David Stephens
UCLA Aerospace Engineering & Space Launch Integration Manager
Dave is a UCLA Aerospace Engineering alum with nearly 40 years of experience in the space industry! From analyzing how spacecraft move in orbit to managing complex vehicle-to-launch systems, Dave has seen it all. In his most recent role as Mission Integration Manager at The Aerospace Corporation, he specialized at integrating multiple small spacecraft into large rockets. Since retiring this past August, Dave hasn’t slowed down—he’s a dedicated supporter of EYU and a mentor to the next generation of Bruins through the UCLA engineering mentorship program!
Talks: Rocket Science 101
Sarah Tolbert
UCLA Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Distinguished Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Dr. Sarah Tolbert is a Distinguished Professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department and the Materials Science & Engineering department at UCLA. She has been part of the UCLA family for over 25 years! Professor Tolbert develops nanomaterials for applications such as batteries and energy harvesting and is leading a UCLA initiative to make sodium ion batteries a marketable commodity.
Valeria Jaramillo
Public Education Specialist / UCLA EPSS and NEO Surveyor
Dr. Valeria Jaramillo leads the NEO Surveyor Education & Public Outreach program and works in designing, developing, implementing, and executing education and public outreach programs at the K-12 and undergraduate levels. The goal of all programs is to cultivate and nourish interest in planetary defense and planetary/earth science in today’s youth to cultivate the next generation of planetary defense experts. She received her PhD in 2024 from UCLA in structural geology, geochronology, and tectonics, where she was very active in education and outreach.
Björn Benneke
UCLA EPSS Associate Professor & Vice Chair for Graduate Studies
Björn Benneke is an Associate Professor of Planetary Astronomy at UCLA’s Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Science. He is known for his leadership in probing the chemical composition and habitability of planets outside the solar system using the world’s most powerful telescopes as well as advanced computer simulations. Currently, he is leading the largest survey program with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to probe the intriguing nature of water-world exoplanets. He also serves on the Science Advisory Councils of STScI’s historic JWST Rocky Worlds DDT program, the Thirty Meter Telescope construction project, as well as the instrument development teams of Keck/HISPEC and TMT/MODHIS.
Talks: Exploring Distant Worlds: A Tale of Water Worlds, Rocky Planets, and the Search for Life
Alice Shapley
Professor / UCLA Physics and Astronomy
Professor Alice Shapley is from the Physics and Astronomy department at UCLA. Her interests lie in galaxy formation and evolution, feedback processes in starburst galaxies, stellar populations and chemical evolution at high redshift, and the evolution of the inter-galactic medium at high redshift.
Talks: Going Back in Time to the First Stars, Galaxies, and Black Holes
Katelynn Kazane
Postdoctoral Scholar, UCLA Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
Dr. Katelynn Kazane received her BS degree in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics from UCLA in 2014, and she joined the IGI as a Research Associate in February 2016. She will be using the CRISPR-Cas9 system for DNA library screening. Her research interests include molecular genetics and the applications of genetic engineering in understanding and developing treatments for infectious diseases.
Laura-May Abron
Astronomer Tornado-Chaser, Griffith Observatory
Laura-May has a multidisciplinary career in astrophysics, music, art, and photography. Currently an astronomer and presenter at Griffith Observatory, Laura-May is also involved in science communication and writing. She even hosts a YouTube and TikTok channel providing astrophysics content to the public!
Talks: How the Sun Paints the Sky: the Science of the Northern Lights
Miguel Garcia-Garibay
Dean / UCLA Physical Sciences and Distinguished Professor
Dean Miguel Garcia-Garibay is the Dean of Physical Sciences in the College of Letters and Sciences. He specializes in solid-state organic chemistry, photochemistry, and crystalline molecular machines.
Maria Vincent
Postdoctoral Scholar, JPL
Dr. Maria Vincent obtained her PhD in Astronomy at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i. She is also a UCLA alumna, where she received her bachelors in 2020 with a double-major in Geophysics and Astrophysics. Her research focuses on adaptive optics and high contrast imaging to answer the question of how our planet and its neighbourhood came to be. She is currently an astronomer at JPL.
Smadar Naoz
Professor, UCLA Physics and Astronomy
Dr. Smadar Naoz is a professor at the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UCLA and studies a broad range of topics, including cosmology and black holes. Before coming to UCLA, she was an Einstein Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Professor Naoz contributes to diversity, equity, and inclusion through various activities and is dedicated to mentorship, having mentored over 50 undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs over the years. Current/past funding sources: NSF
Richard Kaner
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Distinguished Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Professor Kaner is a Distinguished Professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department and the Materials Science & Engineering department. He has received awards from the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and Dreyfus Foundations and the American Chemical Society. Furthermore, Professor Kaner has been at UCLA for over 30 years and is among the most highly cited researchers in the world. The Kaner Lab studies superhard materials, battery technology, and conducting polymers with applications to clean energy and water purification.
Talks: Fun with Plastics
Johnnie Yang
Postdoctoral Scholar, UCLA Pediatrics
John Yang (Johnnie) is a doctoral researcher in the Higher Education & Organizational Change program at UCLA whose work examines holistic wellbeing on college campuses, particularly among students of color. His mixed-methods dissertation combines quantitative survey development with qualitative journal reflections from a yoga-based freshman seminar that he designed and taught to better understand holistic wellbeing. A certified yoga instructor, Johnnie also integrates yoga and mindfulness practices into campus spaces to promote health, equity, and wellbeing is a doctoral researcher in the Higher Education & Organizational Change program at UCLA whose work examines holistic wellbeing on college campuses, particularly among students of color. His mixed-methods dissertation combines quantitative survey development with qualitative journal reflections from a yoga-based freshman seminar that he designed and taught to better understand holistic wellbeing. His broader research interests include race/ethnicity, queer student experiences, rural student access, Hmong American identity, Asian American voices, and leadership in higher education.
Talks: The Science of Yoga: How Movement, Breath, and Mindfulness Can Shape Wellness
Zhongbo Kang
Professor, UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy
Dr. Zhongbo Kang is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). His other affiliations include faculty member at Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics and Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (CQSE) at UCLA, and associate member in Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science (CFNS) at Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory. His research interests are primarily in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and strong interaction, and their applications in high energy nuclear and particle physics. His main research efforts have been focused on: (1) hadron physics, (2) QCD collider physics, (3) heavy ion physics. The research is relevant for all existing and planned experiments in high-energy nuclear and particle physics ranging from JLab-12 to the LHC, including the Electron Ion Collider (EIC), which has been planned to be built at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US.
Lars Stixrude
Professor of Geophysics, UCLA Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences (EPSS)
Professor Lars Stixrude is in the Department of Earth, Planetary, & Space Sciences at UCLA. He has a long history of teaching, including being the Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London. In his research, Professor Stixrude studies the behavior and properties of Earth using advanced modeling and simulations.
Marcus Roper
Professor, UCLA Mathematics and Computational Medicine
Professor Marcus Roper is a Professor of Mathematics at UCLA. He develops mathematical models for problems coming from physics and biology. He is particularly interested in (1) fungal mycelia, (2) the microvascular system and (3) design and optimization of inertial microfluidic devices. The projects that his group works on are usually experimentally inspired. Their goal is both to develop new mathematical methods and to gain a better understanding of the world around us.
Neil Garg
Distinguished Professor & Associate Dean, UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry
Neil Garg is a Distinguished Professor in the UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry department. Through his talk today, Professor Garg will show us that organic chemistry does not have to be intimidating and how it can actually relate to our everyday lives.
Noa Pinter-Wollman
Professor, UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Computational and Systems Biology
Professor Noa Pinter-Woolman is part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Computational and Systems Biology departments at UCLA. She is an expert on ants and how individual members of a group affect the success of the group as a whole. Through her talk, we will learn about (and from) ants!
Talks: Consider the ant and be wise – what can humans learn from ants?
Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni
UCLA EPSS Professor, Louis B. and Martha B. Slichter Endowed Chair in Geosciences
Dr. Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni is a geophysicist with interests in how the internal forces of the Earth shapes its surface. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley in 1994. Integrating life and work, and understanding the importance to dynamics of Earth’s composition and structure, she has developed along with Prof. Stixrude, a fully self-consistent thermodynamic model to predict mantle properties. She currently holds the Louis B and Martha B Slichter Endowed Chair in the Geosciences, which has been endowed specifically to support and encourage diversity in the geosciences. She will answer questions in English and Spanish.