The Mentorship & Networking Initiative and committee is no
longer active. We are so appreciative of the below members
for their contributions while serving on the ADVANCE MNI
Committee. Please note this page is not updated and
biographical information of committee members may no longer be
accurate.
JoAnne Engebrecht is a Professor of Molecular and Cellular
Biology at UC Davis. Dr. Engebrecht studies meiosis and
checkpoint function in the C. elegans germ line. Dr.
Engebrecht specifically investigates how checkpoint pathways are
differentially regulated in the female and male germ line; how
unpaired sex chromosomes of the heterogametic sex repair double
strand breaks and are hidden from the checkpoint machinery; and
how different checkpoint pathways interact to ensure the faithful
transmission of the genome.
Carol Erickson is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular and
Cellular Biology at UC Davis. Dr. Erickson’s research focuses on
the development of the avian trunk neural crest, with a
particular interested in the mechanisms that segregate the neural
crest lineage from the neural epithelium, the mechanisms that
guide specific neural crest lineages along different migratory
pathways, and the control of neural crest cell differentiation.
Magali Billen is a Professor of Geophysics at UC Davis. Her
research uses powerful computers to research what is happening
deep within Earth, in the viscous mantle that lies under the thin
crust of rocky plates that form the planet’s outer surface. In
particular, her geophysical research efforts focus on subduction
zone dynamics, deformation and rheology of the lithosphere and
upper mantle, effects of water and melt on viscosity and plate
tectonics.
Chen-Nee Chuah is a Professor of Electrical and Computer
Engineering at UC Davis. Dr. Chuah received her Ph.D. in
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley in
2001. From 2001 to 2002, she was a visiting researcher of the
IP-Group at Sprint Advanced Technology Laboratories in
Burlingame, CA. She joined UC Davis as a full-time Assistant
Professor in July 2002, and currently leads the Robust and
Ubiquitous Networking (RUBINET) Research Group.
Gitta Coaker is an Associate Professor of Plant Pathology at the
University of California, Davis. Dr. Coaker’s research interests
focus understanding the interaction between bacterial pathogens
and plants at a biochemical level. Her research group studies how
the plant innate immune system can actively recognize and respond
to pathogenic microorganisms using tomato, citrus, and
Arabidopsis as models.
Raissa D’Souza is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and of
Computer Science at the University of California at Davis, as
well as an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and
Managing Editor of the journal Internet Mathematics. Dr.
D’Souza’s research focuses on mathematical models of
self-organization, phase transitions and the structure and
function of networked systems. Her publications span the fields
of statistical physics, theoretical computer science and applied
math.
Lorena Garcia is an Associate Professor of Public Health
Sciences. Her research focuses on health disparities, in
particular obesity and diabetes (metabolic and nutritional
disorders), intimate partner violence (injuries), immigrant
health and acculturation in the Latino community. A public health
epidemiologist, Lorena Garcia is an expert in disease and health
patterns in Latinas. She studies how diabetes, obesity and cancer
have become some of the worst diseases affecting Latinas in the
United States.
Deb Niemeier is a Professor of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Dr.
Niemeier’s research interests span transportation, air quality
modeling, energy consumption and land use interactions,
sustainability and the project development process for major
infrastructure projects.She has served on the expert independent
review teams to assess the cost increases associated with the San
Francisco Bay Bridge and to review the cost methods used for the
proposed 3rd locks of the Panama Canal.She has published more
than 110 journal articles and book chapters.
Bahram Ravani is Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University
of California, Davis and past Chair of the Department of
Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering (7/96 to 7/01). Dr.
Lynne A. Isbell is a Professor of Anthropology at UC Davis. Her
research focus is largely focused on primate behavior and
ecology, especially food (competition, spatial and temporal
distribution, abundance, and nutrition), predation, dispersal,
and ranging behavior; Primate evolution, especially where, how,
and why primates originated. As a committee member of the UC
Davis ADVANCE Mentorship and Networking Initiative, Dr. Isbell is
interested in implicit bias in academia.
Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung earned her PhD in Genetics with a
Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology from UC Davis in
2003. During the UC Davis ADVANCE award period, she
contributed to the management team as program coordinator,
including strategic communications, operationalizing project
plans, recruitment and management of personnel, NSF reporting and
sustainability planning. She continues to serve as a member of
the CAMPOS Initiative Committee and on special projects to
promote diversity and inclusion in STEM.
Dr. Karen McDonald is a Co-Principal Investigator of the UC Davis
ADVANCE Program and Professor in the Department of Chemical
Engineering and served as Associate Dean for Research and
Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering at UC Davis for 13
years prior to joining the UC Davis ADVANCE program. In addition,
Dr.
Binnie Singh is the Assistant Vice Provost, in the Office of the
Vice Provost, Academic Affairs. In this role, she serves as the
primary liaison between Academic Affairs and other units and
organizations, both campus and systemwide, and assists the Vice
Provost – Academic Affairs in strategic planning, implementation
and innovation for all matters affecting academic personnel at UC
Davis. Prior to this role, she served for over 10 years as the
Director of Faculty Relations and Development in Academic Affairs
consulting with campus leaders on resolving conflicts that
involve academic employees, mediates and settles formal
complaints and grievances, coordinates and delivers
development/training programs for faculty, especially department
chairs and new faculty, manages faculty medical leaves and issues
related to accommodations, and administers the Work Life Program
for academics.
Jay Stachowicz, Professor of Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis,
researches the ecological causes and consequences of
biodiversity. He is the current director of the Center for
Population Biology. Dr. Stachowicz has found seaweeds and marine
invertebrates to be particularly tractable experimental subjects
and has conducted research involving a diverse suite of
invertebrate taxa including corals, hydroids, crabs, echinoderms,
polychaetes, ascidians, bryozoans, and gastropods.
