Scholarship Recipients 2010

is in his second year of graduate study, working toward a career in academic medicine. He is studying coronary artery disease and the cellular loss that results following acute myocardial injury. Some of his research will look at the possibilities of cell transplantation therapy.
Outside the classroom and lab, Shah has been part of a team that developed patient education presentations for the Stanford free clinics and for a Palo Alto homeless shelter. In addition, showing that his interests extend beyond science and medicine, he and a colleague organized trips to live-arts performances to bring together students and faculty in appreciation of the healing power of art.

His professors noted that he is self-directing and charming and has a wonderful sense of humor, a genuine thirst for knowledge, an amazingly sharp wit, and a keen understanding of satire and irony.

is examining the dislocation of dance from Western art music. In her dissertation, "Disdain for Dance, Disdain for France: Choreophobia in German Music Criticism," she shows that German music critics characterized dance as "feminine and French," and therefore not "pure" music. She herself is a professional dancer.

As part of her work in the prestigious Professors for the Future program, she devised a project, "Behind the Scenes in the Work of a Professor," to give graduate students a better understanding of the work of a professor and how the work differs at different institutions. A second workshop focused on how to publish in the humanities.

Her professors called her an extremely creative thinker and an exceptional scholar, adept at synthesis and dedicated to her students and colleagues.

is studying the implications of quantum mechanics and its relation to the theory of relativity. The heart of his thesis is "a description of the geometry arising out of the spin network that involves nine spinning particles." In addition to his Ph.D. from Berkeley, he will be receiving an international Ph.D. through the Universita degli Studi de Pavia, Italy.

Hal is one of the three graduate student co-founders of the Compass Project at UC Berkeley. This project works to "increase the health, diversity, and competitiveness of the physical sciences at Berkeley by cultivating students’ interest in science and supporting them through their college years. . . . [It also] exposes undergraduates to current research and helps them engage and participate in research themselves."

His professors note his impressive research achievements, extraordinary sense of community involvement, and broad intellectual interests.

is testing the physiological mechanisms of climate-induced forest mortality. He is studying the sudden aspen decline (SAD) that has swept across Colorado, several other western states, and parts of Canada. Through his research he seeks to "demonstrate the direct link between climate change and tree mortality . . . and make strides toward predictive models of forest mortality."

"Bill is a renaissance man. Besides his science, he also excels in music and writing." He took up the guitar because he couldn't carry his piano into the field, and he has written a fantasy novel that so impressed his favorite fantasy-novel writer that the latter placed it with his own agent.

His professors note that he is creative, grasps ideas quickly, and rapidly sees errors in logic. He is a mature thinker who "will not do science in silence."

Bill, a doctoral candidate from Stanford University, shared some of the results of his research into how certain tree systems respond to drought and Global Warming at Asilomar 2011.  He told us that one of the key elements in his data collection system was funded directly by our scholarship money.  We are delighted to have made it happen for him. Read more here

Bill has a website that discusses his projects, which currently (November 2010) are:
1. Mechanisms of climate-induced forest mortality
2. Complex ecosystem responses to climate scenarios
3. Climate expertise in the media

Bill sent this thank you note...

is studying the politics of globalization, with a special focus on the politics of immigration. She is looking at the two periods of globalization in the modern era (1820-1914 and the post-World War II era) and the immigration policies during those periods. Specifically, she is examining the "continued relative closure of the U.S. border to immigrants after World War II." Her goal is to contribute fact-based research instead of research with a policy agenda to policy makers and the general public.

She has received a scholarship from the U.S. Dept. of State (Critical Language Program) and a Gerald R. Ford award for research in public policy. She was also chosen to participate in the National Science Foundation REU Program in Mathematics.

Her professors call her smart, intellectually tough, technically far above the mean, and creative, having "a subversively creative mind."

is studying the role of autophagy in cancer. A driving force in her research is the potential that what she finds could solve serious human health problems. She is also committed to bridging the gap in understanding between the scientific community and the general public.

She designed an adult education course, "Demystifying Molecular Biology," and volunteers in community education through the Science and Health Education Partnership between UCSF and the San Francisco Unified School District, co-teaching lessons with middle-school teachers in urban schools. Having helped vaccinate and tag bighorn sheep during her own middle-school years, she believes in a hands-on approach to science.

Her professors note that she has a great nose for important questions and is meticulous, self-critical, self-directed, and able to see the big picture.

is investigating retinal capillaries in early-stage diabetes, using noninvasive techniques that he invented. His study opens up the patient pool that can be potentially investigated for both clinical practice and basic research in disease mechanisms. He is interested in directing the development of applications for medical imaging. He is licensed as an Engineer-in-Training and has received his Certificate in Management of Technology from the Haas School of Business and Engineering at UC Berkeley.

Outside the classroom and the lab, Johnny has been actively involved in the Institute for Science and Engineer Educators, which trains graduate students how to be effective teachers. As an undergraduate, he was vice-president and chair of the External Relations Committee of the Undergraduate Investment Society.

His professors note his passion, dedication, curiosity, and ambition as well as his foresight and courage to go beyond the confines of his discipline.