Isaac Garcia-Guerrero, a native of Granada, Spain, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. His dissertation research includes European fin-de-siècle literature and visual culture in relation to oriental representations of the Mediterranean. For his summer research, Isaac will travel to Valencia, Spain, where he will research the native writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez’s personal correspondence at the House-Museum and Foundation dedicated to preserving Blasco Ibáñez’s work.
Laura Hamman is a third year Ph.D. student in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in ESL and bilingual education. Originally from Chicago, Laura received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame. Her research is at the intersection of education, applied linguistics, and literacy studies. She is particularly interested in how language and literacy practices in dual language classrooms shape students’ developing bilingualism and their social and academic identities. Laura’s Zillman summer research, in Sayulita, Mexico, will provide an international lens on the interactional dynamics within bilingual classrooms.
Alexander Koo is a junior from Las Vegas, Nevada majoring in pharmacology & toxicology. He works in the Walter Goodman lab in the Department of Entomology. He does research on the effects of diet on juvenile hormone binding protein levels in the tobacco hornworm. Alex is also involved with Alpha Chi Sigma, where he works on creating and fostering an interest of science in young children. This summer, with support from the Zillman Summer Research Award, Alex will be participating in full-time research at the University of Oxford in the lab of Petros Ligoxygakis. He will be working with Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, in order to develop it as a model for better understanding the interactions of pathogens with an innate immune system, with hopes of applying the model to other insects, and possibly humans.
Hannah Mast, a junior from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin is a 2016 Barry Goldwater Scholar, majoring in biochemistry. She researches the spliceosome and pre-mRNA processing in the Hoskins biochemistry laboratory. With support from the Zillman Summer Research Award, Hannah will be researching non-coding RNAs at the University of Cambridge in Eric Miska’s laboratory. She is very excited to live in England for the summer and learn new biochemical lab techniques.
Will Porter, a native of England, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Leeds. While studying for his Master of Music degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Will performed with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. From 2009-2014 Will held the position of co-principal trombone with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago, Chile. In 2014 he moved to the United States to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts in trombone performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Will’s doctoral research is concerned with looking at the relationship between classical music education and social development. This summer, supported by the Zillman Summer research Award, he will travel to Mozambique to work with the Xiquitsi Project in Maputo. The Xiquitsi Project is an orchestral training program based on Venezuela’s El Sistema model, and aims to help bring about social change in poorer communities through access to music education.
Other Zillman Award Winners:
2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010,
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005