TRIO Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program

Eastern Washington University

Dr. Edwin Elias

EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz Awarded Teaching Assistantship at PSU

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Alexis Guizar Diaz Fellowship Award 2021

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Lisandro Guizar-Diaz. Alexis has been awarded a Teaching Assistantship at Portland State University with full funding for three years. He was accepted to the Sociology PhD program at Portland Statue University and plans to attend there in the fall of 2022.

 

Alexis graduated this spring with a major in Sociology and a minor in Philosophy. His key research interests are political economy, rural & agrarian communities, and Latina/o/x populations. He is a member of the American Sociological Association and the Co-Chairman of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán. Last year he received a Orlinda H. (Rogel) Luiten Scholarship. He was also a recipient of a 2020 Eastern Washington University Summer Research Internship through the McNair Scholars Program. For this Alexis conducted research in Washington’s Columbia Basin under the mentorship of Dr. Edwin Elias from the EWU Department of Race and Culture Studies, culminating in his paper Indentured Servitude in the 21st Century? A Case Study on Agricultural Labor Employment in the Columbia Basin. He has continued to do research throughout the 2020-2021 school year on Designing Positive Workplace Interventions for Washington Farmworker: Listening to Farmworkers Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Click here to read more about Alexis and his research.

 

The EWU McNair staff are so excited for Alexis and we know he'll do amazing things at whichever graduate program he decides to attend!

EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz Accepted to Portland State University PhD Program

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Alexis Guizar-Diaz Graduate School Acceptances 2021 PSU

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Lisandro Guizar-Diaz. Alexis was accepted to the Sociology PhD program at Portland Statue University. He is majoring in Sociology with a minor in Philosophy. His key research interests are political economy, rural & agrarian communities, and Latina/o/x populations. He is a member of the American Sociological Association and the Co-Chairman of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán. Last year he received a Orlinda H. (Rogel) Luiten Scholarship. He was also a recipient of a 2020 Eastern Washington University Summer Research Internship through the McNair Scholars Program. For this Alexis conducted research in Washington’s Columbia Basin under the mentorship of Dr. Edwin Elias from the EWU Department of Race and Culture Studies, culminating in his paper Indentured Servitude in the 21st Century? A Case Study on Agricultural Labor Employment in the Columbia Basin. He has continued to do research throughout the 2020-2021 school year on Designing Positive Workplace Interventions for Washington Farmworker: Listening to Farmworkers Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Click here to read more about Alexis and his research.

 

The EWU McNair staff are so excited for Alexis and we know he'll do amazing things at whichever graduate program he decides to attend!

EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz Completes Summer Research Internship

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Alexis Guizar-Diaz Research 2020

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz for completing his 2020 EWU McNair Summer Research Internship! With the mentorship of Dr. Edwin Elias, Alexis researched the exponential increase of requested H-2A guestworkers in Washington State and how capital has structured labor conditions. He is currently researching why the rate of positive COVID-19 cases per capita was highest in Washington’s major agricultural counties, what is the relationship to the high number of cases and lack of protections for seasonal agricultural workers, and what is the viewpoint of seasonal workers on the situation. Many thanks to Dr. Elias for his ongoing mentorship for Alexis. Read more about Alexis's research on his EWU McNair webpage!

 

Alexis is not only conducting ongoing research, he is now hard at work applying to graduate schools and fellowships across the country. Keep up the amazing work Alexis! EWU McNair is confident that you will succeed in graduate school and have a great impact on our communities.

EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz Awarded Orlinda H. Luiten Scholarship

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Alexis Guizar-Diaz Scholarship Announcements 2020

Congratulations EWU McNair Scholar Alexis Guizar-Diaz! Alexis has been awarded the Orlinda H. (Rogel) Luiten Scholarship. This scholarship was awarded by Eastern Washington University in recognition of Alexis' academic excellence. Currently Alexis is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Philosophy. His key research interests are political economy, rural & agrarian communities, and Latina/o/x populations. He is a recipient of a 2020 Eastern Washington University McNair Summer Research Internship through which he is conducting research in Washington’s Columbia Basin under the mentorship of Dr. Edwin Elias from the Department of Race and Culture Studies.

 

We're so proud of Alexis and excited to see his hard work recognized!

EWU McNair Scholars Continue Summer Research Despite COVID-19

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Summer Research Continues Despite COVID-19

Soon after the shelter in place began in Washington state, EWU McNair started hearing reports from our colleagues that summer research internships were being cancelled across the country. We cringed knowing that several of our students had received prestigious summer research internships or were still waiting to hear back from those they'd applied to. Fortunately, through innovation and flexibility, all of our EWU McNair Scholars will be able to engage in summer research!

 

EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu was accepted by Laney Graduate School Summer Opportunity for Academic Research (LGS-SOAR) Program at Emory University. EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez was accepted into the Junior Summer Institute in Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) at the University of Michigan. Both will both do virtual research internships at these institutions this summer! In addition, new McNair Scholar Aulane Mplouli was accepted into the Ohio State University (OSU) research internship, which was cancelled due to COVID-19; however, she was invited to a summer webinar series by OSU to help prepare her for graduate school. She will also complete a summer research internship at EWU. In addition 16 other EWU McNair Scholars (new and continuing) will participate in the EWU McNair Summer Research Internship through online learning and coaching.

EWU McNair is grateful to all of the professors willing to continue to mentor students and support them through their summer research internship despite these harrowing times. Mentors for the summer of 2020-2021 include: Dr. Rebecca Brown, Dr. Brian Buchanan, Dr. Judd Case, Dr. Kevin Decker, Dr. Edwin Elias, Dr. Yao Houndonougbo, Dr. Camille McNeely, Dr. Gina Mikel Petrie, Dr. Susan Ruby, Dr. Jillene Seiver, Dr. Majid Sharifi, Dr. Lindsey Upton, Dr. Michael Winer, and Dr. Aryn Ziehnert. Check out our Spring Gathering page to learn more about our scholars and mentors!

 

18 EWU McNair Scholars Present at EWU Virtual Symposium

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18 Scholars Present at 2020 Symposium

EWU McNair is proud to announce that 18 EWU McNair Scholars presented at this year’s Virtual Symposium. In the midst of regular reminders of the suffering from COVID-19, in particular its disproportionate effect on communities of color, as well as recent police murders, we hope that lifting up our scholars will continue to support their work and the ultimate goal of McNair – which is to increase diversity in academia. Every McNair Scholar at EWU has powerful story. It is our goal that scholars use their powerful knowledge, experiences, and voices to develop research and actions that contribute to shifts in systemic racism, economic inequality, and overall building a more just world. Read below to learn more about the research presented, including links to each student’s poster or oral presentation. A huge thank you to all of the mentors that helped make this possible. We’re so proud of all of our students’ hard work and look forward another summer research in just a few weeks!

Four of our new scholars presented posters with their research proposals for the summer of 2020. Alexandria Coronado presented, “Research Proposal: Housing and Food Insecurity Among College Students” with the mentorship of Dr. Lindsey Upton. Ashley Destin presented, “Size Scaling in the Skull of North American Felids as Adaptations for Prey Acquisition” with the mentorship of Dr. Judd Case. Aulane Mpouli presented, “Molecular Docking Study of ITPA protein substrate complex” with the mentorship of Dr. Yao Houndonougbo. Hope Sands presented, “Exploring the Archaeological and Geographical Past of Fort Spokane: A Proposal” with the mentorship of Dr. Brian Buchanan.

 

Meanwhile, four new McNair scholars Analisea Araya, Gloria Bravo, Alexis Guizar-Diaz, and Rachael Pentico presented on completed or ongoing research. Analisea presented, “An Analysis of Early Modern Philosopher Mary Astell and a Critique of the Western Canon” with the mentorship of Dr. Kevin Decker. Gloria presented, “Economic Sanctions Reproduce State Sponsored Repression, Human Rights Violations and Violence: A Case Study of Venezuela” with the mentorship of Dr. Majid Sharifi. Alexis presented on, “Machismo, Marianismo, and The Ethics of Care” with the mentorship of Dr. Mimi Marinucci. He will continue this research in the summer of 2020 with Dr. Edwin Elias. Rachael Pentico presented, “A Review of Plant-Soil Feedbacks and Their Importance For Palouse Prairie Restoration and Management” with the mentorship of Dr. Rebecca Brown. 

 

Four additional continuing McNair scholars presented on their research from their 2019 EWU McNair Summer Research Internship. Darlene Gilroy presented “Chemical Weathering of Deposits from the 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption and its Effect on Stream Water Chemistry” in collaboration with Dr. Carmen Nezat. Theresa Lee presented “Understanding Prisoner Reentry: Public Perceptions of Reentry Barriers Among College Students” with the mentorship of Dr. Lindsey Upton. Both Darlene and Theresa have also presented this research at other conferences around the country this last school year. Malachi Chukwu presented “Projects of Economic and Social Development in the Global South: The 20th and 21st-century developmental trends and their impacts” with the mentorship of Dr. Majid Sharifi. And Wendolyn Martinez presented “Propaganda: USSR and US – Comparing Propaganda from the US and USSR Produced for the Advancement of Public Approval for Hydro-projects in the 1930s,” with the mentorship of Dr. Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted. Malachi and Wendolyn had hoped to present at a McNair conference in the early spring; however, the conference was cancelled due to COVID-19.

 

Also, four graduating McNair Scholars presented their current research at the Virtual Symposium. Abdulrazik Mohamed presented “Darfurians in the Diaspora: Perceptions of the Conflict in Darfur, Sudan’s Past and the Future of Darfur Under International Response” with the mentorship of Dr. Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted. Abdu has also presented additional research this school year at the Annual International Symposium on Women and Genocide in the 21st Century: The Case of Darfur and the Black Doctoral Network Conference in the fall of 2019. Angélica García-Macías presented “Eat the Poor” under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Hawley. Last academic year, Angélica presented research from her work with EWU McNair Mentor Dr. Martín Meráz García at several conferences as well as her research with Dr. Charles Stewart III at MIT at an MIT symposium last summer. Madelyn Brown presented “Maintaining Our Land: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wildfire Prevention” with the mentorship of Dr. Christina Torres García and PhD candidate SimHayKin S. Jack. Rachel Silverthorn presented “Gender differences in confidence in jury decision making” under the mentorship of Dr. Kayleen Islam-Zwart. She also presented this research at the 31st Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention. Washington, D.C. in 2019. All four of these scholars will attend Masters or PhD programs in the fall of 2020!

 

Finally, two EWU McNair Alumni, current EWU graduate students, also presented their current research. Christina Ramelow presented “Oral Farnesol Administration Protects Against Inflammatory Demyelination,” research done with mentorship from Dr. Javier Ochoa-Reparaz and in collaboration with multiple other graduate students and faculty. Veronica Albrecht presented “Characterizing Two cagPAI Located Small RNAs in Helicobacter pylori” in collaboration with Dr. Andrea Castillo and “Gene Expression Regulation of sRNA Hpnc2525 in the Clinically Relevant Helicobacter pylori cagPAI Genomic Region” in collaboration with EWU McNair STEM GSA and fellow graduate student Brandon Flatgard, under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Castillo. Christina and Veronica will both attend fully funded PhD programs in the fall of 2020.

 

To learn more about our new and continuing scholars and all the other amazing work and presentations they have done, check out our Spring Gathering page celebrating scholars, mentors, and alumni. EWU McNair is incredibly proud of the hard work of all of our scholars and we look forward to seeing their research impact higher education and the wider world.