From top left to bottom right: Shelby Defeo, Anna Jurusik, Kyle Wright, and Jorge Arteaga. Cohort 1 began their CONDESA traineeship during the AY 2022 spring semester.
Photo by Teamrat Ghezzehei.
Physics
My name is Jorge Arteaga and I earned my Bachelors of Science in Physics with an emphasis on mathematical physics from UC Merced. I am now a PhD student in physics, researching perovskite thin films and quantum dots for solar and sensing applications.
Environmental Systems
My name is Shelby Defeo and I am a PhD student at UC Merced with a background in environmental chemistry, whose research focuses on drinking water reservoirs in California using field and laboratory methods.
Environmental Systems
My name is Anna Jurusik and I am currently a graduate student in Environmental Systems studying wildfire and its impacts on soil, water, and erosion.
Applied Math
My name is Kyle Wright and I am an Applied Mathematics graduate student at UC Merced. I received my Bachelors of Science in Applied Mathematics from East Tennessee State University. The main focus of my research is in optimization and inverse problems. In my free time I enjoy pool, chess, and philosophy.
