Gerrald Lodewijk, PhD, Chair
Biomolecular Engineering (BME)
Gerrald is a postdoc in the Shariati Lab.
Cristina Flores-Arenas, PhD, Vice Chair
Department of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology
Cristina is a postdoc in the Carpenter Lab.
Bryce Manso, PhD, Treasurer & Symposium Co-chair
Biomolecular Engineering Department
Michael Yee, PhD, Symposium Co-chair
Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology
Michael is a postdoctoral researcher in the Hinck Lab where he investigates biochemical mechanisms of mammary epithelial differentiation in models of pregnancy and lactation that provide insights into lactation insufficiency and breast cancer research.
Michael has attended wonderfully inspirational conferences and symposiums over the years, including the most recent USPA Symposium. His goal is to bring together such experiences to provide an impact-filled symposium to be just as inspiring and revitalizing with a diversity of talks and cross-pollination of ideas.
Tufa Assafa, PhD, Social Event Coordinator
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
I am a third year postdoc in biophysics studying neurodegenerative diseases, specifically prion disease. I am one of the USPA social events coordinators and I'm interested in building the postdoc community and meeting new people! In my spare time I like to dance, I bike, and I play the piano.
Oskar Elek, PhD, Social Event Coordinator
Computational Media Department
Oskar has been a member of the Creative Coding Lab since 2019, and a CROSS fellow since 2021. His work uses nature inspired simulation to reconstruct and visualize network phenomena in astronomy and beyond.
Oskar's goal at USPA is to bring the postdoc community closer together through activities like beach parties, biking and hiking trips, or visits to local breweries. If you have an idea for a fun event, you can reach him at oelek@ucsc.edu.
Jean Monlong, PhD, Secretary
Department of Biomolecular Engineering
I'm a postdoc in the Paten Lab working on pangenome, which we hope will be the next iteration of the reference genome for which UCSC played a big role 20 years ago. The reference pangenome will be more representative by integrating diverse individuals and known variation. Before that I did my PhD in Montreal (Canada), and Masters split between Grenoble (France) and Barcelona (Spain). At USPA, I was co-chair of the symposium that never happenened (COVID/COLA) and I'm in charge of the website/twitter. Like any good Frenchman, I love bread.
Jess Sevetson, PhD
Genomics Institute
Jess Sevetson is a postdoc in the Haussler-Salama lab. She received her PhD in 2020 from Brown University. Her research interests include in vitro models of mesoscopic neural systems, as well as the interactions between cell types during network formation and maintenance, and circuit changes in neurodevelopmental disorders. She has written science communication articles for Technology Networks and Scientific American, and was a finalist in the first all-Ivy Three Minute Thesis competition. Outside of the lab, she can be found car camping, refinishing furniture, and reading (mostly poetry and sci-fi).
Kelly Vasbinder, PhD
Ocean Sciences Department
Hi, I’m Kelly Vasbinder, a Post-Doc in Jerome Fiechter’s lab in the Ocean Sciences Department here at UCSC. My research interests are in population and ecosystem modeling of fisheries species. I am especially interested in early life stages of fish, and how we can better represent the dynamics of larval and juvenile stages in models. My dissertation work was on larval growth and transport in the Gulf of Mexico, and my current Post-Doc research focuses on the outmigration of juvenile salmon and their predator-prey interactions off of central California.
Karen Arcos, PhD
Department of Psychology
Dr. Karen Arcos was raised in southern California and is of Colombian and Mauritian background. Karen earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience and an emphasis in Chicano/Latino Studies from the University of California, Irvine, along with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Spanish minor from the University of Southern California. Karen has accomplished feats such as earning the National Science Foundation Graduate Research
the racial climate for underrepresented communities among faculty and students. Karen looks forward to collaborating with the UC Santa Cruz Postdocs Association (USPA) to create community and professional development opportunities for her and her fellow postdocs. During her free time, Karen enjoys reading mysteries, spending time with family and friends, and hiking.
