|
Home
McNair Scholars
* Past Scholars
* For Scholars
About our Program
Publications
Resources
News and Events
Links
|
Meet our Scholars!
Academic Year 2007-2008
.
 |
Martin Acevedo
Martin is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He transferred to the University of Washington
from Bellevue Community College where he completed a concentration in Psychology and was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa,
graduating with honors. Martin has had a lifelong interest in helping people live more fulfilling lives. After an initial
period of undergraduate study, he took a long term sabbatical and pursued public service and volunteer projects that
highlighted the incorporation of techniques from a wide range of cultural and philosophic origins designed to help
people overcome common challenges and limitations in their personal lives. His work led him to travel internationally,
speaking and sharing both in person and on syndicated radio and local television. He also led youth service groups for
several years, helping his teenaged participants’ further develop their sense of self-efficacy. These efforts
complemented a keen interest in clinical and social psychology, with an eye toward researching the efficacy of emerging
techniques for well-being, such as mindfulness training.
Martin’s current research involves studying the effects of mindfulness meditation training, which traces its roots to
Buddhist philosophy, applied as a specific clinical intervention to high risk behaviors such as unhealthy eating habits,
substance abuse or high-risk sexual practices. Additionally, he will be studying the effects of mindfulness training on
more global variables such as participants’ sense of self-esteem. Martin hopes to add to the growing body of research that
indicates mindfulness training may not only be helpful in clinical populations after a problem has developed, but may be
useful as a prophylaxis in normal populations navigating an increasingly complex world. To this end, Martin plans to pursue
a PhD, continue to research promising interventions, and help teach the next generation of knowledge seekers.
|
 |
Alula Asfaw
Alula Asfaw is a University of Washington junior majoring in Political Science and
English Literature. Alula’s main research interests include United States immigration policy,
human rights, and race and social justice issues. Alula was the creative force behind the
recently established University of Washington Dream Project; a university level course that
teaches UW undergraduates about obstacles to education for immigrant, minority, and
economically disadvantaged students. The Dream Project works to mitigate these obstacles
for Seattle area high school students. Because of his work with the Dream Project, Alula
was recently awarded the 2006 Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship. Alula is also a recipient
of the 2006 Zesbaugh scholarship and the 2006 Bank of America Local Hero Award recipient.
|
 |
Marie Bailey
Marie is a senior majoring in the Communications department. She is currently
working on research for a senior honors thesis on the effects of multiple sclerosis
on interpersonal relationships. Her research interests include chronic disease and
interpersonal relationships, the effects of mass media on female body image, and the
study of architecture and space design as a means of social control.
Marie is a member of Tau Sigma National Honors Society for Transfer Students and the
Public Relations Student Society of America. She will pursue a Ph.D. in Communications
and her long range plan is to research and teach at the university level. She loves
to travel and so far has visited Australia, New Zealand, and Spain. Marie would like
to visit Greece, Africa, the Middle East, and the rest of the world as she loves
learning about other cultures. She is a native of Edmonds, Washington and the youngest
in a family of nine children. Her other interests include reading, horseback riding,
hiking, cooking for family and friends, and photography.
|
 |
Cristina Domogma Arrizon
Cristina Domogma recently transferred from Idaho State University where she had been serving as an
intern at the Multi-Ethnic Student Success Center while pursuing a degree in Spanish. Her involvement in
community activism evolved as a function of her transition from a Mexican to an American culture more
than a decade ago, and to serve the population she represents she founded the Humanitarian Project to
Mexico in 2004. Since then, future professionals from the ISU community have enjoyed the opportunity to
see the lack of resources in the world, gain motivation to seek additional opportunities to lend their
services to the underprivileged, and prepare for a multicultural work environment. Concurrently, to
promote social justice in her local American community she got involved in political activism, which
started in conjunction with the Hispanic Task Force in 2005. As a campaign coordinator for the enhancement
of the ethnic environment and minority student retention at ISU, her efforts significantly contributed
to improve the viability of a culturally diverse community. As a way to amplify her coursework and
broaden her perspective on the international aspects of human rights, she has involved herself
directly in environments other than those from which she has emerged. At El Mirador Basin in Guatemala,
she joined Professor Richard Hansen in an archaeological project to preserve the culture and history
of the Mayas and protect the last remaining forests in that part of the world. While working on this
investigation, she co-founded the "Asociación del Mundo Maya", a non-profit organization seeking to
strengthen international efforts to protect the second largest biosphere in the world. Her current
volunteer work at BF Day elementary school seeks to educate our new generation. By tutoring children from
various backgrounds, she cultivates the importance of valuing and respecting the differences among people
with diverse cultural experiences at a very early stage in life. With her undergraduate studies in Spanish
and current research on the potential beneficial effects of promoting bilingualism in this country, she
pursues a post-baccalaureate degree in International Relations and Law to participate actively in
addressing the realities that keep underserved populations from gaining access to adequate representation.
|
 |
Jayme Ballard
Jayme is a senior pursuing a
Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science. She is an member of the Black
Student Union, Pi Sigma Alpha and is the president of the Beta Theta Chapter of
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Jayme is currently an undergraduate research
fellow in UW's Center for American Politics and Public Policy. Jayme's research
project will examine congressional attention shifts in the education of
underprivileged children. She plans to begin a degree program public policy or
public administration autumn 2008. Her ultimate goal is to help improve college
readiness for low income and underserved communities. In the future, Jayme
would like to attain a PhD in Education.
|
 |
Cristal Barragan
Cristal is a senior in American Ethnic Studies.
Her main research interests involve both educational curriculum and leadership that affect
students of color. Specifically, she is interested in how curriculum is biased and how students of color are not
being served or acknowledged within curriculum. Further topics include how leadership within the school
affects student achievement and the dire need for more leadership of color. Cristal’s current
research is a case study on GO-MAP, the Graduate Opportunities and Minority Achievement Program.
The study will involve interviews on Latina/o graduate students, graduate advisors and GO-MAP
staff that interact with graduate students frequently. The purpose of the study is to analyze
Latina/os’ place within graduate programs and the resources and opportunities available for them.
Cristal’s plans include entering a Master in Teaching program and teaching, while gaining
experience within the educational field. She will be applying to Ph.D. programs in the future
that focus on curriculum and educational leadership.
|
 |
Nati Chavez
Nati is a senior pursuing a Bachelors
of Science in Psychology. She was born and raised in the Yakima Valley and was
first introduced to research at the UW as a junior in high school through the
GenOM Project. She was admitted to UW as a Safeco Diversity Scholar in autumn of
2004. Since then she has worked as a student outreach ambassador for the OMA,
conducted research in Peru through the MIRT Fellowship, and continues to work on
research in a clinical psychology lab. Her current research interests include
access to mental health care among Mexican women in the Seattle area. She hopes
to attain a Masters Degree in Nursing to be a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner or
Family Nurse Practitioner. After gaining some insight into the medical field
she will pursue a PhD in Nursing or Public Health. In her free time she enjoys
spending time with her family, cooking, baking, dancing, singing, drawing and
painting. |
 |
Madeleine Clifford
Madeleine Clifford is a junior at the
University of Washington. She has chosen to major in English with a Creative
Writing emphasis because she has always been passionate about the power of
words, Spoken Word poetry and Hip Hop. She stays connected with the Seattle
area community through her involvement with Youth Speaks, which is a non-profit
youth poetry organization. She also performs in a local Hip Hop group called
Canarysing (myspace.com/canarysing) and hopes to research Hip Hop Culture in
South Africa when she travels abroad during Winter Quarter 08. Madeleine is
also dedicated to a groundbreaking outreach program on campus called
E.M.P.O.W.E.R. As director of Curriculum, she helps students develop critical
thinking skills by participating in bi-weekly workshops involving issues such as
race, gender, heterosexism and religion; she also assists high school
E.M.P.O.W.E.R. students with their applications to the UW. Madeleine hopes to
go on to earn her PhD in Women Studies and someday work as a professor in the
field.
|
 |
Edgar Flores
Edgar is a senior double majoring in Environmental Science & Resource Management and in
American Ethnic Studies. Using these two degrees to compliment each other he wants to work on
Environmental Justice issues, and help under represented communities better use the limited
resources they have. As a McNair scholar, Edgar hopes to explore social interactions in the
Yakima Valley resulting from changes in the ecology and physical environment. Edgar has been
active in Chicano activism on campus, working on the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History
Project as well as organizing MEChA’s high school outreach conference to increase the
representation of Chicana/o students at the university level. Some of his interests include
access to educational and environmental resources among people of color, intersections of identity,
traditional ecological knowledge, and restoration and conservation of natural ecosystems.
Edgar’s academic goal is to become a university professor expanding on the intersections of
cultural identity and the environment.
|
 |
Monique Franklin (On leave)
Monique is a dual major in Computer Science and Chemistry. She began as a
chemistry major, but after two summers of undergraduate research in the
Computational Biology department she found she really enjoyed the
applications of computer science. Monique has aspirations
to obtain a Ph.D. in Chemistry and become a professor at a research institution.
She would like to use computer modeling as the primary tool for investigating
scientific inquiries in further research. She wants to explore various topics,
including interactions between proteins, atomic movements and interactions
of chemical elements, and computer operating systems and software development.
In addition to school, Monique enjoys reading, writing poetry,
and spending time with her family. She was born and raised in Seattle, WA. |
 |
Ismenia Gaviria
Ismenia is a senior double majoring in Drama and Spanish. Her major research interests include U.S
theatre and performance, performace and politics, cultural studies, and Latin American and Caribean
literature. Most recently, she spent her summer at Columbia University researching and analyzing
contemporary adaptations of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Ismenia plans on pursuing a Ph.D. in
performance studies.
|
 |
Rachel Gillum
Rachel Gillum is a senior pursing a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Political Science. Rachel’s research interests, broadly defined,
focus on the Middle East and American Foreign policy. In the fall of 2006,
Rachel completed an internship at the Department of Defense Near East South Asia
(NESA) Center in Washington D.C. In an environment similar to that of a
think-tank, she was able to work with NESA professors, government officials and
security specialists from around the world as a research assistant as well as
participate in various seminars and roundtables analyzing foreign policy
issues. In the summer of 2007, Rachel completed the Ralph Bunche Summer
Institute at Duke University, sponsored by the American Political Science
Association (APSA). At Duke, she took graduate courses in political science,
quantitative methods, and statistical analysis. Rachel later presented the
paper she produced at Duke, related to the question of democracy in the Middle
East, at the 2007 APSA Conference in Chicago. For her honors senior thesis,
Rachel is currently looking at Turkish and Iranian public opinion and
anti-Americanism. Rachel is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political
Science Honor Society, and has maintained Dean’s List status during her time at
the University of Washington. Rachel hopes to obtain a Ph.D. in Political
Science at a major research institution. |
 |
Deidre Lockman
Deidre-Evelia was born in Seattle and raised in Mexico City and Bellingham, WA.
She is currently in the Jackson School of International Studies and specializes in
human rights. Her research this year is on the implication of General Augusto Pinochet’s
arrest in England on the law of universal jurisdiction. She aspires to become a presiding
judge in the International Criminal Court. She spends her free time with her family and
friends, drawing, traveling, and reading banned books. She has two brothers, Bernie (7)
and Enrique (3); both live in Mexico City.
|
 |
Jaimée Marsh
Jaimée is a senior
majoring in social welfare with minors in public health and geography. Jaimée’s
research interests include reproductive health rights and education, which she
researched during two study abroad experiences to Vicenza, Italy and Cape Town,
South Africa. Jaimée currently serves as the Social Justice Programmer for the
University of Washington’s Q Center, which facilitates and enhances an
anti-oppressive, inclusive, and celebratory environment for queer students,
faculty, staff and their allies. Jaimée also serves as an intern at Planned
Parenthood of Western Washington, as well as a peer health educator for the
University Health Education Leadership Program (UHELP). Jaimée is a recipient
of the EOP Diversity Scholarship and the EOP Endowed Merit Scholarship in 2007.
Jaimée aspires to earn dual master degrees in social welfare and public health
with a focus on management and planning, and ultimately pursue a Ph.D. Jaimée
is the youngest of three siblings from Spokane, WA, and enjoys traveling,
sports, cooking, salsa dancing, learning Spanish, music and films. |
 |
Shantel Martinez
Shantel is a fifth year senior double majoring in History and Comparative
History of Ideas with a minor in African Studies. She came to the UW in autumn
2003 as a Château St. Michelle Diversity Scholar and is a departmental honors
student. Currently Shantel is working on her second thesis which is about the
1953 Bantu Education Act in South Africa and its contemporary social memory. She
considers herself a historian of education and as a McNair Scholar hopes to
continue her research on the role of education in marginalized communities.
During the spring of 2005, Shantel received the Sonnenblick-Del Rio Global
Citizen Award and studied conflict resolution in Belfast, Northern Ireland in
the summer. This last winter, Shantel went to Cape Town, South Africa and
studied memory and reconciliation. She is also an EOP Presidential Scholar, Mary
Gates Research Scholar, and Zesbaugh Scholar. Shantel
is the oldest in her family and wishes to be a source of inspiration for her
brother, sisters and her cousins. |
 |
Susan Massey
Susan is a fifth
year student working toward her B.S. in Mathematics. While she enjoys math, she
desires to apply her acquired skills in logic and problem solving to studying
neurological disorders. Susan has worked with children having special needs
through Seattle Parks and Recreation Specialized Programs for 2 years, as a
summer camp counselor and supervising teens with higher levels of functioning on
outings once a month during the school year. Having thus gained perspective on
the more human side of disorders such as autism, she hopes to use her passion
for science research to investigate causes and interventions for pediatric
neurological disorders, as well as put them into practice, by pursuing an MD/PhD
degree. Additionally, Susan hopes to teach and pass on the insight she gained
from taking part in doctor-patient-family interactions while caring for her
mother and 10 year old brother throughout her mother’s bone marrow transplant
(and the associated work-up and follow-up) during the 2005-06 school year.
In spring of 2007, Susan did research under Dr. Stephanie J. Lee, at Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, investigating the effectiveness of
comprehensive follow up visits one year post bone marrow transplantation at
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. This past summer, she was an Amgen Scholar and
worked in the lab of Professor Kristin Swanson, developing a mathematical model
for glioma growth and tumorigenesis mediated by platelet-derived growth factor
in rat models. She continues to work in the Swanson lab, further refining the
model and using new ways for testing the sensitivity of the model. Outside of
school, Susan enjoys reading, music, hiking, contemplating the wonders of life,
and performing with Clean Slate Improv. |
 |
Christopher Monfort
As a returning student, Christopher first enrolled at Highline Community College. There he
was inspired by Doctor Gary Wegner, an ex District Attorney for the City of Seattle. Active in
student government Christopher was elected Senator as well as becoming a member of Phi Theta Kappa.
He tutored ESL students in English and was humbled by their ability to excel in a system and
language foreign to them. Fascinated by the law, Christopher has taught several workshops on the
detrimental U.S.A. Patriot Act. Under the tutelage of Dr. Wegner, he attained and A.S. in
Administration of Justice along with an A.A. degree. At the University of Washington Christopher
is a Law Society and Justice Major and a member of Tau Sigma National honor society. He plans
to teach classes at the Juvenile Detention center for King County as part of his internship this
year, and pursue a PhD in Criminology. Christopher sees the usurping of power by the federal
government as cause for alarm and hopes to educate others on the duties and power of citizenship.
Although Christopher is an only child, he feels extremely fortunate to have strong support from
his Mother, Father, Aunts and Uncles. He enjoys playing the guitar and making music with others. He is also
a Pittsburgh Steeler fan to the very core of his being. Go Steelers!
|
 |
Vi Nahn
Vi is a senior double majoring in Political Science and International
Studies, focusing on China studies and Foreign Policy. In the near future,
she plans to obtain a degree in International Affairs. Her primary career
goals are to work in the field of international public policy and, later
on, the field of academia. Originally from China, her family spent the
past several generations in Vietnam but now resides in the States. She
speaks some Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and some very, very
elementary Arabic.
Her interest in the interactions of cultures allows her to immerse in
diverse cultures and countries in her travels. She spent two quarters
abroad in Morocco and South Africa taking classes on history and cultures
of the host countries and interning with a South African governmental
department on substance abuse issues. Her many academic interests include
the legacy of colonialism, especially colonial languages, history and
relationships of traditionally disadvantaged regions of the world, the
politics and recent economic ascent of China, and visual street
propagandas in China and Vietnam.
She is a Gates Millennium Scholar, a UNCF Institute for International
Public Policy fellow, and has been honored on the Dean's List. She is also
involved with the Jackson School Student Association as the VP for
Academic Affairs. |
 |
Riley
O'Connor |
 |
Laura Pina
Laura is a senior majoring in
Computer Engineering. She was born in
Havana, Cuba and moved to Oakland, CA at the age of 19 five years ago.
Her current research project involves recognizing human physical
activity based on information retrieved from a wearable multi-sensor
platform. The reason for such as project is because currently our
country (and the developed world) leads a sedentary life and thus the
obesity epidemic is rapidly increasing. With a physical activity
recognition system which would eventually be embedded in other devices
such as cellular phones, users will be aware of what physical activities
they have been engaging in and educate them on when they need to
increase physical activity in order to maintain a long and healthy life
style. Aside from research she enjoys reading, dancing and listening to
world music, and being involved in projects that encourage underserved
students to continue their education through college. She hopes to
continue research in graduate school the next academic year.
|
 |
Michelé Prince
Michelé Prince is a
Senior at the University of Washington double majoring in Women Studies and
Political Science. Michelé aspires to receive a PhD in Women Studies, and to
eventually become a University Professor in that field. Michelé’s interests
broadly include the issues of Motherhood, representations of Women of color’s
bodies in popular culture/media, and women and their relationship to politics.
Michelé spent the last summer in France researching the ways in which women were
represented in the popular music culture of that country. At the University of
Washington, Michelé is very active. She is a Basic Plan Mentor to freshmen
women, a University of Washington Dream Project Mentor, and the current Black
Student Commission Director representing the interests of the 7 (Active) Black
Student Groups on the Seattle campus. Michelé is a member of the Mortarboard
National Honor Society, a University of Washington Diversity Scholar, and an EOP
Endowed Scholar. Outside of the halls of academia, Michelé is the oldest of 7
children and an AVID reader. |
 |
Christina Rainey
Christina is
currently a fourth year student pursing a Bachelors of Arts degree in
Psychology. She is currently assisting with two research projects. The first,
Project GAINS (Gathering Adolescent Input for New Solutions) is geared at
understanding alcohol use and alcohol related problems among diverse adolescents
with a specific emphasis on protective factors. As a part of her research, she
is currently analyzing risk and protective factors for African American
adolescent depression. The second, the
Seattle Longitudinal Study, she assists with organizing and analyzing MRI
scans. She also has had the opportunity to participate in the university’s
Stipends for Training Aspiring Researchers (STAR) summer program and the
Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) program. Both programs focus
on providing and supporting students in pursing research opportunities, which
she accredits for her continued success and research aspirations. Her career
goals include obtaining a PhD in either counseling or clinical psychology with
the hopes of developing community-based intervention programs, specifically
targeting parental support and helping adolescents to combat risk factors for
depression. |
 |
Heather Rastovac
Heather Rastovac is
a senior majoring in Near Eastern Language and Civilization (with a focus on
Persian language and literature), with minors in Anthropology and Dance. Her
Senior Honor’s thesis will focus on the contemporary music scene in Iran and the
Iranian diaspora. Heather plans to pursue a PhD. in Performance Studies. Her
research interests include innovative trends in contemporary Iranian arts, music
and dance ethnology, multi-media performance, mystical Islam (Sufism), Persian
literature, the connection between socio-politics and cultural/artistic
expression, and issues of Orientalism, post-colonialism, and imperialism. She
recently returned from a summer in Tajikistan where she conducted ethnographic
fieldwork on traditional Tajik dance. Heather performs and teaches Near Eastern
and Central Asian dances, particularly the dances of Iran and Tajikistan. In
addition to the arts, Heather is dedicated to social justice work. For
International Women’s Day in March of 2006, she traveled to Afghanistan with the
human rights organization, Global Exchange, where she had the amazing
opportunity to meet with and learn from several Afghan women’s organizations and
witness the incredible contributions Afghan women are making towards the
reconstruction of the country. Heather is also a peer mentor with Seattle
Education Access, a non-profit organization serving underprivileged young adults
who have experienced homelessness and are pursuing college degrees. |
 |
Michael Schulze-Oechtering
Michael Schulze-Oechtering
is a double major in American Ethnic Studies and History. For the past three
year Michael has been a mentor and co-director of the EMPOWER Program at the
University of Washington. EMPOWER is an outreach program that engages high
school juniors and seniors in discussions of social justice while helping them
apply to college. Michael has also been an active member in MEChA de UW,
serving as recruitment officer, high school outreach officer, and political
education officer. A community organization Michael is a part of is the
People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. His work with the People’s
Institute revolves around community organizing work in Seattle geared toward
undoing racism. Michael’s main research interest is studying the history of
people of color in the United States, particularly their history of struggling
for justice. Other research interests that Michael has are the Philippine
Diaspora, revolutionary international solidarity, post-colonial studies, the
repression of political activists, the role of art in social justice movements,
and the culture of US imperialism. |
 |
Francesca
Tran
As a returning
student, Francesca had spent the past year at Highline Community College, where
she graduated with Honors and is one of three students distinguished for
obtaining the highest scholastic achievement. Entering her junior year, she is
double majoring in Psychology and Business. Her interests include child
psychology, specifically false memories, conformity, and ethnic influences.
Other areas include education and counseling. Her goal is to become an academic
counselor in order to be a role model and guide for students, just as her
academic advisors have, on many occasions, played an active part in her life. |
 |
Chloe Valencia
Chloe is a senior English major with
a Law, Societies and Justice minor. Her main research interest is student's
identity development in the context of school. Currently she is researching what
components undergraduate engineering students use to develop their identity. In
addition the Zesbaugh scholarship alows her to work with an online resource, the
Digital Learning Commons. From the results of this research, she hopes to
implement the best ways for increasing technology at Franklin High School.
She plans to pursue a master's degree in Education with a concentration in
Social and Cultural Studies.
|
 |
Audra Vincent
Audra is a senior double majoring in American Indian Studies and Linguistics. She is a member
of the Coeur d'Alene tribe in northern Idaho but is also part Yakama and Muckleshoot. Audra's interests
are in the revitalization of Native American languages, in particular the language of her people and
learning about the history of the Coeur d'Alene people and Native Americans in general. She plans on
going to graduate school to achieve a Masters and Ph.D in linguistics to apply to her learning of Coeur
d'Alene. After her education she plans on going back to her reservation to work on the revitalization
process of the Coeur d'Alene language. Currently there are only a handful of elders fluent in the language.
Audra is also an active member of First Nations and AISES and is the treasurer of First Nations this
year. While she is in the McNair program she would like to research what tribes
are doing in this critical time to revitalize their languages. Outside of school Audra likes to go home
to Desmet, Idaho and visit family and friends. She hopes to inspire her nephews, Richard and Dylan, as well
as other youth on her reservation, to go to college.
|
|
|
|
