top of page
WISER Board: 2021 - 2022
Zoha Syed
President
Nia Burrell
Vice President of Operations
Brianna Ruggiero
Vice President of Engagement
Zofia Siwicka
Treasurer
Heather Calcaterra
Events Chair
Fanrui Sha
Student Group Liaison
Anusree Natraj
Outreach Chair
Deanna Dimonte
Publicity Chair
Florencia Son
Social Media Chair
Noa Nuzov
General Board Member
Joanna Korpanty
General Board Member
Nia Burrell is a third-year Physics PhD Candidate in the Geraci group. She is researching the effects of short-range gravity on optically-levitated nanospheres. She is originally from New Jersey and double majored in Physics and Spanish as an undergraduate at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. In addition to being a graduate student, she enjoys traveling the world when there’s not a pandemic, roller skating, and film photography.
Zoha Syed is a 4th year PhD Candidate in the Northwestern Department of Chemistry. She is a joint student in Prof. Omar Farha's group at Northwestern and Dr. Max Delferro's group at Argonne National Laboratory, studying catalysis with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Zoha is originally from Seattle, WA and did her undergraduate work at the University of Washington, Seattle in Chemistry (BS) and Biochemistry (BA). In her spare time, Zoha enjoys exploring the multitude of restaurants and coffee shops in Chicago.
Brianna Ruggiero is a 4th year PhD Candidate in the Northwestern Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. She is a member of both Prof. Linsey Seitz’s and Prof. Justin Notestein’s research groups, studying tandem oxidation reactions using electrochemically produced hydrogen peroxide. In her spare time, Brianna loves playing with her two dogs, Bentley and Koda. She also enjoys cooking new dishes, traveling, whitewater kayaking, and Chicago breweries!
Zofia is a fourth-year Chemistry PhD Candidate in the Chemistry Deparment at Northwestern University. She is a memeber of the Gianneschi group and her research involves making synthetic polymer mimics of melanin and using these materials towards the adsorption and remediation of various toxins. Zofia is originally from Brooklyn and graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in Chemistry and a minor in Art History. In her free time, she enjoys rowing, baking, and exploring art museums and galleries.
Heather Calcaterra is a 3rd year PhD Candidate in the Chemical Engineering Department at Northwestern University. She is a student in the lab of Chad Mirkin, and she works on the synthesis and assembly of DNA-functionalized nanomaterials. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in Chemical Engineering, and she grew up outside of Detroit, MI. For fun, Heather enjoys running, cycling, and exploring Chicago.
Fanrui is a 2nd year PhD candidate in the Chemsitry Department at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on protein encapsulation in metal-organic frameworks. She grew up in Dalian, China and has lived in California and the UK before moving to the midwest. Fanrui obtained her undergraduate degree from Harvey Mudd College in Chemistry and a concentration in Arts. In her free time, she enjoys dancing and doing pottery.
Deanna DiMonte is a 3rd year PhD student in the Electrical Engineering Department at Northwestern University. She is a member of the Image and Video Processing Lab under Professor Aggelos Katsaggelos, and her current research focuses on highly-imbalanced automatic 3D biomedical imaging segmentation. She is originally from the southwest suburbs of Chicago and graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. Outside of her research, Deanna is a member of the Purple Line, Northwestern's Synchro skating team. She is also an avid baker and banana plant enthusiast.
Anusree Natraj is a 3rd year PhD Candidate in the Northwestern Department of Chemistry. She is a student in Prof. Will Dichtel’s group at Northwestern studying the formation of single-crystalline covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Anusree is originally from Mumbai, India and did her undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis in Chemistry (BA) and Spanish (BA). Outside of the lab, Anusree enjoys running, writing and playing with her kitten!
Florencia is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Farha group at Northwestern University. She is studying the diffusion of various probes, including chemical warfare agent simulants, in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Florencia is from Northern Virginia and graduated from Georgetown University in 2018 with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Mathematics. During her free time, she enjoys baking, watching movies, and traveling.
Noa Nuzov is a 2nd year Master’s student at Northwestern University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She works in Prof. Laleh Golestani Rad’s lab at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine in the Radiology department, and she is studying the visualization of neural implants within MRI machines. Noa is originally from Skokie, IL and completed her undergraduate work at Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering and an additional major in Neuroscience. In her free time, Noa is a photographer for the football and basketball teams.
Joanna Korpanty is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Chemistry Department at Northwestern University. She works in the Gianneschi lab synthesizing and characterizing numerous soft materials by liquid cell transmission electron microscopy. She is originally from Connecticut and studied Chemsitry and Mathematics at Wesleyan Unversity. During her free time, Joanna enjoys playing with her cats.
Interested in serving on the board for WISER next year?
We recruit new board members from all STEM-related departments and from both the Evanston and Chicago campuses. Typically, board recruitment happens in May. We will send out information about joining our board through our e-list, but you can also give us your information using the form below and we will make sure to contact you!
bottom of page