Inaugural UCLA CDLS Faculty Fellows

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Professors Justin Caram, Yung-Ya Lin, Margot Quinlan, and Ben Schwartz named inaugural Faculty Fellows of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science (CDLS).

CDLS was created to recruit and retain underrepresented people in Environmental Science. In addition to providing research and outreach opportunities, CDLS brings faculty together to engage in professional development, including workshops offered by CEILS and BruinX. In this way, the center aims to empower their fellows in increasing diversity, equity and inclusivity in STEM and beyond. 

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2018 Faculty Fellows of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science – Professors Justin Caram, Yung-Ya Lin, Margot Quinlan, and Ben Schwartz.

Justin Caram, an assistant professor of physical chemistry, joined the UCLA faculty in 2017. His group studies novel photophysical materials and biological questions, using quantum mechanical approaches to spectroscopy.

Yung-Ya Lin, an Endowed Professor in General Chemistry, joined the faculty at UCLA in 2001. His group’s research focus is to channel progress in fundamental spin physics and nano-bio-materials into improvements in magnetic resonance (MR) to achieve early cancer detection by MR molecular imaging, and targeted cancer therapy by MR nano theranostics.

Margot Quinlan, an associate professor of biochemistry, joined the UCLA faculty in 2008. Her group uses biochemistry, microscopy and genetic approaches to study dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton.  

Benjamin Schwartz, a professor physical chemistry, joined the UCLA faculty in 1997. The research in his group is aimed at building a molecular-level understanding of chemical reactivity in complex environments by studying condensed-phase chemical reaction dynamics using both experimental and theoretical techniques: femtosecond laser spectroscopies and mixed quantum/classical molecular dynamics simulations. 

22 Faculty Fellows were selected across disciplines, for their dedication to implement inclusive practices and for their commitment to equity in the field. Other Faculty Fellows are Alan Barreca (IoES), Daniele Bianchi  (AOS), Jacob Bortnik  (AOS), Kyle Cavanaugh  (Geography), Robert Eagle  (IoES, AOS), Jennifer Jay  (IoES; Civil and Environmental Engineering), Peter Karieva  (IoES), Abby Kavner  (EPSS), Jasper Kok  (AOS), Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni  (EPSS),  Karen McKinnon  (IoES; Statistics), James McWilliams (AOS; IoES), Jonathan Mitchell  (AOS; EPSS), Stephanie Pincetl (IoES), Deepak Rajagopal  (IoES; Urban Planning), Pablo Saide (AOS), Andrew Stewart  (AOS), and Tina Treude (EPSS; AOS; Ecology & Evolutionary Biology).

CDLS was created by Professor Aradhna Tripati (Institute of Environment and Sustainability – IoES; Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences- AOS; Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences – EPSS; and Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics). Read more in the UCLA Newsroom article about the center here.

The application period for 2019-2020 CDLS faculty fellows will open Spring of 2019. Please stay tuned to the CDLS website: www.ioes.ucla.edu/diversity for further details.