Kaitlyn Mcquistion was a 2014 National Fellowship award winner. The National Fellowship grants scholarship support for the first year of graduate study. Kaitlyn is a first year medical student at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. She graduated from UW-Madison in May of 2014 with a bachelor of science in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Psychology with comprehensive honors in the liberal arts. Over her four years at UW-Madison, Kaitlyn enjoyed taking advantage of all that the university has to offer. She rowed on the Varsity Women’s Rowing Team, conducted research with both the Davidson Lab for Affective Neuroscience and the Gellman Lab for Organic Chemistry, tutored for the chemistry department, and volunteered both on campus and in the community. Kaitlyn is also the student vice president of Phi Kappa Phi.
The following members were recipients of the 2014 Love of Learning Award. The LoL Awards help fund graduate or professional studies, doctoral dissertations, continuing education, career development and travel related to teaching and studies. One hundred sixty awards are distributed each year.
Ryan Denu is a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. He currently in his PhD years and is studying centrosome amplification in breast cancer in the Mark Burkard Research Group. During medical school, Ryan has been very involved with the American Medical Association (AMA). He is currently the chair of the Midwest region of medical schools, and was recently elected to be a medical student representative in the AMA House of Delegates, the voting body of the AMA. Outside of the classroom, Ryan is an avid tennis player, coach, umpire, and fan. He is in his third year leading a 10 and under tennis program with 120 kids at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium on campus. As a PKP member, Ryan has benefitted in many ways. Most notably, the organization has provided financial support for him to attend national scientific conferences to present his research.
Matt Hirshberg is currently pursing a doctorate in Educational Psychology. Along with his advisor, Robert Enright, Matt is researching forgiveness. His primary research area is examining the impact of mindfulness/meditation training in educational environments. Matt also works on research through his RA position with Dr. Lisa Flook at Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center. In addition to researching mindfulness, he also teaches mindfulness to adolescents through UW Integrative Medicine. In the long term, Matt hopes to continue to work in an academic setting, either as a post-doc, a scientist or in a tenure-track position. Outside of his studies, Matt loves to surf. (Though he says those opportunities have been significantly limited since moving to Madison!) Matt says he is grateful for the internal opportunities provided by Phi Kappa Phi. He enjoys being a member of a respected national organization and appreciates learning about other members through the PKP magazine and newsletters.
Tobias Lunt has finished his MS in Agroecology and Plant Pathology and is now working with the Jahn research group on campus, investigating systemic food system risks due to shocks that may be exacerbated by climate change. This past summer, Tobias travelled to Ethiopia to investigate food security levels in communities in the southwest region of the country. Tobias wishes to contribute to making food systems more resilient, more equitable and less impactful on environmental systems. He says that PKP has been a great resource for supporting his research goals both in the United States and abroad.
Alexandra Pavlakis is a PhD candidate in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research agenda focuses on how wide-ranging policies and the actions of schools and communities shape the educational experiences of homeless, highly mobile, and low income students and their families. When not researching, Alex enjoys exploring the bike paths in and around Madison. She says that the best part of PKP is the sense of community.