Bisgrove Scholars

Melanie B. Channon, Ph.D. candidate, is currently completing her graduate work in geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology, after obtaining her bachelor’s in geological sciences summa cum laude from Arizona State University (ASU).

Sarah J. Leung, Ph.D. candidate, is currently completing her graduate work in biomedical engineering at the University of Arizona (U of A),  after completing a Bachelor’s in bioengineering at Arizona State University, both with a perfect GPA.

Xi Zhang, Ph.D. Candidate is currently completing his graduate work in planetary science at the California Institute of Technology. He did his undergraduate work in space physics at Peking University, a top institution in China. Even as a graduate student, Xi Zhang’s publication record is impressive and includes prestigious journals such as Nature Geosciences.

With a strong interest in the Neotropics, Dr. Ophelia Wang began her MS thesis work at the University of Illinois on how palms impose recruitment limitation on seedlings in Costa Rica and Panama. A growing interest in applied ecology, conservation, and geographic information system motivated Ophelia to shift her MA work to Neotropical palm communities in fragmented forests in northern Costa Rica. Ophelia conducted her PhD research in the Ecuadorian Amazon for tree diversity patterns and conservation planning.

Deborah N. Huntzinger, Ph.D. was recently appointed as a tenure-track assistant professor at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in the newly formed School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability. Dr. Huntzinger completed her graduate degrees in geological engineering at Michigan Technological University and the Colorado School of Mines. Prior to coming to NAU, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan where she worked on evaluating and comparing model estimates of land-atmosphere carbon exchange.

Wade D. Van Horn, Ph.D. was recruited to Arizona State University (ASU) as tenure track faculty after a post-doctoral appointment at Vanderbilt University, where he studied the biology and biophysics of proteins in cell membranes. Dr. Van Horn completed his graduate and undergraduate studies in Chemistry at The University of Utah and Brigham Young University, respectively, and he is currently finishing his post-doctoral studies in biochemistry and structural biology.