2016-2017 Scholars
Valentin Balthazar-Urena
When Valentin Baltazar first entered UCSC to study Physics, his confidence was low because he was worried his background didn’t give him adequate preparation for university level work. He learned that he did have what it takes to succeed, and he is working in a lab focusing on modeling the local structure of various semiconducting materials. His senior thesis is an analysis of how a zinc substituted tetrahedrite suppresses a metal to semiconductor transition. His scholarship will pay for liquid helium needed to conduct this analysis.
Andrew DiLallo
Andrew and his wife had their second son during this academic year, and he still managed to maintain good grades. He is an undergraduate student majoring in music and psychology with the goal of a career in music therapy. His scholarship will go toward funding summer school. Andrew is our Robert Leet-Corday Memorial Scholarship recipient.
Michael Doody
Michael is in the PhD program in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology where he researches whether or not certain mutant proteins genetically affect the ability of the cell to locate and express specific genes. His scholarship will go toward lab materials for this research. His professor, Grant Hartzog, says, "Science is in his blood," but Michael’s also a committed and outstanding teacher.
Nicholas Fernandez Gonzalez
Nicholas is a graduate student in physics, or as his adviser says, “He is one of the most promising theory graduate students in the particle physics theory group at UCSC.” Nicholas is studying dark matter and the application of theoretical physics to high-energy experiments. He is using his scholarship to attend the Prospects in Theoretical Physics summer school program at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.
Anthony Garcia
Anthony is completing the last term of his teaching credential and master’s in education this summer. He has requested his scholarship be used toward his tuition and fees for summer. He is the father of two children, one of whom has special needs. Anthony's adviser describes his teaching as "inspiring."Remy Gatins
Through her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Remy is exploring the connectivity of Tropical Eastern Pacific fishes and their evolutionary mechanisms. Her scholarship will fund costs associated with her research. Remy’s long-term goals are to be a marine molecular evolution researcher and an educator.
Sophia Haji
Sophia is completing a combined undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Biology, the perfect preparation for her career goal in restoration ecology. Her scholarship will purchase a new computer with the capacity to process bio-statistical data necessary for her field of study.
Sean Laney
Last year the Women’s Club funded Sean as he finished his undergraduate degree. He has since graduated with honors and has begun a PhD in Technology and Information Management. Sean will use this year’s scholarship to purchase a new computer. He is currently working in Dan Friedman’s Learning and Experimental Economics lab doing software development for economic experimentation, and he may be doing this work at the Cologne Lab for Economic Experimentation next year.
Nora Lang
As part of her PhD in Education, Nora is researching program design and pedagogy for recent immigrant students in the early phases of learning English. Her scholarship will apply toward fees and books for the next academic year.Krishna Leikind-Williamson
Krishna is an undergraduate Politics major as well as a single mother of two children, ages 5 and 8. She will be using her scholarship for child care expenses during the 2017-18 academic year.
Martin Lopez, Jr.
Martin had a slow start in higher education, but at UCSC he has maintained a perfect GPA as an undergraduate student in Astrophysics. He has also done research on stellar collisions and will be submitting a paper to the Astrophysical Journal on which he will be the lead author. His professor, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, says, "This is unheard of." Martin will be using his award to purchase a new laptop computer and to apply to graduate schools.
Derrick Newton
Derrick Newton is an undergraduate pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He had a difficult start in school as a child, and this experience discouraged him from continuing into higher education. But he says, “There was always something empty within me.” He is now filling that empty space with learning, and he will use his scholarship toward summer session expenses.
Brian Nichols
Brian is studying computer engineering toward completing his bachelor’s degree. He has been working on a project that provides a home assistance button to the disabled and the elderly to alert neighbors when they need critical assistance. His scholarship will be used for summer school.
"Nate" Nichols
Nate Nichols is a single father who decided that the key to a fulfilling life was through education. Congratulations to Nate on his acceptance into the MA program in Literature at UCSC, the next step in his goal to educate others. He will be using his scholarship to pay for summer school.Nadia Roche
Nadia is a new mother pursuing a PhD in Sociology with an emphasis in Feminist Studies. As a university professor, her goal is to be involved in both academic and community work. She is using her scholarship for childcare in the summer and fall while she works on her dissertation.
Jaclyn Schultz
Jaclyn is a first generation college student and a candidate for a PhD in History. She’s currently working on a research project exploring the many ways that nineteenth-century children were taught to be appropriate consumers. She also looks at how these lessons differed among communities of color. Her scholarship will fund a trip to Richmond, Virginia which has four archives of resources appropriate to this research.
Yvonne Sherwood
Yvonne is pursuing a PhD in Sociology and a single mother of three boys. Her research is a critical analysis of the ways in which indigenous knowledge is socio-historically constructed and transmitted in the context of unequal colonial power relations through interviews of indigenous women. Her scholarship will be used to travel to her interview sites.
Maxim Tabatchnik
As you may recall from past years, Max studies national and collective identity politics and plans to share his knowledge through teaching. He has not yet defended his doctoral dissertation, but he is currently negotiating with publishers to publish his dissertation as a book titled, Nation Building in Russia’s Buffer Zone: The Politics of Territorial Citizenship and Separatism in Moldova, Azerbaijan and Georgia. His scholarship will apply toward a professional editor for the manuscript of the book.Erin Toolis
Erin is a PhD candidate in Social Psychology and the recipient of the Frances Spodick Drake Memorial Scholarship. Her research focuses on the ways in which barriers to inclusion and participation in public spaces and institutions are constructed and experienced, and how these barriers can be reduced for marginalized community members. She will use her scholarship toward her research expenses.
Alma Villa
Alma is an undergraduate student with a combined major in Sociology and LALS, and the first in her family to attend college. Her internship at the Chicano Latino Research Center introduced her to concepts of precarity, unwanted mobility, citizenship, migration, low-wage labor, and education. This, and her participation in a professor’s research on the housing crisis in Santa Cruz, led her to write her senior thesis about the precarious housing experiences of low-income Latino communities in Los Angeles. Alma’s well on the way to her goal of completing a PhD so she can teach and continue to research at the university level. Her scholarship will be applied to a GRE preparation class and graduate school applications. Alma is the recipient of our Community Service Scholarship.
Stephanie Webb
Stephanie is pursuing a PhD in Environmental Studies, more specifically in Political Ecology and Food Studies. She is researching sustainability planning in seafood, specifically creating direct human consumption markets for fish otherwise known as bait or feed. Her scholarship will be applied toward fees for the 2017-18 academic year, seminal texts, and electronic tools for research.
