Angela Kim

Angela Kim (’26, Molecular Environmental Biology) is a climate advocate dedicated to the intersection of the environment and human health. She has spearheaded large-scale community gardens and global climate disaster recovery initiatives that have impacted more than 50,000 individuals worldwide. Angela also leads a National Hydrogen Blending Resistance Coalition and serves on the Public Health Advisory Council for Los Angeles and Orange County, where she actively shapes legislation outcomes. Driven by a lifelong commitment to social and environmental justice, Angela advocates for national policies that prioritize community well-being and cultivate a more […]

Kristie Moore

Kristie Moore (’26, Global Studies) is a Mexican-Slovak American from Southern California. She will use her Boren Scholarship to intensively study Tajiki Persian in Dushanbe, Tajikistan during the 2025-2026 academic year. Kristie’s academic interests include conflict, mass atrocity prevention, and migration, with a specific regional concentration in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. She  received a Critical Language Scholarship in 2022 and studied Russian in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Kristie hopes to use her Persian and Russian language abilities to pursue a future career in mass atrocity prevention.

Justin Hurley

Justin Hurley (’21, Political Economy) concentrated his studies at Berkeley in international development economics and minored in Chinese. After graduation, he began working at the Center for Global Development, a think tank focused on international development and global economic policy issues, where he aims to bridge research and policy to strengthen the effectiveness of US development policy. In 2024, he participated in a delegation to China with the Shanghai Institute of International Studies to discuss US-China relations, deepening his interest in studying China’s model of economic development and its role […]

Masha Vtorushina

Masha Vtorushina (’25, Chinese Language and Global Studies) first started learning Mandarin in high school and had the opportunity to visit China, where she taught English at several schools, volunteered at a panda conservation site, and immersed herself in a new community. Eager to continue exploring, she became an exchange student at Peking University in 2024 and solo-traveled around China. Beyond academics, she is a professional athlete in the sports pole dance discipline, earning numerous champion titles, including the 2023 U.S National Professional Women’s Champion title at the world’s largest […]

Emma Berman

Emma Berman (‘26, Bioengineering) is inspired by the intersection of innovation, creativity, and medicine. At UC Berkeley, she is an undergraduate researcher in the Messersmith Lab (developing a regenerative drug model for inflammatory bowel disease) and instructor of the Breaking Down Bioengineering DeCal, a student-led course for Cal freshman and junior transfers exploring bioengineering. At UC San Diego, she conducts clinical research with the Facial Nerve Clinic, supports outreach as a student liaison for the Moores Cancer Center internship program, and is involved in biomedical research at the Chen lab […]

Emily Du

Emily Du (’26, Molecular and Cell Biology) is fascinated by developmental biology and the mechanisms behind congenital disease. She is currently an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Professor Richard Harland, where she is studying mammalian organogenesis. Outside of research, Emily is a student instructor for UC Berkeley’s Developmental Biology course, MCB 141, and a volunteer at Highland Hospital’s Emergency Department. After graduation, Emily plans to pursue MD/PhD degrees and eventually work as a surgeon scientist.

Emma Cusimano

Emma Cusimano (‘27, Molecular Environmental Biology/Chemistry minor) is excited to be selected as a 2025 NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholar. She grew up exploring the Utah mountains skiing, backpacking, hiking, and fly fishing, which sparked her love for nature. She is interested in all things science, sustainability, and nature, and wants to dedicate her career to environmental research and protection. At Berkeley, Emma has been involved in student-led environmental organizations, served as the co-vice president of the Surfrider Foundation student club, and planned many sustainable events to raise money […]

Carolyn Nguyen

Carolyn Nguyen (’26, Molecular and Cell Biology/Business Administration) is passionate about advancing next-generation therapeutics through epigenome editing, immunotherapy, and stem cell biology. At UC Berkeley, she conducts research in the lab of Dr. James Nuñez, applying CRISPR technology to modulate gene expression with the goal of advancing targeted epigenetic editing tools. With a dual background in science and business, Carolyn is particularly interested in bridging research and industry to make innovative treatments more accessible and equitable. In the future, she hopes to work at the intersection of biomedical research and […]

Jaime Alvarez

Jaime Alvarez (’26, Physics) is interested in gravitational wave physics, quantum optics, and precision instrumentation. While at Fullerton College, Jaime completed research projects at the University of Southern California (USC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). While at USC, Jaime worked with Dr. Kris Pardo using astrometric techniques to set constraints on the chirp mass and distance of supermassive black hole binaries. He later spent a summer in the LIGO lab at MIT, working with Dr. Nergis Mavalvala and Dr. Eric Oelker on the GRAVITES project, where he helped […]

Arya Vishin

Arya Vishin (‘25, English/South Asian Studies) will spend his summer studying Hindi in Jaipur, India. He is a senior from San Jose, California, currently writing his honors thesis in South Asian Studies. Some of his research interests include theater and performance studies, poetry/poetics, and adaptation/appropriation. Last year, he studied Kashmiri in Gurgaon through the AIIS, and is excited to return to India for another summer of language learning. In the fall, he will utilize his training as he starts his PhD in Harvard’s department of Comparative Literature.