President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Awards 2006-07

Social Sciences 

Elbert Almazan

Education: B.A., University of California, Riverside, Sociology; M.A., Indiana University, Sociology; Ph.D., Indiana University, Sociology

Dissertation: Sexual Orientation, Social Structure, and Adolescent Mental Health

Thesis Advisor: Jane D. McLeod, Professor of Sociology, Indiana University

Research Topic: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health among Sexual Minority Populations

Mentor: Susan Cochran, Professor of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles

Current Position:  President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Epidemiology, UC Los Angeles

Javier A. Arce-Nazario

Education: B.S., University of Puerto Rico, Biology; M.A., Columbia University, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Ph.D., Columbia University, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology

Dissertation: Reconstructing Amazonian Ecological Memory: How humans and rivers shape the Peruvian Amazon Landscape

Thesis Advisor: Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez, Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University

Research Topic: Contested Spaces: The effects of changing conservation policies and resource management laws on Latin American landscape histories.

Mentor: Nancy L. Peluso, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley

Current Position:  President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley

Julio Lopez

Education:  B.S., Universidad, Agronomy; M.S., University of California, Davis, Entomology; Ph.D., University of California, Davis, Multidisciplinary Sciences with emphasis in Entomology, Linguistic Anthropology, Native American and Mayan Studies

Dissertation:  Ethnohistory of the stingless bees Melipona beecheii (Hymenoptera: Melipoinae) in the Mayan civilization, decipherment of the Beekeeping Almanacs Part I in the Madrid Codex and the study of their behavioral traits and division of labor.

Thesis Advisor:  Chris Calvert, Professor of Animal Science, University of California, Davis

Research Topic:  Complete the Decipherment Part II of the Maya Beekeeping Section from the Maya Madrid Codex using ethnohistorical and biological methodology.

Mentor:  Stefano Varese, Professor of Native American Studies, University of California, Davis

Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Native American Studies, UC Davis

Desireé Martinez

Education: B.A., University of Pennsylvania, Anthropology; M.A., Harvard University, Anthropology; Ph.D., Harvard University, Anthropology

Dissertation: For Future Generations: Creating Collaborative Groups between Native Americans and Archaeologists

Thesis Advisor: Carol Mandryk, Professor Anthropology, University of Hawaii, Manoa

Research Topic: Archaeological History of Tongva (Gabnelino) territory with focus on inter-tribal trade

Mentor: Jeanne Arnold, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Angela Nonaka

Education: B.A., University of Kansas, East Asian Languages and Cultures; M.A., Indiana University, East Asian Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Anthropology

Dissertation: Ban Khor Sign Language: Life Cycle of a Thai Speech/Sign community

Thesis Advisor: Elinor Ochs, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Research Topic: Preserving Endangered Sign Languages in Thailand

Mentor: Leanne Hinton, Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin

Hector Perla, Jr.

Education: B.A., San Francisco State University, International Relations; M.A., Stanford University, Latin American Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Political Science

Dissertation: Revolutionary Deterrence: The Sandinista Response to Reagan's Coercive Policy – Lessons toward a Theory of Asymmetric Conflict

Thesis Advisor: Mark Sawyer, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles

Research Topic: Activating Opinion – Central American Immigrants and Mobilization of Grassroots Public Opposition to Reagan's Foreign Policy (in Nicaragua and El Salvador ).

Mentor: Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine

Current Position:  President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Chicano/Latino Studies Program, UC Irvine

Vicki L. Wedel

Education: B.A., University of Oklahoma, Letters; M.C.J.A., Oklahoma City University, Criminal Justice Administration; M.A., University of Oklahoma, Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, Anthropology

Dissertation: Biological effects of slavery and emancipation in historical African American in the urban northeastern United States, 1646-1843

Thesis Advisor: Alison Galloway, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Research Topic: Evidence of workload stress among enslaved and free African Americans in the urban northeastern United States, 1646-1843

Mentor: Sabrina Agarwal, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

Current Position: Assistant Professor, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences