Fellow

CVIF (Philippines) |Aug – Dec 2024

Markus is a pharmacist by training and holds a PhD in genetics from ETH Zürich, where his work focused on early mouse embryonic development. He is passionate about teaching and is eager to introduce innovative study concepts into the current curriculum. Markus also aims to offer a new intensive college-prep course and actively supports CVIF’s research group in testing the genetic diversity of local marine life.

In his free time, Markus enjoys playing the piano, running on trails, and working his way through a never-ending reading list.

Fellow

City University (Bangladesh) |Sep – Dec 2023

Ilayda earned her PhD in Materials Science focusing on using collagen-based scaffolds for tissue engineering and regeneration from the University of Oxford, St Catherine’s College. She received her MEng from the University of Exeter in Materials Engineering. Outside of her research, Ilayda has a strong passion for outreach work, especially in bringing the joys and endless scope of Materials science to the younger generations.

Fellow

CVIF (Philippines) | Jan – May 2024

Bianca obtained her PhD in applied physics at Northwestern University, where she focused on employing computational methods for the discovery and characterization of new materials for renewable energy applications. Before that, she had a wonderful time during her MSci degree in physics at University College London (UCL). She is passionate about sustainable development and community building, and highly values the enrichment that comes from sharing different approaches to teaching, learning and research across different cultural and academic contexts.

Fellow

RAS (Morocco) | Aug – Dec 2023

Kris received his PhD in evolution and ecology, from the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK, in 2021. He studied the link between fertility in insects and climate change. Since receiving his degree, he has worked in academic institutions (UEA and the Norwegian Polar Institute) and in UK federal government agencies (Forestry Commission and the Office for National Statistics (ONS)). This work mostly focused improving climate change adaptation, human health, and biodiversity. In addition to his research Kris has taught and developed a diverse range of educational activities around ecology, evolution, and behavior. Kris has a passion for science and providing equal opportunities for school STEM education.

Fellow

CVIF (Philippines | Sep – Dec 2020 & July 2023

Matt currently is a postdoc at the University of Virginia in affiliation with three Department of Energy laboratories.

He received his Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University and specializes in experimental particle astrophysics. . Matt also obtained a dual degree in physics and mechanical engineering from Oakland University. Outside of the laboratory, Matt is passionate about spreading scientific literacy and believes that providing proper STEM education and resources can help improve the lives of people in developing countries. He is writing curriculum for a computer programming course and plans to run a workshop at CVIF after the COVID era.

Education & Research Fellow

CVIF (Philippines) | Sep 2022 – Apr 2023

Swastika is an evolutionary biologist from New Delhi, India. Her research is focused on how natural selection shapes interactions within social groups, species and ecological communities. She recently finished her PhD at the University of Cambridge on a Dr. Manmohan Singh Scholarship from St. John’s College. Swastika’s work at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior on the ecological and life-history correlates of social behavior in cichlid fish of the Great African Lakes has been funded by the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior in Konstanz. She is a guest lecturer in Global Change to undergraduate students in Environmental Engineering and Resource Management at the University of Applied Sciences (HTWG), Konstanz.AAlong with her extensive experience in community-based teaching and mentoring in India and the United Kingdom since her undergraduate studies, she is deeply passionate about making science education open and inclusive. As a diversity advocate, she aims to establish a culture of accessibility, creativity and collegiality in academic spaces focussed on innovation and excellence.

Fellow

CVIF (Philippines) | Jan – June 2021

Tanvi is currently a Data Scientist at Meta.

She finished her PhD in Geology, with a PhD minor in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. She has a Bachelors in Mathematical Geoscience from Cornell University, and is grateful for values like cultural empathy that she imbibed during scientific expeditions in countries across the spectrum of the Human Development Index. 

Tanvi hopes to apply her technical skills in the environment or social realm full-time, starting with building STEM capacity in underserved communities through Science Corps.

Fellow

AST (Morocco) | Aug 2022 – Jan 2023

Chrissy earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Health and Toxicology from Duke University in 2022. Her thesis research focused on understanding how environmental contaminants during pregnancy impact the health of mothers and their babies. While at Duke, Chrissy earned doctoral certificates in both Global Health and College Teaching. She completed a Morehead Science & Planetarium IMPACTS Fellowship, in which she was trained in science education and outreach and designed and implemented outreach activities at underfunded schools in North Carolina. She also led a Bass Connections team through field and lab work in China and taught the subsequent course on electronic-waste recycling for Duke undergrads.

Chrissy is passionate about science education and outreach, especially in underserved communities. She believes in building a healthier planet through innovative science and technology.

Fellow

Aavishkaar (India) | Jul-Oct 2019

Betsy is currently an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the US State Department in the office of Science and Technology Cooperation.

She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southern California where she designed and made semiconducting plastics for use in flexible electronics. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked as an Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education Fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency and earned her B.S. in Polymer Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Betsy is passionate about energy, the environment, and building scientific capacity in developing countries.

Fellow

Aavishkaar (India) | Jan-Mar 2020

Gabriela is now an Intellectual Property Specialist at Advanced Clinical Pharmaceuticals. 

She majored in chemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico. As a HHMI Gilliam Fellow, she obtained her PhD at the University of Arizona before moving to California to continue her career as a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University. As a scientist, Gabriela develops and applies chemical tools to better understand biological questions that have an impact on improving global health, with a focus in underdeveloped communities. Gabriela is passionate about STEM education and believes that educators and entrepreneurs have the power to create learning experiences that can transform lives. 

Fellow

AST (Morocco) | June-Dec 2021

Patti earned her B.S. in Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania in December 2020. As a graduate student, she used tissue engineering to build living scaffolds to regrow injured nerves and studied basic mechanisms of nerve regeneration in zebrafish. Alongside her graduate work, Patti led STEM and research workshops for K-12 students, including at the New York Academy of Sciences and the Franklin Institute Science Museum. She also created STEM outreach programs for students in Philadelphia Public Schools, including a neuroscience curriculum for early elementary students.

She is passionate about building partnerships between university research labs and elementary and middle school classrooms to create opportunities for early inquiry-based and student-driven science learning.

Science-Education Fellow

CVIF (Philippines) | Jul-Dec 2018

Jin is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Banfield Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

She completed her PhD in Bioengineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. She is passionate about computer-based research, and how it can be used in locations with comparatively limited resources to produce world-class science.

Education-Advancement Special Fellow

CVIF (Philippines) and Aavishkaar (India) | Jul-Dec 2018

Victor is now a Scholar in bioinformatics and computational biology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Victor did his PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of London’s University College (UCL). Before joining Science Corps as an Education-Advancement Special Fellow, Victor did postdoctoral research at RIKEN in Tokyo and at the University of Munich (LMU) in Germany. Victor has been teaching in one form or another ever since he was given the chance as an undergraduate. He is passionate about the power of education to build a more equal and inclusive world. He pursues this passion by building online education systems, including with our collaborators at CVIF.

Fellow

CVIF (Philippines) | Jun-Dec 2019

Doug is currently preparing to apply for medical school.

He received his PhD in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His backgrounds include nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), laser spectroscopies, and photoacoustics of condensed matter. Doug is passionate about expanding scientific literacy for curious young minds with various socioeconomic backgrounds, especially in underserved communities. Doug taught calculus-based Physics 1 and Chemistry 2 at CVIF.