I am currently a doctoral student in Polymer Science and
Engineering at
the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. I hold
a Bachelor of Science in
Chemistry and Polymer Science from Carnegie Mellon University
and a Master
of Science in Polymer Science and Engineering from the
University of
Massachusetts-Amherst. Over the past few years
I have held positions in
undergraduate student counsel, on the executive committee
of my local EMS,
and on the health and safety board in my graduate department.
I am
entering my second year as a Graduate Research Assistant
in the lab of
Dr. Thomas Russell.
As I entered my graduate program last fall I envisioned
that the
experience would be one of personal and academic growth
founded on
interpersonal relationships both within and outside my
department. I have
found, however, that channels linking students in the
physical sciences
have been severely lacking. I see the Forum on
Graduate Student Affairs
not only as a resource for students and a mouthpiece
for their concerns,
but as a conduit by which students can contact one another
and foster
relationships that can strengthen all of our experiences.
If elected I
will do my best to promote this ideal and develop a community
from which
all of us can benefit.