EEB Ph.D. Candidate, Tina Del Carpio, named a 2021 Taylor M. Brown Award Recipient
The Taylor M. Brown Memorial Award was established in honor of biosciences graduate student Taylor M. Brown. Taylor was a long-standing and vibrant member of the UCLA community. As a UCLA undergraduate, she majored in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, receiving her B.S. in 2015. She then joined the Immunity, Microbes, and Molecular Pathogenesis Home Area in the Molecular Biology Ph.D. program, where she pursued her interest in understanding host-pathogen interactions. Taylor was deeply committed to increasing diversity in the biosciences, serving as an active member of the Association for Multi-Ethnic Bioscientists’ Advancement (AMEBA) and the UCLA SACNAS Chapter (SACNAS@UCLA). She was passionate about teaching, mentoring, and outreach. Her kindness and compassion made a lasting and widespread impact on the UCLA biosciences community. Taylor’s many accomplishments, her promise as a scientist, and her strong dedication to diversifying the biosciences were recognized by her selection in 2018 as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellow.
The Taylor M. Brown Award recognizes exceptional Ph.D. students in the biosciences who reflect the characteristics that made Taylor such a special member of the UCLA community. The awardees are well-rounded, with strong interpersonal skills and broad interests, and are passionate about mentorship, leadership, teaching, and science. They are highly engaged with the UCLA biosciences community and have a powerful commitment to increasing diversity in the biosciences.
Tina Del Carpio and Kimberly Martin are named the 2021 awardees of this memorial award.
Tina Del Carpio is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the lab of Dr. Kirk Lohmueller. Tina's thesis research is focused on investigating recombination rates in dogs and wolves, and also on investigating the impact of the Competitive Edge program on graduate education. Tina is a passionate advocate for mental health and the founding member of the UCLA EEB Mental Health Working Group. They have contributed to training session for the EEB Department on supporting trans and non-binary students, were a member of the EEB Antiracisim Task Force, and have participated in numerous career and mental health panels for undergraduate and graduate students. Tina is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, a former NHGRI T32 Predoctoral Fellow, and a recipient of a 2021 UCLA EEB Special Faculty Award for Departmental Service.