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Ana V. Longo obtained her BS degree
in Biology in 2005 from University of
Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus (UPR-
RP) and completed a MS degree in
Biology in 2008 at UPR-RP. As an
undergraduate, she participated in the
PR-LSAMP Mentored Undergraduate
Research Program under the
mentorship of Dr. Patricia Burrowes.
Ana is now working towards her Ph.D. in
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. Her
thesis project focuses on the host-pathogen dynamics of the
amphibian-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)
in direct-developing frogs in the Puerto Rican tropical forests.
Dr. Mitk’El B. Santiago-Berríos obtained his BS
degree in Chemistry at the University of Puerto
Rico Rio Piedras Campus (UPR-RP) in 2000,
where he was a PR-LSAMP Fellow. He
continued his doctorate studies in Inorganic
Chemistry and obtained his PhD degree in 2007
under the mentorship of Dr. Jorge Colon. His
dissertation was centered on the development of amperometric
biosensors. Mitk’El participated in different workshops and
mentoring activities under AGEP program. In 2007, Dr. Santiago
received the Provost’s Academic Minority Fellowship at Cornell
University where he completed a Postdoctorate Fellowship under
the supervision of Dr. Héctor D. Abruña. Dr. Santiago currently is
a faculty member at the Universidad Metropolitana in Cupey,
Puerto Rico. He is studying charge transfer mechanisms in
organic-inorganic interfaces for solar harvesting applications using
quantum dot semiconductors.
Natalia Cordova graduated from the
University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras
Campus (UPR-RP) in 2007 with a BS in
Mathematics. As an undergraduate, she
was a LSAMP scholar and conducted
research under the guidance of Dr. Reza
Emamy. She received the Bridge to the
Doctorate Fellowship at Colorado State
University, where she completed a master’s
degree, also in Mathematics, under the mentorship of Dr.
Michael Kirby. She is now a PhD student in the Neuroscience
program at Princeton University. She is an author in an article
that was published in the journal Psychological Science and is
an author in three additional publications that are in preparation.
Ivan J. Lopez received his M.S. degree in
Physics from the University of Puerto Rico-
Rio Piedras Campus (UPR-RP) in 2008 and
is scheduled to finish his Ph.D. in Chemical
Physics in December 2011 at UPR-RP. The
focus of his doctoral research has been on
studying the molecular dynamics and glass
transitions of polymer nanocomposites via
broadband dielectric spectroscopy and
calorimetric techniques. As a graduate
student, Ivan has received various awards and fellowships,
which includes the PR-LSAMP fellowship Cohort IV, the
PRIDCO Award Fellowship, the Puerto Rico NASA Space Grant
Consortium (PRNSGC) Fellowship, and the NSF-GK12
Fellowship. He has offered hands-on demonstrations for the
general public during the USA Science and Technology Festival
in Washington DC.
Adriana M. Rivera completed her B.S. in
Chemistry in 2009 at the University of Puerto
Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. As an undergraduate
she participated in the PR-LSAMP Mentored
Undergraduate Research program and as a
graduate she was awarded a B.D. Fellowship
Cohort VII. She has also received a PR-NASA
Space Grant and NASA-URC- Center for
Advanced Nanoscale Materials 9NASA-CANM) Fellowships.
Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry at
UPR-RP. Her research is focused on the development of thin film
materials for nanotechnology applications. She has presented her
work in various national and international conferences including
the Material Research Society meetings.
Yanira Enriquez obtained her B.S.
degree in Chemistry in 2006 from
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Campus (UPR-RP). She is pursuing a
Ph.D. degree in Analytical Chemistry at
UPR-RP and her thesis project involves
the detection of the bacteria
Pseudomonas aeruginosa. She
participated in the PR-LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Cohort IV
and was awarded with the Puerto Rico Alliance for Graduate
Education and the Professoriate (PR-AGEP) sponsored by the
National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2008 and 2009. Presently
she is part of the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement
(RISE) program, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). She is a member of the ACS and ECS and has presented
in several national and international meetings.
Kennett I. Rivero earned a B.S. in
Chemistry in 2007 from the University of
Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (UPR-
RP). A year later, he joined Raphael G.
Raptis research group in Inorganic
Chemistry as a LSAMP Bridge to the
Doctorate Fellowship Cohort VI. He is
working in the synthesis and structural
characterization of Iron-Oxo pyrazolato
clusters. In 2009, he was sponsored by NSF to attend the Lindau
Meeting of Nobel Laureates. Kennett has been a visiting student
in the University of Oxford, where he worked in Computational
Chemistry, and in the NCSR Demokritos (Greece), carrying out
Mössbauer spectroscopic experiments. He has also been PR
NASA Space Grant Fellow.
Jennifer Carpena Núñez is a Ph.D.
student in Chemical Physics at the
University of Puerto Rico- Rio Piedras
Campus (UPR-RP) where she received
her B.S. and M.S. in Physics. Jennifer
participated in the Puerto Rico LSAMP
Bridge to the Doctorate Program Cohort
V, and has participated in several
internships at NASA JPL and LARSS at
Langley Research Center. Her current research involves the
usage of highly specialized In-Situ electron microscopy probing
techniques for understanding the electro-mechanical behavior of
structures at the nanoscale. Jennifer currently belongs to the
NASA Ambassador Virtual Community. She has been recently
awarded the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship.
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