Underrepresented Graduate Student Fellowship

Niran Akintunde is studying for a Ph.D. degree in International Crime and Justice at the Steven J Green School of International and Public Policy. His research area is in Restorative Justice and Hate Crime. His future career goal is to work in policy with the determination of addressing systemic issues confronting equity-deserving groups.

He is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with a sense of duty to recognize the inequity in our society with the desire to be part of the efforts that can lead to equal opportunities and respect for all persons. He has been advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion particularly in previous roles, doing community development work in addressing identity-based harm and later serving as the Anti-Racism and Social Justice Advocate for the City of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada to identify, disrupt, and address systemic barriers affecting equity-deserving communities. 

With a sense of purpose and dedication, he is motivated to continue to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in my journey as a doctoral student and beyond. It is indeed a personal life goal to be part of the change that disrupts oppressive systems and to build together a society with empathy and compassion for all, irrespective of age, ability, gender, sex, race, religion, etc.

Kehinde is an international student from Nigeria, and in the doctoral program in the department of civil and environmental engineering at FIU. His research is focused on structural wind engineering as it relates to improving curtain wall systems in tall buildings to reduce water penetration. He has also done some research on downburst wind effects on transmission towers, research sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

His career goal is to become a global consulting structural engineer with expertise in structural wind engineering applications that help improve the resilience of infrastructures. Ultimately, making the world a better place is his life’s mission and he plans to realize this by building a civil engineering career focused on improving the resilience and sustainability of current and new civil infrastructures while educating the next generation of civil engineers and influencing public policy in this regard.

His commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering research includes volunteering at K12 STEM outreaches organized by the Wall of Wind team, and Extreme Events Institute. He also mentors’ students in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. It is important to him that there is more representation in engineering research, especially in the field of wind engineering.

Aside from research and engineering, his interests include watching football, working out, and listening to afrobeat music.

Adonicah “Dawnie” Cummings is a first-generation American and college graduate. Graduating from Florida International University with a bachelor’s in Biological Sciences and Natural and Applied Sciences has primed her for medical school. She is currently an M1 at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Neurosurgery, Pathology, and Obstetrics are the various fields that she finds interesting, and is look forward to exploring these specialties. Her passion for medicine grew from her love of humanity. While volunteering at homeless shelters , she was exposed to the effects that social factors have on health. Socially disadvantaged individuals are more prone to disparities in health; hence it is vital to close social gaps that generate those health gaps. She believes diversity, equity, and inclusion are important in any field—especially medicine. Becoming socially aware and culturally competent is the bare minimum of her plans to promote health, close health disparities, and advocate for patients.

Mekdelawit Messay Deribe is a second year Ph.D. student in the department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University. Her research focuses on sustainable and equitable utilization of transboundary waters with a special focus on the Nile River basin. Equitable utilization of shared resources is at the heart of her research, and she uses holistic, transdisciplinary research design to develop inclusive, equitable, and sustainable water use frameworks. She also brings the same holistic way of thinking to my social advocacy efforts outside academia. She actively participates in mediums that create space for dialogue between citizens of the Nile River basin with the hopes of creating understanding, empathy, and a culture of peace to facilitate a more equitable and sustainable use of shared resources and peaceful coexistence. Embracing diversity, advancing equity, and ensuring inclusion are cornerstones for work in and outside of academia. Education is her first love and she sees herself advancing in academia and educational design. She has also discovered a niche area at the intersection of science and diplomacy where she hopes to contribute to science-based transboundary water governance in the Nile basin.

I'm Noel (He/Him), pursing my PhD in Public Health and Research Assistantship at the department of Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work. 

 I have completed a BA in Sociology, Anthropology & Commerce, an MSc. in Psychology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Training & Development. I have close to 10 years of work experience in designing and delivering health and skill development interventions for communities and organizations. 

Growing up as an intersectional minority, I have personally witnessed the impact of discrimination on the health and livelihood of marginalized populations. Drawing from these experiences, my research focuses on mental, physical and sexual healthof intersectional minorities (LGBTQIA+, women andpeople of colour). The long-term goal is to create developmental interventions that improve minority health and quality of life across the globe. 

 As institutional discrimination continues to foster inequalities, the world is in dire need of innovative leaders with empathic hearts. The values and competencies I have developed across my personal, professional and academic life prepare me to take on these leadership roles with a mission to help people experience equity, inclusion, and prosperity. 

Kerrie Hooper is a second-year doctoral student in the Engineering and Computing Education Program at the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED). Her research focuses on AI ethics education, women’s careers in computing, and arts-based approaches to STEM education. She aspires to be a data scientist, entrepreneur, and leader in the AI education space. She believes that technology should work for all and that a DEI lens is necessary for approaching various technological challenges to positively impact her areas of focus. She endeavors to use her skills and opportunities to bring unique perspectives and promote interdisciplinary and culturally representative paradigms in computing.

Deidre Okeke is a second-year Epidemiology student in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work. Before her doctoral pursuits, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from George Washington University and a Master of Public Health (MPH) here at Florida International University (FIU). Upon graduating from FIU’s MPH program, she began her career in academia overseeing public health admissions and later progressed to teaching students in the practice-based portion of FIU’s Online MPH program.

As a doctoral student, her research interest centers around understanding social media use and its connection to mental health. For her dissertation, she plans to examine the role of various indirect and direct effects of discrimination in social media on depressive symptoms experienced by Hispanic emerging adults within collegiate settings. She hopes that her work not only helps to steer the development of mental health interventions that are relevant and key for this target population, but that it paves the way for further research involving other vulnerable populations.

After earning her doctoral degree, she plans to use her training in a non-conventional way. With a background in health disparities, experience in teaching, and a passion for communication, she wishes to turn her classroom into a global audience and educate others through broadcast journalism as a CNN medical correspondent. Such a position will allow her platform to bring attention to issues concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that far extend the areas of health. She hopes her publicized efforts help bring screen time to DEI matters and create discourse and awareness on the topic, to eventually disrupt processes of marginalization and minoritization.

Patience Ngozi Paul is a 4th-year Ph.D. candidate in the Biomedical Science Ph.D. program, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) FIU. Her undergraduate was at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Microbiology. She is part of the Rosen lab group in the Department of Cellular Biology and Pharmacology where she is contributing to ongoing research efforts in the lab. Her research focuses on the transport of arsinothricin (AST), an arsenic-based antibiotic. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and reading novels.

David Riera is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at Florida International University, he leverages his passion for research, conservation, and education to be an advocate for justice, access, inclusion, diversity and equity across STEM research, teaching, and learning. He holds six collegiate degrees and eleven professional certifications (from veterinary technician to open water deep-sea diver) in various STEM and industrial disciplines, which he utilized in partnership with scientific, environmental, and education leaders to increase the presence and participation of underserved students/emergent professionals through initiatives and activism. His service in the United States Marine Corps as a Combat Veteran supported his efforts to be a First-Generation Afro-Hispanic college graduate and has driven him to continue to serve in his community in numerous capacities. David drives to engage the public through environmental and agricultural education, and his relentless work tackling various social and ecological justice issues (like environmental racism, urban de-greening, food desertification), and is committed to co-creation, distribution, and preservation of cultural knowledge, traditional ways of knowing, and inquiry-based research in navigating the politics of the world.

David’s research focuses on understanding how self-identifying minoritized youth in Miami conceptualize, utilize, and potentially see themselves reflected in science culture and or becoming a professional in science.  David's primary goals are located at the crossroads where science, education, advocacy, and nature intersect! As a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellow David seeks to work alongside a diverse and passionate team of change agents, co-cultivate opportunities for graduate students to build new tables of power, to ensure that their voices--actions lead to immediate and sustainable change, and help build platforms for better communication y acción atravesando la industria educative (and action across the education industry). David cree que lo más crítico en el desarrollo del bienestar humano es las conexiones con nuestras familias, comunidades, y cultural para fortalecer los valores intrínsecos que apoyan la tierra, el mar, y tu espiritu/alma (believes that what is most critical in the development of human well-being is the connections with our families, communities, and cultures that strengthen the intrinsic values ​​that support the land, the sea, and the spirit/soul). This is why David hopes to build a teaching and learning facility dedicated to the (re)construction of human connectedness to each other, food/water, their cultures/heritage/language, and the world around them.

David’s daily J.E.D.I. efforts as a student, scientist, teacher, and advocate in academic spaces lean into Bryan Stevenson’s four pillars for sustained change 1) embracing uncomfortably, 2) remaining proximate, 3) changing the narrative, and 4) remaining hopeful… Hope, as Morgan Freeman’s character in The Shawshank Redemption said, is a “dangerous thing.” David has always thought to himself: dangerous to whom? The true danger comes from the zero-sum game—that is the current culture of the academy, where ‘if you have it, then I can’t have it’ prevails. This attitude drives a notion that folx need to ‘fit in,’ but if ‘fitting in’ means being surrounded by what Iris Marion Young calls the Five Faces of Oppression… exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, violence, and cultural imperialism by yourself—where you feel more like a fixture in a room, part of a show-and-tell, an exotic display—in a space that does not reflect you as a complete person and only values you as a token, then authentic ‘belonging’ remains lost.  Challenging the notions and realities here is not found within our willingness to participate in the game (to ‘fit in’) but in our wanting/longing to change the game (to belong). Belonging means sitting inside the square made from Stevenson’s aforementioned pillars. David’s commitment is said to be similar to that of the mythical minotaur, serving in the middle of an academic maze, acting as a guardian and a critical caretaker of this space, where belonging is possible. In David’s conclusive and lived experiences, J.E.D.I. work is a [R(e)]Evolution! It is not acceptable to only ‘be seen’, the need for human connections, comunidad (community), y pertenencia (belonging) has to occur each and every day if we are all to enjoy your--my--our tomorrow… together—juntos!

Donisha Smith is a fourth-year graduate student in FIU’s Cognitive Neuroscience Ph.D. program. Additionally, she is currently being mentored by Dr. Angela Laird and is a member of FIU’s Neuroinformatics and Brain Connectivity (NBC) Lab. Her long-term professional plan is to become a university professor and engage in research endeavors that will improve machine learning methods that could detect biomarkers in functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) images for early detection and diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. She believes that by using machine learning methods to identify unique subgroups in diverse neuropsychiatric population clinicians may be able to better tailor individual treatment plans for their patients to improve outcomes. Moreover, because of her passion for teaching and research, her goal is to guide and mentor future generations of masters and doctoral students in the research process. 

Aubrey Stewart is a second-year PhD student in the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at the Florida International University (FIU), where he is pursuing his doctoral studies in Public Affairs through the US State Department's Fulbright Scholarship. His research interest is focused on collaborative governance, citizen security, performance management and social economics. These include topics such as leadership, performance data use, social investment, e-identification and community safety and security. Fueled by these interests, Aubrey pursued a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics and Political Theory, a Bachelor’s degree in Political Leadership, Strategy and Management and various professional development certifications from The University of the West Indies, Mona, in Jamaica and University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Zharia Thomas is a 3^rd year doctoral student in the Developmental Science program. Her mission lies in investigating the impact of factors contributing to disparities on Black women’s health and overall well-being through examining racial stereotypical depictions, such as the strong Black woman (SBW) schema. She hopes to use her research to gain insight about and communicate the critical unmet needs of Black women.