WARF-Funded Graduate Students

WARF Student Profiles

• Collecting data on kids’ environments and health

  Researchers use all sorts of methods to collect their data. For one project on campus, that method takes the form of a cute, animal-shaped backpack. Graduate student Amy Schultz specializes in environmental epidemiology, which studies how environmental factors affect human health at the population level. She is a leading research assistant on a project called CREATE: Cumulative Risks, Early Development, and Emerging Academic Trajectories.

• Translating raw data into insight

  Niko Escanilla was drawn from his background in mathematics to graduate study in artificial intelligence and machine learning because he was looking for a discipline that could be applied in real world and clinical settings. As a graduate student in Computer Sciences, Escanilla had the chance to put those techniques to work as a research assistant on a UW2020-funded project, assessing variables that can predict the risk of breast cancer.

• Archiving today’s culture for tomorrow’s researchers, through podcasts

  When Samuel Hansen started producing podcasts about mathematics and science, it was possible for a small, independent podcast like Hansen’s to rank in the country’s top 60 most popular shows. Now, the top charts are dominated by network-produced podcasts, a change that has taken place in the last 10 years alone – but not the last the world of podcasting will see. To preserve podcasts as they are now, and archive the changes within them, a project at UW–Madison is dedicated to making today’s podcasts available well into the future.

• Taking a hands-on approach to catalyst research

  To Keishla Rivera-Dones, chemical engineering is about more than dealing with chemical reactions; it’s about understanding the building blocks of everything. A PhD student at UW–Madison in the Dumesic and Huber Research Groups, Rivera-Dones works with supported metal catalysts and applies them to promote and improve the efficiency of chemical reactions.

• Looking for links between language and action

  Say you’re given a list of six random words. You hear them once, and after a short delay, you have to repeat as many as you can remember. Your recall ability is based on what’s known as your working memory span. But it’s limited by constraints that vary from person to person and may be based on an individual’s experience with language.

• Applying machine learning models to improve dairy farm management

  As new technologies have opened doors for dairy farms to harness more data from their herds than ever before, farmers around the state have embraced these innovations. That leaves farmers with vast amounts of data – on cows, herds, farms, the market, crops, and soils – but, as of yet, no way to integrate the entirety of that data into farm management.

• Helping the average person teach a robot new tricks

  Imagine a future where robots at home are more than just disc-shaped vacuum cleaners – a future where they are autonomous agents that can perform our everyday tasks. Though we may not always realize it, these tasks require a lot of physical responsiveness to the environment that is natural for humans but a core challenge of robotics.

• Building a better water quality measurement platform

  With a background in engineering and environmental science, alumnus Paul Schramm had the perfect mix of skills to work on a water quality measurement project that brought new possibilities into the field of limnology.

• Exploring an antiviral factor that helps, rather than hinders, influenza

  Mitch Ledwith is motivated every day by the excitement that comes with new, and sometimes unexpected, discoveries. As a PhD student in Cellular and Molecular Biology and a research assistant in the Mehle lab, Ledwith has been a firsthand witness to just one of those exciting discoveries on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, through a project funded by a UW2020 grant.

• Luke Loken

  Luke Loken is a hydrologic research technician for the USGS Wisconsin Water Science Center and concurrently pursuing a PhD in Freshwater and Marine Sciences in Emily Stanley’s lab at the Center for Limnology. He and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin developed a new tool to better understand aquatic ecosystems.

• Eun Ha Namkung

  Eun Ha Namkung is a PhD candidate in the School of Social Work and graduate assistant at the Waisman Center. Her research interests center around the dynamics and consequences of family caregiving over the life course. Most of her recent work examines families of an adult child with intellectual and developmental disabilities or serious mental illnesses.

• Katherine Amato

  Katherine Amato is a second-year PhD student conducting research in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Mehle. Her research examines how influenza virus interacts with the cellular environment during infection.

• Rachel Silver

  PhD candidate, Educational Policy Studies, Anthropology Faculty advisor: Nancy Kendall, Associate Professor, Educational Policy Studies; Claire Wendland, Professor, Anthropology Rachel Silver’s research explores the relationship between discourse on girls’ education and sexuality in international development and the …

• Jaye Gardiner

  PhD Candidate, Cancer Biology Faculty advisor: Nathan M. Sherer, Assistant Professor, Cancer Biology Jaye is a fifth year graduate student in the Cancer Biology program. She is a graduate research assistant in the Sherer Lab. Her …

• Amir Mashal

  PhD Candidate, Electrical Engineering Faculty advisor: Michael S. Arnold, Associate Professor, Electrical and Materials Science Engineering Amir Mashal is a fourth year graduate student pursuing a PhD in Electrical and Materials Science Engineering at UW–Madison. Mashal’s …

• Adrienne Wood

  PhD Candidate, Psychology Faculty advisor: Paula Niedenthal, Professor, Psychology Wood is a fifth year Ph.D. student in psychology at UW–Madison. Wood studies the mechanisms that guide humans’ recognition of facial expression of emotion, and has been …

• Adela Cedillo

  PhD Candidate, History Faculty advisor: Steve J. Stern, Professor, History Adela Cedillo is a fourth-year student pursing a PhD in history at UW–Madison. Cedillo’s dissertation research contributes to an emerging field of study that re-conceptualizes the …

• José Rodriguez-Molina

  PhD Candidate, Cellular and Molecular Pathology Faculty advisor: John Svaren, Professor, Comparative Biosciences José Rodriguez-Molina is a fifth year PhD student in the Cellular and Molecular Pathology program at UW–Madison and the School of Medicine Public …

• Sofiya Hupalo

  PhD Candidate, Neuroscience Faculty advisor: Craig W. Berridge, Professor, Psychology Sofiya Hupalo is interested in the neuropeptide, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). CRF has been studied extensively for over three decades as a stress-related neurotransmitter, but no one …

• Melissa Charenko

  PhD Candidate, History of Science, Medicine and Technology Faculty advisor: Gregg Mitman, Professor, History of Science Melissa Charenko’s research explores the origins, development, and consequences of discussions about anthropogenic change and deep time. Through her research …

• Samuel Acuña

  PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering Faculty advisor: Darryl Thelen, Professor, Mechanical Engineering Samuel Acuña is third year PhD student in mechanical engineering. He is a member of the UW–Madison Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab. The focus of his research …

• Elsa Noterman

  PhD Candidate, Geography Faculty advisor: Keith Woodward, Associate Professor, Geography Elsa Noterman is a PhD student in geography. Her research focuses on the socio-spatial struggles involved in the ongoing development and management of multiple material and …

• Jose “Tony” Jimenez-Torres

  PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering Faculty advisor: David J. Beebe, Professor, Biomedical Engineering Tony Jimenez-Torres is a fifth year PhD student in biomedical engineering. His research involves the design and development of microfluidic tools that are used …

• Maia Pujara

  PhD Candidate, Neuroscience Faculty advisor: Michael R. Koenigs, Associate Professor, Psychiatry Maia Pujara’s research focuses on understanding how the brain processes information about rewards to guide decisions. Because the ventromedial portion of the prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) …

• Monica Yue

  PhD Candidate, Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Faculty advisor: Richard Peterson, Professor, School of Pharmacy Monica Yue investigates the effects of TCDD on development in the embryonic zebrafish. TCDD is a ubiquitous and persistent environmental contaminant, and …

• Kousei (Martin) Perales

  PhD Candidate, Freshwater and Marine Science Faculty advisor: Jake Vander Zanden, Professor, Zoology Kousei Perales is studying how droughts alter the quality of habitat in lakes and how that impacts fish communities. Kousei is also studying …

• Lauren Moscoe

  PhD Candidate, Botany Faculty advisor: Eve Emshwiller, Associate Professor, Botany Lauren Moscoe enjoys learning and teaching about ethnobotany: the interactions between human cultures and plants. Her research interests center around agrobiodiversity and traditional crops. In her …

• Katelyn Milliman

  PhD Candidate, Astronomy Faculty advisor: Bob Mathieu, Professor, Astronomy Katelyn Milliman studies the dominant formation mechanism for anomalous stars (blue stragglers, sub-subgiants, etc.) in open cluster environments. Her work focuses on investigating the surface abundance of …

• Aaron Reich

  PhD Candidate, Chinese Faculty advisor: Mark Meulenbeld, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Literature Aaron Reich is a PhD student in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin–Madison studying Chinese …

• Laura Stephenson

  PhD Candidate, Communication Arts Faculty advisor: Marie-Louise Mares, Associate Professor, Communication Arts Laura Stephenson is a PhD candidate at UW–Madison with an M.A. from University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School. Her research focuses on the role of …

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