Meet Our Board of Officers
Hi there! My name is Elena Singh and I am a third year Biological Sciences major at UCI. I am Indian but I was born in Russia and immigrated to the US at the age of 7. I currently reside in California. The variety of cultures that shape my identity and my passion for advocacy have led me to pursue a career in medicine and I am particularly interested in the fields of Neurology. Through my courses at UCI, I have had the opportunity to explore my passion and interest in healthcare while becoming better educated on disparities present within healthcare and its impact on vulnerable populations. I hope to become a physician that can use my experience and knowledge as a first generation immigrant to shed light on various aspects of medical disparities and become an advocate for underrepresented communities.
I joined Girls in STEM as an Intern at the end of my first year Spring Quarter 2020, right around the transition to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During my time, I have become a passionate advocate for young girls who face many barriers in the pursuit of their career in STEM . My goal is to continue to create and support our organization so that the field of STEM is made to be both more welcoming and more accessible to the young girls who are often kept out due to outdated views and systematic barriers present that create disparities. . As the current President I am looking forward to continuing to bring mentorship and STEM-related opportunities to young girls interested in STEM and to encourage them to keep on pursuing their passion.
Hello! My name is Lizeth Lopez Vazquez. I am a transfer student at UCI. I am pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Creative Writing. I was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico but I moved to the US during my senior year of high school. While the transition was challenging, I always had mentors who encouraged me to shoot for the stars and never give up. My professors inspired me to guide other students to navigate the STEM field. In May 2020, I started mentoring high school female students from my alma mater, San Ysidro High School. My first mentee successfully applied and was accepted into UC Berkeley to major in Neuroscience.
I became involved in the Girls in STEM organization in March 2021 as a mentor. I hope to use my personal experiences and knowledge about the STEM field to continue guiding students to pursue higher education and ambitions in science.
Hello! My name is Arianne Agno and I am a third year computer engineering student. I’m a Filipino-American who grew up in Southern California. I became interested in programming at a young age due to my love of video games, though my interests nowadays veer towards robotics. I am currently a member of UCI’s CubeSat team, whose goal is to design and launch a low-orbit satellite into the atmosphere. I’ve been part of the Girls in STEM board since spring of 2021 and have had the wonderful opportunity to get to know so many passionate individuals who have all worked so hard to be pursuing a field that they love.
As the first in my family to be attending an American university, I struggled to find support from those who understood the process during high school and felt unprepared during my first quarter in UCI as I wasn’t sure what to expect. I joined Girls in STEM as I want to provide high school girls a place where they can find the support I wish I had when I was their age. I wish to inspire girls who have an interest in STEM to find the field they would like to look more into after spending time with our program. Whether that be pediatrics in the medical field, data science in the math field, or any of the other specializations our mentors are familiar with and are willing to share with them, I hope our mentees will be able to know more about a field they are interested in and feel more confident in their path in it.
Hi everyone! My name is Aimee Nunez and I am currently a third year biological science major at UCI. I am Mexican-American and have lived in SoCal all my life. Because of my background and through my experiences, I’ve been able to observe and become aware of the health disparities as well as the healthy anxiety some underrepresented communities might feel when it comes to healthcare; this has led me to want to pursue a career in medicine with the goal of becoming a doctor in order to communicate with these communities whether that be through language or through other forms.
Similarly, what made me want to first become a Girls in STEM intern/mentor back in early 2021 and now the secretary is to hopefully alleviate the stress and anxiety that comes with entering college and especially being a woman pursuing a STEM career. Additionally, being a woman of color myself, all throughout high school and even leading into college, I often looked for people that looked like me in STEM fields which were oftentimes male and white dominated. That being said, I hope that through Girls in STEM, I am able to be that person for someone, that “hey if she can do it, so can I” person!! I hope that through Girls in STEM we can continue to provide a safe environment for women to talk about their experiences and share with one another while at the same time motivating and supporting each other to break barriers girls pursuing STEM might face. Thus, I am more than happy to be a part of this organization and further their mission 🙂
Hi! My name is Anya, and I am a third year biological sciences student at UCI, where I am also a part of the Campuswide Honors Collegium. After graduation from UCI, I hope to attend medical school here in California and fulfill my dream of becoming a physician. During my time at UCI, I have been involved in undergraduate research focusing on reproductive toxicology, become a member of the American Medical Student Association, participated in a number of clinical shadowing opportunities, and worked at a pediatric clinic and as a standardized patient at California Northstate College of Medicine. Outside of the medical field I have been involved in Team KiPOW which helps young students lead healthier lives; I have also been involved in the Math Community Educational Outreach program on campus where I have worked with elementary school students to help them better their mathematical skills and boost their confidence in their academic abilities.educational opportunities and make learning a rewarding experience. My passion for science and helping people led me to decide to pursue medicine. During my undergraduate years at UCI, I was involved in different research projects ranging from engineering to biology and research on diabetes.
I have recently joined the Girls in STEM organization this school year as I realized through my past experiences that I am most passionate about giving my time back to younger students to help them navigate their educational careers. As part of the Girls in STEM club, I have taken on the role of Student Liaison where I can not only mentor high school girls to help them understand the world of STEM, but can also interact closely with the mentors to allow for them to develop their own identities as a woman in STEM and pay it forward to community of younger students. Being a part of Girls in STEM is immensely meaningful to me as I believe that women supporting women and having a community of high achieving women can help boost confidence, motivate, and stimulate positive conversations for young students.
Hello! My name is Meha, and I am a fourth year math major here at UCI. I hope to pursue a career in data science after I graduate. I was drawn to Girls in STEM with the intention of encouraging other young girls pursue STEM related majors and careers. I am generally one of few, if not only, girls in my math classes, and I became inspired to join this organization to motivate others to pursue such rigorous academia. Since joining during fall 2019, I’ve been able to meet a handful of talented individuals and get to know their stories and why they chose to pursue their fields.le to meet a handful of talented individuals and get to know their stories and why they chose to pursue their fields.
I’ve been motivated to not only appreciate my own studies, but that of other girls around me. Being able to share my journey in hopes to inspire another girl to tackle the same obstacles is what makes being a member of Girls in STEM such a rewarding experience. I hope in the future I can continue to inspire those around me even outside the field of STEM, and that more girls continue to dominate the academic boundaries that are put before them.