From left: Elena Ayala-Hurtado, Apurva Badithela and Urbashi Basu
Fifteen scholars named Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellows
The Princeton Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellows program, now in its fifth year, has selected 15 scholars for its 2024 cohort from disciplines spanning the humanities, engineering, the sciences and the social sciences. The program recognizes and supports outstanding scholars primed to make important contributions in their fields.
By bringing together scholars across academic fields, the program allows them to deepen their disciplinary expertise while testing out new ideas from other disciplines. These scholars will contribute to the University’s excellence and its diversity, broadly defined. Financial support is provided for up to two years at full salary.
“These scholars are addressing some of the biggest challenges facing humankind — our resistance to infection, how our cells interact ‘socially,’ and how we weather the rise of economic and environmental insecurities,” said Frederick Wherry, vice dean for diversity and inclusion in the Office of the Dean of Faculty and the Townsend Martin, Class of 1917 Professor of Sociology.
Wherry continued: “Some of these issues hit hardest in under-resourced communities in this country and across the globe, and yet they matter for the well-being of us all. The commitment of these postdoctoral fellows to bold and free inquiry and their potential to serve as future intellectual leaders in their fields make the Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellowship a space of inspiration.”
The 2024 Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellows are listed below.
Elena Ayala-Hurtado joins the Department of Sociology, examining the experiences of young college graduates facing insecurity, defined as employment precarity or economic instability, in the United States and Spain; more broadly, her work foregrounds how people experience uncertainty and grapple with unexpected difficulties or conflicting beliefs. Ayala-Hurtado holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in sociology from Harvard University and a B.A. in sociology and English from Stanford University. She is advised by Kathryn Edin, the William Church Osborn Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs and director of the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.
Apurva Badithela joins the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, with research focused on safety certification of robotic autonomous systems using tools from control theory, optimization, formal methods and applied statistics. Her research goal is to advance theoretical and algorithmic frameworks for test and evaluation, verification and validation of autonomous robotic systems, along with compelling real-world demonstrations. Badithela holds a Ph.D. in control and dynamical systems from the California Institute of Technology and a B.S. in aerospace engineering and mechanics from the University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities. She is advised by Anirudha Majumdar, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Urbashi Basu joins the Department of Molecular Biology, aiming to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie circadian clock regulation of immune functions and the impact of this regulation on resistance to infection across the day-night cycle. Basu holds a Ph.D. in biology from the National Centre for Biological Sciences at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, an M.Sc. in biotechnology and a B.Sc. in microbiology from the University of Calcutta, India. She is advised by John Brooks, assistant professor of molecular biology.
From left: Ashley Berkebile-Weinberg, Abigail Brown and Huili Chen
Ashley Berkebile-Weinberg joins the Department of Psychology, seeking to understand how intergroup contact shapes the nature of people’s social relationships, as well as the ways it impacts larger group-level relations. Her research focuses on the psychological dynamics underpinning social interactions within intergroup friendships, as well as intimate discussions centered on group differences within various intergroup contexts. Berkebile-Weinberg holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from New York University and a B.A. in sociology from Westmont College. She is advised by Rebecca Carey, assistant professor of psychology and the Lawrence S. Brodie University Preceptor.
Abigail Brown joins the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, with research examining the role that nongenetic materials play in transmitting information to their progeny. Her project aims to define how small RNAs, which are ingested and taken into the intestine, affect host neurons at the molecular level to drive aversive behavior and its inheritance. Brown holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry from Brown University, and an M.S. in biomedical sciences and a B.S. in molecular biology and microbiology from the University of Central Florida. She is advised by Coleen Murphy, the James A. Elkins Jr. Professor in the Life Sciences and professor of molecular biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. Murphy also serves as the institute’s director.
Huili Chen joins the Program in Cognitive Science, exploring the human experience and aiming to extend human capacity in the context of human-AI interaction. Her research integrates methods and insights from computer science, psychology and design. Chen holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in media arts and sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in computer science from the University of Notre Dame. She is advised by Tania Lombrozo, the Arthur W. Marks ’19 Professor of Psychology and director of the Program in Cognitive Science.
From left: Susana Costa Amaral, Ryan Feathers and Dominique Gonçalves
Susana Costa Amaral joins the Department of Art and Archeology, Brazil LAB and the Lewis Center for the Arts. Her research sits at the intersections of performance and politics, critical race theory, visual arts and queer studies. She is launching a new research project examining artificial intelligence as both a visual tool and a source of extraction, focusing on its environmental impact in Latin America. Costa Amaral holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese from New York University, an M.A. in performing arts and a B.A. in communication and culture, both from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is advised by Irene Small, associate professor of art and archaeology.
Ryan Feathers joins the Department of Molecular Biology and Department of Computer Science. His research focuses on developing methods for visualizing the molecular details of dynamic protein complexes involved in intracellular trafficking by combining AI image analysis with high-resolution electron microscopy. Feathers holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cornell University and a B.S. in microbiology and biochemistry from Oklahoma State University. He is advised by Ellen Zhong, assistant professor of computer science, and Frederick Hughson, professor of molecular biology.
Dominique Gonçalves joins the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Her research seeks to understand how human-induced selection of phenotypes of tuskless female elephants influences the behaviors that help to regulate ecological processes and ecosystem functioning. Gonçalves holds a Ph.D. in biodiversity management and an M.Sc. in conservation biology from the University of Kent, and a B.Sc. in ecology and conservation of terrestrial biodiversity from the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. She is advised by Robert Pringle, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, Shane Campbell-Staton, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and David Wilcove, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, public affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.
From left: Mohamed Kari, Tanya Marshall, Sindi-Leigh McBride
Mohamed Kari joins the Department of Computer Science, with a research focus on sensor-rich intelligent user systems. He aims to invent, build and study technologies that establish and exhibit a situational awareness of the user and the world around them, thus getting closer to experiences, applications and interactions that can seamlessly blend with the user’s space and mind. Kari holds a Ph.D. in computer science and an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in business information systems, all from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. He is advised by Parastoo Abtahi, assistant professor of computer science.
Tanya Marshall joins the Department of Geosciences. Her research is focused on developing new quantitative frameworks for investigating biogeochemical transformations in the ocean. She aims to quantify global ocean nutrient budgets and cycling, both of which impact ocean fertility and carbon storage. Marshall holds a Ph.D. in oceanography and a B.Sc. in ocean and atmospheric science and environmental geographic science from the University of Cape Town. She is advised by Daniel Sigman, the Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences and professor of geosciences.
Sindi-Leigh McBride joins the Department of History, with research exploring the impact of climate change on the informal livelihood strategies of young people in South Africa and Nigeria, focusing on the intersections between inherited struggles and “hustling” as future-making. McBride holds a Ph.D. in African studies from the University of Basel, an M.A. in political communication from the University of Cape Town, and an M.A. in international relations and a B.A. in international relations and political science, both from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is advised by Jacob Dlamini, associate professor of history and director of the Program in African Studies.
From left; Jeong Min (Jane) Park, Massiel Torres Ulloa, Sergio Villanueva Preston
Jeong Min (Jane) Park joins the Department of Physics. Her research centers on discovering novel phases and particles that emerge from the interplay of nontrivial topology and strong correlations, with potential applications in next-generation quantum technology. Park holds a Ph.D. in physics from MIT and a B.S. in physics and chemistry from Duke University. She will be advised by Ali Yazdani, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Physics and inaugural co-director of the Princeton Quantum Initiative.
Massiel Torres Ulloa joins the Effron Center for the Study of America. Her research examines Afro-Caribbean individual and collective freedom practices as her current project centers the Maroons of San Lorenzo in Hispaniola and their acts of economic, spiritual and intellectual resistance throughout time. Torres Ulloa holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in romance languages and literatures from Harvard University, a B.A. in literature, writing and publishing from Emerson College and an A.A. from Bunker Hill Community College. She will be advised by Lorgia García Peña, professor of the Effron Center for the Study of America and African American studies, and director of the Program in Latino Studies.
Sergio Villanueva Preston joins the School of Architecture, with research situated where architecture intersects with queer and feminist theories, looking specifically at modernist architectures during the interwar period in North America and Western Europe. Villanueva Preston holds a Ph.D. in the history of architecture and urban development from Cornell University, a Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Colorado and a B.A. from St. John´s College. He is advised by S.E. Eisterer, assistant professor of architecture.