Name: Julia Nussbacher Hometown: San Francisco Bay Area, California Hobbies: I spend most of my non-lab time doing science outreach, cooking or baking new things (and then eating them), reading high fantasy, listening to podcasts about random things, and lifting super heavy things up and down over and over. What do you study? If you think of DNA like […]

Name: Constanza ‘Connie’ Cortes Hometown: Santiago, Chile Hobbies: Latin dancing What do you study? I am interested in how the different organs in the body talk to each other. Did you know that your muscles talk to your liver? And to your brain? Why is it important? We currently know very little about how these conversations take place. But […]

Name: Emily Manoogian Hometown: Sanger (Fresno Area), California Hobbies: Traveling, tap dance, painting/drawing, being in nature (Yosemite, beaches, etc.) What do you study?  I am a chronobiologist, which means I study how organisms control the timing of various biological events and how they coordinate that timing with the environment. Specifically, I study how the timing of our […]

    Name: Kanaga Arul-nambi-rajan Hometown: Placerville, California Hobbies: Photography, cooking and baking (a lot!), hiking, writing What do you study?  I study an organ called the placenta that helps the baby get nutrients during pregnancy. The placenta is the thing that is attached to the OTHER end of a baby’s umbilical cord (the first end […]

Name: Margot Wohl Hometown: Bel Air, Maryland Hobbies: Yoga, cooking, watching movies, cuddling with my cat  What do you study?  I study the brains of fruit flies to find which genes, molecules, and brain cells play a role in their aggressive behaviors.  That’s right, flies fight! Why is it important? Violence leads to a lot of human suffering and […]

Name: Laura Sancho Hometown: Madrid, Spain Hobbies: Running, cooking, yoga, hiking, going to the beach  What do you study?  I study how cells in the brain “talk” to each other using electrical signals. I study brain cells in mice and use a super fancy microscope to look at the cells’ activity and see how the mouse’s experience changes the […]

Name: Ben Rubin Hometown: Berkeley, California Hobbies: I surf and compete with the UCSD surf team. When I’m not into the water, I like to run or bike for exercise. At home I read (started a book club), cook (lots of pastas), garden (mostly flowers), and eat chocolate (only dark). What do you study? I study a tiny living-thing […]

Name: Alie Caldwell Hometown: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Hobbies: Outside of science, I spend my time cooking (mostly Mexican food), gardening (mostly tomatoes), writing (mostly YouTube scripts), and reading (mostly sci-fi, fantasy, and comics). I look for any excuse to spend time outdoors, hate running, and love hiking. What do you study? I study the ways that brain cells called […]

Name: Justin Mojgani Hometown:  Born in Houston, Texas; grew up in Virginia and West Virginia; high school and college in Philadelphia; moved on to Massachusetts and New Hampshire; then San Diego in June 2014. Hobbies: Surfing, hiking, antiquing, vinyl records, camping, travel, and reading. What is your background?  –       Associates Degree in Liberal Arts of Science. –       Taught […]

Name: Antonia Darragh Hometown:  Davis, California Hobbies: Sports, backpacking, yoga and volunteering What do you study? I study tiny worms. I want to know how worms that look very similar under a microscope have large differences in their DNA. DNA is the genetic material you get from your parents and that all organisms have; DNA says what type of organism you […]