Rita Olsen Pister Re-entry Student Scholarship Recipients

Lucia Alvarado Cantro is a graduate student pursuing a degree in the field of Education. Lucia's dissertation work explores educational opportunities for forcibly displaced children from Central America and Mexico during their migration journey. After graduation, Lucia will aim to work at institutions that will allow her to continue work in Mexico and expand it to countries in Central America. Her research seeks to illuminate the knowledge, skills and abilities migrant children forcibly displaced from Mexico and Central America gained during their migration journey with the purpose of challenging migrant narratives in school settings in the US and abroad that focus only on the trauma of migration. This scholarship will help fund Lucia's research over the summer.

Mar Arroyo is a 4th-year PhD Candidate in the Ocean Sciences program. Mar's research focuses on understanding changes to ocean carbon chemistry due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake and the potential impacts of chemical change on marine organisms. Through this research, Mar aims to investigate spatial and temporal changes in chemistry across the global ocean. Through this scholarship, Mar will have the opportunity to travel in order to conduct this research and to finish writing the second installment of a dissertation for journal publication, as well as to give a seminar to the NOAA PMEL and University of Washington communities. Post graduation, Mar is working toward a career as a research scientist at a federal and or state agency, and he also aspires to continue studying ocean change while pushing for actionable change surrounding minoritized groups in geosciences.

Mariam Ayad is a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Ocean Sciences. Maryam's current research focuses on identifying high-risk areas that are contributing to coral reef bleaching or inhibiting coral growth. The Community Connections scholarship will enable Maryam to travel to a conference to present  work to the community of scientists and peers. Maryam's long-term goal is to become a professor and an expert in the field of coastal ecosystems.

Kathryn (Kat) Bernier is pursuing a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCSC. Kat aims to conserve wildlife on an international scale and to share a passion for conservation work and education with the next generation of undergraduates. Kat's goal is to work with local partners in developing countries to propose solutions to wildlife and human conflicts. Kat also aims to inspire future conservation leaders by focusing on inclusive teaching and mentoring at the collegiate level, and she also aims to become a professor. Kat will be utilizing these funds to help cover childcare costs so that she can balance motherhood and academics, getting her closer to that end goal.

Deewang Bhamidipati is PhD candidate in the mathematics epartment at UCSC. Deewang is currently working towards the end of a doctorate program, and this scholarship will allow him to purchase a laptop to get towards a goal of degree completion. Deewang is also proud to play such a huge role in the local Santa Cruz community, as he engages in important volunteer work within the local middle school and high school students in the county. Deewang also serves as a co-director of the Project for Inmate Education (PIE) program, in which he teaches College Algebra to incarcerated individuals in the local county jails. These activities and opportunities fulfill Deewang and inform his work as he aims to become a practitioner of mathematics. Deewang aims to enter academia in a role that balances his aspirations as a researcher and an educator. Post graduation, Deewang would like to become a Professor of Mathematics within the California State University system.

Christina Blebea is a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Environmental Studies. Christina's research focuses on ant morphology and their relationship to forest restoration in the country of Nicaragua. This award would go towards research materials for three dissertation chapters, such as lab materials and transcription services. Christina aims to inspire future generations of scientists through her work both here at UCSC and in Nicaragua. Once receiving a PhD, Christina plans to return to work as a professor at a university and begin teaching the next generation of Nicaraguan ecologists.

Wei Dou is a PhD student in the Psychology Department. Wei is conducting innovative research in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience and hopes to contribute to the broader discourse within the field. The research focuses on studying the neural activity patterns of visual perceptual decision-making by recording electroencephalograms (EEG), a complex and massive volume of real-time data. To continue this research, Wei is in need of a new laptop that will allow  iteration more quickly as well as to explore alternative hypotheses, and that is what this scholarship will help fund. After finishing a doctorate, Wei aspires to pursue a career in academia leading to research, mentoring future scholars, and advocating for diversity and inclusion within the field. 

Julia Harencar is currently a PhD student pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Julia will be utilizing the funds from this award to help with genomic sequencing, as well as with the purchase of a laptop, to  finish up the last chapter regarding population genomics for publication before beginnng a Postdoc position in September. Julia hopes to continue pursuing a career to pursue a passion for research plant evolution, perhaps by becoming a faculty member or a government agency leader.

Kent Harlow is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts and Credential in the Education department. Coming back to school at the age of 33, Kent discovered his passion for K-12 science teaching, and he aims to help students connect STEAM to phenomenon, sensemaking, and social justice. After finishing up his program, Kent hopes to get a job as a science teacher in the Santa Cruz area. Kent will be utilizing this award towards tuition and technology to help aid in the completion of a degree.

Matte Hewitt is currently pursuing a graduate degree in the Film and Digital Media program. Matte is currently developing and producing a documentary film that would blur the line between humans and animals, focusing on gender expansiveness and sexuality in birds to counter transphobia and homophobia. This scholarship will help Matte begin that film, "Flying Jewels, Grounding Futures,” which celebrates the transsexual forms of hummingbirds, honoring their sacred meaning in California Mutsun Ohlone tradition. As a filmmaker and digital media activist, Matte wants to advance the genre of wildlife film and social documentaries while challenging modern science to reconsider the stories they tell. Upon graduation Matte would like to either apply to a Ph.D. program to continue the research begun at UCSC or enter the field of Social Documentation.

Hannah Jayanti is a third year PhD student in the Film & Digital Media Department. Hannah will be using this scholarship to fund a research trip to the Badlands of South Dakota. In the Badlands, Hannah will be working on a documentary that aims to show the vibrancy of life in this 'bad' barren landscape. Hannah hopes that her documentary can foster critical engagement with the landscape by making visible the often-erased histories of American landscapes. She also hopes that this will inspire artists to create work that engages with the climate crisis by centering community collaboration, ethical processes and new forms of storytelling.

Emre Keser is a third-year PhD student in the History of Consciousness Department with designated emphasis in Literature and Politics. Emre plans to utilize this award to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, to conduct archival research throughout the summer. This summer research is essential in identifying and analyzing different historical uses of the term “monster” and its instrumentalization in the making of nations. Emre will look through nineteenth-century newspapers, journals, brochures, correspondences, letters, financial records, diplomatic writings, etc., to illustrate the thesis through historical evidence. This award is critical in helping Emre take the next steps to complete a dissertation and finish the program in a timely manner.

Eric Malekos is a graduate student in the Biomolecular Engineering Division at UC Santa Cruz. Eric has identified biological processes in the human body that provide critical insight in terms of inflammation and its causes as well as its effects on the body. The primary focus of his thesis is identifying and characterizing undiscovered peptides that drive inflammation and regulate the innate immune response. Such peptides could have potential as therapeutic targets or as therapeutic agents. Eric will be using the funds from this scholarship to conduct experiments over the summer to aid his cutting edge research.

Aaron Samuel Mulenga is a graduate student pursuing a degree in History of Art and Visual Culture. Within this discipline, Aaron’s research focuses on unlearning the history and roles of African porters and the depictions of their contributions in WWI via national monuments. Aaron will use these funds to travel to Kenya to visit these monuments in person at the Kenyan National Archives. He aims to uplift and highlight the pivotal contributions of the African porters during WWI, to expand the narrative of WWI by making it more inclusive of indigenous African voices who provided aid throughout the conflict.

Rosa Navarro is currently pursuing a PhD in the Sociology program at UC Santa Cruz. Rosa worked for nearly eight years as a community organizer in immigrant and labor rights before deciding to pursue a PhD. Rosa is currently conducting research with Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ) and Community to Community Development (C2C). The research will support ongoing campaign work to understand the rapid expansion of the H2A guest worker program in Washington state, which is slowly displacing their union members from the agricultural labor market. With this scholarship, Rosa plans to conduct interviews with indigenous farmworkers, staff, farm owners, management, and H2A workers. 

Kristen Nelson is pursuing a graduate degree in Literature at UCSC. Kristen's research examines the witch-craze in Early Modern Europe when hundreds of thousands of women were murdered under accusations of witchcraft, and how that era continues to shape the lives of women deemed unruly even in contemporary times. Kristen will utilize the scholarship from the Community Connections group to fund her travel to Italy so that she can access historical archives and resources that will help aid in the development of her dissertation.

Marina Segatti is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Feminist Studies. Through research, Marina examines how gender-focused political activism and resistance have been articulated in response to the rise of the far-right in Brazil, specifically emphasizing the role of social media platforms as vehicles for these expressions. With these funds, Marina will travel to Brazil to continue doing firsthand research on this topic. Through the work, Marina aims to support marginalized and underrepresented voices through teaching, service, and research. Marina hopes to continue to work as an educator after earning a degree at UCSC.

Adriane Stoia is a second-year Ph.D. student in the History Department. This summer, Adriane will embark on field research to conduct oral histories and archival research in São Paulo, Brazil. This research will contribute to a dissertation, which is focused on the Okinawan diaspora’s contemporary reclamation of hajichi, an Indigenous stick-and-poke tattooing practice of the Ryūkyū Islands. Through oral history, Adriane aims to understand what the reclamation of hajichi by the Okinawan diaspora can reveal about women’s history of Okinawa. This scholarship will help Adriane with summer research.

Andrew Takimoto is a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Psychology. Andrew's research focuses on understanding the challenges and strengths of first-generation students and minoritized students in the American college system, and how they learn to navigate a system that typically does not take their experiences into consideration. Andrew will use these funds to pay First Generation Latine college students to tell him about their experiences at UCSC and how peers and college organizations can offer them advice and support to succeed in college. Andrew will also be using these funds to help fund his travel to a conference so that he can present this important work. Andrew hopes that this research will show and affirm students who are students of color, first gen, and working class that they do in fact belong in college.

S. Sylvane Vaccarino-Ruiz is currently a PhD student studying Social Psychology and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UCSC. Sylvane wears a lot of different hats as a student, researcher, undergraduate instructor, and mentor. He is committed to serving students who face systemic and historical barriers to higher education, including those who have transferred, returned to school, are parents, have struggled with secure housing, or are first-generation students of color. With these funds, Sylvane plans to compensate participants that he will interview for his research which focuses on understanding how students from marginalized backgrounds experience higher education and how it can be improved. This aligns with Sylvane's career goal of becoming a tenure-track professor in Psychology and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at a Hispanic-serving institution.

Affiliates Scholarships

Jesus Barrios

Juan Bermudez-Medrano - will study economics and Agro-ecology at UCSC

Oswaldo Contreras-Medel

Sofia Garcia Esparza

Shayan Javid

Lizbeth Ortiz

Naty Padilla

Ari Villagas