Undergraduate Research Award:
Jena Miko is a first-year Communication Disorders and Sciences major currently working in the UO Learning Lab. Her research focuses on a nationwide project known as PLAY that observes infant interactions in their everyday environment. In her free time, she enjoys reading, figure skating, and spending time with friends.
Zoey Bailey is a Junior at the UO, majoring in environmental science with minors in Spanish and Global Studies. Zoey is passionate about fire ecology, management of public lands, and community engagement in ecological restoration projects. Beyond the UO, Zoey aims to work as a wildland firefighter and abroad in an agroforestry Peacecorps position before pursuing future graduate studies. When she has free time, Zoey spends it on the trails – running, mountain biking, backpacking, or simply lying on her back looking up at trees.
Undergraduate Transition Award:
Natalie Kataoka is a fourth-year Environmental Science major with a double minor in both Biology and Public Policy, Planning, and Management. During her time at UO, she has worked as a laboratory technician and developed her senior thesis with the Hallett Lab as well as worked for the Sustainable Cities Institute. Natalie also co-authored the book Rethinking Streets during COVID-19. Natalie’s experience with the Environmental Leadership Program ultimately inspired her to pursue graduate school; she will be attending University of California, Davis this upcoming fall for a Master’s in Environmental Policy and Management.
Graduate Leadership Award:
Alison Chang is a fourth-year chemistry PhD candidate working on developing an earth-abundant, nickel-catalyzed system for hydrosilylation in Dr. Amanda Cook’s research lab. This reaction is often used to synthesize precursors for silicone polymer materials. She is the co-founder and co- president of the nationally recognized student organization, Alliance for Diversity in Science and Engineering (ADSE), which aims to provide professional development opportunities for all individuals, while emphasizing and highlighting the work done by individuals having minoritized backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She has also been the treasurer for the student organization, A Community for Minorities in STEM (CMiS), for the past three years, which strives to foster a STEM community for graduate students having an ethnic minority background and provides STEM professional development opportunities for all graduate students. In her free time, she enjoys surrounding herself with plants, creating aquascapes, and cuddling with her small dog, Otis.
Grace Waddell is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department. She uses Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, supported lipid bilayers, and human neutrophils to study how lipid modifying enzymes are activated and regulated on intracellular membranes. In addition to her lab work, she is committed to supporting the advancement of women in STEM, increasing women representation, and providing hands-on science outreach as a way to help address a growing deficit in local science education. With these goals in mind, Grace has been the director of the Chemistry Department’s Mad Duck outreach program, the Biochemistry Representative for CBGReAT, and the Outreach Chair on the UOWGS board. Through these organizations, she was able to develop science outreach modules and organize a myriad of outreach events for local middle school students and 4-6th grade girls. She has also participated in various mentorship programs including the Near Peer Mentorship Program (NPMP), UO Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR), Experiencing Science Practices through Research to Inspire Teaching (ESPRIT) Summer Program, and the O’Day Fellowship where she had the opportunity to mentor and work with numerous women undergraduate and graduate students. She is honored to accept the UOWGS Leadership Award and would like to thank UOWGS, every outreach volunteer, and the many other people and organizations that are working to make STEM fields more supportive and inclusive.
Graduate Parenting Award:
Natalie (“Natascha”) Reich is an Applied Physics Master’s student in the KCGIP program with focus on Optics. She majored in both music performance and (ethno-)musicology in Vienna (Austria), Groningen (The Netherlands), and at UO before deciding to realize her childhood dream and study science. Her current research, which she conducts at her internship location at Integrative Economics LLC in Portland, contributes to providing solutions for a more sustainable agriculture. Natascha is working on a prototype for a LIDAR system that detects flying insect pests over crop fields and orchards. The system recognizes different types of insects by their wing-beat frequency and maps them in a 3-D space. This will help farmers to determine necessary measures more accurately for pest control and will contribute to reducing the use of pesticides. Natascha, who is a single mother, currently works two days per week in the lab, and three days per week remotely from home while taking care of her 3.5- months-old daughter. The UO WGS Parenting Award will offset additional childcare expenses and will consequently enable Natascha to spend more uninterrupted time on her research.
Kelly Robles is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology from the Integrated Perception Lab. Her research addresses how the visual system processes natural repeating patterns called fractals. Kelly’s dissertation will focus on how the presence of underlying fractal statistics relate to various psychological effects in both adults and children. Results from this work can be applied to artistic and functional design choices for improving the experience of human-made environments. The UO WGS Parenting Award will allow Kelly to fund the collection of all required data to complete this program of research without having to sacrifice being present for her young son.
Graduate Conference Award:
Kellum Tate-Jones is a fifth-year PhD Candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences working in the Oregon Vertebrate Paleontology Lab. Her research investigates the biogeographical and ecological evolution of seals, sea lions, walruses, and their extinct relatives and ancestors. A lifelong lover of the outdoors, Kellum spends her free time gardening, birding, beachcombing, hiking, and nerding out about landforms and outcrops.
