heads turn when I tell people where I completed my Ph.D. I am proud to have made a contribution to human knowledge and to have furthered the already great reputation of UC Santa Barbara.”

Other UCSB researchers participating in the study include John Martinis, professor of physics; Professor Cleland; Rami Barends, Yu Chen, Matteo Mariantoni, and Y. Yin, postdoctoral fellows in physics; and physics graduate students Julian Kelly, Anthony Megrant, Peter O'Malley, Daniel Sank, Amit Vainsencher, Jim Wenner, and Ted White.

For more information, read the full Office of Public Affairs press release and the Nature Physics article. For more information on how to give to graduate education initiatives that include research fellowships, visit the Graduate Division’s Giving page.

UC Santa Barbara has been ranked No. 14 on a list of Top 30 National Universities, and UCSB’s excellent graduate education programs and research played a significant role in this recognition.

Washington Monthly magazine, which released its annual College Guide and Rankings in its September/October issue, ranked the universities based on their contributions to the public good in three categories:  Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students); Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.D.s); and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country). The  magazine’s rankings, in which it takes into consideration what the schools are doing for their students and the country, have prompted the New York Times to describe the list as “more interesting than virtually any other ranking out there.”

The high quality and significance of the research being done by UCSB grad students contributed to this honor. Dr. Carol Genetti, Acting Dean of UCSB’s Graduate Division, told the GradPost: “These rankings are a reflection of the remarkable cutting-edge research that is being conducted across the entire span of campus disciplines. Our graduate students are key partners in our innovation and direct contributors to our reputation as one of the top schools nationally.”

UCSB’s Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Michael Witherell, who holds a University of California Presidential Chair in the Physics Department and has done research in particle physics, told the GradPost: “When universities are ranked on the basis of the quality of the research, we always do very well. Graduate students all over campus are working on research projects that will transform their disciplines."

Five other UC campuses made Washington Monthly’s list. Topping the list of 30 is University of California San Diego. UC Berkeley and UCLA are Nos. 5 and 6, respectively; UC Riverside is No. 9; and UC Davis is No. 17.

For more information, read the UCSB Office of Public Affairs press release; and view Washington Monthly’s detailed 2012 rankings. To learn more about dissertation year and other research fellowships, visit Graduate Division’s Giving page.

Enter “Emily Moxley” into the Google search engine, and you won’t find: “UC Santa Barbara Ph.D. alum who works hard, enjoys collaboration, is creative and curious. Making her mark in the traditionally male-dominated technology field as a Product Manager at Google.”

It just goes to show that a Google search isn’t foolproof.

While we were able to Google up some information about Emily, including her work on the Knowledge Graph at Google; her UCSB Ph.D. thesis, “Multimedia Annotation Through Search and Mining”; a Google video in which she and other executives explain how their search product Knowledge Graph works (view the video at the end of this article); even a photograph of her as a child with her first computer, we also learned about Emily the old-fashioned way: We interviewed her.

Emily earned her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UCSB in 2009, and her MSE in Electrical and Computer Engineering here in 2007. She came to UCSB from Princeton University, where she earned a BSE in Electrical Engineering in 2005 while finding time to serve as Princeton Class Treasurer for four years and as a member of the Graduation Committee to plan an event for 7,000 guests.

Emily – who went straight from UCSB to a company many consider to be a dream employer, Google – says she enjoys applying what she learned in Santa Barbara to concepts in Silicon Valley that are used by “billions of people.”

She tells us that her education at UC Santa Barbara prepared her to ask a lot of questions. So we decided to turn the tables and ask her a lot of questions. Emily shares with the GradPost how life in the corporate world differs from and is similar to life in grad school; tips for finding your dream job; advice for current Ph.D. students; how the Google product she focuses on, the Knowledge Graph, works; which UCSB professor had a positive impact on her; and more. Read on ...

Please give us a little background about yourself.

I grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and lived there until going to get my undergrad degree in Electrical Engineering at Princeton. I went from there to do my Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at UCSB, joining B.S. Manjunath’s Vision Research Lab and the Interactive Digital Multimedia Program. My Ph.D. applied computer vision techniques to image and video search.

How did you get the job at Google?

While I was finishing up my Ph.D., I realized that places like Google take technology similar to what I’d been working on, and solve the problem for end users. At a company, the product has to scale and work for people in the real world, so it was a great opportunity to take things I’d learned and apply them in a context where billions of people will use them.

So I applied for a Product Management job at Google as I was finishing my Ph.D. because I’d heard it was a great place to work. I was lucky enough to receive an offer, and started up a month after I submitted my thesis at UCSB.

Please tell us a little bit about your job at Google.

I’m a Product Manager on the Knowledge Graph – which is a technology that Google is using to teach computers about real-world objects and concepts. It’s a game changer in terms of how search works: rather than just matching keywords that people type to what’s on web pages, search is now beginning to understand people, places, and things in the real world and provide better answers based on that understanding. One of my main roles is figuring out where and how this interfaces with users of search. So I worked with a team on designing and launching a user-facing view of the Knowledge Graph – a new way of presenting answers to you in a concise and visual way that also encourages you to explore your search topic further.

As a grad student, did you consider Google to be one of your dream companies to work for?

Yes. A lot of engineers have heard mythical legends about working at Google – and they’re mostly true! It’s given me an opportunity to try things at enormous scale and reach, surrounded by people that are fun and creative.

In what ways did UCSB prepare you for your current career?
 

Working in a collaborative environment is essential for what I do – I’m working with a diverse group of people including designers, engineers, researchers, etc., in order to build a great product, and this is not too far from what I did at UCSB. While part of the Interactive Digital Multimedia program, I was working with students from many different departments such as MAT, Statistics, CS and others in order to design and build things like “Spheres of Influence.” In the Vision Research Lab, I was also working closely with many other students to help solve problems and answer questions.

UCSB also prepared me to ask a lot of questions, which is crucial for working at a place like Google. There’s usually someone out there that knows the answers to the questions you have – part of your job is to find them, ask questions, and learn as much as you can.

Do you have or did you have a mentor or hero?

I’m not sure that I have a single mentor or hero – I’ve really been influenced by a number of people at various stages in my life in various ways.

One person that stands out, though, is my Ph.D. advisor, Professor  B.S. Manjunath, who taught me a lot about patience and persistence. My natural inclination has often been to rush forward with an idea, but Manjunath reminded me to look around and do my homework on what else was being done throughout my research process.

Did you find big differences between life in the corporate world versus an academic world?

I actually have found there to be fewer differences than I expected. In both places, the same sorts of skills are important: collaboration, patience, hard work, and curiosity. An important difference is that while the academic world at the end of the day is often working to establish proof or belief in a concept, the corporate world is a bit more focused on scaling technology and making it usable for a large number of people.

What obstacles/challenges do you face as a woman in a predominantly man’s world of technology?

When I was younger, I wasn’t someone who noticed there weren’t too many women around, but it’s true that when I look around, the ratio is still skewed despite more women entering technology these days. At Google, I have mentors and role models like Susan Wojcicki, Jen Fitzpatrick, and formerly Marissa Mayer who are all very supportive of women in Silicon Valley and at Google. I’ve found it to be a very supportive atmosphere – women in technology at UCSB and at Google look out for each other.

Do you have any job search tips you’d like to share with our grad students? Anything you think will help a grad student stand out as a job seeker with potential employers?

One major piece of advice I’d give is to be patient and careful about your job search process. It’s easy to feel insecure and go after a job you don’t really want or that isn’t a good fit – but then you’re stuck living that job. If the people you work with aren’t folks you enjoy hanging out with, or you’re doing something that you don’t really enjoy, it will become clear really fast.

Another thing I’d mention is not to be intimidated by what you don’t know. Many skills you learn on the job, so don’t be worried that you don’t have experience precisely in the particular area you’d like to work in.

For grad students who have dreams of working for Google or some other big technology company, do you have any tips or advice to share?

Having a technical background helps you tremendously in communicating at a tech company, no matter which role you end up in. Understanding the entire stack results in expertise and respect, so focus on learning enough to be able to explain the entire product.

What advice do you have for grad students?

After spending the duration of your Ph.D. on one subject, trying out a new area (research or otherwise) is likely to be refreshing and productive. Don’t be afraid to try new things – you’re likely to bring a fresh perspective to it, and learn about yourself and what you really like in the process.

Do you have any suggestions for the UCSB educational system on how to better prepare our grad students for careers?

Hearing more about opportunities outside your direct area of research would be helpful. To keep students challenged and productive, it’d be nice to give them opportunities to research or work in areas other than their primary focus.

What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment?

Finishing my Ph.D. While I was at UCSB I built an image search engine that tagged photos with landmarks and other objects by mining a large database of photos from the web (see link to her thesis below). The tagger was usable by the public for a while. Building this required expertise in a number of languages and skills in more than simply computer vision. Completing my degree is really something I am proud of, and it never ceases to make me smile that I was able to build and create new ideas, research, and bind it together into a usable end product and a thesis.  

What do you like to do for fun and/or relaxation?

I love rock climbing and hiking, but also enjoy cooking.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

As it turns out, UCSB might also be a good place to meet like-minded people you’d like to spend more than just your time at grad school. My fiancé is another UCSB alum (Phil Marshall) – he was doing his (astrophysics) post-doctorate while I was in grad school – and we’re getting hitched in September.  

No need to Google Emily. We’ve compiled our own Knowledge Graph on Emily K. Moxley:

Google's Emily Moxley on the Knowledge Graph (and Women in Tech)

I'm Feeling Googly: Google Changes "I'm Feeling Lucky"

How an MP3 Player Inspired the Launch of Google's Knowledge Graph

Emily Moxley's Thesis: "Multimedia Annotation Through Search and Mining"

EmilyMoxley.com

Google's Knowledge Graph Studies How We Think

How Google Organizes the World: Q&A With the Manager of Knowledge Graph