McNair Scholars

Scholars - Top Page

Fatima Aguilar 
Majors: English and Sociology
Minor: Spanish
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Miya Barnett
Faculty Mentor's Department: Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Research Interests: Mental health in Black and Latinx communities

Jada Alexander
Majors: Environmental Studies
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Adrian Stier
Faculty Mentor's Department: Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology
Research Interests: Impact of climate change on kelp forest ecosystems

Mayra Canseco 
Majors: Sociology and Chicana/o Studies
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Kam

Faculty Mentor's Department: Communication
Research Interests: Undocumented immigrant responses to environmental disaster
Chiara Cimarusti 
Major: Biological Sciences
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Matthieu Louis, Dr. Ron Keiflin

Faculty Mentors' Departments: Moleculer, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Research Interests: Virology, STEM cells, regenerative medicine
Maria Donan 
Major: Sociology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentor: TBD

Faculty Mentor's Department: TBD
Research Interests: Family structures, gender, immigration

Odinakachukwu "Naka" Elelleh
Major: History of Public Policy
Minor: Black Studies
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alice O'Connor
Faculty Mentor’s Department: History
Research Interests: Policing and race, police culture and demilitarization

Andrea Gomez 
Major: Biology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor:
 Dr. Hilary Young
Faculty Mentor's Department: Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology
Research Interests: Movement and foraging of terrestrial consumers within intertidal habitats
Karen Gonzalez-Salazar 
Major: Sociology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentor:
 TBD
Faculty Mentor's Department: TBD
Research Interests: How children of indigenous Mexican immigrants relate to their identity
Gerard "Gigi" Griffin 
Major: History of Public Policy and Law
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentor:
 Dr. Giuliana Perrone
Faculty Mentor's Department: History
Research Interests: Watts Riots, historiography of American slavery
Genesis Hernandez 
Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor:
 Dr. Erin Dowdy
Faculty Mentor's Department: Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Research Interests: Perceptions of mental health and ADHD treatment among women in Latinx communities
Angeline Higby
Major: Earth Science
Minor: Planetary Science
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gen Li
Faculty Mentor's Department: Earth Science
Research Interests: Topographical movement in Eastern Himalayas
Evelyn Isais
Major: English
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elizabeth Perez
Faculty Mentor's Department: Religious Studies
Research Interests: Racialization in Mormon discourse
Jasmine Labastida
Majors: Film and Media Studies, Pre-Sociology
Expected Graduation Date: Fall 2025
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Faculty Mentor's Department: TBD
Research Interests: Algorithms, digital decolonization in Latin America
Jacqueline "Jacky" Lopez
Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Minors: Spanish and Applied Psychology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jill Sharkey
Faculty Mentor's Department: Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Research Interests: Multidimensional family therapy in bilingual and trilingual families (Mixtec, Spanish, and English)
Monserrat "Monsi" Lupian
Major: Linguistics
Minor: Education Studies
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laurel Brehm
Faculty Mentor's Department: Linguistics
Research Interests: Speech-language sciences and disorders, psycholinguistics

 

Ixel Medrano
Major: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hilary Young
Faculty Mentor's Department: Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology
Research Interests: Impact of human activity on coastal ecosystems
Zeena Omer 
Majors: Cultural Anthropology, Global Studies
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Faculty Mentor's Department: TBD
Research Interests: Extractive colonialism and global capitalism in Africa and the Middle East
Alex Reed 
Major: Biopsychology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Karen Szumlinski
Faculty Mentor's Department: Psychology and Brain Sciences
Research Interests: Proteins and neurotransmitters involved in substances of abuse
Melissa Romero 
Majors: Linguistics and Sociology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mayra Puente
Faculty Mentor's Department: Education
Research Interests: Rural Latinx student success and aspirations in STEM
Isabel "Isa" Ruacho 
Major: Biopsychology
Expected Graduation Date: June 2025
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Barry Giesbrecht
Faculty Mentor's Department: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Research Interests: Vigilence decrement in measurements of performance
Lucero Torres Ojeda 
Major: Environmental Studies
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debra Perrone
Faculty Mentor’s Department: Environmental Studies
Research Interests: Water quality metrics in groundwater sustainability plans, impact on disadvantaged communities

Marian Walker 
Major: Environmental Studies
Expected Graduation Date: December 2023
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jennifer King
Faculty Mentor's Department: Geography
Research Interests: Geophysical implications of land restoration in urban planning

 
Abigail "Abby" Welch 
Major: Linguistics
Minor: Education Studies
Expected Graduation Date: June 2024
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jin Sook Lee
Faculty Mentor’s Department: Education
Research Interests: Non-heritage language learning, transnational multimodal literacies, informal learning methods