Archive for category: Student Spotlight

Meet recent UCLA graduate, Tianqing Li, who majored in Bioengineering and Applied Mathematics. Tianqing was recently published as first author for her undergraduate research. “A Multi-Pronged Evaluation For Image Normalization Techniques” is published in IEEE Explore. She also presented her work at the 2021 IEEE 18th International Symposium.

As an undergraduate, Tianqing was a part of Dr. William Hsu’s lab in the Department of Radiological Sciences. Tianqing is now a PhD student at Duke Biomedical Engineering.

 

How did you first get involved in your research project?

At the beginning of the pandemic, I emailed several different research labs to look for remote research opportunities. Prof. William Hsu was very kind to schedule a meeting with me regarding my previous research experiences and current interests. Later I was introduced to one of his PhD students, Leihao, and started to help with an ongoing project related to lung CT image processing.

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

It has been a very fruitful experience for me, in terms of both crucial research expertises and future career development. It was the first time that I had the chance to start a new research project from scratch, actively get involved in lab activities, and eventually draft and publish an academic paper. It was also during this process that I confirmed my interest in continuing with more advanced research and decided to apply to graduate schools.

 

What is one piece of advice you have for other students thinking about getting involved in research?

My major advice is to not get immediately discouraged by the frustration that almost everyone will encounter when they try to enter a new lab/get into some new area. For me, reading more about the current state of the art in the field, and certainly looking for advice and help from other people in the lab have been very helpful.

 

What are your future career goals?

Given the fact that I am still in the very early phase of my graduate study, it is uncertain for me to decide which direction I would like to pursue, in particular, academia versus industry. But I am certain that I enjoy research-based work and am open to different types of opportunities.

 

What will you be studying as a PhD student at Duke University?
I am currently a first-year PhD student advised by Professor Timothy Dunn at Duke Biomedical Engineering. Our lab works on developing ML/AL-empowered robust 3D behavioral tracking systems for lab animals – tools for high-resolution movement quantification and better understanding of the nervous system.

 

 

Meet UCLA senior, Swetha Sankar, who is majoring in Astrophysics. Swetha was recently published as first author for her paper, “V488 Per revisited: no strong mid-infrared emission features and no evidence for stellar/sub-stellar companions” in The Astrophysical Journal. This past summer, Swetha was also selected to participate in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program with the National Radio Astronomy Observator and presented her research at the Summer Student Symposium.

Swetha is currently a part of Dr. Ben Zuckerman’s laboratory in the UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy.

 

How did you first get involved in your research project?

During the Fall semester of my Sophomore year, I was interested in pursuing research and gaining hands-on experience in my field of study. In particular, my interest in a few of Dr. Ben Zuckerman and Beth Klein’s papers on white dwarf atmospheres and their significance in defining extrasolar planet properties led me to reach out to them. After a meeting in which we discussed my current research interests, I was given the opportunity to work with Dr. Carl Melis at UC San Diego on an unusually dusty stellar system.

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

This opportunity has definitely provided an invaluable experience for me as I have gained many technical skills and improved my public speaking. Additionally, it has also provided me with a community of people who have helped me grow as a person and an undergraduate student researcher under their mentorship.

What is one piece of advice you have for other students thinking about getting involved in research?

Do not be afraid or intimidated of reaching out and expressing your interest in a topic of study! If you are unsure where your interests lie, I would advise attending talks hosted by the department. Faculty on campus are more than willing to mentor you, help you grow as a researcher, and teach you the necessary skills needed to succeed.

 

What are your future career goals?

Currently, I am conducting research on low mass dwarf galaxy evolution and aim to apply to graduate school for higher studies in observational astrophysics with an interest in black holes and their influence on galactic evolution.

Meet Indya Weathers, a UCLA graduate who majored in Biochemistry. Indya was recently published as first author for her undergraduate research conducted in Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau’s lab in the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. “Protocol for High-Resolution Mapping of Splicing Products and Isoforms by RT-PCR Using Fluorescently Labeled Primers” is published in STAR Protocols. 

Indya is now a PhD student in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics at the University of Chicago.

During her undergraduate years, Indya was a part of our CARE Fellows/IMSD program.

 

How did you first get involved in your research at UCLA?

During my transition from community college to UCLA, I applied to the Minority Science Bridges to the Baccalaureate program at the University of California, Irvine. I worked with the faculty. postdocs, and graduate students to learn how to conduct a research project and perform lab experiments. I was invited to present this research at the ABRCMS 2017 National Undergraduate Research Conference where I met scientists and other students interested in biomedical science. My desire for scientific research grew and I decided to join a lab once I transferred to UCLA. During my first year, I applied for and was accepted into the IMSD program funded by the NIH to conduct my own independent project in the lab of Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau. Through the support of my graduate student mentor, Charles Wang, the mentorship of my PI, and the resources provided to me by Dr. Tama Hasson through the IMSD program, I was able to present my work at various research conferences and gain experiences that prepared me for success in my future research career.

 

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

My research experience at UCLA was incredible due to the constant support of the URC Sciences department, the resources provided by the IMSD program, and the mentorship of my PI Dr.Guillaume Chanfreau. I was able to work with mentors and successful underrepresented STEM professionals to gain skills in research, presentations, and leadership which helped me prepare for graduate school as well as my future in research as an underrepresented female in science. I was able to present my research at UCLA Undergraduate Research Symposiums to incoming freshmen in programs for underrepresented students in order to inform and inspire them to pursue research in their careers. I was also able to present at the ABRCMS National Undergraduate Research Conference three years in a row on my projects that I was researching. From this work, I was able to publish my first author research paper which was my biggest accomplishment as an undergraduate because it recognized my hard work and potential to become a successful professional in the field. Overall, research at UCLA was one of the most exciting times in my life and set up a foundation for me to excel in my future career.

 

What is one piece of advice you have for other students thinking about getting involved in research?

There is no such thing as too early or too late to get involved in research at UCLA. The URC Sciences department provides so many resources available that will guide and support you to find the right faculty and students to mentor you. No matter how much prior experience you have had in research, the professors and students will help you learn the concepts that they are studying, many lab techniques, and the skills necessary to become a successful future scientist.

 

What are your future career goals?

I am interested in many potential careers including academia, industry, and other alternative careers in science. In my future career, I want to provide mentorship to underrepresented groups and provide new ways of increasing diversity and inclusion. Not only do I want to become a leader in the field of research, but also an inspiration, resource, and opportunity for people interested in research to have increased accessibility.

 

What are you doing post-graduation from UCLA?

Currently, I am a rising 2nd year PhD student in the department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics at the University of Chicago. I will soon begin my thesis work studying 3-dimensional protein structures, their dynamics, and their functions. I plan to become a leader among my peers in providing broader access to research resources to underrepresented groups in science. I am excited to contribute to broadening the field of knowledge in the biological sciences and make it available and accessible to a diverse group of students.

Meet recent UCLA graduate, Alexa Terrazas who majored in Geology. This past Spring, Alexa was awarded the Undergraduate Science Journal’s Best Physical Science Article for her article titled, “Evolution of Hydroclimates in Southeast Arizona Over the Past 20,000 Years.” She was also awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue her PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA this Fall.

As an undergraduate Alexa was a part of Dr. Aradhna Tripati’s lab in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

 

How did you first get involved in your research?

I found Dr. Aradhna Tripati’s Climate and Geochemistry Lab by participating in the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. As a geology major, I became interested in using the geological record to reconstruct past climate states (paleoclimate), which Dr. Tripati and her group specialized in. I contacted her in the fall of my junior year and expressed my interest in participating in research.

 

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

Overall, my research experience at UCLA has been an extremely fun and positive one. I was able to get both field and laboratory research experience, which has been invaluable to my training as an aspiring earth system scientist. I was also mentored by graduate student Alexandrea Arnold throughout undergrad, which was an incredible opportunity to engage with more experienced scientists and learn how to use the machines in the lab.

 

What is one piece of advice you have for other students thinking about getting involved in research?

For students thinking about getting involved in research, I’d recommend looking through the different faculty researchers in your department of interest. From there, read a couple of their papers to get an idea of what kinds of questions they are interested in addressing. Lastly, I’d reach out to those faculty members and express interest in their research as an undergraduate student. Getting started is difficult, but once you do, it’s wonderful!

 

What are your career goals?

I plan to further my education in the earth sciences by pursuing my Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA in the fall of 2021. I was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue my doctoral degree and probe questions that interest me in my field in my research. As an undergraduate, I investigated how atmospheric dynamics that influence the water cycle evolved in the southwestern United States since the Last Glacial Maximum, roughly 20,000 years ago, by using geochemical proxies in concert with modeling to see if climate models are capturing trends that are observed in the geologic record. In graduate school, I hope to continue this work and apply our methodology for the LGM to other geologic periods like the Pliocene, which occurred 5 to 3 million years ago.

 

Meet UCLA senior, Andrew Evans, who is majoring in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution. He recently published a paper as first-author titled, “Producer–scrounger relationships in yellow-bellied marmots” in Animal Behaviour.

Andrew works in Dr. Daniel Blumstein’ lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

 

How did you first get involved in your research project?

In my first year at UCLA, I talked with my academic counselors about being involved in research, and they recommended the PI that would be a good match. I simply sent an email to Dan Blumstein (a faculty researcher) and ended up doing lab work for a quarter before moving on to other data collection based on my initial interests. I just kept doing the work, did it well for a year, and was nice enough that Dan and my grad student mentor, Dana Williams, asked me to join them and the marmot team in the field for the following summer. After working in the Rocky Mountains with them, I started my project on social foraging with some of the data I had helped collect in the field. It really was a matter of me getting in there, sticking to it, and one thing leading to the next.

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

At the start, I was able to learn the foundations of research, while observing how my grad student mentors and PI perform their research at the next level up. As I’ve gotten more confident with the process and more friendly with the other lab members, I’ve been able to speak up and contribute more of my ideas to the lab’s work and discussions. So it’s really been an entry-level footing into research work that’s allowed me to see what a career in research would be like. Also a lot of fun, weird stories. I’ve been involved with two labs at UCLA, and both have been fun to work in and fun to tell others about. I guess not many people get to pet baby marmots, chase foxes, and look at computerized dog skulls for hours on end.

What is one piece of advice you have for other students thinking about getting involved in research?

Know that you’re not supposed to know everything yet. Be confident reaching out, knowing that these researchers are expecting undergrads to reach out, and be comfortable asking questions if things aren’t clear along the way. Be open and friendly. The biggest part of research as an undergrad is getting comfortable in the research process and the surrounding community of researchers. So if you’re simply coming in, doing the work, doing the tasks, and leaving every day without talking to anyone, you’re missing out on the opportunity to make your work more fun, make new friends, and get closer to people who can be helpful resources in the future.

What are your future career goals?

I’m looking to get into a career (and further education later) in natural resources, sustainable resource use, conservation, and restoration. I’m getting my degree in ecology, so I’m looking for a career that uses the principles I’ve been learning about in class to make real efforts at improving our natural world and our relationship to it.