UC Santa Cruz, March 1, 2025, 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Kuumbwa Jazz Center
Welcome to Grad Slam!
Grad Slam challenges graduate students to give a compelling presentation of their research or artistic endeavor in three minutes, using language appropriate for a general audience. It encourages graduate students to clarify their graduate work concepts and goals while helping others understand and appreciate its significance.
“Grad Slam was an incredible way to hone my communication skills and share my passion for my research. It was very empowering to share the stage with so many amazing grads and hear about their work! Through Grad Slam, I formed many integral connections at UCSC, in Santa Cruz, and across campuses. I also gained confidence in my public speaking skills and was lucky to participate in scientific outreach as part of my graduate STEM education!”
—Natalie Pedicino, UCSC 2024 Champion
Program Order
Welcome from Vice Provost and Dean Peter Biehl
Presentations!
Vote for Your People’s Choice!
After the presentations have concluded, please select one presenter for the People’s Choice by visiting this Google Form.
Announcement of the Winners
The finalists presenting tonight have been selected from five preliminary rounds that took place February 3-7. The judges of tonight’s competition will determine first ($3,000) and second ($1,500) place. The audience will vote for the People’s Choice ($750).
Graduate Student Finalists in Presentation Order
PRAJNA HEBBAR
Looking for Genes in Genomes
Pronouns: she/her
Program: Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics Ph.D.
Year: 3rd
Hometown: Mangalore, Karnataka, India
What excites you most about your graduate work? The genomic data we’re generating and collaboration.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? To be part of the trailblazing community of UCSC genomics scientists!
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I help teach 1st and 2nd graders concepts like butterfly pollination and global warming by using block-based code-writing techniques to animate them.
PIYUSH GANDHI
Extinguishing the Blaze: Reducing Air Pollution in India
Pronouns: he/him
Program: Economics Ph.D.
Year: 4th
Hometown: New Delhi, India
What excites you most about your graduate work? Its tangible impact—cleaner air, reduced pollution, lower healthcare costs, and improved livelihoods; conducting fieldwork in the vibrant Indian countryside while engaging with farmers to understand challenges and contribute to solutions that benefit communities and the environment.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? Its strong research community at the intersection of development and environmental economics.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I love playing cricket and tennis and am learning poker. In poker, beginner’s luck has been on my side :’)
EVA EDELSON
If It Ain’t Folded, Let’s Fix It: Hidden Structures in Human Health
Pronouns: she/her
Program: Microbiology & Environmental Toxicology Ph.D.
Year: 3rd
Hometown: Los Altos, CA
What excites you most about your graduate work? That my research contributes to ongoing efforts to support patients with rare diseases and unmet medical needs. I hope to use my skills as a scientist and science communicator for patient advocacy and to bridge the gap between basic science and the people it serves.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? The beautiful location, cutting edge molecular biology research, and proximity to my family.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I’m a big fan of marine biology and a certified scuba divemaster.
RILEY COLLINS
Teachers Strike Back: Teacher Organizing in Times of Crisis
Pronouns: she/her
Program: Education Ph.D.
Year: 3rd
Hometown: Washington, DC
HALEY TAYLOR
Love: A Disrupting Force in Medieval Literature
Pronouns: she/her
Program: Literature M.A.
Year: 2nd
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
What excites you most about your graduate work? Exploring how literature from 800 years ago still resonates, how love’s social role changes over time, and similarities between the human experience in medieval European courtly and modern love.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? As a Bay Area native, Santa Cruz has always held a place in my heart. The faculty have been nothing but supportive.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I enjoy going to raves and outdoor camping festivals.
INÊS PEDROSA E MELO
Reimagining (Invisible) Histories of Abortion Travel
Pronouns: she/her
Program: Film and Digital Media
Year: 2nd
Hometown: Lisbon, Portugal
What excites you most about your graduate work? Excavating archives for forgotten, invisible histories and bringing them to life through film.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? The FDM Ph.D. program is such a generative space for the intersection of artist practice and forms of critical inquiry into documentary and archival film. I am so inspired by the work of current and past students!
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I’ve loved to swim since childhood and want to take up open water swimming in SF Bay. Maybe this year!
JUANITA GOMEZ
Fortifying Open Source: Securing the Code That Powers Research
Pronouns: she/her
Program: Computer Science & Engineering
Year: 4th
Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia
What excites you most about your graduate work? Finding ways to make an impact in the open-source community.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? Its strong research in security and open-source software and the opportunity to collaborate with the Open Source Program Office (OSPO) and work with amazing advisers.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I sing and created a YouTube channel a few years ago, hoping to become famous!
JENNA MYERS
A Sticky Situation: The Age-Related Influx of Clot-Producing Platelets
Pronouns: she/her
Program: Biochemistry Ph.D.
Year: 4th
Hometown: Lake Geneva, WI
What excites you most about your graduate work? While biochemistry tends to focus on cellular mechanisms far beyond what the eye can see, I love being able to apply it to a larger system (blood) that is translatable and allows us to consider the big picture! Plus, stem cell research is a super innovative field.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? I mean, the ocean/redwood combo is pretty hard to beat.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! As a kid, I had two pet donkeys!
EM PADILLA
Analyzing the Discursivity of Transgender Military Inclusive and Exclusive Policy
Pronouns: they/them
Program: Feminist Studies Ph.D.
Year: 6th
Hometown: Boyle Heights, CA
What excites you most about your graduate work? My research calls attention to the importance of staying aware of and engaged with policies and legislation that adversely affect the Trans and Queer communities. This work and research is needed now, more than ever.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? The rich history of Feminist Studies and its faculty and Santa Cruz’s natural beauty.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I love to cook and spend copious amounts of time tinkering with kitchen gadgets and recipes.
AMY REID
Grandmother’s Garden: Creative Expression in Quilting and US History
Pronouns: she/they
Program: Film and Digital Media Ph.D.
Year: 6th
Hometown(s): West Palm Beach, FL, and Brooklyn, NY
What excites you most about your graduate work? I have traveled extensively around the US, talked with quilters, and built relationships with them throughout the years of this project. These conversations have ranged from talking about the craft of quilting to grappling with this country’s complex racial and economic histories. Additionally, I have never gotten sick of the hundreds of quilts I have been privileged to film, touch, and study—both in institutional collections and from the contemporary quilters I’ve been meeting.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? It’s one of the few institutions that nurtures a theory and practice Ph.D. in film and media and strongly emphasizes non-fiction film practices. I also admire the legacy of radical thinkers coming out of UCSC, who push me to examine systems of power and oppression and the ability to harness filmmaking as an act of resistance and community-building with the participants in my films.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! Before this project, I made another feature film with female truckers, riding and filming around the United States with them.
Judges
Wallace Baine
City Life Correspondent
Lookout Local
Simon Black
Software Verification Lead
Joby Aviation
Sonja Brunner
Councilmember, District 2
City of Santa Cruz
Director of Operations
Downtown Association
Darrie Ganzhorn
Executive Director
Homeless Garden Project
Medha Ghatikesh
Product Manager
Meta AI
Bonnie Lipscomb
Executive Director
Economic Development
City of Santa Cruz
Susie O’Hara
Councilmember, District 5
City of Santa Cruz
Utility Consultant
Moonshot Missions
Dhananjay “DJ” Sampath
Vice President of Product, AI
Cisco
Ginger Shulick Porcella
Executive Director
Santa Cruz Museum of
Art & History
Division of Graduate Studies
Peter Biehl
Vice Provost and Dean
Don Smith
Associate Dean, Graduate Studies & Postdoctoral Affairs
Dard Neuman
Associate Dean, Graduate Student Success
Stephanie Casher
Assistant Dean
Lorato Anderson
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Jessica Elodia Chavez
Senior Business Systems Analyst
Dana Eugenio
Graduate Student Services Coordinator
Judy Glass
Reporting Analyst
Seth Glickman
Graduate Student Researcher, Graphics, Website Design
Jeff Hao
Graduate Student Services Coordinator
Janina Larenas
Director of Student Services
Veronica Larkin
Administrative Assistant, Current Students
Marissa Maciel
Director, Graduate Admissions, Social Media
Michelle Montemayor
Graduate Information Systems Analyst
Audrey Morris
Admissions and International Students Coordinator
Rachel Neuman
Director, Graduate Student Life
Sonya Newlyn
Professional Development Coordinator
Mira Prabhakar
Undergraduate Events Assistant
Danni Ruano
Graduate Intern, Graduate Student Commons
Heather Rush
Financial Analyst
Joel Savell
Data and Systems Analyst
Barbara Smee
Executive Assistant to the Vice Provost and Dean