Scholars

Image	Miguel Barron Majors: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andy Alexander Faculty Mentor's Department: Psychological and Brain Sciences Research Interests: Neurological Disorders, Bioenergetics, Thermodynamics and Biomolecular reactions	Image	Andre Braga Majors: Statistics and Data Science Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yan Xifeng and Dr. Mingson Yan Faculty Mentor's Department: Computer Science and Math Research Interests: AI and Large Language Models; training AI to learn and make accurate market predictions
Image	Melva Castellanos Major: Sociology Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daina Sanchez Faculty Mentor's Department: Chicana and Chicano Studies Research Interests: Indigenous Studies; Latinx Studies; Ethnography; Legal Anthropology; Legal Pluralism; Intersectional Feminism; Qualitative Research	Image	Jayden Chow Major: Global Studies Expected Graduation Date: June 2027 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jin Sook Lee Faculty Mentor's Department: Education Research Interests: Neoliberal and Postcolonial Critique of Japanese Academic Internationalization
Image	Noble Culpepper-Hawkins Major: Communication Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Guadalupe Madrigal Faculty Mentor's Department: Communication Research Interests: Social media effects, Black women, TikTok, Beauty standards, Digital divide	Image	Lakshmi García Major: Writing and Literature Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michelle Petty Faculty Mentor Department: Writing and Literature in College of Creative Studies Research Interests: First-generation Hispanic/Latinx student experiences; storytelling/narrative inquiry, and Pláticas methodology; raciolinguistics; culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies; multilingualism and funds of knowledge; STEM education (math and environmental).
Image	Maritza Gómez Majors: Sociology and Chicana and Chicano Studies Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daina Sanchez Faculty Mentor's Department: Chicana and Chicano Studies Research Interests: How mental health intersects with indigenous and Latinx communities	Image	Natalie Guerrero Major: Religious Studies Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Blankholm Faculty Mentor's Department: Religious Studies Research Interests: Conspirituality-Where spirituality meets conspiracy, creating the "crunchy to conservative" pipeline
Image	Melanie "Mel" Hidalgo-Garcia Major: Chicana and Chicano Studies Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval Faculty Mentor's Department: Chicano/a Studies Research Interests: Chicanas in education and the school to prison pipeline	Image	Evan Ho Majors: Global Studies, Asian Studies, and History Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jia-Ching Chen Faculty Mentor's Department: Global Studies Research Interests: Efficacy of public participation & protest movements in China and Han Dynasty to early medieval Chinese frontier/borderland studies
Image	Citlali Ibarra Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Karen Szumlinksky Faculty Mentor's Department: Psychological and Brain Sciences Research Interests: Perceived Parental Attitudes Use, and current personal attitudes toward classic Hallucinogens-and-the role of MTOR inhibition in taming methanphetamine craving; neuroscience of addiction	Image	Leah Jackson Majors: Philosophy and Black Studies Expected Graduation Date: June 2027 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Keith Meyes Faculty Mentor's Department: Black Studies Research Interests: Dehumanization of Black Bodies in Blaxploitation films
Image	Angeles "Jasmine" Labastida Majors: Film and Media Studies, Pre-Sociology Expected Graduation Date: June 2025 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Giovanni Batz Faculty Mentor's Department: Chicano/a Studies Research Interests: Algorithms, digital decolonization in Latin America	Image	Briana Le Major: Aquatic Biology Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Halley Froehlich Faculty Mentor's Department: Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology Research Interests: Sustainable Aquaculture, Marine Ecology, and Scientific Communication
Image	Isabella Monterroso Majors: Psychological and Brain Sciences Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jill Sharkey Faculty Mentor's Department: Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology Research Interests: Correctional Psychology, recidivism prevention amongst marginalized communities, child adversities, Maltreatment, trauma, psychological disorders, mental health	Image	Breeanna Pernas Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences Expected Graduation Date: June 2025 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nolan Krueger Faculty Mentor's Department: Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology Research Interests: Involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations in overpoliced communities
Image	Natalia Rodriguez Martinez Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences Expected Graduation Date: June 2025 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Miya Barnett Faculty Mentor's Department: Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology Research Interests: Cultural factors and how they influence Latino families/family therapias	Image	Summer Tucker Major: Anthropology and Sociology Expected Graduation Date: June 2027 Faculty Mentor: Dr.VanDerwarker Faculty Mentor's Department: Anthropology Research Interests: Food production in ancient Mesoamerica
Image	Violeta Valdez-Samaniego Majors: Sociology and Minor: Applied Psychology Expected Graduation Date: June 2026 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elena Skapoulli-Raymond Faculty Mentor's Department: Sociology Research Interests: Navigating Higher Education: Impact of outreach, advising, and support porgrams on first-generation Latinx students education at UCSB	Image	Ashley Vazquez Major: History and Spanish Expected Graduation Date: June 2027 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Utathya Chattopadhyaya Faculty Mentor's Department: History Research Interests: History of Aztec, Mixteca, and Nahuatl societies in 16-18C.

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