Talk: Childhood Stress Shapes the Microbiome

Melanie is a first-generation, Puerto Rican scientist receiving a Ph.D. in pathobiology from Brown University this May, where they research the gut-brain axis as a therapeutic target for anxiety. They have received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Archambault Teaching Award and others. In their free time, Ortiz Alvarez de la Campa is the co-founder of Ciencia Pa’ Todes, a Caribbean-based initiative that delivers bilingual science communication to thousands through documentaries and a children’s book. They use their passion for art and writing to create long-lasting impact and revolutionize the way we contextualize science.

Talk: Visualizing Dark Matter With Gravitational Lensing

Anthony Englert is in the final year of his Ph.D. in physics at Brown University. His research concerns the nature of galaxy clusters, particularly the relation between the luminous and dark matter in merging clusters. During his time at Brown, Englert discovered an “optical bridge” of stars in a nearby galaxy cluster, providing new insights into the cluster’s dynamical history. Englert has also partnered amateur astronomers to organize outreach events and engage with local communities in Providence to encourage scientific thinking through astronomy.

Talk: The Meaning of Musical Instruments

Devanney Haruta is a music researcher working at the intersection of musicology and ethnomusicology. Her research investigates the relationships between humans, musical instruments and the natural environment. She is passionate about making music scholarship accessible to public audiences, and has written podcasts, curated museum displays and worked with nonprofit music organizations including Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana. Her outdoor installation “Piano (de)composition,” located on Brown’s campus, has been featured by the Providence Journal and the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Haruta is trained as an oboist and currently plays recorder with the Rhode Island Recorder Society.

Talk: How Phytoplankton Shape the Ocean Carbon Cycle

Brianna Hoegler is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate who is excited to learn about Earth’s past oceans — namely, how the surface ocean and marine ecosystems responded to past climate conditions. Hoegler began her scientific career from an early age, attending the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science for high school before completing her undergraduate studies in geosciences at the University of Arizona. There, she conducted research using tropical lake sediments to reconstruct past El Niño events. In her spare time, Hoegler enjoys hiking, reading and cooking, and she is currently serving as the conference co-chair for the LGBTQ+ STEM nonprofit oSTEM.

Talk: Attacking Titan Cells in Therapy-Resistant Cancer

Gavin Lu is a third-year Ph.D. candidate mentored by Michelle Dawson. He has a broad interest in cancer biology, and his current research focuses on therapy-resistant giant cancer cells, studying their physical structure and metabolic activities to identify novel treatment options and improve the treatment landscape of ovarian cancer. Lu grew up in China, and received a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. Aside from research, Lu also has a great passion for science communication, mentorship and community outreach. 

Talk: PIM-Pointing a TRAIL for Cancer Cures

Kimberly S. Meza is in the final year of her doctoral studies. Meza’s dissertation identifies novel actionable therapeutic targets in kidney cancer to improve current treatment strategies. As a first-generation Xicana and college graduate, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College of Columbia University and continues to advocate passionately for access to higher education and opportunities for underrepresented communities. Meza’s long-term goal is to become an independent principal investigator contributing to the understanding of cancer biology and training the next generation of scientists. 

Talk: Evolution of El Niño-Southern Oscillation

Chandler Morris is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences and the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. Her research combines coral-based paleoclimate records, modern instrumental observations and climate models to characterize tropical Pacific climate variability and trends. She earned a B.A. in environmental science from Columbia University, where she worked as a research assistant at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Prior to starting her Ph.D. at Brown, she worked as a risk analyst at Moody’s Analytics, generating climate risk metrics for private and public sector clients. Morris is passionate about science communication and applying scientific research to actionable solutions for climate change impacts.

Talk: Ancient Viral Ghosts in Alzheimer’s Disease

Lulu Schulz is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Bess Frost, studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease. Her research focuses on endogenous retroviruses, ancient virus-like sequences embedded in the genome, and how their activation in the aging brain may contribute to neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. She is particularly interested in their capacity to form virus-like particles and their potential as therapeutic targets. Schulz also runs a science communication platform on TikTok reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers, bridging science, policy, innovation and public engagement.

Talk: Preventing Dementia: The Ovary-Brain Connection

Heather Valera is a third-year Ph.D. candidate working in the lab of Kathryn Grive. Her dissertation research seeks to understand the ways in which female reproductive organs can cause systemic effects on brain and bodily health. She hopes that her research will encourage people with ovaries to consider their reproductive health just as paramount to bodily well-being as other organ systems. Originally from the Midwest, Valera completed her undergraduate studies at Northwestern University, where she earned an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Outside of the lab, Valera enjoys creating illustrative art, cooking, gardening and playing videogames. 

Talk: The Geometry of Bubbles

Ella Wilson is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the mathematics department. Her research is within the field of geometric analysis and focuses on gluing constructions of surfaces with prescribed mean curvature (one example includes bubbles in motion). She is committed to making math accessible for all. At Brown, she organizes the Math Resource Center, and she also works with Girl’s Angle and GoGetMath@ICERM, bringing joy for mathematics to middle and high school students. Wilson earned her B.A. in mathematics from Kenyon College. 

Talk: The Hidden Maps Behind Strategic Gossiping

Alice Xia is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the FeldmanHall Lab. Her research examines how people make adaptive inferences in complex social environments. Drawing on behavioral and computational approaches, she investigates the mental processes that unfold when individuals make rapid judgments about social relational structure, in both controlled laboratory networks and real-world social contexts.

Gray Babbs uses epidemiologic and econometric methods to identify barriers to high-quality care for individuals with chronic diseases and mental health conditions. His research evaluates the impact of Medicare and Medicaid policies on population health, with a particular focus on transgender, nonbinary and intersex communities. After earning his Ph.D. from Brown, he will join the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School as a postdoctoral research fellow.