Yichen Fan
Yichen Fan is a sophomore biology major who grew up in Shanghai, China, before moving to Portland, Oregon. As a member of Cris Niell’s lab, she is currently researching eye movements in free-moving environments. Yichen says her experience in the SCORE program has opened the door to a world of research. She particularly enjoys collaborating with other SCORE students and faculty members. SCORE has fueled her curiosity in biological research and science in general, shaping her vision of the future. She hopes to keep diving deeper into biological research after graduation. Yichen was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award.
Francesca Fennell
Francesca Fennell is a junior biology major from San Francisco. She was awarded the SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award for her studies in developmental biology, in particular, morphogenesis in the Bowerman Lab. Francesca has always been curious about the world around her and is passionate about lifelong learning. Being involved in the SCORE program has allowed her to ask questions and to meet other curious scientists who have inspired her to push herself beyond what she thought possible. Francesca’s favorite aspect of SCORE is its mission to diversify science and research. Francesca was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award.
John Francis
John Francis is a junior biology major from Northridge, California. He has always had a keen interest in the sciences, more specifically, neuroscience and human biology. John joined the SCORE program in his freshman year and has since been working in David McCormick’s lab in the Institute of Neuroscience. In the McCormick Lab, John investigates the effect of varying reward treatments on performance and learning. He is studying how arousal influences the brain and its performance. Through the SCORE program, John has learned essential laboratory skills and how to communicate scientific findings. He says the experience has allowed him to build a strong scientific foundation. John plans to attend medical school. John was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award.
Nia Harper
Nia Harper is a junior from Oakland, California. She is a general science major at the UO with a focus on pre-medicine. She is minoring in chemistry, biology, and psychology. Her research in Bill Cresko’s lab focuses on understanding the genetic basis of craniofacial bone variation in stickleback fish. The SCORE program has given her the opportunity to learn from and interact with successful women of color who have careers in science. Nia’s experience in the Cresko Lab has taught her new skills she hopes to incorporate into a future career in the medical field. Nia was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award.
Jade Kast
Jade Kast is a junior biology major from Salem, Oregon. As a freshman at the UO, she was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award, which helped her begin working in Bill Cresko’s lab her sophomore year and will allow her to continue her research throughout her junior year. Jade’s research focuses on the imaging of stickleback fish and measuring phenotypes. Her work was part of a genomic-wide association study to identify genetic regions and variations that are associated with phenotypes. Her involvement with the SCORE program has given her the lab experience she needs to pursue a career in genetics research.
Yulin Li
Yalin is originally from the Guangdong Province in China. Her family immigrated to Oregon when she was just four years old and she credits them with having instilled in her a passion for learning and the natural environment. Yalin is currently a 3rd year senior majoring in environmental science with a minor in biology, and a member of Dr. Kelly Sutherland’s Lab. Her research focuses on how seasonal variations in plankton production affect the nutritional state of jellyfish. SCORE has allowed her to jumpstart her research career and interact with a variety of researchers from various fields. She was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award which helped fund trips to the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology where she conducted on-site fieldwork with various gelatinous organisms. Yalin hopes to continue her research career in graduate school where she wants to pursue a master’s in the conservation field.
Saad Mirza
Saad is a senior general science major with a minor in chemistry. Saad joined SCORE his junior year, and states that SCORE gave him the tools and capability to be able to excel in lab settings. Saad had the chance to work in the Adam Miller lab, and advance his pipetting, and zebrafish dissection techniques! Being a part of SCORE has not only expanded Saad’s knowledge in science but also allowed him to form bonds with peers who have similar interests.
Natalia Narh
Over the years, I’ve always known that I want to work in the science field. Although this path seems difficult and challenging, I knew it was achievable with determination and hard work. After, my family and I moved to the States from my home country Ghana, this reality soon was turning into a fantasy for me. Being a minority of the minority, I was very skeptical about my passion to work in the science field. I began questioning my abilities and what career path seems best for me since I’m a student of color, something I knew little of until I moved here. It wasn’t until I found myself in SCORE that I realized that my color doesn’t define my ability nor my career goals. SCORE did not only boost my confidence in defining my identity and abilities but also built my lab and research skills through the support of Alex, my mentor. SCORE did not only expose me to these skills but also enriched those skills in and out of the lab setting. Being introverted, SCORE pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me also develop my interpersonal skills and networking. My career goal is to become a pediatrician, and although it may not be in the field of research, SCORE definitely gave me the platform to build myself for medical school. Although SCORE primarily is for students of color, any student will benefit from the goals and mission of this group.
Hanson Pham
Hanson Pham is a junior human physiology major from Portland, Oregon. He is currently involved in the Aging and Vascular Physiology Lab led by human physiology professor Ashley Walker. By examining how arteries and capillaries change as we age, Hanson hopes to gain a better understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease. He hopes to pursue a career in medicine. He says SCORE has given him the opportunity to explore his passion for science by guiding him through his first research project and giving him the chance to perform hands-on experiments. The work combines his love of science with his aspiration to save lives. Hanson was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award.
Juliana Rantisi
As a female student of color my experience and access to scientific opportunities greatly differed from peers from more traditional backgrounds. In my sophomore year of college, I began my research experience with the program Student of Color Opportunities in Research Enrichment (SCORE). SCORE gave me an opportunity to connect with my mentor, Alex de Verteuil, who not only facilitated my research experience, but also looked like me. This experience allowed me to develop the critical reasoning and practical lab skills required for research and the effective analysis of research articles. Over the following two years, I have had the opportunity to continue working with my mentor and Dr. Patrick Phillips in the Phillips lab studying the transgenerational effects of adult starvation in C. elegans. I developed a passion for this work and decided to further the work with the development of my own experiment that I am using to write my undergraduate thesis in the Clark Honors College. Research has allowed me to continue to build on my skills of inquiry and analysis, while overcoming roadblocks and setbacks. I am currently set to apply to medical school and graduate with a major in human physiology and minors in ethnic studies/chemistry in Spring of 2018.
Haley Rice
Haley Rice is a sophomore in Cris Niell’s lab, where she is exploring the visual system of the octopus, specifically, it’s functional organization. Haley has also been able to combine her love of biology with her interest in computer science by writing code in her lab projects. She appreciates the close-knit, personal environment of SCORE. Haley says the SCORE program provided a strong starting point and helped her learn how to make the most of academic and research opportunities. Haley was awarded a SCORE-Knight Campus Research Award.
Ben Song
Ben Song immigrated to Oregon from Guangdong, China when he was nine years old. While at the University of Oregon, he studied Biology and Chinese while also working as both a Resident’s Assistant and a Biology Undergraduate Lab and Teaching Tutor (two jobs he loved!). Passionate about his mother language and his roots, after participating in SCORE Ben spent a year abroad through the UO Chinese Flagship Program. While in China, he split his time between studying, as well as interning at the Nanjing University tumor research lab of Professor Xue Bin, culturing cells in the City Center Hospital, attending seminars on the future directions of GGPPS experiments, and exploring famous historical cities including: Suzhou, Hangzhou, WuXi, and Nanjing. In his free time, Ben loves to go exercise in the gym and play tennis. He is very grateful for all the amazing opportunities presented to him which have allowed him to broaden his own knowledge and continue to assist others.
