Summer Success Symposium
The Summer Success Symposium is a professional and community development event for new and continuing research students from across all graduate fields. Open to all doctoral students committed to advancing diversity, inclusion, access, and equity in academia, this symposium has a particular focus on bringing together recipients of graduate fellowships in support of diversity as well as all other doctoral students from backgrounds historically excluded from and underrepresented in the academy. This includes, but is not limited to students who identify as Black, Indigenous, Hispanic/Latine, and/or Asian American, and/or those that identify as first-generation college (FGC) students, LGBTQQ+ identified students, veterans, students with disabilities, women in STEM, students with DACA status, and others. Professional degree students interested in pursuing doctoral studies are also welcome to this event.
Through this symposium, participants have the opportunity to form connections and establish community. This symposium also provides participants with the opportunity to engage with successful alumni, faculty, and professionals with shared experiences and identities. Summer Success Symposium keynote and workshop content focuses on providing participants with access to knowledge and insights that will help them navigate their successful transition into and progression through their graduate studies.
2024 Summer Success Symposium
August 20, 2024 | 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET | G10 Biotechnology Building
Register
*August 13 Priority Registration Date
Agenda
10-10:15 a.m. ET
Check-In
10:15-10:30 a.m. ET
Welcoming Remarks
Speaker: Sara Xayarath Hernández, Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement, Graduate School
10:30 – 11:45 a.m. ET
Opening Plenary Session: The difficult I’ll do right now. The impossible will take a little while: Navigating the Doctoral Process
Speaker: Ruth C. Browne, Ph.D., President & CEO, Ronald McDonald House of New York, Cornell University – College of Human Ecology Inaugural Flemmie Kittrell Visiting Scholar, and recipient of the Cornell Graduate School Turner Kittrell Medal of Honor
About Dr. Ruth C. Browne
Dr. Ruth C. Browne is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ronald McDonald House New York (RMH-NY), which provides temporary housing and support for pediatric cancer patients and their families in a caring and secure environment, close to the essential care and resources they need most. Prior to RMH-NY, Dr. Browne was CEO of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH), a best practice catalyst for interventions that advance health and educational equity solutions for culturally diverse populations locally, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Browne is a founder and a past Principal Investigator and Director of the Brooklyn Health Disparities Center, an NIH-funded Center of Excellence.
In 2023, Dr. Browne was named the inaugural Flemmie Kittrell Visiting Scholar for the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. Additionally, she is an Associate Clinical Professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and holds academic appointments in the Schools of Medicine, Health Related Professions, and Public Health. Dr. Browne is the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar Awards and numerous other honors, including the Cornell Graduate School Turner Kittrell Medal of Honor (2023), which recognizes individuals who have made significant national or international contributions to the advancement of diversity, inclusion, and equity in the academy, industry, or the public sector. This award is named for educators and activists Thomas Wyatt Turner, Ph.D. ’21, and Flemmie Pansy Kittrell, M.A. ’30, Ph.D. ’36, the first Black man and woman to earn doctoral degrees from Cornell.
Dr. Browne earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Princeton University, a Master of Public Health and Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and a Doctor of Science from Harvard University School of Public Health.
11:45am – 12:15 p.m. ET
Micro-Session: Caring for Your Health & Well-Being
Session Summary
This micro-session will include a series of flash talks highlighting the importance of taking a proactive approach to managing your overall health and well-being, opportunities on campus in the greater Ithaca community to engage in fitness and recreational activities, and counseling resources accessible through Cornell Health.
Flash Talk Speakers
Janna Shine Lamey, Associate Dean for Graduate Student Life
In her role, Janna focuses on being available to graduate students who may want to chat about almost anything. Specifically, Janna takes a student-centered approach to support the unique needs of each graduate student while understanding that a holistic approach is essential. In addition to meeting with individual students, Janna continuously seeks out partnerships across campus to identify strategies to more significantly impact the graduate student experience. The goal is always how we can improve the student experience through an upstream approach – what structures, systems, and programs are needed for our students to thrive. Janna has been in graduate education for over 20 years and continues to be in awe of our graduate students and feels privileged to be a small part of their journey as they prepare to be leaders in their field of study.
Janna has an M.S.Ed. degree from SUNY Cortland in Health Education. And, fittingly, she is experiencing the first-hand struggles of the doctoral degree experience as she finishes her dissertation in the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership and Change from SUNY Empire University. In her spare time, Janna likes spending time with her daughter, enjoying all things about the Fall season (including watching the Buffalo Bills), and learning new things).
Olivia Hopewell, Ph.D., Graduate Student Life Advisor
Olivia brings a wealth of unique qualifications and experiences to the Graduate School. With a PhD in Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies from Bryn Mawr College, she has taught as an adjunct professor at BMC, SUNY Cortland, and Cornell through the Prison Education Program. Her role as a College Campus Violence Prevention Educator in Tompkins County has honed her skills in managing sensitivities in challenging conversations. Olivia’s experiences have required excellent interpersonal skills, solid problem-solving, and dynamic student advising. She is a systems thinker who uses a student-development approach to working with graduate students. Her goal is to serve graduate students holistically and support the unique needs of the graduate school community. Additionally, she is an experienced activist in the anti-racism and DEI realms, served as an FGLI mentor for graduate and undergraduate students, and has organized multiple national and international student research conferences.
Wahieñhawi “Hawi” Hall, Assistant Director of Counseling & Psychological Services and Community Liaison for Indigenous Students
Hawi thoroughly enjoys the privilege of being entrusted to hold an emotional space with individuals, where safety can be established, healing facilitated, and growth fostered. Her experience is primarily with Indigenous communities, working as a therapist, liaison, and prevention educator. She has recently found great joy in conducting workshops, trainings, and partnering with collaborating agencies to enhance knowledge of mental health issues and to decrease stigma. Her areas of interest include alternate methods to healing apart from Western Talk therapy, and she strives to use a holistic approach to facilitating an individual’s healing journey. She thoroughly enjoys utilizing strength-based approaches to assisting in the therapeutic journey with individuals. She has had trainings in adolescent grief, trauma (specific to Indigenous populations as well as the general population), and several trainings over the years specific to ADHD, disruptive behaviors, anxiety and depression.
Having grown up immersed in her Onkwehonwe (“the Original People”) culture, Hawi has an intrinsic respect and appreciation for the interconnectedness that her people have with Creation. As a result, she finds that her “happy place” is outside surrounded by Creation – whether it be in the woods, by the water, or just sitting under a tree. She is very proud of her family and all of her free time is spent engaged in family activities, such as hiking, sports, and going to the park. She is an avid softball player, and has played on recreational as well as collegiate levels during her lifetime. Hawi’s perspective and approach to life is based on the belief that the day that we stop growing spiritually, emotionally and mentally, is the day that we leave this Earth. Until that day arrives, she believes it is her responsibility to continue to evolve and be a beacon of Light and Love.
12-12:30 p.m. ET
Boxed Lunch
12:30-2:00 p.m. ET
Alumni Keynote Session: Decision, decisions, decisions: Seeking Insights Through Wisdom and Community
Speaker: Christian D. Guzman, M.S. ‘11, Ph.D. ‘16, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Session Summary
This time in life seems filled with decisions that are so new, so important, and many times overwhelming. Even if you have excelled in previous similar circumstances, graduate school often demands a new perspective or approach than you have employed before. During this session, Dr. Guzman will discuss how he experienced and navigated graduate school coming from a household with parents who did not complete high school. Academic wisdom and cultural wisdom served as lights shining through uncertainty while communities on campus and off campus helped to propel him to the finish line. Understanding who you can go to to help you think through decisions is one of the greatest assets you’ll have for graduate school and your career.
About Dr. Christian Guzman
Dr. Christian Guzman is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering whose work investigates hydrology and water quality in the U.S. and tropical highland regions. His research group focuses on hillslope processes in watersheds, soil erosion, stable water isotopes, and nutrient transport. The research group also investigates environmental processes impacting social vulnerability. Dr. Guzman has a special interest in pursuing scholarship with a socio-hydrological perspective that benefits the local community, nation, and the world, including marginalized and underserved communities.
Dr. Guzman completed his postdoctoral studies at Washington State University with the support of a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Postdoctoral Fellowship. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at Cornell in Biological and Environmental Engineering where conducted research in Ethiopia, Colombia, and Ithaca, NY under the supervision of Professor Tammo Steenhuis. His doctoral studies were supported by several prestigious fellowships including the NSF GROW/USAID Research and Innovation, NSF Graduate Research, and the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science Pathfinder Graduate Student Fellowships. While at Cornell, he was inducted into the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society and was recognized by The College of Engineering Office of Inclusive Excellence as the 2015 Graduate Student of the Year. Before coming to Cornell, Dr. Guzman completed his B.S. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida.
2-2:15 p.m. ET
Break
2:15-3:30 p.m. ET
Mastering Your Transition Into & Progression Through Graduate School
During this panel discussion with continuing doctoral students from across the disciplines, panelists candidly discussed their experiences and strategies for making a successful transition into graduate school. They also shared insights on their experiences navigating their ongoing progression through their graduate studies and their exploration and preparation for various postgraduate career pathways.
Moderator: Ria Gualano, Ph.D. Student, Communication
Ria is a 3rd-year PhD student in the Department of Communication. She co-leads the Multicultural Academic Council’s graduate peer mentoring program as the Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement’s Co-Coordinator for Peer Mentoring. Ria earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Theatre Arts from Johns Hopkins University where she established the university’s first multi-racial student community and mentorship program. Now, she is a Dean’s Scholar studying the communication of disability through projects on disability and neurodiversity arts, higher education accessibility and accommodations, and inclusive virtual reality avatars. This past year, she organized the “Invisible Aspects of Disability and Neurodiversity” Arts Exhibition which featured art from Cornell students and staff, and earned the Department of Communication’s 2024 Glass Family Fellowship in recognition of her leadership and service to the department, field and university. This summer, she served on the organizing committee of the 2024 XR Access Symposium, an annual gathering of leaders in research, advocacy, engineering, policy, and business aimed at making virtual, augmented and mixed-reality accessible to people with disabilities. Outside of research, she enjoys sketching identity-based fashion designs as well as writing romance novels that reflect her heritage through Chinese folklore and culture.
Panelists:
Aakash Kapoor, Ph.D. Student, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Aakash is a PhD student at Cornell University, currently researching non-invasive biomedical devices for cardiovascular health monitoring. In his prior engagement at Samsung Research Institute, Aakash researched AutoML for scalable and computationally efficient machine learning. His personal pursuits include tennis, badminton, ping pong, painting, and creative writing.
Steph Tran, Ph.D. Student, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Steph is a second-year Ph.D. student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Steph is a hard-of-hearing, first-generation student. Her research revolves around how thermal stress impacts reproductive success and disease ecology in Poecilia reticulata, the guppy. She is also interested in biodiversity, natural history, and community outreach.
Gemmechu Hassena, Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Gemmechu is a third-year PhD student in Computer Science at Cornell University, working at the intersection of Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Graphics. He is advised by Professor Bharath Hariharan and Steve Marschner. Prior to attending Cornell, he worked as a research intern at École Polytechnique and the University of Michigan. He also worked as a product manager at Africa to Silicon Valley. Gemmechu earned his bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from Addis Ababa University.
Zoe Scott, Ph.D. Student, Food Science & Technology
Zoe is a second year PhD student at Cornell University, where she conducts research in the Wine and Grape Flavor Chemistry Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Gavin Sacks. A native to Memphis, TN, she transitioned from an exciting career as assistant pastry chef to an analytical flavor chemist, Zoe now specializes in developing rapid analytical methods for detecting trace aroma compounds in grapes and wine. Her work employs Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry and sophisticated techniques in both analytical and organic chemistry. Outside the lab, Zoe maintains a deep connection to her culinary roots. She dedicates her free time to baking and experimenting with new flavors, blending her scientific expertise with her passion for pastry arts. Additionally, Zoe enjoys exploring the Finger Lakes region, where she immerses herself in the local viticulture, drawing inspiration from the area’s vineyards. Zoe Scott exemplifies the integration of analytical chemistry and practical application, driving forward advancements in flavor chemistry while continuing to celebrate and explore the world of pastry and wine.
Kevin Martinez, Ph.D. Student, Communication
Kevin is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at Cornell University advised by Dr. Andrea Stevenson Won. His general research focus is centered around digitally-mediated communication technologies, with an emphasis on the processes through which these technologies are altering the ways we think about and communicate with each other. More specifically, his recent interests include XR (extended reality) and pedagogy, social interaction, and virtual teamwork.
Event Sponsors
Graduate School Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement, the College of Engineering Office of Inclusive Excellence, and the Cornell Chapter of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
Attribution Statement
This program was modeled in part after PROMISE: Maryland’s NSF AGEP Summer Success Institute.
The launch and institutionalization of the Summer Success Symposium benefited from support from the 2016 ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education and National Science Foundation under Award No. 1647094, CIRTL AGEP Transformation Alliance from 2016-2022. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the Cornell PI team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.