Bridge to Ph.D. Program in the Natural Sciences
Participant Biographies
Through their employment as Research Assistants, Bridge Program participants are actively engaged in hands-on investigative work in laboratories in the Natural Sciences at Columbia. Below is some information about our current participants and the exciting projects on which they work.
María (Ximena) Fernández – Astronomy Department
Ximena is working with Professor Jacqueline Van Gorkom on the neutral hydrogen distribution of merging galaxies and galaxies with star formation in their outer regions. Her research experience includes understanding galaxy formation and evolution by analyzing galaxy properties in different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Ximena is originally from Colombia. She earned a B.A from Vassar College in Physics and Astronomy in 2007 and a B.Eng. from Dartmouth College in 2008. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Astronomy, with a focus on galaxy formation and evolution.
Tashina Graves – Psychology Department
Tashina is the lab manager and research assistant in Professor Hakwan Lau's Consciousness and Computation Lab in the Psychology Department. She was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico but has lived in New York nearly all her life. Her research interests lie in the area of visual perception, particularly the role of and interplay between attention and awareness. She is currently researching visual attention and subjective visibility. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College where she completed her senior project in Professor Lisa Son’s laboratory, researching metacognition in children. In her senior year Tashina also worked as a teaching assistant for the Perception and Cognition Laboratory courses. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology.
Charlotte Logan – Biological Sciences
Charlotte currently works in Professor James Manley’s laboratory where she studies mechanisms of pre-messenger RNA splicing of the glucocorticoid receptor and its status in connection to glucocorticoid resistance in difficult-to-treat asthma. Her goal is to become adept in the area of gene expression in mammalian systems in order to work on diseases with a genetic basis found in Native American communities. Charlotte is from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, which spans the borders of Quebec, Ontario, and New York State and is dedicated to alleviating the health disparities in Native American communities. She received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Oklahoma and plans to pursue a Ph.D. focusing on molecular genetics.
Chukwudi (Chuk) Onyemekwu – Psychology Department
Alongside Professor Kevin Ochsner, Chuk is researching the social cognitive effects of methamphetamine cravings. He has also worked on a meta-analysis of cravings linked to various other drugs. Chuk is originally form Nigeria and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in psychology. His previous research experience includes two summer terms shadowing Dr. Philip Stieg, Chief Neurosurgeon at Weill Cornell New York Presbyterian Hospital and working on a case study on the use of an intra-aortic balloon pump to permit resection of a tumor. Chuk plans to obtain an M.D./Ph.D. while concentrating on behavioral neuroscience, specifically maladaptive behavior, and on the effects of drugs on social cognition.
Elizabeth Rodriguez – Psychology Department
Elizabeth is a research assistant in Professor Rae Silver’s Neurobiology Llaboratory in the Psychology Department. She graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Hunter College, where she was a Minority Access to Research and Career (MARC) scholar as well as a Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) scholar. For three years she conducted research in Professor Cheryl Harding’s Neuro-Endocrinology laboratory investigating how neurotransmitters and hormones influence song-learning and sexual behaviors in zebra finches. As a MARC/MBRS scholar, Elizabeth participated twice in the Summer Program for Under-Represented Students (SPURS) at Columbia University. She spent the first summer working in Professor Joseph Gogos’ laboratory analyzing fear conditioning reaction to determine whether an exaggerated fear response was a phenotype of ZDHHC8 knock-out mice. This gene has been implicated in the propensity to develop schizophrenia. During her second summer, she conducted research under the guidance of Professor Joy Hirsh investigating mock jurors’ brain activation patterns in response to contract violation and sexual harassment cases. Elizabeth plans to obtain a Ph.D. in neuroscience.
Nitza Santiago – Astronomy Department
Nitza earned a B.S. in Physics and Electronics from the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao (UPRH). She currently works with Professor Mary Putman in the Astronomy Department and is studying star formation in isolated HII regions. Originally from Patillas, Puerto Rico, Nitza conducted research as an undergraduate with Professor Juan Cersosimo looking at the galactic warp of the Milky Way. She also worked at the Astronomical Observatory at UPRH creating activities for the general public using optical telescopes. She spent last summer at Yale University where under the mentorship of Professor Héctor Arce she examined stars in the background of a star-forming molecular. Nitza intends to obtain a Ph.D. in Astrophysics. Her research interests include radio observations of galaxies, galactic structure, and star formation.
Marlena Watson – Earth and Environmental Sciences Department
Marlena obtained a B.S. in Biology from Temple University and currently works in the Environmental Studies laboratory at Barnard College with Professor Brian Mailloux. She is researching a protocol to determine the radioactive carbon date of microorganisms collected from wells in Bangladesh as part of the Arsenic in Bangladesh project. Recently, she accompanied Professor Mailloux and his team to Bangladesh to collect samples, not only for radioactive carbon dating, but also for determining arsenic concentrations, identifying pathogens present in the groundwater, and measuring overall microbial diversity. Originally from the Bronx, Marlena plans to apply to Ph.D. program where she can pursue her interests in intra- and inter-cellular communication and microbial communities.
For any questions about the Bridge Program, please contact Brian Van Buren in the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity Initiatives at (212) 854-9878.
