Last month, the UC Riverside Graduate Division honored outstanding graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty members whose achievements exemplify the university’s research, teaching and public service mission.
During the ceremony, Emma Wilson, associate dean of the Graduate Division, recognized the role graduate students and mentors play in sustaining UCR’s status as a leading research institution.
“The awards recognize some of our outstanding graduate students and faculty that make up the backbone of our research and teaching mission at UCR,” Wilson said. “Our graduate students are the critical link between our teaching and research mission.”
The event recognized recipients of Graduate Division fellowships, Excellence in Postdoctoral Research Awards, and the Academic Senate’s highest honor for graduate mentorship, the Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentor Award.
Faculty members are nominated by colleagues and students — both past and present — and selected by the Graduate Council. The UCR Academic Senate officially bestows the awards.
Graduate Division Fellowship Recipients
Angeliz Vargas — Yvonne Danielsen Award
Vargas is a sixth-year doctoral student in mathematics whose research bridges mathematical modeling and skin biology. Vargas developed the first mathematical model of keloid scars, helping researchers better understand how skin cells interact during abnormal wound healing, particularly among populations disproportionately affected by the condition. A gifted science communicator, she was UCR’s Grad Slam champion and earned third place in the UC-wide Grad Slam competition.
Molly Barber — Yvonne Danielsen Award
Barber is a third-year entomology doctoral student studying how herbivory affects plant-pollinator interactions. Barber investigates how plants balance chemical defenses against insect predators with the energy needed for reproduction and pollination. Her field-based research has earned grant support and a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program honorable mention, while her leadership extends to mentoring students and organizing the Riverside Insect Fair.
Katrya Ly — Mary E. Swor Endowed Graduate Fellowship
Ly is a doctoral student in education researching the institutional invisibility and marginalization of Hmoob communities in higher education. A first-generation graduate student and Hmoob American scholar, Ly examines how institutional policies contribute to interethnic tensions and exclusion. Her work has resulted in publication in the Journal of Higher Education, one of the field’s premier journals.
Michael Lum — S. Sue Johnson Endowed Graduate Award
Lum is a fifth-year doctoral student in environmental sciences whose research focuses on the atmospheric chemistry of sulfur and selenium during wildfires. His work explores how these compounds influence cloud formation, aerosol acidity, and climate-related processes. Lum has authored 11 peer-reviewed publications, including a first-author paper in Environmental Science and Technology, and is also a recipient of the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program award. Beyond the lab, he mentors local high school students in science competitions and fosters collaborative research environments.
Riley Jones — Dissertation Year Fellowship
Jones is a fourth-year plant biology doctoral student researching citrus Huanglongbing disease, one of the most devastating threats to citrus agriculture. Jones has developed a nanoparticle-encapsulated antibiotic targeting the bacteria responsible for the disease. Her work also includes science communication and outreach efforts with growers and community organizations.
Benjamin Van Raalte — Dissertation Year Fellowship
Van Raalte is a fourth-year entomology doctoral student studying sustainable melon production and insect resistance. His interdisciplinary research combines entomology, plant breeding and public policy to address whitefly infestations affecting U.S. melon crops. Van Raalte has published innovative low-cost phenotyping methods and manages several research grants, including support from the California Melon Research Board.
Alba Rodriguez — Dissertation Year Fellowship
Rodriguez is an international doctoral student in religious studies whose work explores historical and ethical perspectives on yoga, particularly within Jain traditions. Through textual analysis and Sanskrit translation, Rodriguez examines how yoga’s roots emphasize nonviolence, restraint, and responsibility toward living beings. She serves as co-chair of the Yoga in Theory and Practice unit of the American Academy of Religion.
Nelli Khudaverdyan — UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship
Khudaverdyan is a fifth-year biochemistry doctoral student whose research focuses on genome stability and protein complexes involved in regulating fungal DNA organization. Using cryo-electron microscopy, Khudaverdyan investigates how these molecular systems function and maintain genome integrity. She has published nine peer-reviewed papers, founded the Biochemistry Graduate Student Association, and secured major funding for graduate student professional development events.
Sarah Kabbara — UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship
Kabbara is a fourth-year neuroscience doctoral student studying how the brain filters and prioritizes sensory information during goal-directed behavior. Her research contributes to understanding neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and autism. Kabbara is also committed to supporting neurodivergent students and students from underrepresented backgrounds through mentorship and academic programming.
Hailee Menchaca — UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship
Menchaca is a fourth-year history doctoral student examining anti-immigrant violence carried out by U.S. Border Patrol agents and vigilante organizations in the San Diego–Mexico borderlands during the 1980s and 1990s, exploring how news media, film, and vigilante-produced video games contributed to a culture of terror for ethnic Mexican communities in the region. By centering activist resistance and counterprotest movements, her work highlights the creative and militant organizing strategies used to challenge anti-immigrant rhetoric and violence. In addition to her scholarship, Menchaca is engaged in public history and community-centered teaching.
Excellence in Postdoctoral Research Awards
Lauren Levitt
Levitt is a postdoctoral scholar at the XCITE Center for Teaching and Learning whose interdisciplinary research examines how sex worker communities develop systems of mutual aid and resource sharing outside traditional capitalist structures. Her forthcoming book, “Sex Worker Solidarity: Networks of Caring and Sharing,” explores how these networks can inform broader conversations about labor, care, and community. Levitt is also a mentor to graduate students and junior scholars, particularly those with lived experiences in the sex industry.
Lei Yang
Yang is a postdoctoral researcher in chemical and environmental engineering studying the behavior of materials under extreme heat and combustion conditions. His work combines advanced instrumentation development with applications in fuel efficiency and material science. Since arriving at UCR, Yang has published 16 research papers and earned multiple teaching awards for excellence as a teaching assistant.
Senate Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentor Awards
Jason Weems
Weems, associate professor of art history, received the Senate’s 2025–26 Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentor Award for his exceptional mentorship of graduate students. Weems, whose scholarship explores American visual culture and modernization, has advised many UCR Art History graduate students. Students and colleagues praised his personalized mentorship, intellectual rigor, and commitment to helping students secure fellowships, internships, and academic opportunities. His mentees have gone on to publish widely and receive prestigious national awards and fellowships.
Bahram Mobasher
Mobasher, distinguished professor of physics and astronomy, was recognized for nearly two decades of transformative mentorship at UCR. An internationally respected observational cosmologist, Mobasher has directly mentored 20 doctoral students, many of whom now hold positions at institutions including NASA, Caltech, and the Max Planck Institute. He has also established major training and exchange programs supporting underrepresented students and international research collaboration. Former students and colleagues described his mentorship as deeply personalized, supportive, and life changing.