Pitzer College Students, Recent Grads and Alumni Awarded Prestigious Honors

Office of Communications » Pitzer College Students, Recent Grads and Alumni Awarded Prestigious Honors

Claremont, Calif. (May 17, 2019)— During the 2018-19 academic year, more than 40 Pitzer College students and recent graduates have won national fellowships, scholarships and other academic honors. With these awards, they will study abroad from Japan to Southern Africa, travel to El Salvador to provide maternal health in remote communities, work to create a more inclusive community and to teach in countries across the globe.

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship

Marya Ornelas ’20, a biochemistry major, has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship, which fosters and encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields. Ornelas’ research field of interest is synthetic biology, and this summer she will be undertaking an NSF REU at the Center for Synthetic Biology at Northwestern University. She plans to attain a PhD in chemical biology, pursue teaching at the university level, and lead a research group with a focus on engineering living systems as programmable therapeutic devices.

Bridging Scholarships for Study Abroad in Japan

Oluwaseun Oshodi ’20, an international economics and modern Japanese major, is one of 27 undergraduate students from across the United States to be named recipients of a Bridging Scholarship for Study Abroad to assist with expenses while studying in Japan in Spring 2019. She will study at Kwansei Gakuin University.

Capital Fellows Program

Dana Nothnagel ’19, a political studies major, has been awarded an Executive Capital Fellowship. She will be placed with a mentor in one of the many executive offices of California’s Executive Branch which includes the office of the Governor, constitutional offices and cabinet-level agencies. Dana’s future plans are to continue working towards a career using research to help improve government functioning.

Claremont Colleges Library Undergraduate Research Award

Aleo Pugh ’19, an Africana studies major, received a Library Undergraduate Research Award for their project “’Leery of Being Consumed’ Working-Class Black Dissent and the Legacy of Brown.” 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. Pugh plans to pursue a PhD in history and African diasporic studies.

Claremont for Refugee Rights

Javier Lopez Casertano ’19, Narcisa Duque ’19, Kevin Kandamby ’19 and Carla Condori ’20, as well as students from the other 5Cs, were awarded scrolls in honor of their work on the US-Mexico border crisis by Congressional Representative Norma Torres in February 2019. Students traveled to the border and collected thousands of dollars to support humanitarian and legal efforts.

Javier Lopez Casertano '20 — Javier Lopez Casertano ’19

DAAD Rise

Hongfei Chen ’21, a computer science major, is the recipient of a DAAD RISE scholarship to support research alongside PhD students in Germany this summer. Chen will be working with a research group, Smart Production Systems of the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden, that is developing a prototype of assembly line robots. Chen will focus on implementing a voice controller system on a dual-arm collaborative robot. She hopes to pursue a career in software engineering.

Davis Fellow for Peace Merit Scholarship

Brendan Schultz ’19, a politics, philosophy and sociology major, has been awarded a full Davis Fellow for Peace Merit Scholarship by the Middlebury College Language Schools to study Arabic this summer. The eight-week intensive language immersion course focuses on vocabulary and syntax and how to use the language to engage effectively with Arab culture.

Davis Projects for Peace

Noemi Delgado ’19, a Spanish language and cultures major, has been awarded the Davis Projects for Peace Award for her project, A Space for Solidarity: National Conference of Salvadoran Midwives. She will work with LAPRA, an organization in El Salvador that provides maternal health services in many remote communities. The goal of the conference is to provide a space for midwives, who are marginalized by the state, to fortify their knowledge, network and movement for recognition. Her future plans include going to graduate school in Public Health.

EnviroLab Asia Student Fellowship

Ryan Drover ’19, a chemistry major, has been awarded an Envirolab Asia Student Fellowship. Drover will present a poster on the environmental benefits of blending ethanol into gasoline for Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles. His presentation is based on collaborative research conducted between The Claremont Colleges and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia as part of an EnviroLab Asia redeveloped class taught by Professor of Chemistry Katie Purvis-Roberts.

Luyi Huang ’19, an environmental analysis major, has been awarded an EnviroLab Asia Fellowship. She will present a poster on using interdisciplinary research methods to learn about environmental challenges in Southeast Asia at the ASIANetwork conference, “Asian in Undergraduate Education,’ in April 2019.

Julie Xu ’22, an environmental analysis and Japanese major, has been awarded an EnviroLab Asia student fellowship and will be enrolled in the Class Clinic lab entitled Biodiversity Lab.

Krystle Yu ’19, an organizational studies major, has been awarded an EnviroLab Asia student fellowship and will be enrolled in the Class Clinic lab entitled Japanese Futures.

EnviroLab Asia Grant

Kathy Kile ’97, an English/World Literature & Sociology double major and Pitzer’s mailroom supervisor, will travel to Hue, Vietnam to teach environmental art to mentally challenged youth for six weeks for her EnviroLab Asia grant. The art will be created using recycled materials such as paper, plastic, scrap fabrics and old CDs. During her stay, Kile will also travel to an organic farm to work with the youth there.

Fulbright Fellowship

Dana Alimena ’19, an Organizational Studies major, has been awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Peru. She has an International Diploma in English Language Teaching, as well as a wealth of experience teaching English in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile and Costa Rica. Dana uses her creativity to construct lesson plans that incorporate the students’ interests. Outside the classroom, she would like to join a local women’s rugby club and create a rugby start-up program for children. Her future plans are to continue teaching English long-term, possibly even in Peru.

Nicolas Lopez Casertano ’19, an international and intercultural studies and Spanish double major, has been awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Brazil. He plans to draw upon his experiences as an English language learner to develop creative grammatical and structural concepts in the classroom. Outside the classroom Lopez Casertano plans on hosting community bike repair workshops drawing from his experience working with the Green Bike Program at Pitzer. He is an MMUF fellow at Pitzer. After returning from the Fulbright, he plans to pursue a PhD in the field of international education or education.

Hannah Chiu ’19, an environmental analysis major, has been awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Taiwan. She plans to use her previous experience teaching English in Costa Rica via visual learning strategies to her students in Taiwan. Hannah also plans to engage students through sports, such as soccer. She also hopes to share her passion for photography with the community. Future plans upon return to the US include continuing to teach ESL.

Noemi Delgado ’19, a double major in psychology and Spanish language & cultures, has received a Fulbright to El Salvador to research maternal health and the impact of midwives, particularly in rural communities. Midwives are largely excluded from the formal healthcare system. Community engagement will include accompanying midwives to their prenatal checks. In addition, Delgado will teach sexual health and gender discrimination, continuing work she did in the summer of 2018. Her future plans are to attend graduate school in a public health program and to practice as a doula.

Madeline Gould ’19, a sociology and organizational studies double major, is the recipient of an English Teaching Fulbright to Malaysia, where she will use a teaching approach grounded in reciprocity and mutual learning. Gould has eight years of experience as a teacher in various capacities in the US and abroad. Outside the classroom, she hopes to lead workshops in dance and sports, depending on the interest of the students at the school to which she is assigned. Her plans for the future include attending graduate school for international human rights, and ultimately work for United Nations Women.

Molly Hickey ’17, an International Political Economy and Middle East/North Africa Studies major, has received a research Fulbright to Jordan. The title of her project is “The Jordan Model: Aligning the Jordan Compact with Labor Market Incentives.” Molly hopes to engage with Basmitak Hat’alim, a local organization that helps inform the future of Syrian refugee resettlement in Jordan and beyond. Her future aspirations include pursuing a PhD in Middle Eastern politics and work to improve evidence-based humanitarian policy.

Mason Polk ’19, a media studies major, has been awarded a Fulbright to Taiwan where he will teach English. He hopes to bring his gift of mentorship and teaching to Taiwanese communities, by immersing young students in a holistic, culturally informative and practical classroom environment. When not in the classroom, Polk plans to teach screenwriting and filmmaking workshops to the community. Future plans include a career in community education in the arts to empower marginalized communities.

Lena-Phuong Tran ’18, a linguistics and cognitive science major, has been awarded a Fulbright to Vietnam where she will teach English. She plans to implement a meaningful language learning curriculum that explores topics related to identity and culture through collaborative learning. When not engaged with teaching, Tran wants to organize food exchanges that will celebrate food as a vehicle for storytelling. Upon her return from her Fulbright year, Tran plans to pursue a master’s in human-centered design with an emphasis on design for social change.

Sujay Singh ’19, a neuroscience major, is the recipient of a Fulbright to Indonesia as an English teaching assistant. He plans to use a community health centered approach to teaching by focusing on personal and mental health. Sujay would also like to integrate his love for singing, songwriting and piano playing into language accessibility, both inside and outside the classroom. In addition, he would like to volunteer at local health clinics and work with local HIV/AIDS advocates. Upon completion of the Fulbright, Sujay plans to apply to medical school in an MD/PhD or DO/PhD program.

Whitney Wagner ’19, an international and intercultural studies and Spanish double major, is the recipient of a Fulbright to teach English in Brazil. In her previous ESL experience, Wagner’s pedagogy included engaging students in analysis of news events and storytelling. Outside the classroom, she plans to create an oral storytelling workshop that will be recorded and transformed into a podcast series. In the future, Wagner plans to study international law, pursue a PhD in international affairs or pursue a masters of foreign service in hopes of working for the State Department.

Gilman International Scholarship

Honesty Carswell ’20, an African American psychology major, has been awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad in the Pitzer in Southern Africa program.

Erik Jacobson ’20, a neuroscience and Spanish double major, has been awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad to the Pitzer Ecuador program.

Greenhouse Scholars

Bashel Lewis ’19, an organizational studies major with a focus in marketing, was invited to be the keynote scholar speaker at Greenhouse Scholars’ Glass Half Full event. Lewis was selected because of his commitment to student engagement, social responsibility and leadership to speak in support of Greenhouse Scholars’ mission to cultivate extraordinary young leaders to change low-income families and communities. His future plans are to work for The Nielsen Company as a market research analyst.

Katie Lawson Memorial Award

Giang Nguyen ’20, a mathematical economics and philosophy major, has received a Katie Lawson Memorial award for her summer projects. With the generous financial support from this award, Giang will run a community project helping female student leaders in Vietnam launch their leadership initiatives. The second part of the award will fund Giang’s research assistantship to work with Professor Linus Yamane studying the economic miracle of Vietnam in the last three decades.

Lingnan University Visiting English Tutor Award

Aria Tung ’18, a sociology major and media studies minor, is the recipient of a Visiting English Tutor [VET] award at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Tung is currently completing a Fulbright English teaching fellowship in Taiwan. As a VET, she will design and run workshops for students aimed at developing their English language skills, as well as organizing cultural activities. Her future plans include enrolling in law school to study anti-discrimination law.

Krystle Yu ’19, an organizational studies major, is the recipient of a Visiting English Tutor [VET] award at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Yu is also the recipient of an EnviroLab Asia Student Fellowship. A major objective of the VET program is to provide opportunities for Lingnan University’s local students to mix with people of a similar age group but from different cultural backgrounds, as well as to design workshops for students to develop their English language skills.

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF)

Linda Huang ’21, an Asian American Studies major, is a recipient of an MMUF award which is aimed at increasing faculty diversity by supporting underrepresented students to pursue careers as professors. Huang’s project will focus on conducting qualitative research examining three populations relating to San Francisco enrichment programs, with the purpose of seeking a more holistic way to bring students from underrepresented groups into higher education and to thrive. Huang plans to pursue a PhD in ethnic studies

Napier Fellows 2019

Prince Herbert Chabveka ’19, a qualitative economics major, proposed to increase awareness of women’s rights, and of men’s responsibility to fight against women’s rights violations, among men in his home village in rural Zimbabwe.

Justin Mugabe ’19, a mathematical economics and finance major, proposed to increase the capacity of a tech start-up in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, his home country, to include rigorous professional technology training of Internally Displaced People so that they can gain the skills needed to be competitive in the DRC’s challenging job market.

Brendan Schultz ’19, a politics, philosophy and sociology major, proposed to implement the first region-wide youth program to nurture tolerance and inter-ethnic understanding among high school students in the Balkans.

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF)

Benjamin Mitchell ’18, a chemistry major, received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support his research in inorganic chemistry at the University of Washington, where he is currently pursuing a PhD. Mitchell’s current research focuses on developing synthetic methods to achieve controlled core-expansion of inorganic clusters. In his application, he proposed to use these core-expanded clusters as inorganic building blocks to synthesize one-dimensional molecular wires, an essential component in next-generation electronic devices. As an NSF fellow, Mitchell hopes to share his love for chemistry with youth through outreach, and eventually pursue a career in academia as a professor.

Neuroscience Summer Research Fellowship

Daven Crossland ’20, a neuroscience major, has been awarded a Keck research fellowship to study in a neuroscience research lab for 12 weeks. Daven will be working at Karuna Labs, a biotech company in San Francisco that utilizes virtual reality in order to improve patient outcomes for neuromuscular issues involving stroke or chronic pain. Daven plans to go to medical school after he graduates from Pitzer.

Newman Civic Award

Hannah Zuckerberg ’20, an organizational studies major with a concentration in spirituality, has been named a Newman Civic Fellow through Campus Compact. Hannah’s work with various affinity groups on campus has been to bring together students with varying social and political views in order to create a more inclusive community shifting the paradigm to love and compassion. Zuckerberg states that her experience leading and organizing has taught her that the way to change culture is to bring people into meaningful, lasting community with each other, which she hopes will carry beyond the Pitzer campus to the nation and the world.

NIH IRTA Award

Sujay Singh ’19, a Neuroscience major, has been awarded an NIH IRTA award where he will be performing full-time biomedical research for 1 or 2 years at the National Institutes of Health. Awardees work with established investigators and receive training in research procedures and conduct research in selected areas of investigation. Sujay’s future plans are to apply to medical school for an MD/PhD or DO/PhD with the goal to practice medicine in local underserved communities, as well as become a faculty member at a medical institution.

NYU-Shanghai Writing & Speaking Fellowship

Christine Leung ’19, an English and world literature major and economics minor, has been awarded an NYU-Shanghai Writing and Speaking Fellowship to spend 10-months at NYU-Shanghai. The fellowship enables accomplished individuals with a passion for teaching to provide academic support and enrichment to the students who make up NYU-Shanghai’s multicultural student body. Her future plans include attending law school with a focus on education policy to advocate for education equity.

Sophia Rizzolo ’19, an international and intercultural studies major, is the recipient of an NYU-Shanghai Writing and Speaking Fellowship. Rizzolo has been a Writing Center Fellow during her time at Pitzer. The primary responsibility of a Fellow is to provide academic tutoring and support. In addition, Fellows develop their leadership, project management and intercultural communication skills by providing curricular and co-curricular support. Fellows are also invited to complete an independent writing project. Rizzolo plans to attend graduate school to pursue a PhD and a future career in education.

Princeton in Asia

Elizabeth Weinlein ’17, an environmental analysis and Asian studies double major, has been awarded a Princeton in Asia fellowship where as part of the Environmental Law Project, she will be supporting NRDCS’s initiatives in environmental law and governance and green finance. The project is research-based and will be conducted mainly in Mandarin. Upon completion of the fellowship, Weinlein hopes to complete two master’s degrees in urban planning and public health and continue working towards shaping healthy and sustainable communities.

Randall Lewis Health Policy Fellowship

April Forest ’18, a global public health major, was awarded a Randall Lewis Health Policy Fellowship. The RLHPF is a collaborative partnership between Lewis Group of Companies and Partners for Better Health, a nonprofit organization that works with agencies to develop health services to meet the health needs of local communities. During her fellowship, Forest will be placed with the County of Riverside’s injury and prevention department. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree in public health leadership and management at Claremont Graduate University.

Robert Day Scholar

Cole Maizel ’21, an economics and environmental analysis major, has been named a Robert Day Scholar. Maizel has participated in Professor of Environmental Analysis Paul Faulstich’s Leadership in Environmental Education Partnership [LEEP] program and was named an Academic All-American as a member of the Sagehens Men’s Water Polo team.

UCLA Law Fellows Program

Francelia Lievanos ’20, a political science major/Spanish minor, has been named a Law Fellow at the UCLA School of Law, where she will attend a series of academies that will provide mentoring, academic enrichment and career development in preparation for admission to law school.

Venture for America

Jacquelyn Aguilera ’19, a mathematical economics, design, manufacturing and management engineering major, is the recipient of a Venture for America fellowship, which is a two-year program for recent graduates who wish to participate in start-up companies. For Aguilera, the VFA fellowship is the first step in her entrepreneurial journey working at a high-growth start-up. In a few years, she hopes to apply her passion for accessibility and her VFA experience to starting a company that produces low-cost medical equipment or renewable energy.

WTS-LA Scholarship

Emma Barker ‘21, an environmental analysis major, has been awarded the Ava Dona Memorial Scholarship for Women in Transportation. Barker is currently a Robert Redford Conservancy Fellow, an intern at Huerta del Valle Community Garden, and a Sawhorse Revolution student ambassador. Her future plans include a career that combines her interests in sustainability, design, and environmental justice.

Emily Ng ’20, an environmental analysis & sociology double major, was awarded a WTS-LA Scholarship, a competitive scholarship for undergraduate women in transportation-related fields. As a Los Angeles native, Ng is passionate about air quality and transportation and their relationship to environmental justice. She plans to remain in the LA area after graduation to advocate for cleaner, breathable air and accessible transportation for all.