Garett Lopez

contact: glope119@ucr.edu

Currently I am a fifth year PhD student focusing on cosmology and the astrophysics of intergalactic gas.  I was a community college transfer student and returned to the field after working in industry for over a year, so I am interested in non-traditional career pathways and the cracks in the educational pipeline. 

Archana Aravindan

contact: aarav005@ucr.edu

I am a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate working on black holes and stellar activities in dwarf galaxies. I am interested in creating a welcoming community for women and underrepresented minorities in Physics and Astronomy.

Ananya Paul

contact: apaul029@ucr.edu

In 2013, Jeremy began his undergraduate studies at UCR as a physics major. The following summer, he found work as a laboratory assistant and began his community service to the department as an officer for SPS. Midway through his undergraduate career, Jeremy switched academic fields – but continued to bring forth numerous changes to the Physics & Astronomy department through community organizing, coalition-building, and fostering positive networks. By the time he graduated, he had presided over three student organizations and arranged over one hundred on-campus events. After earning his bachelor's degree in 2018, Jeremy completed the Making Excellence Inclusive (MEI) Diversity Certification Program at UCR and pursued independent studies at the University of Cambridge. 

As of the 2021-22 school year, Jeremy is a full-time graduate student through the School of Education at UCR and staff member for the Physics & Astronomy Department as a developmental laboratory technician. In his spare time, he continues to mentor up-and-coming student leaders.

Marie Wingyee Lau

contact: wingyeel@ucr.edu

I am a postdoc in the Physics & Astronomy department. My research field is observational extragalactic astronomy. My responsibilities in POWUR are outreaching to and bridging with postdocs and other temporary scholars. I have particular interests in mentoring, teaching, and serving people from diverse backgrounds. 

Flip Tanedo, Associate Professor in Physics

contact: flip.tanedo@ucr.edu

Flip is a theoretical physicist studying dark matter.

contact: pgood007@ucr.edu

Please reach out to any of our officers with a photo and the following optional info:

• Contact info

• Short bio / Projects you lead

Cecelia Ngo

Jessica Doppel

Ian McConachie

contact: imcco001@ucr.edu

Ian is a PhD candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, where he studies massive galaxies in the early universe and their environments. He is the treasurer and secretary for POWUR and can be contacted via email for any questions, comments, or concerns.

Liz Finney 

contact: efinn001@ucr.edu

I am a PhD student in Biophysics, and the current president of POWUR! You can contact me at my personal email or at powur.ucr@gmail.com with any questions you have about our group.

Patrick Lawton

contact: plawt001@ucr.edu

I’m a second year Biophysics PhD student and the current Communications Director for POWUR. If you have questions, concerns, comments, or just want to talk, please reach out to me!

contact: tfeth001@ucr.edu

I am a postdoc in the Earth & Planetary Sciences Department and alumni of the Physics & Astronomy Department at UCR. I do not hold an officer position in POWUR, but I am actively involved in the discussions that aim to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the department. In 2019 I also coordinated the weekly meetings with the invited Physics & Astronomy Department colloquium speakers, which are open to all students and postdocs. 

Ethan Jahn

contact: ejahn003@ucr.edu

I'm a PhD candidate in computational astrophysics/cosmology and the current president of POWUR, serving as point of contact and trying my best to keep things organized. I'm interested in creating a community of self-advocacy and increasing the awareness of systemic issues that create significant barriers to the success of students, and therefore the department + field as a whole. If you have any suggestions or just want to chat, feel free to email me.

Brian Lee is currently studying virus evolution, including epidemiological and population genetic based approaches to understanding potential benefits of different mutations. His research is especially concerned with the virus that causes Covid-19 and HIV. He is also studying how cells use the information provided by their environment to make decisions. More generally, he is interested in cellular information processing and its relationship to decision theory.

Christina Manzano 

contact: cking012@ucr.edu

Kayla Rodriguez

contact: krodr108@ucr.edu

I am a graduate student and NSF Fellow a part of the UCR Physics 2019-2020 Cohort. I am in Dr. Boerge Hemmerling's group working on a quantum computation hybrid Paul Trap System with trapping individual electrons (https://molecules.ucr.edu/ ). My role in POWUR is to help facilitate communication (for example recruitment of undergraduate students, event planning, etc) and help maintain POWUR's social media presence. By doing this, I hope to keep members informed with all POWUR's upcoming events and projects, as well as communicate with other student groups to present relevant information from them to POWUR. Additionally, to help bridge the gap in who has access to information (such as old exams, previous classwork, expected knowledge, and expected textbooks), I have created a website which makes all of this information available: https://sites.google.com/ucr.edu/physicsucr2020/about?authuser=1

Bryan Scott

I am a PhD candidate in Astronomy, with interdisciplinary interests at the intersection of astrophysics and observational cosmology. With POWUR, I think about how to build, support, and maintain long lasting communities that will achieve a welcoming and inclusive climate in physics, astronomy, and the academy more broadly. 

Lexi Costantino

contact: acost007@ucr.edu

I'm a PhD candidate in theoretical high energy physics and an active member in POWUR. I was a founding member of the UCR POWUR group in 2018 after forming a similar group of the same name as an undergraduate at the University of South Florida in 2017. I am currently working to establish the UCR CNAS Graduate Diversity Council, a student group which will have a similar mission to POWUR, but at the college level.