Fellowship Research Topic: Theoretical high energy physics focuses on aspects of scatterings amplitudes in quantum field theory​​​​​

Department: Physics and Astronomy 
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Mentor: Mukund Rangamani, Professor of Physics and Astronomy

QMAP postdoctoral researcher, Shruti Paranjape is a 2022-2023 UC Davis Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow. Paranjape completed her Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Henriette Elvang from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2021. She works on understanding fundamental interactions using on-shell scattering amplitude techniques. Her recent focus is on using these methods to explore the relationship between massive gravity models and supersymmetry.  Her other projects include extending geometric techniques to compute scattering amplitudes beyond the planar level. 

Paranjape has been an active member of  the Fields, Strings, and Gravity research group, helping organize the CA Amplitudes Meeting 2022, the recently concluded Pacific Coast Gravity Meeting 2022, and the FSG seminars. She is also engaged in science outreach and is a founding member of the Theory Girls Podcast.

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Fellowship Research Topic: Freshwater impacts on ecosystem vulnerability to ocean acidification along the U.S. West Coast​​​​​

Department: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Mentor: Tessa Hill, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Rachel earned her bachelor's degree English from Rice University; a master's degree in civil engineering​ from Rice University; a master's degree in international politics from Trinity College Dublin; and a doctorate in environment and resources from Stanford University. She wrote her dissertation on coral refugia in the coastal zone: habitat conditions and governance strategies to increase coral resilience in the Hawaiian Archipelago.

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Fellowship Research Topic: Japanese and transnational media, disability, and technology.

Department: Science and Technology Studies 

Mentor: Emily Merchant, Professor of Science and Technology Studies

Frank Mondelli, PhD is a historian of Japanese and transnational media, disability, and technology. He is currently a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Davis, where he is working on his book project on Japanese videogames and disability. He holds a PhD degree from Stanford and a BA from Swarthmore College. His research has been supported by several grants and awards, such as the Fulbright Dissertation Research Grant and the Stanford Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education Doctoral Fellowship Program. You can access many of his publications through his Academia.edu page.

Outside of research, Frank advocates for Deaf and disability access in a variety of contexts. He has worked for disability rights at Stanford in a variety of positions, such as ASSU Executive Disability Advocacy Co-Director and Executive Director of the Abilities Hub, Stanford’s disability community space. He is also a consultant on assistive technology startups in the Bay Area.

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Fellowship Research Topic: Evolution and Function of Scent Gland Microbiomes Across the Felid Phylogeny

Department: Evolution and Ecology

Mentor: Jonathan Eisen, Ph.D.

Connie Abril Rojas, Ph.D. is  a postdoctoral researcher in the Eisen lab, investigating the evolution and function of scent gland microbiomes across the Felidae phylogeny.  Rojas obtained her Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from Michigan State University (MSU). Her doctoral work identified the socioecological predictors of microbiome variation in wild African mammals, and elucidated potential functional contributions of microbiomes to host behavior and physiology.  She is interested in teaching, and taught biology courses as a TA. She also completed a teaching fellowship and received a Certificate in College Teaching from MSU. While in grad school, Rojas was heavily involved in efforts to assist the professional development of undergraduate and graduate students. In all areas of her work, she strives to help her community and be a great mentor to others. Rojas ultimately hopes to become a tenure-track professor at a research university.

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Fellowship Research Topic: The Effects of Immigration Detention on US-Citizen Family Members

Department: Sociology

Mentors: Caitlin Patler, Ph.D. and Erin Hamilton, Ph.D.

Mirian Martinez-Aranda is a chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of California Davis. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA in 2021. Her research examines the social, material, and health consequences of immigration detention on immigrants, families, and communities. She is also a former National Science Foundation and Marvin Hoffenberg fellow with the Center for American Politics and Public Policy, and a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. Her work has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and Law and Society Review. Dr. Martinez-Aranda is currently working on her book which examines the experiences of immigrants after they are released from detention, to show how immigration enforcement policies constrain and shape the lives of formerly detained immigrants as they experience family reunification, community incorporation, life under ICE surveillance, and engagement with the immigration legal system. 

Update: Martinez-Aranda has accepted a tenure track assistant professorship at UC Irvine in the Sociology department. Martinez-Aranda will begin at UC Irvine on July 1, 2023.

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