Dear Alumni,
Are you curious about what your fellow EEB alumni have been up to since graduation? Are you looking to connect with alumni working in certain industries? Do you have a personal or professional update you’d like to “share with the whole class”? If so, this blog is for you!
We hope you enjoy exploring. As always, let us know if there is anything the department can do to support you as an alum!
Sincerely,
Elissa Lappenga
Academic Services Manager
Lisa Marie (Tolman) von Biela ’80 graduated with a BS in Biology. She is thrilled to announce that her novel Blockbuster, was released this week on January 6, 2015! Blockbuster is her fourth book so far and is a BigPharma medical thriller. She has been reviewed as the “Queen of the Medical Thriller.”
Kate Groundwater ’10 (middle in photo) is currently pursuing her MSN in the UCLA School of Nursing’s Masters Entry Clinical Nursing program. Before beginning her studies, Kate worked as an intern and later a Medical Assistant for Planned Parenthood.
Julia Barske ’13 graduated with a PhD in Biology. She has recently written a paper titled “Energetics of the acrobatic courtship in male golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus)” in Proceedings of the Royal Society B December 18th.
Brian Teng ’12 graduated with a BS in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution. He has just started a new job at the University of San Diego. He is the Project Assistant for a 5-year NSF-funded research project on climate change education for key influentials. His responsibilities include website design and maintenance, social media strategy, event planning, and administrative activities. More on the project is available here (http://www.sandiego.edu/climate/).
Leslie Grant ’12 graduated from UCLA with a Biology degree. She is currently finishing up her second year in Teach for America, where she works in an Alliance charter school in Downtown Los Angeles. She currently teaches a 10th grade Anatomy & Physiology course at this school. The most recent project they have done was a dissection of rats and fetal pigs, which was funded through Donor’s Choose. Attached is an image of the students engaging in the dissection.
Daniel Lieu ’10 graduated with a BS in Biology. He graduated from pharmacy school at the University of the Pacific in 2013, and is now living and working in San Diego.
Patrick Green ’09 graduated with a BS in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution. After some time spent teaching outdoor education, he returned to work in EEB as a field assistant for Dr. Greg Grether, a research assistant for Dr. Blaire Van Valkenburgh, and a TA in the department. He began a PhD program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 2011, and this year he moved (with my PhD advisor, Dr. Sheila Patek) to Duke University. He is now in my 3rd year, researching the interaction of functional morphology and animal behavior in mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda).
“I frequently look back on my time at UCLA as broadening my interests, and then allowing me to shape them into my current career path. I truly appreciate Dr. Grether and Dr. Van Valkenburgh’s help in allowing me to work with them, and the flexibility of the EEB program in allowing me to teach undergraduates. The wonderful experiences I had in the EEB program stick with me to this day!”
Mark Landig ’08, at left, is a graduate student in the School of Optometry at UCBerkeley. He is a Berkeley Optometry Ambassador, working in conjunction with the Admissions & Student Affairs Office to provide prospective students with“real life” information regarding what it’s like to be an Optometry student at UCLinda Escalante ’02 has won a national award. She received the award from Latina Magazine. To see the award, go here: http://www.latina.com/nextgenerationsalute
Gina Schellenbaum (now Lovasi) ’01 graduated with a BS in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution. “Dr. Lovasi awarded Calderone prize Dr. Gina Lovasi, assistant professor of epidemiology, has been awarded the Frank A. Calderone Junior Faculty Prize, which gives $25,000 to support her research efforts on the project “Neighborhood commercial resources and sudden cardiac arrest.” The prize was established by the Calderone family in 1986 to honor Dr. Calderone’s distinguished career and life-long commitment to the health of the public.”
Kristin Searcy Bell ’97 holds both an MS and a PhD in civil and environmental engineering from NorthwesternUniversity. She is a manager for the Environ Foundation, which is an international consultancy working to help resolve demanding environmental and human health issues. She has over seven years of experience in environmental engineering, with particular emphasis onassessing the fate and transport of contaminants in river systems. She has served as the manager for sediment remediation and restoration projects that involved contaminated sediment assessment, remedy evaluation, and remedy selection. Kristin has written and co-authored several peer-reviewed papers addressing contaminant and pathogen transport in riverine systems.
Marcel P. Fraix ’96 earned a D.O. at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific,
Pomona, California. He is presently an Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Western University of Health Sciences.
Peter Girguis ’94 graduated from the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. He worked closely with David Chapman, Len Muscatine, and Bill Hamner. This September (2013), he was promoted to full professor with tenure at Harvard University. “I’m very grateful for being promoted, and I believe wholeheartedly that my training and experiences at UCLA made me the scientist that I am today. I wanted to thank my mentors, of course, but also the many faculty, graduate students and my peers who took the time to teach me what they knew and encourage me to do my best.”