The Graduate School and the Office of Research will host their advisory council from September 11-13th in Indianapolis in connection with the University’s Shamrock Series.
Council members will meet with a panel of five Notre Dame graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, as well as with representatives from a variety of enterprises in the state, including the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, the Harper Cancer Research Institute, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and the Lilly Endowment. In addition, His Excellency The Most Reverend Joseph W. Tobin, C.SS.R., D.D. will offer reflections on Catholic higher education at a dinner for members.
Click to view the banner book.
When meetings conclude, the inaugural Shamrock Series 5K will hold a special spotlight on graduate education at Notre Dame. Banners along the race—and a race booklet—will feature the work of eight Notre Dame graduate students. Proceeds from registrations will benefit Notre Dame’s graduate student fellowships, which enable graduate students to pursue research and course work in their field of study. Graduate School Dean Laura Carlson has challenged all graduate students to beat her time—and will treat any who succeed to lunch.
The members of the postdoctoral scholar/graduate student panel are:
Karen Antonio
Karen Antonio is a fourth-year graduate student in analytical chemistry. She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from California State University, San Bernardino. Karen’s research examines how to image and monitor chemical interactions in cellular systems—a project for which she was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in her first year at Notre Dame. This research has translational impact, moving from “bench top to bedside” with its applications in clinical research and mainstream medicine. Karen is the 2014-15 President of the Association for Women in Science, Notre Dame Chapter. In 2014, she received Notre Dame’s Sister Jean Lenz, O.S.F. Leadership Award for her role in facilitating professional development activities for female graduate students, staff, and faculty in STEM disciplines.
Mark Doerries
Mark Doerries is a postdoctoral fellow of conducting at Notre Dame. He teaches conducting, choral methods, and choral literature at the masters and doctoral levels, and is supported by a grant from the Lilly Foundation. Mark received bachelor’s degrees in music and biology from the College of William and Mary, a master’s degree in choral conducting from Temple University, and a doctorate from Indiana University, Bloomington. Mark has two research areas: music education practices for sacred-music environments and multidisciplinary performance—the combination of music with dance, film, theater, and dramatic lighting. In 2014, he helped to establish the Notre Dame Children’s Choir and serves as the choir’s artistic director. In spring 2014, Mark conducted and directed the choir in Benjamin Britten’s opera Noye’s Fludde, which was performed on campus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hesburgh Library.
Sarah Edmands Martin
Sarah Edmands Martin is a master’s candidate in Art, Art History, and Design, with a concentration in visual communication design. She holds bachelor’s degrees in studio art and English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland. In her research, Sarah creates apps, digital films, and books that help children navigate difficult, sometimes scary, themes—death, the destruction of the environment, greed, and identity—while helping young readers accept that bad, even frightening, things happen to everyone. Her work won first place at the 2014 Graduate Student Union & Office of Postdoctoral Scholars’ Research Symposium in the category of Humanities and is featured in one of the eight banners lining the course of the Shamrock Series 5K race.
Dustin Mix
Dustin Mix is a founder of Enginnering2Empower and its Haiti In-Country Director. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Notre Dame as well as a master’s degree from the University’s ESTEEM program. Dustin’s research focus is developing innovative technologies and processes to offer lasting housing solutions for Haiti—as well as the millions of people worldwide living in substandard urban housing. Emerging from his ESTEEM thesis project, Engineering2Empower is built on the founding principle that the solution to substandard housing in the developing world cannot be imposed; rather, it must be one that empowers communities to become self-reliant through locally owned and operated retail and construction of affordable, safe housing.
Nicole Perez
Nicole Perez is in the third year of her Sociology doctoral program and is affiliated with Notre Dame’s Center for Research on Educational Opportunity. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Chicana/Chicano Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Nicole’s major research interest is understanding when and why Latina/o students drop out of the educational pipeline from high school to college to graduate school. Specifically, she explores the transition from high school to college, with a focus on how Latina/o students navigate familial and peer influences in deciding where to apply and, ultimately, attend college. This past April, Nicole was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to support her research.
Originally published by at graduateschool.nd.edu on September 08, 2014.