FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg   (202) 461-3888/ khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools today announced that four federally-recognized Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) will join an existing coalition that are working to gather and use data about the careers of PhD students and alumni. A grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF grant #1661272) has been supporting data collection about PhD careers in STEM fields.

The universities selected to receive awards to participate as funded project partners are:

• Howard University
• North Carolina A&T State University
• University of Arizona
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas

In addition to the 33 universities participating in the project as grant recipients, 31 additional institutions are participating in the project as affiliate partners.

Over the course of the multi-year project, universities will collect data from current PhD students and alumni with surveys that were developed by CGS in consultation with senior university leaders, funding agencies, disciplinary societies, researchers, and PhD students and alumni. The resulting data will allow universities to analyze PhD career preferences and outcomes at the program level and help faculty and university leaders strengthen career services, professional development opportunities, and mentoring in doctoral programs.

“We are thrilled to include four doctoral-granting, MSIs to our PhD Career Pathways project. We know that PhD students aspire to a wide variety of careers, including academic research and teaching,” said CGS President Suzanne Ortega. “We need to gain a better understanding of what the career pathways for our alumni look like. Our university partners are leading the way for the entire community of doctoral institutions.”

Universities from across the country will be able to compare their data on PhD career preferences and outcomes with CGS’s national dataset. Universities will also be able to use the data to communicate the career trajectories of PhD alumni to current and prospective students, helping them to make more informed selections of PhD programs. By analyzing the processes of survey administration, CGS will identify promising practices for implementing the surveys and share them with graduate schools nationwide.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is supporting the PhD Career Pathways project focused on the humanities. This supplemental grant from NSF will support the data collection in STEM fields at the previously mentioned four MSIs.

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Yi Wen, a doctoral student in biochemistry, molecular and cell biology at Cornell University, received the 2018 Harry and Samuel Mann Outstanding Graduate Student Award for her research that aims to help develop novel vaccines and treatments against HIV and other viruses. A virus can only replicate inside living cells and can infect all life forms. There are millions of different viruses, and viral cells reproduce by using the host cells to create copies. This process can make some viruses especially difficult to kill.

Wen studies virology, exploring membrane biophysics and lipid chemistry to try and find a way to keep the host cells from releasing the viral copies back into the host’s body. Wen’s research focuses on the lipid “PIP2.” Lipids make up the cell membrane, which is akin to its skin. PIP2 is a pretty minor part of cell membranes, but according to Wen, “it plays a major role in cell function and also in HIV infection.” Wen discovered that PIP2 is extremely sensitive to some metal ions.

“The metal ions shield PIP2, and only specific proteins are likely to be able to compete against those metal ions to have access to PIP2,” Wen said. “HIV appears to require those PIP2 clusters as assembly and release sites of new viruses. I think this could be HIV’s Achilles’ heel.” To learn more about Yi’s work visit the Cornell University website.

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Photo Credit: Matt Hayes/CALS, Cornell University

Ryan Gentzler, a recent Master of Public Administration recipient from the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, saw many challenges facing his fellow Oklahomans from low and middle-income families. Having worked for Tulsa non-profits, he realized that public policy research and advocacy were ways for him to help his community, and he knew the MPA program at OU-Tulsa would help him develop those skills.

“Low-paying work, difficult-to-access healthcare, underfunded schools, and a punitive criminal justice system can make the struggle out of poverty insurmountable, landing the state at the bottom of the pack in many measures of well-being,” said Gentzler. “[I’m] hoping to address these challenges at the structural level.” Gentzler now works for the Oklahoma Policy Institute as a policy analyst. His current focus is to raise awareness surrounding Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. The state’s incarceration rate is one of the highest in the country, and Gentzler seeks solutions to reduce these numbers and promote public safety and rehabilitation.

In the first survey of its kind, Gentzler researched thousands of public records to ascertain how much money in fines and legal fees Oklahomans owed to the court system, and he wanted to know where they lived. Gentzler discovered that as Oklahoma’s state budget got tighter, the court fees increased to meet the shortfalls. In some cases, the fees more than doubled. In addition, Gentzler found that “people in low-income neighborhoods in Tulsa County owed up to ten times as much in court debt as those in wealthier neighborhoods, creating a huge barrier to economic mobility and trapping people in a cycle of incarceration and poverty.” To learn more about Ryan’s work visit the OU-Tulsa website and the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

Visit the GradImpact Feature Gallery to learn more about the amazing, innovative research being done by graduate students and alumni across the world.

Photo Credit: Becca Hyvonen, OU-Tulsa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

CONTACT: Katherine Hazelrigg / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu / 202.461.3888

Washington, DC— Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) President Suzanne Ortega released the following statement on recent immigration proposals

“Recent proposals stemming from Congress and the Administration have focused the nation’s attention on immigration issues impacting students and families. The Council of Graduate Schools remains steadfast in its support of policies that help ensure individuals are afforded opportunities to pursue their graduate studies here in the United States, including those with DACA status and those from the international student community.

“As the House of Representatives continues to debate the future of DACA recipients who, at a young age, were brought to the U.S. and have grown to call it home, CGS implores Congress to yield a solution that will ensure they can continue to live, work, pursue higher education, and strengthen our nation’s economy.

“CGS also remains supportive of policies that bolster the ability of U.S. higher education institutions to recruit and retain international talent. Immigration policies, including the visa process, should strive for greater efficiency without imposing additional barriers so that international graduate students and faculty can enroll, graduate, and apply their education in ways that increase our country’s global competitiveness.

“We remain committed to working in a bipartisan manner and urge Congress to find solutions that support DACA recipients and the international graduate student community.”

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In 2008, Unoma Okorafor completed her doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Texas A&M University. As a Sloan Scholar at Texas A&M, Dr. Okorafor founded Working to Advance STEM Education for African Women (WAAW) Foundation, an international non-profit organization that seeks to “increase the pipeline of African women entering into Science and Technology fields and ensure they are engaged in Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship to benefit Africa.” WAAW sponsors STEM camps for young girls in 10 African countries and provides coding workshops, outreach, training programs, and scholarships. Her vision is to provide African girls with choices by exposing them early on to the various career opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) fields.

In addition to educating the girls and young women, Okorafo found it necessary to spend time educating their communities on why foundations like WAAW are needed. The overall sentiment seemed to be that no one was stopping girls from pursuing a STEM-focused education. Okorafor begs to differ. Domestic violence, poverty, sexual violence, teenage pregnancy, unequal divisions of household labor, and the inability to own property in some African countries are all barriers for women, and Okorafor is determined to change this. “I think our communities need to empower more girls to speak up, and to own their space, even if it’s in the STEM fields where it’s male dominated, because we do have something to contribute.” 

In addition to a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Dr. Okorafo received the AAUW Engineering Dissertation Fellowship and the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship for promoting STEM education. She has also worked at Texas Instruments, Intel, HP, and IBM researchlabs. To learn more about Unoma’s work visit the Texas A&M University website.

Visit the GradImpact Feature Gallery to learn more about the amazing, innovative research being done by graduate students and alumni across the world.

Garry Johnson, a recent master’s recipient in entrepreneurship & design from the University of Delaware, has a true entrepreneurial spirit, a passion for community leadership, and the drive to make the world a better place. Johnson’s innovative and creative skills have led to several startups focused on increasing diversity in entrepreneurship and the tech industry.

Johnson’s latest brainchild, TalentPool, draws on earlier ideas from his startup, ColorCoded, which focused primarily on helping young men and women of color be competitive for jobs in the tech industry. Now Johnson also wants to see more diversity in entrepreneurs, and he intends to achieve that through his educational platform, TalentPool. “Before the summer is over, this platform will be ready,” Johnson said. “I believe people want it and need it. The entrepreneurial ecosystem needs it, too, an equal playing field for all people to succeed.”

Mr. Johnson recently received first place for TalentPool at the Startup Tech Conference and Pitch Competition at Prairie View A&M University. Johnson’s prize is an interview for the DivInc Accelerator Program. In addition, Johnson started the “I Have a Dream Pitch Competition” at the University of Delaware to empower Wilmington’s young men of color by inspiring confidence and improving skills through entrepreneurship. To learn more about Garry’s work visit the University of Delaware website.

Visit the GradImpact Feature Gallery to learn more about the amazing, innovative research being done by graduate students and alumni across the world.

Photo Credit: University of Delaware

Alyson Nelson has been teaching science to high school students for more than a decade and believes setting lofty expectations rather than underestimating them will help her students achieve even loftier goals. After completing her bachelor’s degree from Clemson University, Nelson began working at Mauldin High School in South Carolina and simultaneously pursued her master’s degree in educational technology and a graduate certificate in school technology coordination at Boise State University. Now she teaches biomedical engineering at the Nikola Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, WA.

Hired in 2013 to develop a signature STEM Lab at the recently opened school, Nelson says people are surprised to hear high school students are taking biomedical engineering courses. Her students are 17-18 years old and developing prosthetics, trying to better understand pandemic infections, and looking for ways to care for and cure patients. “My students are really open to whatever they want to pursue. When the project is relevant to them, they are so much more confident in what they are doing, and they’re so much more passionate about really finding a solution,” said Nelson.

Ms. Nelson was recently named a Paul Allen Distinguished Educator, which “recognizes and rewards teachers who ‘break the mold’ of traditional schooling to provide students with opportunities to become thinkers, makers, and creators through computer science, engineering, and entrepreneurship.” To learn more about Alyson’s work visit the Boise State University website and her webpage on the Allen Distinguished Educators website.

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Lok Raj Joshi and Maureen Fernandes are both studying swine viruses while pursuing their doctorates in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at South Dakota State University. Specializing in veterinary microbiology, Joshi and Fernandes are researching two different viruses that affect pigs. As the world’s third-largest producer and the largest exporter of pork products, these swine viruses threaten the U.S. pork industry and the economy more broadly.

Joshi’s research focuses on Senecavirus A (SVA), which causes lesions on a pig’s snout and feet and can lead to lameness. The recent increase in reported cases of SVA has raised its profile and interest in additional research to better understand the virus. Joshi studies the causes of SVA and aims to better identify its characteristics. Fernandes researches a virus that affects a pig’s reproductive and respiratory systems (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus), “a common swine virus that causes millions of dollars in losses every year to the swine industry.” Fernandes is working to identify potential immunizations that will protect the pigs from the virus.

Mr. Joshi and Ms. Fernandes were honored for their work at the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Disease last year in Chicago. To learn more about Lok and Maureen’s work visit the South Dakota State University website.

Visit the GradImpact Feature Gallery to learn more about the amazing, innovative research being done by graduate students and alumni across the world.

Photo Credit: SD State News Center

As a recent doctoral recipient in geological sciences from the University of Missouri, Arianna Soldati has a passion for science, volcanology to be specific. She says, “My fascination with volcanoes dates back to early childhood…and I have been pursuing my passion across four continents.” As one of roughly 1,500 volcanologists in the world, she gets a lot of questions about her work when meeting new people. Soldati realized that learning how to talk about it with a wide audience was really important, which fueled her interest in science communication and outreach.

During the Fall of 2017, Soldati founded the program Science on Wheels (SoW), a graduate student-run science outreach program targeting adults in Missouri’s rural communities. Their mission is, “to provide people living in rural areas with the opportunity to interact with scientists right in their towns, promoting a positive perception of science.” SoW focuses on adults, because once out of school, many never engage with science again. Soldati hopes that the more people understand science and scientists, the more they will trust them. “Science isn’t just something that happens in labs,” Soldati said. “It’s something that’s used in everyday life.”

Dr. Soldati graduated this Spring semester and is looking forward to beginning a postdoc in Germany at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. She will be researching the effects of phenocrysts (a specific kind of crystal) on lava flow with funding from the Humboldt Foundation. To learn more about Arianna’s work visit the University of Missouri website, or her blog, Volcanic Arianna.

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As a first-generation student from Chennai, India, Zubaida Bai was determined to make a difference. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Dalarna University in Sweden, Bai spent four years working back home in India to provide communities with the necessary resources. Bai was specifically interested in finding ways to help the women in her community. She entered the Global Social & Sustainable Enterprise MBA program at Colorado State University in search of innovative ways to empower women through business.

One issue in particular struck a chord with Bai: the number of women who die in childbirth. Having had her own complications with infection after delivering a baby, Bai understood the urgency of the problem. One of the main causes of complications is “a lack of access to basic clean tools at the time of childbirth,” said Bai. She and her husband founded the company ayzh (pronounced eyes) to create innovative products, including a birth kit (called JANMA) to provide the necessary tools for clean, safe childbirth in the poorest communities.

Since creating JANMA, Ms. Bai has developed additional resources to assist women: a neonatal kit, a postpartum kit, and a program to provide women with the menstrual supplies they need.  Bai has received global recognition for her work. In 2009, she was named a TED Fellow and delivered a TED talk in December 2016 that has been viewed nearly 900,000 times. In 2016, Bai was named an SDG Pioneer during the United Nation’s Global Compact Summit. To learn more about Zubaida’s work visit the Colorado State University website.

Visit the GradImpact Feature Gallery to learn more about the amazing, innovative research being done by graduate students and alumni across the world.

Photo Credit: Ryan Lash/TED