Winter 2022

Students are listed in presentation order. Recordings are linked where available.

Harnessing the Sunset to Cure Seasonal Depression -- Alex Neitz

Alex Neitz is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program. Her research looks at how organisms act as clocks to predict daily variations in their environment. She is interested in how the modern environment affects the timing of these inner clocks in humans to cause Seasonal Affective Disorder and what we can do to prevent it.

Diamonds, Lightsabers, and Levitation -- Chaman Gupta

Chaman Gupta is a graduate student at the Pauzauskie Research Group at University of Washington Seattle. He is pursuing a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering. He is an avid reader of non-fiction books, a minimalist, and the biggest Minion fan. His research interests are making diamonds, microlasers, levitating stuff in air, and a little bit of science. He spends most of his free time reading newspapers, drinking coffee, and cooking extra-spicy food.

Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy -- Enrique M Saldarriaga

Enrique is a PhD candidate in Health Economics at the University of Washington. He holds a MS in Epidemiology and a BS in Economics. His dissertation combines advanced statistical methods and infectious disease modeling to quantify the economic value of improving the estimates of HIV at the zip code level as a tool to improve resources allocation within a city and long-term health outcomes. Enrique's career goal is to leverage quantitative methods to inform decision making processes in healthcare technology adoption, interventions, public policy design and implementation. His research interests include decision science, econometrics, disease modeling, and public policy design and evaluation.

Improving a Two-Step Malaria Vaccine -- Felicia Watson

Felicia graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology. She then worked as a research technician in a cancer cell biology lab at University of California, San Diego before moving up to Seattle to pursue a PhD. Felicia is currently a graduate student in the Pathobiology program in the Department of Global Health at UW. She joined the Murphy Lab in 2020 to complete her dissertation research. She is interested in malaria vaccine development, translation, and implementation. Outside of the lab, Felicia enjoys swimming, baking, and exploring the Pacific Northwest.

What Could Deep Sea Fish (and Their Sinking Poop) Do for the Ocean's Ability to Absorb our Greenhouse Gas Emissions? -- Helena McMonagle

Helena is a graduate student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at University of Washington. She studies fish that live in the “twilight zone”, the shallowest layer of the deep sea and home to the world’s most abundant vertebrates (hint: they’re fish!) She is interested in ecosystem services that these fish provide, such as their role in how the ocean absorbs and stores carbon from the atmosphere. She is also interested in international ocean policy, which governs marine resources outside any one country’s jurisdiction. Other interests include science communication and public engagement, being outside, learning Spanish, and dance.