Graduate students present research projects at annual symposium

symposium banner
grad student discussing media presentation

Michelle Aguilar (right) won the Alumni Association Award in the Arts Division for her media presentation "El Cacao."

Graduate student researchers from across the divisions explained their work to a diverse audience during the 11th Annual Graduate Research Symposium at McHenry Library on Friday, April 24. The symposium included graduate student presentations in a variety of formats, including posters, 10-minute talks, films, and other media.

An Awards Reception was held on the south lawn after the symposium. Two awards recognizing outstanding presentations in any discipline were awarded: a $250 cash Graduate Dean's award and a $500 cash award for the Chancellor's Graduate Research Prize. The deans of each academic division awarded a $100 gift certificate for the UCSC bookstore for the best presentation in the division. The UCSC Alumni Association also sponsored prizes, a $150 gift certificate for the UCSC bookstore, honoring presentations in each academic division.

Here is a complete list of award winners from this year's symposium:

Chancellor’s Award: Robert Shelansky, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics, for the poster presentation "Dissecting the biochemical mechanisms generating intrinsic noise in gene expression"

Graduate Dean’s Award: Jessica Y. Neasbitt, History of Consciousness, for the poster presentation "Silver sutures, speculums, and lasers: What the birth of U.S. gynecology can teach us about the growing popularity of female genital cosmetic surgery"

Arts Division

Alumni Association Award: Michelle Aguilar, Social Documentation, for the media presentation "El Cacao"

Dean’s Award: Jenna Gerdsen, Theater Arts, for the oral presentation "Three Ramayanas on the west coast of the United States: Cross-cultural adaptation in American theatre"

Jack Baskin School of Engineering

Alumni Association Award: Damla Ozcelik, Electrical Engineering, for the oral presentation "Optofluidic biomolecular detection by spectral multiplexing"

Dean’s Award: Evan Paull, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics, for the poster presentation "Prototyping a personalized medical treatment strategy for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer"

Humanities Division

Alumni Association Award: Rita Jones, History, for the poster presentation "Power over sickness: Medical missionaries, metaphysics, and public health, 1870 - 1914"

Dean’s Award: Jessica Barbata Jackson, History, for the poster presentation "Problematizing citizenship: Italian immigrants in the Jim Crow Gulf South"

Physical & Biological Sciences Division

Alumni Association Award: Claire Masteller, Earth Sciences, for the oral presentation "Kelp, cobbles, and currents: Biologic reduction in coarse grain entrainment stress by kelp"

Dean’s Award: Angel Resendez, Chemistry & Biochemistry, for the poster presentation "Recognition of sugar biomarkers via a fluorescent probe based on boronic acid appended bipyridinium salts"

Social Sciences Division

Alumni Association Award: Katherine Ennis, Environmental Studies, for the poster presentation "The birds, the beetles, and the bees: Creating a long term biodiversity monitoring program of the UCSC Farm"

Dean’s Award: Ann Drevno, Environmental Studies, for the poster presentation "Agricultural pesticide use: Policy implications of water quality management in California's central coast"