Alumni Biographics
Alumni Biographies
Cohort 3 (2010-2012)
Brian Colar (Psychology)
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Brian worked in the Interracial Diversity laboratory with Valerie Purdie-Vaughns to examine the relationship between race and self-affirmation in the political support of President Barack Obama. In addition, he examined the correlation between race and masculinity and their affiliation to stereotype threat. Brian received his B.A. in psychology from Argosy University in Chicago, Illinois, in the spring of 2010. Before graduating, Brian was a McNair Scholar at Michigan State University. There he investigated the impact of race and rank in sexual harassment in men in the military and the sexual harassment of working women with Isis Settles and NiCole Buchanan. In addition, Brian founded a nonprofit organization that works with at-risk youths and is dedicated to bridging educational gaps and assisting minority males in the transition to adulthood. Brian plans on obtaining his Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He left the Bridge Program in the summer of 2011.
Cohort 2 (2009-2011)
Shaness Grenald (Psychology)
Originally from New York, Shaness received her B.A. in psychology from St. John's University in May 2009. A McNair Scholar at St. John's, Shaness conducted research with Alice Powers, examining the behavior of turtles in order to uncover distinct personality traits. Shaness also participated in a summer REU at Northern Arizona University with Melissa Birkett. There she examined cinnamon's ability to attenuate stress in male undergraduates. It was during this experience that Shaness bridged her interest in psychology with her current interest in neuroscience. At Columbia, she worked with Niall Bolger investigating dyadic interactions and models of social support in Hispanic populations with Type II diabetes. Shaness then worked with Frances Champagne researching how early life experiences, in particular maternal care, programs behavioral and neuroendocrine outcomes in rodents. Shaness is interested in studying the biological mechanisms that drive persistent pain conditions. In the fall of 2011, she began working on a Ph.D. in medical pharmacology at the University of Arizona.
Nicholas Hunt-Walker (Astronomy)
Nicholas worked with Jules Halpern searching for gamma-ray pulsations from suspected pulsars using data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. His previous research experiences included modeling gamma-ray emission from starburst galaxies with Timothy Paglione of York College, City University of New York (CUNY), and performing X-ray population studies of dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group, using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory, with Marina Orio at the University of Wisconsin. A native New Yorker, Nicholas is an alumnus of York College, where he earned his B.S. in physics and mathematics in 2010. In the fall of 2010, Nicholas moved to Seattle and started on a Ph.D. in astronomy at the University of Washington.
Richard Lopez (Psychology)
Rich was an RA in Kevin Ochsner's Social Cognitive Neuroscience laboratory, where he worked on projects investigating the neural and behavioral bases of craving regulation in substance-using populations. In particular, Rich studied craving regulation in cigarette smokers. Rich is from Rockaway, New Jersey, and graduated from Princeton University in 2009 with a B.A. in psychology. While at Princeton, he investigated social cognition and face perception with Alexander Todorov. In the fall of 2011, Rich began a Ph.D. program in social psychology at Dartmouth. In graduate school, he hopes to study how we perceive and react to various aspects of our social environments, and how our perceptions and reactions can be changed via self-control techniques.
Angelica Patterson (Biological Sciences)
Angelica worked at Barnard College with Hilary Callahan from 2004 to 2011 on research pertaining to plant trait plasticity and evolution. Angelica began by studying the plant Arabidopsis thaliana and its shift in flowering time under varying climate regimes. Her research as a Bridge scholar examined the influence of mycorrhizal fungi colonization on root morphological traits in a greenhouse and field study. She also participated in a second project, with Kevin Griffin, on the effect forest disturbance has on the activity in Black Birch of the nitrogen reductase enzyme, which reduces soil nitrogen for use in photosynthesis and other processes. Before coming to Columbia, Angelica studied plant-virus interactions with Alison Power at Cornell University, and the ecological and evolutionary relationship of desert cacti and moths with Nathaniel Holland at Rice University. Originally from Pennsylvania, Angelica earned her B.S. in natural resources from Cornell University in 2003. In the fall of 2011, she entered the Ph.D. program in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia, where she is focusing on plant ecophysiology.
Khatera Rahmani (Biological Sciences)
Khatera Rahmani was an RA in J. Chloë Bulinski's laboratory, where she researched a covalent modification of connexin43 (Cx43), a protein subunit of cellular gap junctions, which allow passage of small molecules between adjacent cells. Gap junctions built from Cx43 are required for development and homeostasis of higher organisms, and mutations in the Cx43 gene are known to cause human disease. Like many cytoplasmic proteins, connexins undergo covalent modification of their coded amino acids following protein synthesis. Khatera studied Cx43 post-translational modifications, which may elucidate further required determinants of gap junction structure and function. Khatera was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and grew up in Queens, New York. She received her B.S. in biology and B.A. in environmental studies from Brooklyn College (CUNY). As an undergraduate, Khatera worked with Thomas Lewandowski studying the toxicological effects on a cultured cell line of the combined exposure to lead and mercury. In the fall of 2010, Khatera entered the Ph.D. program in toxicology at the University of Rochester.
Cohort 1 (2008-2010)
María (Ximena) Fernández (Astronomy)
Ximena worked with Jacqueline van Gorkom studying the neutral hydrogen distribution of interacting galaxies in different environments. Her first project involved looking at a gas-rich merger remnant and examining the fate of the gas in the presence of an active black hole and a burst of star formation. She then studied the gas dynamics in interacting galaxies in the Virgo Cluster to understand how they are affected by the intracluster medium. Previously, Ximena had investigated galaxy formation and evolution by analyzing galaxy properties in different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum with Debra Elmegreen at Vassar College and Emmanuel Momjian, Chris Salter, and Tapasi Ghosh at the Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico. Ximena is originally from Colombia, and earned a B.A. from Vassar College in physics and astronomy in 2007 and a B.Eng. from Dartmouth College in 2008. In the fall of 2010, Ximena entered the astronomy Ph.D. program at Columbia.
Tashina Graves (Psychology)
Tashina was an RA in Hakwan Lau's Consciousness and Computation Lab in the Psychology Department. She was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but had lived in New York nearly all her life. Her research interests lie in the area of visual perception, particularly the role of, and interplay between, attention and awareness. At Columbia, she worked on visual attention, confidence ratings, and the integration of perceptual information. She received her B.A. in psychology from Barnard College where she completed her senior project in Lisa Son's laboratory, researching metacognition in children. During her senior year Tashina also worked as a teaching assistant for the Perception and Cognition laboratory courses. In the fall of 2010, Tashina entered the psychology Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins University.
Charlotte Logan (Biological Sciences)
Charlotte received her B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Oklahoma. While at Columbia, she worked in James Manley's laboratory studying how gene expression is controlled on a molecular level by mRNA transcript processing. After investigating the role of alternative splicing of the mRNA transcript in difficult-to-treat asthma, Charlotte then worked on the factors involved in polyadenylation of the mRNA transcript. Specifically, she investigated the recruitment of the PAF complex by transcriptional activator VP16 in transcription-coupled polyadenylation. Charlotte is from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, which spans the borders of Quebec, Ontario, and New York State, and is dedicated to alleviating the health disparities between Native and mainstream communities. In the fall of 2010 she began her Ph.D. at Brandeis University, where Charlotte will continue to develop her interests in gene expression systems and the search for a practical application of molecular genetics to the chronic health concerns of Native American communities.
Vanessa Mondol (Chemistry)
A graduate of Stony Brook University, Vanessa was an RA in the laboratory of Virginia Cornish. In the fall of 2009, Vanessa entered the Ph.D. program in Biological Sciences at the University of California at San Diego.
Chukwudi (Chuk) Onyemekwu (Psychology)
Chuk worked with Kevin Ochsner studying the social cognitive effects of craving. His focus was on researching effective cognitive strategies to regulate cravings in nicotine and methamphetamine-using populations. He also worked on a meta-analysis for cravings linked to various other drugs. Chuk is originally from Nigeria, and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in psychology. His previous research experiences included two summers shadowing Philip Stieg, chief neurosurgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and working on a case report on the use of an intra-aortic balloon pump to permit resection of a tumor. Chuk plans to obtain an M.D./Ph.D. studying the biochemical effects of substance dependence and elucidating effective treatment to cope with using behavior.
Elizabeth Rodriguez (Psychology)
Elizabeth conducted research for over two years in Rae Silver's neuro-endocrinology laboratory. One of her projects assessed suprachiasmatic nucleus activation by a light-pulse when mice were aroused during their normal resting time. She also mapped distribution of neuro-immune mast cells during brain development in baseline conditions. Elizabeth graduated from Hunter College (CUNY), with a B.A. in psychology. While at Hunter, she was a Minority Access to Research and Career (MARC) and then a Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) scholar. For three years she worked in Cheryl Harding's neuro-endocrinology laboratory studying song-learning and sexual behaviors in zebra finches. While a MARC/MBRS scholar, Elizabeth also participated twice in the Summer Program for Under-Represented Students at Columbia University. Elizaneth has been at the University of Michigan since the fall of 2010, working on her Ph.D. in neuroscience.
Nitza Santiago (Astronomy)
Nitza earned her B.S. in physics and electronics from the University of Puerto Rico, Humacao (UPRH). Her research interests include radio observations of galaxies, galactic structure, and star formation. At Columbia, she worked with Mary Putman studying the HI gas properties of star formation in isolated HII regions. These regions present the opportunity to study the star formation process in environments that differ from the typical environment in a galaxy disk. Originally from Patillas, Puerto Rico, Nitza conducted research as an undergraduate with Juan Cersosimo studying the galactic warp of the Milky Way. Nitza also worked at the Astronomical Observatory at UPRH creating activities for the general public using optical telescopes. At Yale University during the summer of 2008, she examined stars in the background of a star-forming molecular cloud under the mentorship of Héctor Arce. In the fall of 2010, Nitza entered the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program to start her M.S. in physics.
Marlena Watson (Earth and Environmental Sciences)
Marlena graduated with a B.S. in biology from Temple University. At Columbia, she worked under the mentorship of Brian Mailloux on a protocol to determine the radioactive carbon date of microorganisms collected from wells in Bangladesh as part of the Arsenic in Bangladesh project. In her time as an RA, Marlena traveled to Bangladesh to collect samples not only for radioactive carbon dating, but also for determining arsenic concentrations, identifying pathogens present in the groundwater, and measuring overall microbial diversity. In addition to working on radiocarbon dating, she devised a pathogen assay protocol using PCR amplification of environmental samples to determine the presence of pathogenic E.coli in well water. Originally from the Bronx, Marlena entered the CUNY Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Ph.D. program in the fall of 2010.