Overview

Public Impact Fellowships highlight and support doctoral students whose current research has the potential for substantial impact in the public sphere. Ideal candidates will be involved in research designed to significantly improve or enrich the lives of Californians and/or national and global communities.

All schools are eligible to nominate students to compete for a total of up to 15 fellowships.  Each of three full awardees from any discipline will receive $10,000 and ten honorable mention awardees will receive $1,000. We are also very pleased to announce two new UCI/Stanley Behrens Public Impact Fellowships in the amount of $20,000. Applicants for this latter award are restricted to specific areas of research.


Award Info

$10,000/$20,000 (full award) or $1,000 (honorable mention award) to be used as a stipend.


Awards are to be used as stipend. Students may choose to accept the award during winter or spring 2013, or over both quarters, at their discretion with the exception of the UCI/Stanley Behrens Public Impact Fellowships, which will be paid over Winter and Spring quarters.

Eligibility

For UC Irvine Public Impact Fellowships, nominees must, at minimum, meet the following criteria:

  1. Maintain UCI GPA of 3.7 or higher through spring quarter 2012.
  2. Be a current, full-time doctoral student who has advanced to candidacy.
  3. Conduct research that has critical public impact. (Examples of relevant research include studies that aim to improve economic opportunity and well-being, health care, social justice, political participation, cultural engagement, and scientific or technical solutions to pressing social issues.)
  4. Be willing to have research spotlighted/featured on both the Graduate Division’s and UCI’s website, brochures and social networks, and be able and available to effectively communicate and discuss their research in lay terms with prospective donors, legislators and/or their staff, and the media sometime during Winter and Spring quarters.
  5. If selected as a finalist, student must be available to give a five-minute presentation to the selection committee, followed by a brief interview, on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 between 9:30 am - 12:30 pm.

For the UCI/Stanley Behrens Public Impact Fellowship, additional criteria apply as follows:

  1. Be a U.S. Citizen
  2. Have financial need
  3. Students must be conducting cutting-edge research in areas that may include: Stem cell research; energy research; water sustainability/conservation; research in endothelial cells for plant-based  nutrition; diabetes treatment; bipolar disorder; schizophrenia; multiple myeloma; multiple sclerosis; the effects of physical and sexual abuse on children; and in the areas of the law and humanities.
  4. In addition to being available for a presentation and interview Tuesday, November 27, 2012 between 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, finalists may also be required to attend a brief interview with the donor(s) at a time to be determined.
  5. Must be willing to be interviewed and/or meet with the donor(s) and provide the donor(s) with periodic, perhaps quarterly, updates.

Application Process

Schools are asked to collect nominations from each department and then forward the most promising nominees, based on merit and the potential public impact of the student's research. There is no limit to the number of nominations each school may submit. The final selection committee will consider several factors when choosing the awardees, including the student's presentation, interview and their ability to convey their research to a broad audience; academic records, letters of recommendation, degree progress since matriculation into the program, and research impact. DEADLINE to submit nominations to the Graduate Division: 12:00 p.m. (noon), Friday, October 26, 2012. Late or incomplete nomination packets will not be reviewed.

  • Student Information Forms (to be completed by the student):
  1. Students may apply via the fillable/savable Microsoft Word form from the Graduate Division Website: Public Impact Fellowship Student Information Form
  2. Students must complete and submit the Student Information form as a Microsoft Word document via e-mail to their department (including the Student Profile and Student Research sections)
    1. Student Information forms must be saved in Microsoft Word as "IMPACT APP - SID#.doc", e.g. "IMPACT APP - 12345678.doc"
    2. Students must also provide the following items to their department:
      1. A printed/signed copy of the Student Information form (including the Student Profile and Student Research sections)
      2. A current, printed curriculum vitae
      3. A letter of recommendation from the student's faculty advisor
      4. Associate Dean letter of recommendation
  • Nomination Forms (to be completed by the department):
  1. Departments will nominate students via the fillable/savable Microsoft Word form from the Graduate Division website: Public Impact Fellowship Nomination Form
  2. Nomination forms should be saved in Microsoft Word as "IMPACT NOM - SID#.doc", e.g. "IMPACT NOM - 12345678.doc"
  3. Print the nomination forms and gather original signatures for each form
  4. Once forms are final with signatures, scan documents to a single PDF file for each nominee in this order:
    1. Nomination form (signed by the Faculty Advisor and Associate Dean)
    2. Student Information form (signed by the student)
    3. Curriculum vitae
    4. Faculty advisor letter of recommendation
    5. Associate Dean letter of recommendation
    6. Save the new PDF file as "IMPACT - SID#.pdf", e.g. "IMPACT - 12345678.pdf"
    7. When all documentation is complete, e-mail the following items separately for each student:
      1. Email to Oana Abrudan:
        1. The original Microsoft Word (.doc) nomination form
        2. The original Microsoft Word (.doc) Student Information form
        3. The PDF file (.pdf) with the packet (to include all items listed above)
    8. DEADLINE to submit nominations to the Graduate Division: 12:00 p.m. (noon), Friday, October 26, 2012
      1. Late or incomplete nomination packets will not be reviewed

Contact Info

Questions should be directed to Ruth Quinnan , x4-5879 or Oana Abrudan, x4-9031.

Deadline

The deadline for e-mail receipt of completed/signed nomination packages is 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Friday, October 26, 2012.

Notes

  • Students who receive the full $10,000/$20,000 awards are not to be appointed as TAs during the period of the fellowship but may be appointed as GSRs.  Students who receive $1,000 honorable mention awards may be appointed as TAs. 
  • For students already receiving financial aid, acceptance of a Public Impact Fellowship may affect his or her overall financial need-based support package.  In such cases, students are encouraged to consult with the UCI Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. 
  • Previous winners (full awardees and honorable mentions) and current ARCS scholars are not eligible for this year’s competition.

Current Fellows

Beth Karlin

Beth Karlin

UCI/Stanley Behrens Public Impact Fellows

Degrees:

  • Social Ecology, UCI, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Public Policy and Administration, CSU Long Beach, M.P.A, 2007
  • Psychology / Spanish, University of Redlands, B.A., 1999

Research

The role of social scientists in contributing to the development and testing of interventions critical to the solutions in energy efficiency and conservation.

Biography

Beth is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Social Ecology, where she founded and directs the Transformational Media Lab within the Center for Unconventional Security Affairs. She studies the role of information and communication technology in promoting pro-environmental behavior; current projects investigate technology-enabled energy feedback and transmedia social action campaigns. She has presented her work to diverse audiences including the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences, International Studies Association, and the American Psychological Association. Before coming to UCI, Beth spent a decade years working in K-12 education, holding positions as a teacher, counselor, curriculum developer, and school administrator.

Ryan Schutte

Ryan Schutte

UCI/Stanley Behrens Public Impact Fellows

Degrees:

  • Biomedical Sciences, UCI School of Medicine, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Biological Sciences, UCI, B.S., 2007

Research

Modeling human genetic epilepsies using fruit flies.

Biography

Ryan is a doctoral candidate from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology in the School of Medicine. His research focuses on a new approach to modeling human genetic epilepsies using fruit flies. These models will provide insight into the neural mechanisms underlying epilepsies associated with specific human mutations. In addition to his research Ryan is interested in education. For the past 5 years he has served as a TA for a large introductory biology course. He is a HHMI-UCI graduate fellow, a TLTC Pedagogical Fellow, and was awarded the Edward Steinhaus Teaching Award in Biological Science in 2011. He mentors undergraduate students in research and served as Dept. Journal Club Coordinator for the past 3 years.

Seema Ehsan

Seema Ehsan

Public Impact Distinguished Fellow

Degrees:

  • Chemical Engineering, UC Irvine, Ph.D., 2014 expected
  • Chemical Engineering, UC Irvine, M.S., 2011
  • Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley, B.S., 2008

Research

Development of complex tumor models to enhance anticancer drug screening.

Biography

Seema is a Ph.D. candidate in the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department at UC Irvine. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley, and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Irvine. Her research focuses on developing engineered tumor models that can be used for clinically relevant anticancer drug screening.

Scott Sellars

Scott Sellars

Public Impact Distinguished Fellow

Degrees:

  • Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCI, Ph.D, 2014 expected
  • Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCI, M.S. 2013 expected
  • Climate and Society, Columbia University, M.A., 2009
  • Meteorology, University of Utah, B.S., 2005

Research

Aims to identify the next generation of tools and approaches for developing seasonal climate predictions, which can be integrated into current operational methods for seasonal water supply forecasting and enhancing the options a water manager has at his or her disposal.

Biography

Scott is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering. He works at the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing on research applications of machine learning and pattern detection in hydroclimate, remote sensing and water resource management. Scott received a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from the University of Utah in 2005 and a Master of Arts degree in Climate and Society from Columbia University in 2009. Scott is particularly interested in developing methods and algorithms to better understand climate variability and climate change and its impacts on water resources.

Binbin Zheng

Binbin Zheng

Public Impact Distinguished Fellow

Degrees:

  • Education, UCI, Ph.D., 2014 expected
  • Educational Technology, Beijing Normal University, M.A., 2009
  • Educational Information and Technology, East China Normal University, B.S., 2006

Research

Research focuses on how schools can best make use of low-cost computers to help diverse learners, including English learners, underrepresented minorities, and low-income s students, learn to write well.

Biography

Binbin is a doctoral candidate in the School of Education with a specialization in Language, Literacy, and Technology. She holds an M.A. in Educational Technology from Beijing Normal University and a B.S. in Educational Information and Technology from East China Normal University. Binbin's current research investigates how K-12 schools can best make use of low-cost netbook computers and other digital tools to support academic achievement and literacy development among at-risk learners, including English language learners, underrepresented minorities, and students from low-income families. Her long-term goal is to bridge educational achievement gaps through high-quality research on promising educational reforms.

Alejandra Albarran Moses

Alejandra Albarran Moses

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Education with a dual focus in Learning, Cognitions, & Development and Educational Policy and Social Context, UCI, Ph.D., 2012 expected
  • Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education, M.A., 2008
  • Psychology with a minor in Spanish, California Lutheran University, B.S., 2003

Research

The role of community-based organizations in improving school readiness through parent engagement.

Biography

Alejandra is a doctoral candidate in the School of Education with a dual specialization in Learning, Cognition, and Development & Educational Policy and Social Context. She holds a B.S. in Psychology from CLU and an M.A.’s from Cal State Northridge in Educational Psychology. She studies the role of community-based organizations in improving school readiness through parent engagement. In addition to research, she is active on campus as the co-chair of the Chican@/Latin@ Graduate Student Collective and as a graduate student representative on many boards. She looks forward to becoming a professor and engaging in research on children in natural contexts.

Joshua Gellers

Joshua Gellers

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Political Science, UCI, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Political Science, UCI, M.A., 2009
  • Climate and Society, Columbia University, M.A., 2007
  • Political Science, University of Florida, B.A., 2005

Research

Research focuses on understanding why countries adopt environmental rights in national constitutions, especially in South Asia.

Biography

Josh is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Political Science. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida, where he graduated magna cum laude, an M.A. in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and an M.A. in Political Science from UCI. Josh has consulted for the United Nations Development Programme and Sierra Club Green Home. His research utilizes quantitative and qualitative techniques to understand why countries adopt constitutional environmental rights, especially in South Asia, where he has conducted field research. Josh hopes to continue his work as a professor and international development consultant.

Zoya Gubernskaya

Zoya Gubernskaya

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Sociology, UCI Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Demographic and Social Analysis, UCI, M.A., 2006
  • Psychology, Lviv National University, Diploma, 2000

Research

Sociology and demography of health, aging, immigration, and family.

Biography

Zoya is a doctoral student in the department of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences. She holds an M.A. in Demographic and Social Analysis from UCI and a degree in Psychology from Ukraine-based Lviv National University. Her current research seeks to understand divergent health outcomes among the older foreign-born in the U.S. Using an interdisciplinary approach she investigates how incorporation experiences throughout the life course affect immigrants’ health and wellbeing in old age. While pursuing an academic career, she also expects her research findings to influence public policies aimed at reducing health disparities in old age.

Briana Hinga

Briana Hinga

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Education, UCI, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Education, UCI, M.A., 2010

Research

Classroom practices, teacher education, and student assessments that promote innovative and equitable schooling opportunities for underrepresented students.

Biography

Briana Hinga is a doctoral candidate in the UCI School of Education, specializing in Learning, Cognition, and Development and Educational Policy and Social Context. Briana researches classroom practices, teacher education, and student assessments that promote innovative and equitable schooling opportunities for underrepresented students. She grounds this research in partnerships with researchers, teachers, students, and community members. She plans to pursue a career as a university professor as a means to learn from and work with the academic academy and communities to create spaces of collaboration and movement toward social justice in education.

Tina Matuchniak

Tina Matuchniak

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Education, UCI, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Education, UCI, M.A., 2011
  • Literacy Studies, CSULB, M.A., 2000
  • English, CSULB, B.A. 1999

Research

Examining the writing practices and performances of high school English language learners as they transition to college.

Biography

Tina is a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at UCI specializing in language and literacy. As a multilingual immigrant to this country and a Lecturer at California State University, Long Beach, Tina has both a personal as well as professional interest in working with non-native speakers of English and other traditionally under-served and marginalized student populations. In addition to serving as a faculty mentor to 10 first-generation college students, Tina was also recognized for her excellence in teaching and awarded the prestigious “Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award” (2007) at CSU, Long Beach. In 2011, she received the UC ACCORD Dissertation Year Fellowship and was commended for “conducting ground-breaking work that will make a great contribution to equity and opportunity.” More recently (2012), she was awarded the Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Year Fellowship.

Dana Nakano

Dana Nakano

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Sociology, UCI, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Demographic and Social Analysis, UCI, M.A., 2010
  • Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University, M.A, 2007
  • Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, B.A., 2004
  • International Relations and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies – Japanese, University of Pennsylvania, B.A., 2004

Research

The intersections of race and politics.

Biography

Dana is a doctoral candidate in the UCI School of Social Sciences, with a concentration in physical chemistry. His overarching research agenda focuses on the intersections of race and politics. Dana broadly defines politics to include the standard forms of electoral politics, political participation, civic engagement, and mobilization, but also take as central the more mundane experiences of citizenship as community and senses of belonging. His dissertation, tentatively titled “Racialized Belonging and Substantive Citizenship Among Later Generation Japanese Americans,” examines the persistence and construction of racial and ethnic communities among third and fourth generation Japanese Americans in Southern California and the impact of such community building on extralegal aspects of citizenship. He has a planned completion date on June 2013.

Marisa Omori

Marisa Omori

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Criminology, Law and Society, UCI, Ph.D., 2014 expected
  • Social Ecology, UCI, M.A., 2010
  • Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, M.A., 2007
  • Economics, Occidental College, A.B., 2003

Research

Cumulative racial inequality in the arrest and court processes for drug offenders.

Biography

Marisa is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Criminology, Law & Society. Her work focuses on issues of race and punishment, drug policy, sentencing, and corrections. Marisa’s dissertation examines cumulative racial inequality in the arrest and court processes for drug offenders. Other projects include methamphetamine legislation, addiction and drug use over time, racial and gang violence in juvenile justice facilities, and drug offender sentencing. Marisa’s work has been published in Crime and Delinquency, Crime and Public Policy, and Theoretical Criminology. She is also the past recipient of the Newkirk Center for Science and Society Fellowship and the Debbie Davis Graduate Student Award for service and advocacy.

John Michael Ian Salas

John Michael Ian Salas

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Economics, UCI, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Economics, University of the Philippines, M.A., 2004
  • Economics, University of the Philippines, B.S., 2002

Research

Causal explanations for high fertility in developing countries.

Biography

Ian is a doctoral candidate in Economics at UCI. His research looks at demographic and economic issues that developing countries face, as demonstrated by Philippine experience. He has received many grants for his ongoing research on the impact of free contraceptives on birth rates and other health outcomes. His earlier publications looked at measuring the aggregate burden of providing for a relatively large young dependent population, tracing disparities in firm productivity and regional development to differences in investment environment, validating a central bank's adherence to its avowed goal of managing inflation, and detecting collusive behavior in setting gasoline pump prices.

Sepideh Sarachi

Sepideh Sarachi

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Civil Engineering/water resources, UCI, Ph.D., 2014 expected
  • Civil Engineering, UCI, M.S., 2010
  • Civil Engineering, Sharif University of technology/Iran, B.S., 2009

Research

A probabilistic model for uncertainty associated with satellite precipitation products.

Biography

Sepideh is a doctoral candidate in water resources and hydrology at center for hydrometeorology and remote sensing (CHRS) in the Henry Samueli school of engineering at UCI. She holds her master’s from the same school and her bachelors from Sharif university of technology, Iran. She is interested in water resources and the quantification of how much water is available to communities to forecast disasters look flooding and drought. Currently, she is working on quantifying the uncertainty associated with precipitation data estimated from satellite products, and would like to propose a global uncertainty model which can be used as a side product with any available precipitation product to give us a better estimate of the available water. This uncertainty helps to conduct better strategic planning for natural resources in societies.

Maria Torres

Maria Torres

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Neurobiology and Behavior, UCI, Ph.D., 2013 expected
  • Chemistry, UCSC, B.S., 2008

Research

Research focuses on the role of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), an astrocyte secreted protein, in dendritic spine morphogenesis and structural plasticity.

Biography

Maria is a doctoral candidate in the School of Biological Sciences with a focus in neurobiology and behavior. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Jorge Busciglio and is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in Down syndrome neuronal dysfunction. Upon completion of a Doctorate of Philosophy degree, she plans to pursue a medical degree in order to most effectively apply her research background in neurodevelopmental diseases to serve and educate the community through disease prevention.

Matthew Valasik

Matthew Valasik

Public Impact Fellow

Degrees:

  • Criminology, Law & Society, School of Social Ecology - UCI, Ph.D., 2014 expected
  • Criminology, Department of Sociology - The Ohio State University, B.A., 2006
  • History, Department of History - The Ohio State University, B.A., 2004

Research

Investigation of how the establishment and enforcement of civil gang injunctions disrupt the activity patterns of gangs, impacting their criminal opportunities.

Biography

Matt is a doctoral candidate in the UCI School of Social Ecology where he is in the department of Criminology, Law & Society. He holds a B.A. from The Ohio State University in Criminology and History as well as a B.S. in Zoology. In conjunction with his advisor, Matt has been participating on a large-scale, multiple university research project forecasting the structure and dynamics of evolving criminal networks. Matt has contributed to 2 published papers from this research initiative, and is currently working on several others. Matt’s dissertation research investigates how the establishment and enforcement of civil gang injunctions disrupt the activity patterns of gangs, impacting their criminal opportunities.

Public Impact Fellows