Join us Thursday, April 25th 12-1PM in LISB 217 for a seminar with Dr. Aleena Garner.

Join us for a Postdoc Round Table on Thursday, February 29 from 10-11AM in Pacific 204! RSVP here 

Please join us for a seminar with Dr. Marianna Safranova!

November 9th, 2023, 1:30-2:30 PM in Willamette 240D

Please RSVP using the QR code or via this link.

Undergraduate Research Award:

Lilly Granados is a second-year Biochemistry major with a minor in Spanish. Currently, Lilly works in Dr. Amanda Cook’s Lab, focusing on synthesizing and developing cobalt catalysts used for alkene isomerization. Lilly’s goal is to pursue a PhD and continue studies in organic synthesis so that Lilly may pursue a career in pharmaceutical chemistry. Outside of school, Lilly enjoys reading fantasy novels, playing the trumpet, and spending quality time with family and friends

Undergraduate Transition Award:

Ally Tonsberg is a fourth-year undergraduate in the College of Arts and Sciences, as a Chemistry major. Her research while at the UO in the Boettcher Group (Electrochemistry) has involved oxygen evolution catalysis, investigating the effects of strontium substitution at the A-site of lanthanum nickel oxide. The UOWGS Sara J. Staggs award will greatly help fund her transition across the country to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Ally will be starting a PhD program in Materials Chemistry in the fall.

Graduate Leadership Award:

Katelyn Alley is a second-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate studying Pt(II) chemotherapeutic drugs and their mechanism of action in Dr. Victoria DeRose’s research lab. In addition to her research, she is also a fellow of the UO NSF Research Traineeship for Molecular Probes and Sensors in Complex Environments. Outside of research, Katelyn is the K-12 outreach chair for the Alliance for Diversity in Science and Engineering (ADSE) which focuses on promoting diversity and supporting underrepresented minorities in STEM. As outreach chair, she has organized numerous outreach events in partnership with local schools in the Eugene area as well as with other organizations on campus. Outside of ADSE, she has volunteered with and is now co-leading the Summer Academy to Inspire Learning Camp which is a week of science learning where the high school students came from underrepresented backgrounds within Oregon, Washington, and California. She has also collaborated with the Mad Ducks program to create demonstration teaching modules that will be used to target middle school students who lack a strong science curriculum at their school. Outside of school, she enjoys exploring new hiking trails and coffee shops, playing rec league volleyball and softball, and visiting her family and dog back home in Montana. She is grateful to receive the UOWGS Leadership Award and would like to thank all of her past and current mentors, every outreach volunteer that has participated in her outreach events, and all of those who work to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect.

Rose Al-Saadi is a third-year PhD candidate in the biology department, conducting research in Dr. Patrick Phillips’ lab to explore the molecular mechanisms of aging using the nematode C. elegans. Rose’s primary focus involves investigating the impact of anti-aging compounds on lifespan, healthspan, and the underlying transcriptional changes in these worms. As a first-generation graduate student and an immigrant from Iraq, Rose is dedicated to being a mentor and advocate for other women, immigrants, and first-generation students throughout their academic journeys. In pursuit of this goal, Rose has engaged in leadership positions in student organizations including serving as the departmental liaison and later president of the Community for Minorities in STEM (CMiS) and serving as the vice president and then president of The Graduate Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Students (GrEBES). Rose has also participated in several mentorship programs including the UO Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (UO SPUR), the Joint Undergraduate-Graduate Mentorship Program (JUMP), and the Peter O’Day fellowship. When not working in the lab, Rose either hangs out with cats Sesame and Pepper at home, cook, or do CrossFit!

Graduate Parenting Award:

Monse Cascante is a PhD candidate in volcanology, in the Earth Science department. Originally from Costa Rica, she studied Geology in San Jose. Then, she continued her graduate studies and did her Master’s research in volcanology at the University of Chile, where she studied Isluga Volcano in the Chilean Altiplano. As a doctoral student here at UO, she studies ash particles of Costa Rican volcanoes, specifically the interaction between magma and water and their particular dynamics. Monse hopes to improve the understanding of the fragmentation process of phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions to help forecast these types of eruptions. In her spare time, she loves to go on adventures with her daughter, hike around mountains, and be outside getting to know the PNW. The UOWGS Parenting Award will help her cover the cost of the summer activities for her daughter so she can continue to work on her dissertation.

Victoria Olajide is a 4th year international PhD student in the Anthropology Department. Her research interest is focused on studying human- environmental relations and socio-economic complexities in Neolithic and Iron Age West Africa. She is also interested in the origins and sustenance of early forest food production, particularly yam cultivation. Prior to being a graduate student at the University of Oregon, she had her Bachelors and Master of Science Degree from the department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan Nigeria. She and her husband currently have a very cheerful and peaceful 9-month-old son, who enjoys the outdoors like a true Oregonian and will be resuming daycare in the Fall. This year’s UOWGS Parenting Award therefore will provide assistance with the expenses related to childcare services, while she commences her research analysis in the upcoming academic session.

Antonella Onofrietti Magrassi is an international student from Mexico, and a School Psychology doctoral intern. Antonella has a strong passion for working with youth at risk for behavioral and mental health challenges. She is a member of Dr. Nicole Giuliani’s Emotion and Self-Regulation Lab, working on research projects focusing on topics such as self-regulation, parenting, caregiver mental health, and intergenerational trauma. Antonella’s clinical experience includes conducting psychoeducational evaluations, providing academic and behavioral consultation to caregivers and teachers, crisis response, and offering mental health support. She has also worked as a bilingual practicum therapist, providing counseling services and implementing interventions for children and adolescents. Her research interests revolve around caregiver mental health, parenting behaviors, and the development of self-regulation skills in early childhood, with a particular focus on understanding the behavioral and mental health needs of Latino mother-child dyads. Antonella has gained experience in various educational settings, including schools in the United States and Mexico. Antonella is dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of children and families through her clinical work, research, and teaching. Antonella has a 2 year old son and the UO WGS Parenting Award will be an important resource for her as she completes her internship and works towards finishing her degree.

Graduate Travel Award:

Savanah Bird is a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Biology and the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. She is interested in applying genetic and genomic tools to the conservation of wild mammals, focusing on the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on wild populations and better understanding human-wildlife conflict in the African tropics. The UO WGS Graduate Conference Award will allow Savanah to travel to Kigali, Rwanda for the 2023 International Congress for Conservation Biology conference to present part of her doctoral research exploring the ecological consequences of African elephant hybridization in Uganda.

Jenneca McCarter is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology working in the Molecular Anthropology Lab. Her dissertation research is focused on utilizing spatial modeling approaches to examine human-wildlife interactions under climate change in Zanzibar, and how this data can be used to inform conservation management of the endangered Zanzibar red colobus monkey.

Join us for our Winter Seminar Series with Dr. Rebecca Ruck! The seminar will be from 12-1pm in the Knight Campus Beetham Family Seminar Room followed by a pizza social on the Knight Campus terrace from 1-2pm. Dr. Rebecca Ruck is an Associate Vice President of Process Research & Development at Merck Pharmaceuticals. Rebecca runs Merck’s enabling technology group, an innovation incubator leveraging the diversity of the group to innovate how medicine is made. Becky is also actively involved in the external research community through academic collaborations, creation of Merck’s university lectureship series and recruiting efforts that have led to an unrivaled increase in the number of women in Merck’s Process R&D team. She has expanded her women in chemistry efforts externally through the WCC-Merck Research Award and Empowering Women in Organic Chemistry (EWOC) conference. For these efforts, Becky has been recognized with the 2018 ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences and as a 2020 HBA Rising Star and ACS Fellow. Please RSVP HERE.