The STEM Ambassador Program began in 2016 as a training program for a small cohort of University of Utah scientists. Since then, we have grown to work with over 170 graduate students, post-docs, faculty, staff, and undergraduate students. Scroll down to learn about the scientists who have participated. Contact us if you would like to reach out to a STEM Ambassador.
Note that many Ambassador bios were uploaded when the Ambassador joined the program and may not be current.
Onyeka is a Ph.D. student working with the Brasch Lab at the University of Utah’s Department of Biochemistry. His research focuses on understanding the structural organization of proteins in the brain and how changes in these organizations lead to neurological disorders. In his free time, Onyeka loves movies, mentoring, and sightseeing. He is keen on promoting access to science for people from all backgrounds, especially people from low-income backgrounds. Onyeka believes that more effort should be taken to communicate science to non-scientist to create public awareness of the importance of science. He hopes the STEM Ambassador Program will teach him useful ways to interact with the non-science community, as he is excited to show the world the beauty of science.
Judy Ou received her PhD from Boston University School of Public Health and BS and MPH from Brigham Young University. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at the University of Utah, where she works on a variety of studies in the cancer field. Her projects include identifying the late health effects of pediatric cancer treatments, examining patterns and trends in environmental exposure and cancers among adults, and identifying barriers to adherence in cancer screenings among Latinos.
She enjoys climbing, gardening, hiking, and eating desserts.
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Lace Padilla works in an interdisciplinary Visual Perception and Spatial Cognition perception research group run by Dr. Sarah Creem-Regehr, Dr. Jeanine Stefanucci, and Dr. William B. Thompson at the University of Utah. She works on two NSF funded projects; Uncertainty Visualization Project, and Spatial Cognition and Navigation (SCAN) Project. |
Lace is a strong advocate for minorities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). She is the founder and president of the Diversity Graduate School Application Advisory, which helps underrepresented undergraduate students—specifically female, minority, LGBTQ, non-US citizens, and differently-abled students— apply for graduate school. For her diversity in STEM work, she has received the Martin Harris Hiatt Memorial Graduate Fellowship, For Underrepresented Populations and the Clayton Fellowship, For Excellence In Research with Underrepresented Populations.
To learn more about her work, please visit LacePadilla.com.
David Parrott studies a tiny mutant of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Thale Cress; discovered in Leslie Sieburth’s laboratory at the University of Utah). Using a combination of genetics, genomics, and plant physiology, David is investigating how an as-of-yet unknown signaling molecule made in the root of the mutant plant (but present in all plants) might alert the shoot and slow growth when there is too much salt or not enough water in the soil. This research could be important in understanding how plants cope with drought.
David loves to telemark ski, mountain bike, and work in his garden.
Brandon Patterson is the Technology Engagement Librarian at the University of Utah’s Eccles Health Sciences Library. His role connects students, staff and faculty to digital tools and emerging technologies to support teaching and learning. His research interests include increasing information literacy in the health sciences and creating simulation tools in extended reality (VR/MR/XR) platforms for health sciences learners.
Brandon enjoys quality time in the great outdoors, cooking good food, cycling up canyon roads, and hanging out with family.
Apoorva works in Dr. Jamesina Simpson’s Computational Electromagnetics lab, where she uses numerical techniques to implement three-dimensional (3-D) Maxwell’s equations FDTD models of global electromagnetic wave propagation within the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. Some applications are remote-sensing of oil fields, scintillation, hypothesized electromagnetic earthquake precursors, remote-sensing of localized ionospheric anomalies, and space weather effects on the operation of electric power grids. Her work is to characterize coupling of unintentional EM interference into the atmosphere. She develops large-scale global models using supercomputers to achieve this. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking, badminton, and snowboarding
Ariadne Penalva works at the University of Utah where she studies neural development, as well as the origins of neurodevelopmental disorders. She has a background in biochemistry and psychology.
Kathryn Petrozzo is a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at the University of Utah under the direction of Dr. Natalia Washington. Her research lies at the intersection of the philosophy of psychiatry, neuroscience, law, and clinical ethics. She is primarily interested in how the act of diagnosing psychiatric disorders creates particularly negative characterizations of individuals with mental illnesses, which has detrimental effects both within and outside of the clinician’s office. Kathryn is a strong proponent of interdisciplinary work and public engagement with the sciences and is looking forward to strengthening her scientific communication skills. When not working on her research, she enjoys spending as much time in nature, be it hiking up mountains, skiing down them, or biking through them.
Cecilia Prator is an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology and works in Dr. William Brazelton’s lab at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on examining the role of viruses in the Lost City hydrothermal field chimneys. Cecilia completed her PhD at UC Berkeley and has also worked on plant and human viruses. Her scientific interests include virus transmission biology, virus diversity, and host-virus interactions. She enjoys horseback riding, camping, skiing, and cooking.
Bo Price is a graduate student in the Hughes Lab at the University of Utah Biochemistry Department. The Hughes lab studies organelle homeostasis in response to metabolic stresses. Bo’s focus is understanding a newly described morphological adaptation that occurs on the surface of mitochondria called Mitochondrial Derived Compartment (MDC) formation. He is determining the metabolic signaling pathway required for MDC formation to elucidate their role in the mitochondrial stress response. Bo has always been an advocate for programs that aim to educate and encourage involvement with STEM. He hopes to use his new skills from the STEM Ambassador Program to conduct and lead outreach and recruitment activities in his future scientific career. Bo’s hobbies with his family include hiking, snowboarding, stargazing, road trips, museums, and strategy games.
Rodolfo Probst works in Dr. Jack Longino’s Lab at the University of Utah where he investigates the evolution of ant-plan mutualistic interactions. Specifically, he studies how fast (evolutionary speaking) does it take for arboreal ants to evolve a “true friendship” with their plant hosts. Roodolfo received his B.S. and Master’s from The State University of São Paulo and the Zoology Museum of the University of São Paulo respectively. He is led by his interest in ant evolution, as well as his passion for tropical fieldwork, teaching the public about bugs and conservation, and exploring the outdoors – or complex mallard reactions in his kitchen.
Shrinivasan (Cheenu) works with Dr. Toto Olivera at the University of Utah where he investigates different types of brain cells found in rodent nervous system and tracks how these cells change their properties under chronic pain conditions. Cheenu uses microscopy and fluorescence imaging techniques to study these brain cells and to search for novel pharmacological interventions that could alleviate chronic pain.
Cheenu likes to experiment with different cuisines that he shares with his hiking and trail running friends.
Lisa Rigtrup works at the University of Utah Institutional Review Board where she manages board members, continuing education initiatives, and serves as the IRB webmaster. She is interested exploring fun and interesting ways to increase community awareness of human subject research ethics. Lisa enjoys gardening, playing video games, and spending time with her brothers and sisters.
Kathleen Ritterbush is a paleontologist at the University of Utah. She studies what ocean life was like during and before the time of the dinosaurs. Recent projects include modeling sea shells of extinct squid-like ammonite fossils to test if the animals could swim, and hunting for fossil sea sponges in ancient rocks. Because these ancient rocks are pushed into mountains by the Earth’s shifting surface, fossil hunting takes her across deserts of the American West and up into the Peruvian Andes. She is most interested in what animals flourish after global mass extinction events, and how this is related to world-wide environmental changes.
Victoria Russell works at the University of Utah where she studies biological fuel cells, which use catalysts derived from biological components to convert chemical energy into electrical energy. These catalysts include components from living cells (enzymatic fuel cells), or even entire cells (microbial fuel cells). Her research involves using genetic engineering to develop and improve upon biological catalysts used in enzymatic fuel cells.
A native of New York City, Victoria dove enthusiastically into all that Utah’s outdoors have to offer. She can often be found hiking, snowshoeing, backpacking, or canyoneering. She also enjoys reading and traveling, and is always up for planning her next adventure.
| Joanna Bettmann Schaefer is a Professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work. She received her B.A. with honors from Dartmouth College in 1993, her MSW from the University of Utah in 1999, and her Ph.D from Smith College School for Social Work in 2005. Dr. Schaefer has received numerous honors, including the 2013 Dean’s Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2011 Psychoanalytic Psychodynamic Research Society Award, a 2006-2007 fellowship with the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the 1993 Lawrence Marx Jr. Award of Dartmouth College.
She worked as a field staff, field therapist, director, and researcher at wilderness therapy and residential treatment settings for troubled youth from 1994 to 2016. She has also worked as a clinical social worker in several community mental health agencies, the University of Utah Counseling Center, and in private practice. She is trained in disaster response and served as a social worker for the American Red Cross response to Hurricane Katrina in Utah and Mississippi. Dr. Schaefer writes and researches on a range of topics, including nature’s impact on mental health, wilderness therapy, residential treatment, and attachment. She has published articles in Psychological Services, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Research on Social Work Practice, Journal of Counseling Psychology, International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, Journal of Experiential Education, Child and Youth Care Forum, Clinical Social Work Journal, Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, the Journal of Teaching in Social Work, Smith College Studies in Social Work, and the Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs. She has presented her research nationally and internationally at professional conferences over the last 20 years. Dr. Schaefer has received grant funding to support her research agenda, including grants recently from the Sierra Club to investigate the mental health and psychosocial outcomes of peer-led immersive wilderness trips for military veterans. |
Maggie Scholle is a first-year master’s student in the Environmental Humanities graduate program at the U. She is interested in the intersection of mapping and memory of erosion, coastal processes, and slow landscape change, particularly cases where that change is poorly documented. She is originally from Chicago and has previously studied sediment transport along the Lake Michigan shore. She is interested in pursuing careers in both formal and informal environmental education and is excited to develop community engagement skills with STEMAP. When not reading for class, she can be found running on the Jordan River and hiking with her cat, Sterling.
Emily works in Dr. Strayer’s Applied Cognition Laboratory studying how neural biomarkers of attention and physiological stress are modulated by exposure to natural environments. Using multiple methodologies in her research has also sparked her interest in the coupling between neurophysiological measures (e.g., EEG) and peripheral physiological measures (e.g., ECG) during restorative interventions.
Emily enjoys putting her research into practice by venturing outdoors as much as possible!
Dr. Olja Simoska received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bard College, NY, in 2015. She received her Ph.D. degree in Analytical Chemistry in 2019 from the University of Texas at Austin, working with Prof. Keith J. Stevenson. Her graduate research focused on the design, development, and application of ultramicroelectrode array platforms for the quantitative, real-time monitoring of dynamic metabolism and responses of pathogenic bacteria. At present, Olja is the ACS Irving S. Sigal Postdoctoral Fellow and working in the research group of Prof. Shelley D. Minteer at the University of Utah Department of Chemistry. Her postdoctoral research focuses on methodically exploring bioengineering approaches to improve extracellular electron transfer and performance of microbial-based electrochemical systems. She also a strong science outreach enthusiast and is excited to expand her science communications skills through the STEM Ambassador Program. In her free time, Olja enjoys jewelry design, baking, hiking, and skiing.
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