In this episode, Courtney talks to the creators of Pursuing Ph.D., an Instagram account focused on empowering women of color in STEM. The creators of the account are Nathalie Lancy Momplaisir, Bethany Bogan, Ta-Tyonna Buck, and Ashley Coleman.

Learn more about Pursuing Ph.D. here: https://www.instagram.com/pursuingphd/

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via Google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our Google form [link] ⁠https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest⁠

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Courtney on Twitter: @CApplewhiteX

This week, we will be joined by Ritwik Kulkarni (he/him). Ritwik is a second-year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette. Ever wonder why does your laptop use fans quite often to cool them down? Its because the heat carrier, called thermal interface material, start degrading and often dry out. His research work comprises of reliability analysis of these materials, understanding their patterns and developing mitigation strategies to extend their lifecycle. In addition to the applied projects, he is also experimenting with effect of rotation in thermal transport in dense suspensions, that are fundamental in nature. He received his Bachelor of Technology in 2019 from Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IIT-J), Master of Science in 2021 from Texas A&M University-College Station, both majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Apart from the research work, Ritwik loves to cook Indian food, head out for trails and experiment with beatbox patterns. You can find him on Instagram @ritwik_101.

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form [link] https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Courtney on Twitter: @CApplewhiteX

This week, we will be joined by Aldo Barrita (he/his/él). Aldo is a queer Latinx doctoral student in his 4th year at the Psychological and Brain Sciences Ph.D. Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was born in Mexico and immigrated to the US when he was 16. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UC Berkeley in 2017 with high honors. His research focus includes how different forms of discrimination, primarily microaggressions, psychologically impact individuals from marginalized communities. Specifically, he has a special interest in Latinx and/or LGBTQ+ experiences with microaggressions as well as psychometrics. Aldo currently serves as the student representative for the National Latinx Psychology Association (NLPA) and student chair-elect for APA Division 52. He has been awarded prestigious honors and recognitions such as National Latinx Psychology Association’s 2020 Presidential Citation, 2021 Distinguished Student Service Award, as well as the 2021 SPSP Janessa Shapiro Student Research Award. In 2022 he became a Mellon Fellow receiving the Crossing Latinidades Mellon Humanities Fellowship and Barrick Graduate Fellowship from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form [link] https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Courtney on Twitter: @CApplewhiteX

This week, we will be joined by Lauren Neal (she/her)! Lauren is a third-year PhD candidate in Biosciences at The Rockefeller University in New York City. Her thesis work focuses on how female mosquitoes alter their host-seeking and blood-feeding behaviours depending on if they are, essentially, pregnant or not. Additionally, she is interested in the public health impact of research on disease vectors like mosquitoes as well as the diversification of STEM students and faculty. She received her Bachelors of Science in 2020 from Agnes Scott College, a small, historically women’s college in Atlanta, GA. Outside of the lab, she does freelance writing, and bird-watching, and loves to explore the New York City arts scene.  

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form [link] https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Courtney on Twitter: @CApplewhiteX

This week, we will be joined by Alenxdra (Ali) Massa! Ali is a 4th year PhD Candidate & Innovation Fellow in Cancer Biology at Dartmouth's Guarini School of Graduate Arts and Sciences. Her research is focused on endogenous retroviruses and how their expression impacts the immune system in health & disease. Prior to Dartmouth, she worked in Boston at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and then immuno-oncology startup, Neon Therapeutics (now BioNTech US) In addition to PhD, works as a Venture Fellow at an early-stage healthcare investment firm, Borealis Ventures, participated in Dartmouth’s Innovations Accelerator for Cancer, & served on Dartmouth’s Entrepreneurship Student Leadership Board. In her free time, loves to snowboard and volunteer at a local animal shelter. She's a big animal lover and her long term goal is to open a non-profit animal sanctuary!  

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form [link] https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Courtney on Twitter: @CApplewhiteX

This week, we will be joined by Ellen Taraskiewicz! Ellen is a third-year PhD student in the Department of History at Indiana University with a concentration in twentieth-century American Jewish History. Her research interests include Jewish youth culture, student organizations, American Zionism, and the digital preservation of student archival materials. Ellen received her BA in History from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While in Philly, she spent time cataloguing defunct synagogues in the Jewish Quarter of South Philadelphia and began research on her current dissertation topic: Zionist student organizations.   

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form [link] https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Courtney on Twitter: @CApplewhiteX

This week, we will be joined by Ricardo Couto-Rodriguez. Ricardo was born and raised in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, on the northern coast of the island. He graduated with his B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. Afterwards, he completed a master’s degree (M.S.) at the same university with a focus on microbiology. For his master’s thesis, Ricardo’s focus was on salt-loving (halophilic) microbial communities in the solar salterns of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico and identifying possible environmental processes performed by these microbes. After his master’s, Ricardo joined the Microbiology and Cell Science program at the University of Florida, where he continues his work on halophilic microorganisms and their response to oxidative stress in environmentally harsh conditions. In his spare time, Ricardo enjoys cooking and football (a long-time FC Barcelona fan), and you can catch him most afternoons running laps in the Gators Stadium.

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form [link] https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Courtney on Twitter: @CApplewhiteX

This week, we will be joined by Suyash Naik. Suyash (he/him) is from India and currently lives in Vienna, Austria. He is interested in studying the mechanics of development and currently is working on understanding the role of keratin intermediate filaments in zebrafish early epithelial development. In his spare time, he is also the Social Media Director for PhD Balance.

A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc.

Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form [link] https://tinyurl.com/Be-A-Guest

Want to watch the video? All Grad School Life episodes are also available on the PhD Balance YouTube Channel.

Follow our host Linda on Twitter: @LindaCCor