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Student Spotlights

Student Spotlight: So Hae (Irene) Park

Irene has two faculty advisors, Thomas Wilson and Thomas Glover, an atypical situation for doctoral candidates in the sciences. For her, having two advisors has been largely positive. “I get surprised every time: my faculty advisors are so different but they can work...

Student Spotlight: Ryan Wade

Ryan already went to grad school. He earned his Master’s in Interpersonal Practice and Mental Health from the School of Social Work and became a clinical social worker. He loved it and found work helping individuals to be rewarding. But he needed more. He says, “It...

Student Spotlight: Sara Meerow

As an undergraduate student at the University of Florida, Sara wrote an honors thesis on the ‘natural resource curse’ in Africa that shifted her perspective. “I examined countries whose economies were dependent on oil and minerals and how that dependence correlated...

Student Spotlight: Babe Kawaii-Bogue

It took Babe three tries to get into Michigan. Along the way, she went to Columbia for her Master’s degree to raise her GPA and obtain further research experience. Babe received other Ph.D. program offers during the years she applied to graduate schools, but says she...

Student Spotlight: Geoff Lorenz

While many of us shy away from what can seem the seedy world of political lobbying – especially in a heated presidential election year – Geoff has decided to write a dissertation about it. He studies what makes lobbying effective in the U.S. Congress, approaching from...

Student Spotlight: Josh Wondra

Josh admits, “Applying to graduate school, I didn’t know what I was doing.” He applied big, contrary to the some misguided advice from his undergraduate professors. U-M was on the list because a faculty member talked about U-M as THE place for psychology. He explains,...

Student Spotlight: Cat Saint-Croix

Philosophy was always part of her academic plans, but interest became infatuation when she found philosophy of science. She says, “this careful, analytical approach to foundational questions drew me in—I realized that I just wanted to keep studying philosophy.” She...

Student Spotlight: Gail Gibson

Gail was inspired by the students she read about in Rackham’s Predoctoral Fellowship announcement this spring. She was impressed by the depth of their research and the unique accomplishments of some of the best and brightest doctoral trainees in the country. She is...

Student Spotlight: Emily Macgillivray

Coming to U-M has helped Emily develop her Canadian identity. She explains, “I’m slightly more patriotic since coming to the U.S., possibly because by living in a different country, I see national identity that I didn’t realize I had and am now becoming more aware...

Student Spotlight: Natalie Davis

Michigan has hundreds of acronyms, and one of our favorites at Rackham is SROP. The Summer Research Opportunity Program is a program for undergraduates from diverse backgrounds to come to U-M for intensive research and an introduction to graduate school. Natalie knows...