Supporting Graduate Students' Academic and Professional Success
In another sign that summer is on its way out, we welcomed the new members of the 2019-20 GradSuccess team this week. We are thrilled they’ve joined us and want to let you know a little bit more about the folks who’ll be bringing you the GradSuccess programs and events you know and love in the coming year.
Sierra Andrew (Graduate Student Resource Center Co-Coordinator)
Sierra is a Ph.D. student in the Graduate School of Education, specializing in Education, Society, and Culture. She also completed her undergraduate degree at UCR, in History and African American Studies, and has previously worked for Residential Life and African Student Programs on campus. Come say hi to her at our first Fall coffee social on Wednesday, October 2nd at 3pm in HUB 383!
Iris Blake (Graduate Writing Center Lead Consultant)
Iris a Ph.D. candidate in Ethnic Studies researching technologies of voice and sound in the U.S. and Canada in relation to modernity, racial capitalism, and colonialism. In her free time, she likes to hike and read speculative fiction. You can make an appointment with Iris to strengthen your ideas and get that fellowship personal statement perfected!!
Antara Chakravarty (Teaching Assistant Development Program Lead Consultant)
Antara is a 5th year Ph.D. student in the Plant Pathology Program. Originally from India, she trained as a classical dancer from the age of 3 but now devotes her time to researching plant-based vaccines. She presented her research in the 2018 Grad Slam competition and made it to the Finals! She loves to read, so bring her your book recommendations when you stop by the GradSuccess office (UOB 141) for coffee.
Songling Chen (Graduate Student Mentorship Program Co-Coordinator)
Songling is the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences/Education (HASSE) Coordinator for the Graduate Student Mentorship Program. She is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Graduate School of Education with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration and Policy. She has previously lived in Beijing, Stuttgart, and Los Angeles!
Lin Cong (GradQuant Lead Consultant)
Lin is a second-year student in Applied Statistics who comes to UCR from Southeast China. His research focuses on mixture models, data mining, and machine learning. Lin’s consultation and drop-in hours are very popular with grad students because he makes stats seem much less scary! When he’s not working on his research or in GradQuant, Lin enjoys playing the piano.
John Haberstroh (University Teaching Certificate Program Coordinator)
John is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in History focusing on ancient Greece, and also President of the UCR Graduate Student Association. He has TA’d several courses at UCR and participated in the 2018-19 University Teaching Certificate program. He can also name all the countries of the world in under 15 minutes (please feel free to test him on this at the next After Grad event!).
Beth Kopacz (Graduate Student Resource Center Co-Coordinator)
Beth is a Ph.D. Candidate in Ethnic Studies researching the effects of consumer-based genetic testing on kinship, identity, memory, and loss for Korean adoptees. When not writing, she enjoys finding new hikes to go on and spending time with her cat, little v. Say hi to Beth in person at a coffee social or on IG @ucrgradsuccess.
Sarah Murray (Teaching Assistant Development Program Coordinator)
Sarah is a 6th year Ph.D. candidate in Sociology who came to UCR from Canada. Her research focuses on intersectional inequalities in the experience of women police officers. She loves reading murder mysteries, especially the novels of Agatha Christie. You’ll see Sarah at New TA Orientation on September 24th and 25th!
Patrick Thomas (Graduate Student Mentorship Program Co-Coordinator)
Patrick is the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Coordinator for the Graduate Student Mentorship Program. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Plant Biology researching whitefly resistance in alfalfa and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science from Penn State University. He is also a former GSMP mentee and loves basketball and music–you won’t often see him without his earbuds!
If you’d like to chat with a member of our team about any aspect of graduate school – teaching, work/life balance, campus resources, diversity and inclusion, being a student parent or an international student, and/or professional development – sign up for our peer support office hours.
Welcome back to campus everyone, and we look forward to serving you in the new academic year!