2022-23 Scholarship Recipients

Rita Olsen Pister Re-entry Student Scholarship Recipients

Christina Blebea is a graduate student pursuing a Doctorate in Environmental Studies. The Community Connections funding will help cover the cost of a competitive summer course that is run through the California Academy of Sciences. The course focuses on ants and is the only course that teaches laboratory and field techniques for future ant scientists. This course is critical for Christina as it will help form fundamental relationships that will be critical in guiding Christina navigate towards her dream career in teaching about Tropical Biology, Conservation, and Ecology.

 Kathryn Bernier is a graduate student pursuing her Doctorate degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Kathryn is passionate about wildlife conservation working on an international scale that considers both the protection of wildlife and also the financial and cultural stability of the surrounding communities. Kathryn hopes to teach at the collegiate level post UCSC and to share her passion regarding conservation work with future generations. Kathryn received funding support to help pay for the cost of childcare for her two wonderful babies so that she can continue her path of academic excellence. 

 Elsie Carillo is a graduate student pursuing her Doctorate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She will use the funds to purchase equipment to explain a previously undescribed phenomenon with semi-aquatic garter snakes. The microsensor she will purchase will help obtain real-time oxygen partial pressures to determine that semi-aquatic snakes are rebreathing air from bubbles around their nostrils.

 Jordan Fickel is pursuing his Doctorate in Digital Art & New Media. Jordan is passionate about collaborative art and art installations. His plan with these funds is to purchase software and hardware to support his research in interactive sound and sculpture installations. After he graduates, he hopes to pursue installing collaborative exhbits across the country, as he already has done so in Santa Cruz.

 David Gordon is studying Psychology as he attains his Doctorate at UCSC. David will be utilizing these awarded funds to purchase a laptop that can analyze the required data for his thesis project. His project focuses on studying the lack of systemic intervention on current and former foster youth and the effects it has on the individuals in the system. David hopes that this work leads him to pursue post graduation opportunities that will work with and inform spaces that promote youth empowerment.

Kendall Grady is a graduate student pursuing a degreee in Literature, with a focus on Creative / Critical Concentration. Kendall is a poet scholar who has won a multitude of accolades and has been published with high regard. Kendall will be receiving funding towards her application fees for 17 competitive writing residencies and 18 presitgious literary awards. Receiving these awards and placements is key to Kendall's journey as she actualizes her dream of publishing a full length poetry book as well as teaching at a community college.

Ghazaleh Mahzouni is a graduate student studying Psychology. The Community Connections funds that were awarded to her will help Ghazaleh travel to Brussels, Belgium to present recent research, "Visual Perception Attenuates the Impacts of Misophonic Reactions" at the International Multisensory (IMRF) Conference this summer. Her research focuses on visual perception in Misophonia (literally meaning hatred of sounds), where individuals show a strong negative reaction to everyday sounds such as chewing, slurping, and swishing. 

John Morgan is a graduate student pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies. John studies mountain lion ecology, particularly human-carnivore interactions and what causes human-carnivore conflicts, with a focus on the effects that outdoor recreation has on mountain lion behavior. Due to the timeliness and critical nature of this study, John was invited to present at a top conference for this subject matter, and the scholarship funds will help him afford the conference and registration fees.

Kristen Nelson is a gradute student studying Literature, with an emphasis in Creative Writing. She is requesting a scholarship to help fund a research trip this summer. Kristen will be traveling to Staten Island, New York, to access a newspaper archive to research her grandmother's 1978 murder. This research will be used to write a creative/critical essay for her Qualifying Exam and a chapter of her dissertation. Her dissertation, “The Burning Times,” will examine the details of her grandmother’s murder beside the deaths of Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake for heresy in 1431 in Normandy, and Matteuccia DiFrancesco, the first documented woman who was burned to death in Italy under accusations of witchcraft in 1428.

Ann Niland is an undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. Ann is a first generation, student parent. and she has had the opportunity to present at symposiums and conferences. Ann's research focuses on how diverse identities are represented in film adaptations of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. These funds will help Ann with travel to these professional opportunities and will also help fund access to childcare.

 Daniel Rodriguez Ramirez is a graduate student who is studying Psychology. The funds he was awarded will aid him in compensating research participants as needed for his dissertation research titled, Enacting Change: Learning from Activists’ Transformative Change Visions, Processes, and Actions. His research centers minoritized people’s expertise and strengths to navigate and change systems not meant to serve them. He aims to become a university professor to study and teach about transformative change in society.

 Gregory Rucker is an undergraduate studing Film and Digital Media. As a re-entry student, Gregory has been ecstatic to be able to find his passion in art, and his stories focus on the experiences of first generation college students, queer individuals navigating an increasingly hostile society, and stories of love and family The funds from this scholarship will help Gregory afford the 'Screenwriting' class over the summer which is critical to his work with the department.

Anna Schartman is a gradute student studying Ocean Sciences. As a Re-entry student, Anna discovered a passion for science in the midst of her career as an English teacher and decided to go back to school to pursue this new found interest. Anna will be utilizing the Community Connections funding to cover a portion of the cost of attendance of "IsoCamp 2023" a competitive research short-course hosted at the University of New Mexico during the summer of 2023, which provides instruction on isotope chemistry and analysis.

Ankit Sharma is a graduate student studying Sociology requesting funds for summer travel to Delhi, India. Ankit will then do archival work that will aid dissertation research. The research will focus on the history of industrialization in Delhi. As a community activist and union organizer, this work is personal and meaningful to Ankit and will contribute to the policy/advocacy work that provides legal-economic and social security to precarious workers in India.

 Rakshya Sharma is an undergraduate student pursuing her degree in Computer Science. Rakshya is requesting funds for child care so that she can embark on research opportunities during the summer and academic school year. Rakshya's research will focus on biomedical informatics, with a focus on cancer genomics. Rakshya hopes to continue this research on into graduate school.

Juli Sofijski is an undergraduate pursuing her BA in sociology. Juli has had the incredible opportunity to assist a professor in data collection and research this summer, but did not have the appropriate tools at her disposal to do so. These scholarship funds will be critical for Juli to purchase a new laptop to be able to continue her research project. This project is critical for Juli's next step of gaining admission to a graduate program so that she can continue blazing her trail through higher education as a non traditional re-entry student.

 Wesley Somers is currently a graduate student studying organology in the Music Department. A promising scholar in the field, Wesley was invited to present at the American Musical Instrument Society in Memphis, Tennessee, and will be utilizing the Community Connection funds to support that travel as well as site research for his work. Wesley and his studies focus on traiditional music from the Veracruz, Mexico region.

Adriane Stoia is a graduate student pursuing her PhD in History. She was awarded scholarship funds for usage toward funding airfare and equipment for summer research. Her studies focus on the Okinawan diaspora’s reclamation of hajichi - a traditional Ryukyuan stick-and-poke hand tattooing practice She believes her research will forge new paths in understanding how the concept of indigeneity positions the diaspora among the larger transnational indigenous rights movement.

 Michael Vallerga is a graduate studying pursuing his Doctorate in Psychology. The funds he was awarded will go towards his dissertation research project, which seeks to understand the relationship between masculinity and conspiracy belief and far-right extremism. Michael hopes that his research will assist him with reaching his lifelong goal of becoming a full-time professor at a four-year university, with a focus in social psychological work.

Alma Villa is a graduate student studying Sociology at UCSC. As a first generation Latinx student, Alma will use the funds for the scholarship to procure an ademic coach that will give detailed feedback for written material. Alma wants to give a special thanks to the Community Connections scholarship committee, as they also awarded her when she was a transfer undergraduate at UCSC.

Ben Walker is a graduate student pursuing his Doctorate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He was awarded funds to purchase 18 temperature loggers in order to collect temperature data throughout the year at underwater sites in Tomales Bay where he will continue to survey for Dungeness crabs via SCUBA. He aims to understand the vulnerabilities of Dungeness crabs to global change stressors and how that gets intensified by climate change. He hopes that this research will strengthen his ability to advise management policy after graduation, and he also plans on continuing his research within academia or government agencies.

 Veronica Zaparolli is an undergraduate student pursuing two bachelor's degrees at UCSC. She will be utilizing the funds received from this scholarship to purchase a new laptop. With a functioning laptop. Veronica will be applying towards a Master's program at UC Berkeley, and she eventually hopes to earn a PhD from Stanford to become a licensed clinician and work with children from underserved and underrepresented communities of color.

 

UCSC Affiliates Scholarship Recipients

Chris Avila - Undergraduate studying Planetary Science

Jesus Barios - Undergraduate proposing to study Art & Design, Games & Playable Media

Juan Bermudez-Medrano - Undergraduate studying Agro-ecology

Oswaldo Contreras-Medel -  Undergraduate studying Business Management Economics

Sofia Garcia Esparza - Undergraduate studying Business Management Economics

Colby Gonzalez - Undergraduate studying Mathematics

Shayan Javid - Undergraduate studying Computer Science

Lizbeth Ortiz - Undergraduate proposing to study Psychology

George Ramirez - Undergraduate proposing to study Plant Sciences