Established in 2019The ASU Early Career Research Network is run by an executive committee of postdocs who liaise with the ASU Postdoctoral Affairs Office. This volunteer run organization is open to all postdoctoral and research scientists as ASU. We hope that you will sign up! |
Our GoalIs to connect and serve early career researchers at ASU by supporting social and professional networking, creating professional development opportunities, and advocating for the community’s needs. |
Our Team
Tara Nkrumah (2019 - )
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Medha Dalal (2020 - )
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Chitrak Gupta (2019 - )
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Eric Chen (2019 - )
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Tara Nkrumah, PhD is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology. Dr. Nkrumah’s conferred degrees include a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Middle Tennessee State University, a Masters in Education from Tennessee State University, and a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of South Florida. Her research agenda focuses on science curriculum leadership development with an emphasis on culture, equity, and engagement in science. Tara employs various approaches to inquiry such as image theatre, narrative, and other arts-based methods. She has published in Journal of Language and Literacy Education (JoLLE) and presented at 2 national conferences – NARST A worldwide organization for improving science teaching and learning through research, and University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA). Tara’s 20 years of experience as a science educator include positions at schools in the U.S and in West Africa.
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Medha Dalal is a postdoctoral scholar in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Her conferred degrees include a PhD in Learning, Literacies and Technologies from Arizona State University, a Master’s in Computer Science from New York University, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Gujarat University in India. Her research aims to build capacity for engineering education stakeholders at the grassroots, while also informing policy. Her interdisciplinary research at the crossroads of engineering, education and technology explores ways of thinking to address complex engineering education challenges and democratize K-12 engineering education.
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Chitrak is a postdoc in the Singharoy group at the Biodesign Institute's Center of Applied Structural Discovery. In his research, he uses physics-based simulations to understand biology at the molecular and atomistic level. Some of his areas of interest are mitochondrial respiration, cell-penetrating peptides, and development of structure determination pipelines Prior to moving to ASU, he was a graduate student at The Ohio State University and West Virginia University, where he obtained his PhD in 2018 . He joined ASU's Early Career Research Network in 2019.
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Eric Chen received his PhD in 2018 from the University of Delaware in Materials Science and Engineering. He currently works as a postdoctoral research scholar in Dr. Richard King's lab at Arizona State University in modeling and processing of high-efficiency single-junction solar cells. His work aims to lower solar cell costs by designing enhanced photon recycling architectures to improve overall cell efficiencies. Previously a committee member in the graduate student government at UD and now the Early Career Research Network at ASU, his goal is to make research conducted by students and scientists in higher-education to be accessible to the greater community by leveraging communication and professional development resources across campus. Some of his hobbies include photography (nature, people, places), swing dancing, League of Legends & Overwatch, DJing/making mixes, exploring new foods/restaurants, and enjoying the views on hikes.
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Past Team Members
Shalinee Kavadiya (2019 - 2020)
Shalinee Kavadiya is a postdoc in the school of electric, computer, and energy engineering. She received her Ph.D. in 2018 from Washington University in St. Louis in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering, and her B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar in India in Chemical Engineering. Her research interest is novel routes for the synthesis of materials for application in solar photovoltaics and photo-catalysis. Her research also includes novel techniques for the fundamental characterization of materials and solar devices. Besides her research, she likes to paint, crochet, write, read, and travel. She is also enthusiastic about taking leadership, organizing events, and meet and socialize.
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Christina Forbes (2016 - 2020)Christina Forbes earned her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Delaware in 2016, and her BS in Chemistry from Delaware Valley University. Currently, she is a postdoctoral scholar and lab manager with Dr. Anne Jones in the School of Molecular Sciences at ASU. With a background in organic synthesis and biochemistry, she works on synthetic mimics of enzymes that can be used to make alternative fuels using Earth-abundant resources. She joined an executive board position with the Early Career Research Network at ASU because she wants to help build a community/support network of postdocs and research scientists in Arizona. Outside of the lab, she volunteers her time doing science outreach programs with the Arizona Museum of Natural History, the local section of the American Chemical Society, and Science on Main. Time permitting, she also does home-canning, hiking, and archery hunting.
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Hope Lancaster (2015 - 2020)
Hope Lancaster earned her PhD in Hearing and Speech Science from Vanderbilt University in 2015. She is currently funded by a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Training Grant (F32) and is hosted by the College of Health Solutions and Schools of Engineering. Her research focuses on understanding the biological and environmental causes of neurodevelopmental communication disorders, including developmental language disorder and dyslexia, to help develop early identification tools. At Vanderbilt, Hope organized social events for her fellow doctoral students and became aware of the need for early career researchers to have a rich community that can serve as a support system for them. She joined the executive board with the goal of developing a social support network for all early career researchers at ASU through social and professional development programming. In the effort to live a well-rounded life, Hope gets her hands dirty at Clark Park and Escalante community gardens, volunteers with Arizonians for Children, plays D&D, and dances whenever she can.
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Vanessa da Silva Brum Bastos (2018 - 2020)
Vanessa earned her PhD in Geography from the University of St Andrews in 2018. She works as a postdoctoral research associate in the Spatial Analysis Research Center at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on developing innovative methods for analyzing movement within geographic context to understand human mobility and wildlife behavioral patterns. She acted as postgraduate representative for the PhD students at the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews in 2015-2016. She joined the Early Career Research Network at ASU in 2019 aiming to collaborate with projects to make ECR life and transition easier and more informed. In her very little free time, she loves listening to music, sipping iced green tea, binge-watching Netflix and occasionally hitting the treadmill.
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