Pitzer College Students and Recent Grads Garner Prestigious Honors

Claremont, Calif. (May 11, 2018)—During the 2017-18 academic year, more than 40 Pitzer College students and recent graduates have won fellowships, scholarships and other academic honors. With these awards, they will research antibiotic-resistant infections, study fossil outcrops, learn Arabic in the Middle East, sow a peace garden in the Central Valley and teach in communities across the globe.

Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminar Grant

Brendan Schultz ’19, a politics, philosophy and sociology major, was awarded an Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminar (TIES) grant sponsored by the US State Department. Schultz spent his senior year of high school in Macedonia in a program also sponsored by the State Department, which made him eligible for this award. Last year, he was awarded a Davis Projects for Peace prize to organize a summer youth conference in Macedonia. In February, Schultz returned to Macedonia and worked with other TIES alumni on a project that focused on building resilient communities through religious and ethnic diversity.

American Educational Research Association

Adriana Ceron ’18, a sociology major and Chicano/a Latino/a studies minor, has been invited to participate in the American Educational Research Association’s workshop in April in New York City. She was selected on the basis of her strong academic performance, research skills and experience as well as for her potential to contribute to the education research field. The workshop will provide an overview of how education research is designed across disciplines and how research is applied to education policy and practice. Ceron has been a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow since her sophomore year at Pitzer.

American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS)

Peter Leung ’19 and three Harvey Mudd College students won top honors at the regional student case competition held by APICS, the national professional association for supply chain management. The group will head to Chicago in September to compete in the final round, to be held during the annual APICS conference. The regional competition was sponsored by APICS and Deloitte Consulting, a professional services firm. Leung is a management engineering major and economics minor at Pitzer.

Capital Fellows Program

Jennifer Kaku ’18, an anthropology and Asian American studies major, has been selected for the California Senate Fellows program. She will spend 11 months in the State Capitol in a full-time legislative staff position. The fellowship program’s primary goals include exposing people with diverse life experiences and backgrounds to the legislative process by providing research and other staff assistance to the Senate. While at Pitzer, Kaku was an IGLAS fellow, an Admission tour guide and was active in CAPAS and the Asian Pacific American Coalition.

Claremont Colleges Library Undergraduate Research Awards

Aleo Pugh ’19, an Africana studies major, won a Library Undergraduate Research Award for their project “An Insidious Exchange: Racial Balance for Black Inferiority.” The Library Undergraduate Research Awards honor students who demonstrate exemplary original research and scholarship, including remarkable skill and creativity in the use of library and information resources.

Lena-Phuong Tran ’18, a linguistics and cognitive science double major and media studies minor, won a Library Undergraduate Research Award for her project “Embodying the Other: Effects of Experiencing the Rubber Hand Illusion in Virtual Reality on Implicit Racial Biases.” Tran graduated in May with honors in both linguistics and cognitive science.

Coro Fellow in Public Affairs

Andrew Segraves ’16 has been selected as a 2018-19 Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. Based in five US cities, the nine-month, graduate-level fellowship includes work placements and focuses on leadership, community engagement, experiential learning and cross-sectoral relationships. Segraves is one of 12 members of the Coro Fellowship’s San Francisco cohort. He graduated with honors in political studies and wrote his senior thesis on President Barack Obama’s use of executive power. Outside the classroom, Segraves was a member of the Pomona-Pitzer cross country and track and field teams.

Critical Language Scholarship

Molly Armentrout ’19, an international and intercultural studies and Middle Eastern North African studies major, has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship to study Arabic in Amman, Jordan, this summer. This award is highly competitive, particularly for the Arabic or Chinese languages. In the future, Armentrout hopes to use Arabic to work with refugee settlement programs to help families navigate the public school system, and she plans to pursue a Fulbright or a graduate degree.

Davis Projects for Peace Awards

Genevieve Kules ’18 has been awarded $10,000 by Davis Projects for Peace for her project, “Visalia Youth Peace Garden: Promoting Intercultural Understanding, Participatory Media, and Connecting with the Land.” She will partner with the Wukchumni Tribe in Visalia, CA, to create a space for cultural practice, learning and reconnecting with the land. During a week-long day camp, work will begin on the peace garden and young people will learn about video production so they can share their stories, document their lives and gain media literacy skills. Kules is a media studies major and Spanish minor.

Isaiah Kramer ’20, an economics and environmental policy major, has been selected as the alternate/runner-up for the Davis Projects for Peace award. For his project, Kramer proposed installing renewable energy systems for more than a dozen families in a Palestinian-Bedouin community in the West Bank. This renewable source of energy would allow the communities to remain on their land and move toward peaceable development in the region.

Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program

Victoria Ramirez ’20 has been awarded a Doris Duke Conservation Scholars fellowship, which exposes early career college students to the field of environmental conservation through field research, leadership and professional training. Over the next two summers, Ramirez will partner with the University of California, Santa Cruz, to conduct collaborative research and gain leadership skills; the program culminates in an eight-week conservation practice internship during the second summer. Her future plans include attending law school.

Sam Sjoberg ’20, an environmental analysis major, is the recipient of a Doris Duke Conservation Scholars fellowship. Over the next two summers, he will partner with Northern Arizona University and its Landscape Conservation Initiative in collaboration with Conservation Science Partners and The Grand Canyon Trust.

EnviroLab Asia Student Fellowship

Madeline Nelson ’19, an environmental analysis major, has been awarded an EnviroLab Asia student fellowship. EnviroLab Asia is a laboratory for cross-disciplinary research and experiential learning that links knowledge with practice. The program engages communities and fosters intellectual exchange between the humanities and social sciences, environmental analysis, and various other fields to generate new scholarship about environmental issues in Asia.

Freeman Awards for Study in Asia (Freeman-ASIA)

Oluwaseun Oshodi ’20, an international economics and modern Japanese major, has received a Freeman-ASIA award to participate in the Hokkaido International Foundation Japanese Language and Culture Program this summer in Japan. The Freeman Foundation’s major objectives include strengthening the bonds of friendship between the United States and countries of East Asia.

Fulbright US Student Program

Wyatt Barnes ’18, a linguistics and Mideast & North Africa studies double major, has been awarded a Fulbright to Morocco where he will conduct research on the motivations for code-switching among Arabic-Spanish bilinguals. He will use an ethnographic sociolinguistic lens to analyze the social motivations behind this code-switching in Tangier. This research will allow him to interact extensively with the local community. After his Fulbright year, he plans to pursue a PhD in linguistics with a focus on sociolinguistics. In addition, Barnes intends to continue working with refugee populations.

Emily Dillemuth ’18, a political studies major and Chinese minor, has been granted a Fulbright to Taiwan, where she will teach English. She hopes to draw upon her teaching experiences while living in mainland China. For her community service project in Taiwan, Dillemuth plans to engage with the host community to encourage intercultural understanding between East and West. Her professional goals include becoming a diplomat with the US Foreign Service.

Elizabeth Ellis ’18, a geology major and environmental analysis minor, has been awarded a research Fulbright to India, where she proposed to investigate the impacts of recent agricultural and economic developments on soil health and landholding in Madhya Pradesh, India. Ellis is also the recipient of Pomona College’s Isabel F. Smith and Donald H. Zenger Award for enthusiasm and dedication to the geologic sciences. Her future plans include pursuing a doctorate in soil science research to continue protecting soils and agricultural environments around the globe. This year Ellis was also awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.

Sasha Forbath ’18, an organizational studies major and sociology minor, has been awarded a Fulbright to Indonesia to teach English. She will use her previous teaching and intercultural experiences to foster an accessible and inclusive classroom. Drawing on her theatre production skills, Forbath hopes to create a theatrical production that incorporates both Indonesian and American folktales. After her Fulbright year, she plans to work with an educational or social justice non-profit while applying to graduate school to obtain a master’s in social work.

Peter Hansen ’18, an international relations major, is the recipient of a Fulbright to Malaysia, where he will teach English by implementing culturally relevant activities both inside and outside the classroom. A member of the Sagehens Swim and Dive team, Hansen hopes to engage with the community through athletics ranging from swimming to basketball. After his Fulbright, Hansen plans to become a secondary teacher at an international school or a foreign service officer with the US State Department.

Jordan Jenkins ’17, a political studies and Spanish major, has been serving as a 2017-18 Fulbright English teaching assistant in Spain, where she was teaching in seven villages of Longrono in the La Roja Region. The Fulbright Program asked Jenkins to renew her Fulbright for the 2018-19 academic year, and she now plans to teach pre-school and kindergarteners in the Canary Islands next year.

Eleanor Neal ’18, a human biology major and Spanish minor, has been awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Mexico. She plans to teach English by using a culturally relevant pedagogy and integrated, STEM-based curriculum to enhance language acquisition. Neal will partner with Casa del Migrante and other NGOs to promote healthcare among migrant and refugee populations. She ultimately plans to attend medical school and work as a health educator among Mexican immigrants and Spanish monolingual communities in California.

Ramiro Pinedo ’18, an environmental analysis and Brazilian Portuguese double major, has been awarded a Fulbright to conduct research in Brazil. Through the use of surveys, interviews and first-hand observations, he will study the environmental values of residents in Boa Vista in northern Brazil as they address urban flooding issues. Pinedo will engage with the community by forming a running club and organizing bi-monthly 5K races to raise money for parks and recreational areas. After his Fulbright, he plans to pursue a master’s degree in environmental management at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, followed by a PhD in environmental science, policy and management from UC Berkeley.

Anya Quig ’18, a Spanish major, received a Fulbright to teach English in Mexico. She plans to instill passion for language learning through an internal locus of control approach, as well as her own experience as a language learner. Outside the classroom, Quig hopes to work with a local community health organization to share what she learned in Guatemala about indigenous medicine and culturally competent care. She plans to pursue a master’s in public health and eventually work in Latin America.

Uriel Rafael ’14, a human biology and psychology double major, has been awarded a mentor position with the Fulbright program for the upcoming school year in Mexico. He is currently finishing an ETA Fulbright in Mexico. Rafael will continue to volunteer as a mentor and work with Dream in Mexico, a nonprofit organization that helps deported individuals reunite with their families.

Aria Tung ’18, a sociology major and media studies minor, is the recipient of a Fulbright to Taiwan, where she will be an English teaching assistant. Tung’s various teaching and mentoring opportunities have taught her the importance of creating an inclusive environment for students. She will engage with the community through her love of music and sports. She plans to enroll in law school after the Fulbright to study anti-discrimination law.

Sachi Watase ’17, a studio art major and mathematics minor, has been awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Nepal. She plans to foster intercultural exchange through communicative language teaching with a culturally sensitive lens, thereby creating appropriate student-centered lessons. Outside the classroom, Watase intends to lead activities that use creative outlets to enrich students’ English language skills. After her Fulbright, she plans to earn a master’s degree and teaching credential and ultimately work in high-needs schools.

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship

Oluwaseun Oshodi ’20, an international economics and modern Japanese major, has been awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study in Hakodate, Japan, with the Hokkaido International Foundation this summer. Oshodi is designing an independent study that aims to enhance Japanese proficiency and autonomous learning skills by focusing on individual study objectives.

Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation

Brendan Schultz ’19, a politics, philosophy and sociology major, has been selected as a Fred J. Hansen Summer Institute fellow. The program brings together international and US students to build leadership skills and better cultural understanding to help form a more peaceful future. Fellows receive hands-on training in team-building, public speaking, negotiation and mediation so they can work collaboratively and effectively to solve international problems.

International Elections Observer

Madeline Hauenstein ’18, an international political economy and international and intercultural studies double major and linguistics minor, was selected to be an official international elections observer for the 2017 presidential elections in Somaliland. She was the youngest member of the 60-person mission representing 27 countries. Hauenstein was also selected to participate in an Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminar focused on increasing accessibility in education domestically and abroad.

Keck Summer Research Fellowships

Lily Gane ’20, an organismal biology major, has been awarded Keck Summer Research Fellowship to research muscle physiology, focusing on a protein called titin to determine its exact role in muscle movement. Gane will be working the first part of the summer with Assistant Professor of Biology Jenna Monroy at the W.M. Keck Science Department; she will spend the remainder of the summer at Northern Arizona University.

Kravis Concept Plan Competition

Delshanee Martin ’21 won first place in the Kravis Concept Plan Competition, an annual contest for aspiring entrepreneurs sponsored by Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker School of Management. Martin, who founded the vegan cosmetics line Lábio Couture, took top honors for her proposed SKIN-spiration Truck, which would help “cultivate conscious consumers” through exposure to safe, environmentally friendly skincare products.

The Leadership Alliance

Hunter Sidel ’19, a history major, received a fully funded fellowship through The Leadership Alliance to conduct research at New York University on the colonial history of anti-sodomy laws in Africa. The Leadership Alliance prepares young scholars from underrepresented and underserved populations for graduate training in humanities research.

Lightning Challenge

Chava Friedman ’18, Noah Kline ’18 and Angelise Slifkin ’18 formed one of two teams that tied for first place in Claremont McKenna College’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Lightning Challenge. The three Pitzer seniors had approximately 24 hours to develop, then pitch, a business plan based on a Harvard Business School case study.

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

Kendal Carr ’20 is the recipient of a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. Their research will focus on how African studies as a discipline concentrates on current and past social movements and the effects these movements have had on people of African descent in America. By examining past and present social movements, Carr’s goal is to produce a historical comparative analysis.

Clara Fuget ’20, a Chicano/a Latino/a transnational studies and Spanish double major, has been awarded a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. Her research will focus on Nicaraguan rural women and their long struggle for land reform. Through working as a student researcher with Coordinadora de Mujeres Rurales (Rural Women’s Coalition), Fuget plans to investigate the coalition’s work and what women have done to gain the right to land and improve their living conditions.

Oluwakemi “Kemi” Richards ’20 is the recipient of a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. Richards’ research is titled “Black Women at Predominantly White Institutions: Embracing Self-Identity and Navigating Social and Romantic Relations.” With an emphasis placed on the dynamics that exist among Black women, their same-race male counterparts and white men, the study intends to provide a current analysis of the social issues Black women encounter at predominantly white institutions.

Napier Initiative Fellows

Olivia Cornfield ’18 is a cognitive science major whose proposed Napier project was to document narratives of the personal and social changes for women emancipated from the Kamalari system of bonded labor in Nepal. After graduation, Cornfield plans to pursue a PhD in neuroeconomics and continue her work with the Freed Kamalari Development Forum.

Terriyonna Smith ’18 is an Africana studies and English and world literature major who proposed to partner with Peoplestown Academy in Atlanta, where she would work with middle school students to help them navigate educational opportunities and the professional world. At Pitzer, Smith has worked as a research assistant and resident assistant, and served on the Black Student Union Executive Board. She won the Intercollegiate Department of Africana Studies Senior Thesis Award and the Bea Matas Hollfelder ’87 Endowed Creative Writing Award.

Sydney Warren ’18 is an international political economy major and Chinese minor who proposed creating a summer Spanish language course for students from low-income communities. Warren, who was awarded a 2017 Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship to Princeton University, plans to pursue a law degree and hopes to work for the State Department’s East Asian Legal Affairs Office.

National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW) Grants

Sophia Rizzolo ’19, an international and intercultural studies major, was awarded the Burkean Parlor Grant by the NCPTW. The grant supports writing center tutors who are making significant contributions to the field of peer tutoring through their daily practices and reflections on that practice.

Hunter Sidel ’19, a history major, was the recipient of a La Beca Grant awarded by the NCPTW. This grant supports tutors who are contributing in significant ways to writing center pedagogy and theory. The grant facilitates the inclusion of a range of diverse voices and perspectives at the NCPTW conference.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship

Annie Schatz ’15, a biology major, received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support her research in marine biology at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where she is currently pursuing a PhD. Schatz’s research focuses on how climate change-related stressors are impacting the physiological performance of the early life history stages of the eastern oyster. Specifically, this funding will support her research towards understanding how the larval experience of environmental stressors impacts the success and performance of later life stages, a phenomenon called carry-over effects.

Sabrina Werby ’16, a chemistry major, was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support her research in biophysical chemistry at Stanford University, where she is currently pursuing a PhD in chemistry. Werby’s interdisciplinary research lies directly at the interface of chemistry, biology and physics. She seeks to develop biophysical and biochemical tools to understand bacterial biofilms, which are instrumental in the proliferation of recurrent or antibiotic resistant infections. As an NSF fellow, she hopes to serve as a mentor and encourage different perspectives and underrepresented voices in science.

Repair the World Fellowship

Alison Rollman ’18, a sociology major, has been selected as a Food Justice Fellow with Repair the World in New York City. The Repair the World Fellowship is an 11-month opportunity for young adults who are excited about mobilizing the Jewish community toward meaningful volunteer projects, focusing specifically on issues of education and food justice. In addition to getting individuals to volunteer, fellows facilitate service-learning to provide context around social issues and create meaningful, high-impact service programs that address critical needs.

Volunteer of the Year Award

Anjuli Peters ’18, a sociology and legal studies combined major, was awarded the Los Angeles County’s 36th Annual Volunteer of the Year Award for her work with the Pomona branch of the Los Angeles County Public Defender. She currently volunteers with both the Los Angeles County Public Defender and American Civil Liberties Union. Peters was also awarded Pitzer’s Kallick Community Service Award for completing 100+ hours of personal community service during the 2017-18 academic year. At Pitzer, she works as a resident assistant and admission fellow. After graduation, Peters will pursue a master of science degree in criminology and criminal justice at Oxford University.

David and Marvalee Wake Award

Madison Sage Wiltse ’18, a human biology major, has been selected for the David and Marvalee Wake Award for Best Poster Presentation at the 2018 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting. Wiltse presented her undergraduate thesis research that explores the evolution of visual acuity in coral reef fishes. Following graduation, she plans to pursue a nurse practitioner degree.

Thomas J. Watson Fellowship

Elizabeth Ellis ’18, a geology major and environmental analysis minor, has been awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States. Her project, “The Cambrian Explosion: Synergy of Science and Art,” will take her to Canada, Switzerland, Australia, China and Morocco. Ellis will study many of the important fossil outcrops that record this exciting evolutionary event and explore innovative artistic methods of communicating scientific knowledge about the Cambrian Explosion to the public. Ellis was also awarded a 2018-19 research Fulbright to India.

Emelia von Saltza ’18, an economics major and environmental analysis minor, has been named an alternate for the Watson Fellowship. As part of her long-term commitment to more holistic forms of environmental economics, Saltza’s project “Guardians of the Sea” would tap into the wisdom and experiences of women leaders at the forefront of environmental activist movements in Peru, Rapa Nui, Japan, Tonga, South Africa and Indonesia.

Yenching Scholarship

Carlisle Miscallef — Carlisle Micallef ’18

Carlisle Micallef ’18, a Chinese language and literature major and history minor, has been awarded a highly competitive and prestigious Yenching Scholarship. The award is a fully funded, 12-month, interdisciplinary master’s program in Chinese studies at the Yenching Academy of Peking University. The program aims to “cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding.” Micallef’s master’s concentration will be philosophy and religion. She intends to research conceptions of Confucianism in the twenty-first century and the role cultural figures play in shaping popular opinion and ethics.

To learn more about undergraduate and graduate awards at Pitzer, please visit the College’s Office of Fellowships and Scholarships website.