WARF-Funded Graduate Students

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) plays an essential role in supporting the innovative research and graduate education that are cornerstones of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. WARF invests in graduate education through University Fellowships and Advanced Opportunities Fellowships.

The following profiles illustrate the diverse and important ways that WARF contributes to graduate student success at UW–Madison.

WARF-funded student profiles

  • Marianna Krumrine

    PhD Candidate, Anthropology
    Marianna studies how hip-hop and other types of music shape national identity and ideas of belonging in contemporary France.

  • Will French

    PhD student, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
    Will's scholarship focuses on the school experiences of queer youth, trans youth, and youth of color.

  • Tanuj Kumar

    PhD Candidate, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Tanuj specializes in engineering the interaction between light and optical materials and devices, especially in the areas of spacecraft propulsion and thermoregulation, and far-infrared imaging.

  • Mireya Pimentel

    PhD student, Cellular and Molecular Pathology
    Mireya’s research focuses on immunology in Down syndrome and CD18 expression.

  • Carlos A. Huang-Zhu

    PhD candidate, Chemical Engineering
    Carlos is a PhD candidate whose research informs biomedical applications and chemical production. His doctoral research uses molecular dynamics simulations to model interactions between inorganic nanoparticles and model biological membranes. Using chemistry, Carlos influences the surface of a material to control how it interacts with biological molecules for drug delivery, biosensing, and other biomedical applications.

  • Oluwatobi (Tobi) Idowu

    PhD student, African Cultural Studies
    Tobi’s research interests include African popular culture, digital media, and global Black literatures.

  • Sarah Tolbert

    PhD candidate, Geography
    Sarah’s PhD research focuses on how to increase local communities’ capacity for forest conservation in the DRC.

  • Charles Smith

    PhD student, Economics and Business
    Charles is a PhD student in the joint PhD program in Finance and Economics at the Wisconsin School of Business whose research lies at the intersection of finance and industrial organization.

  • Elise Chavez

    PhD student, Physics

  • Arielle Link

    PhD student, Integrative Biology
    Arielle's research focuses on nitrogen cycling and soil microbial communities in post-fire lodgepole pine forests in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

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