Meet Our Team

Executive Board

Patrick Ortiz

Director of Presenters

Patrick is a Biology PhD student studying the interaction of anti-bacterial mechanisms with the gut microbiome. He works with the Kearney Lab. He would like to work in industry, translating science to communities where biotech is often misunderstood. 

Megan Behrmann

Director of Organizers

Megan is a PhD student with the Trakselis Laboratory of DNA Replication and Repair.  As a biochemist, she works with her lab to study the protein mechanisms involved in DNA replication. She has interests in pursuing a career that supports STEM research literacy and education

Emily Alonzo

Director of Logistics

Emily is a second year graduate student pursuing her PhD in Biochemistry. She is a member in the Shaw Lab working on RNA modifications. Additionally, she works with making the STEM field more accessible to the blind and visually impaired. 

Members

Melissa Anderson

Presenter

Melissa is a second year graduate student in the Chan Lab who studies quantum materials through synthesizing intermetallic solid state iron compounds. She joined PYPhD because she loves to share her passion for material science with her peers as well as mentoring younger students.

Madeline Bannon

Organizer/Presenter

Madeline is a first year graduate student studying chemistry.

Malcom Barnard

Presenter

Malcom is a first year graduate student studying biology.

Moises Bravo

Presenter

Moises is a third year graduate student studying metals.

Lauren butterworth

Presenter

Lauren is a biochemistry graduate student in the Trakselis Lab. Her research focuses on the E. coli replisome, learning about DNA replication by studying mutant proteins. 

Colin Burdine

Presenter

Colin is a second year graduate student in the Blair Lab. He does research in machine learning, quantum computing, and computer science. He is in PYPhD in order to improve his communication skills and to contribute to increasing scientific literacy and participation in STEM-based activities.

Patrick Charapata

Presenter

Patrick is a PhD candidate in the biology department working with Dr. Stephen Trumble, working with marine mammals and artic fish populations.

Shaif Chowdhury

Presenter

Shaif is a third year graduate student studying computer science.

Favour Eze

Organizer

Favour is a second year graduate student in the Romero Lab studying organic chemistry.

Mayte Gonzalez

Organizer/Presenter

Mayte is a third year graduate student in the Shaw Laboratory studying protein charge and electron transfer.

Kayla Haberman

Organizer/Presenter

Kayla is a first year graduate student studying biology.

Jacob Hatvany

Presenter

Jacob is a PhD student in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He works within the Gallagher Lab on initiating and controlling reactions within microdroplets. He is interested in working at the intersection of STEM and Higher Education.

Jessica Kostyo

Presenter

Jessica is a PhD candidate in the department of chemistry and biochemistry working in the Bob Kane lab. She is working on finding a way to apply synthetic organic chemistry to solve biological problems such as inflammation in transplants. Jessica is interested in pursuing a career in pharmaceutical science. 

Heidi Lindsley

Presenter

Heidi is a PhD graduate student currently rotating in the Biology department. She is interested in genetics and vector biology. Both in her current research and in the future, Heidi is interested in the ways in which science can be used to alleviate disease. 

Peyton Little

Presenter

Peyton is a second year graduate student in the Kane Lab sutdying organic applications to biological systems.

Isaac Liu

Organizer/Presenter

Isaac is a first year graduate student in the engineering department.

Sasha Lubaev

Organizer

Sasha is a third year graduate student in the Romero Lab studying organic chemistry.

Tatyana Martynova

Presenter

Tatyana is currently a fourth-year PhD graduate student working in Dr. Cheolho Sim’s lab. Her research is focused on studying the sex gene cascade of Culex mosquitoes, which are vectors of serious diseases such as the West Nile virus. She hopes to figure out how Culex mosquitoes can be genetically modified to enable effective use of this sterile insect technique (SIT) to control Culex mosquito populations.

 

Duncan Miertschin

Presenter

Duncan is a first year graduate student in the physics department.

Lacy Miller

Organizer

Lacy is a second year graduate student studying biology.

Fernanda Mirón

Organizer

Fernanda is a first year graduate student in the anthropology department.

Brooke Morris

Organizer

Brooke is a PhD student working under the guidance of Dr. Stephen Trumble and Dr. Erich Baker. She studies epigenetics of aging in multiple species model, and has been an organizer with TBI for over two years!

Vanessa Muñiz

Organizer/Presenter

Vanessa is a first year graduate student in the behavioral science and neuroscience department.

David Narvais

Organizer 

David is a Psychology doctoral student in the Behavioral Neuroscience program. He is interested in the behavioral and epigenetic consequences of epilepsy on the developing brain.

Geeth Ongole

Presenter

Geeth is a PhD student in physics. He studies black holes in the quantum gravity sector.

Paige Plattner

Presenter

Paige is a first year graduate student studying anthropology.

Thushani Punchipatabendi

Presenter

Thushani is a first year in biochemistry student in the Trakselis Lab.

Mushafika Rahman

Organizer

Mushafika is a first year masters student in the Statistical Sciences department. 

Morgan Raines

Presenter

Morgan is a first year graduate student studying chemistry.

Anna Samsonov

Presenter

Anna is currently a first year graduate student studying anthropology.

Chloë Sells

Presenter

Chloë is currently a second year graduate student studying organic chemistry with the Kane Lab.

Sadia Sinty Disha

Presenter

Sadia is currently a third year graduate student studying biochemistry with the Trakselis Lab.

Emily Sperou

Presenter

Emily is a PhD student in the biology department working with Dr. Sarah Kienle. Emily is broadly interested in investigating the links between organisms’ physiological systems to larger ecological processes. Currently, she is studying ecophysiological traits of an Antarctic apex predator, the leopard seal.

Jasmine Stovall

Organizer

Jasmine is PhD student in the biology department under the advisement of Dr. Thad Scott. Her research focuses primarily on water quality as well as phytoplankton response to changing environmental conditions and human impact. She is passionate about educating others on the importance of protecting and conserving global freshwater resources.

Micaela Vavra

Organizer/Presenter

Micaela is currently a first year graduate student studying environmental science and engineering.

Sarah VerPloeg

Presenter

Sarah is a PhD Candidate in Dr. Usenko’s research lab in the Environmental Science Department. Her research focuses primarily on the atmospheric chemistry and environmental fate of pesticides used to control mosquito populations in urban areas, but she is also passionate about the public health implications associated with exposures to those pesticides. After graduation, she is interested in pursuing a career in informal science education and increase public awareness of environmental science.

Sarah Williamson

Organizer

Sarah is an MPH in Epidemiology candidate. She is interested in using evidence-based practices to fuel change related to population health injustices – specifically in environmental health and infectious disease research. 

Liz Waymire

Presenter

Liz is a PhD student in cellular, molecular, health, and disease biology studying an invasive mosquito in the Horn of Africa. She hopes to work at the CDC one day in infectious diseases and epidemiology.

Nathan Wright

Presenter

Nathan is a PhD student studying invertebrate paleontology in the department of Geosciences. He is interested in researching the preservation, ecology, and evolution of parasites in the marine fossil record.

Paige Womble

Organizer

Paige is a PhD graduate student in the Psychology and Neuroscience program.  She is studying with Dr. Joaquin Lugo in a developmental neuroscience lab, and is currently investigating potential therapeutic dietary interventions in an epileptic mouse model.

Charli Worth

Organizer

Charli is a PhD graduate student currently rotating in the Biology department. She is interested in molecular biology and wants to help develop methods to fight disease.

Alumni

Carl Bender

Presenter 2019, Dir. of Organizers 2020-22

Carl was a PhD student in the Health Human Performance and Recreation Department. Carl focused on the role that genetics plays in the response to exercise and nutrition interventions.

Lila Musegades

Presenter 2020-22

Lila was a PhD student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Her research specifically focused on physical chemistry. 

 

Will Best

Presenter 

Will was a Statistics PhD candidate studying to improve forecasting accuracy. His research involved collaborating on a NASA satellite data set.  

 

Rachel Shriver

Presenter, 2021

Rachel is a PhD candidate in the Health Services Research program working with Dr. Michael R. Richards on health policy research.

Felicia Osburn

Presenter, 2018-21

Felicia earned her PhD in Biology in Dr. Thad Scott’s lab in 2021. She is now a post doc using stoichiometry to produce teaching modules, and continues her research in freshwater science.

Grace Aquino

Organizer, 2019-21

Grace is a PhD candidate in the environmental science department. She is currently working to finish her research while writing her dissertation. Happy dissertating, Grace!

Keighley Reisenauer

Founder, Presenter, Dir. of Logistics 2017-21

Keighley worked hard to grow PyPhD and remains passionate about STEM education. She graduated with her doctorate and and is now working under a teaching fellowship at Baylor. She plans to continue to pursue a career in SciComm.

Eva Konstandinova

Presenter and organizer 2018-21

Eva was an active member of PyPhD and graduated with her PhD in physics. She now has a tenure track teaching position where she continues to foster students’ interest in  STEM

Ankan Choudhury

Presenter 2018-21

Ankan earned his PhD in the Kearney Lab developing novel delivery methods for synthesized products.  He now works as a post doc studying the human gut microbiome.

Samantha Hodges

Organizer 2018-20

Sam researched developmental neuroscience and organized for several different collaborators. After graduating with her PhD, Sam began a post-doctorate program in Michigan.

Andrew Flynn

Presenter 2018-20

Andrew represented the Geology department during his prolific tenure with PyPhD as a Presenter. He graduated with his PhD in 2020 on his paleobotany research.

Vivian Vigliotti

Organizer 2018-19

Vivian was the first organizer for Transformation Waco, dedicating herself to one of our most intensive collaborations, demonstrating her commitment to PyPhD’s mission and success.

Victoria Neises

Organizer 2018-19

Tori studies fatty acids in northern marine mammal population using wet lab and in silico data techniques. She is finishing her degree remotely with her two little girls.

Will Matthaeus

Presenter 2018-19

Will was a member of PyPhD as a presenter, focusing on ecological biology and computational models. He is a PhD candidate with the biology department.

Himasha Perera

Organizer 2018-19

Himasha was a student in Dr. Trakselis’s lab studying the stability, binding and orientation of helicases. After earning her doctorate she started work at a biotech company investigating drug therapies.

 

Suzanne Nolan

Organizer 2017-19

Suzanne studied the impact of early-life environmental factors on the development of autistic-like behaviors in mouse models. She graduated with her PhD in 2019.

Grace Sutherland

Presenter 2018-19

Grace studied predictive toxicity of seafood and other food related toxins. She graduated with her Masters in 2019.

Dani Crain

Founder, Presenter 2017-19, Dir. of Presenters, 2018-19

Dani studied sex hormones in whale earplugs. She is near to graduating with her PhD.

Gavin Saari

Presenter 2017-18

Gavin studied in Environmental Sciences department and graduated with his PhD in 2018.

 

Meron Ghidey

Presenter 2017

Meron studied how plants and bacteria can be used to combat bacteria and their increasing resistance to antibiotics. He  graduated with his PhD in 2019.

Cansu Cetin

Founder, Presenter 2017

Cansu studied at Baylor 2016-17.

2017-18

Founders

2016

2018-19