PhD student Dayanni Bhagwandin (Rubin Group) is featured in UCLA’s Center for Diverse Leadership in Science (CDLS) video series highlighting diverse scientists.
The video, which can be viewed here, highlights the challenges Bhagwandin faced, due to her background, and the strong community she has built in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department and CDLS since starting at UCLA.
Bhagwandin is a third-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate in Professor Yves Rubin’s group and one of the inaugural fellows of CDLS. A native of the Caribbean country Guyana, Bhagwandin moved with her parents to the U.S. (New York City and New Jersey) when she was 3 years old. She has been passionate about science since she was a child.
A screen shot from Bhagwandin’s video in which describes her personal journey to pursue a scientific career.
Bhagwandin attended the High School for Math, Science, and Engineering at the City College of New York and then studied chemistry at Hunter College as a Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) and Yalow Scholar. During her undergraduate studies, Bhagwandin was a volunteer researcher at Hunter College, the University of Washington, Weill Cornell, and Mount Sinai Hospital. She was also a program explainer and museum facilitator at the New York Hall of Science.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2017 from Hunter, Bhagwandin joined the chemistry graduate program at UCLA. Her research in the Rubin group involves synthesizing novel organic materials for electronic applications such as supercapacitors and solar cells.
Bhagwandin’s work in the CDLS involves forming connections with universities in the Caribbean, informal science education, and public outreach.
The goal of CDLS, which is almost entirely grant-funded, is to make environmental science more inclusive. Learn more about CDLS here.
Portrait of Bhagwandin courtesy of Ashley Kruythoff/CDLS. Article by Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & BIochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.
