Postdoctoral council: The Princeton Postdocs social group was organized in 2006 by postdocs at Princeton (notably Angela Yu, now a professor at UCSD) and is not officially recognized by the University. We primarily host social events to build a sense of community among Princeton Postdocs, but are working to introduce professional development programming as well. The PDC is administered strictly by postdoctoral volunteers and has no outside administrative support: please volunteer for the executive committee and/or specific projects by emailing the current chair. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                From left to right: Pascal, Shani, Becky, Laura, Vanisha, and Steph.

 

Council Members (2013-2014)

 

• Vanisha Lakhina <vanisha> (co-chair) has been a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Lewis Sigler Institute of Integrative Genomics/Molecular Biology department since March, 2012. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania where she studied how zebrafish olfactory sensory axons navigate to their correct location in the brain. Vanisha is currently examining the molecular mechanisms of long-term memory and axonal regeneration upon injury in worms. She loves dancing, hiking and food!

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• Laura Kraya <lkraya> (co-chair) [CBE] is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011. She arrived in Princeton in the summer of 2011 where she joined the Department of Electrical Engineering. Her research is in the area of surface and interface science, where her work has been focused on understanding the structure and property relationships in both organic and inorganic materials, with an emphasis on ferroelectric materials. She enjoys pilates, hiking, and theater!

 

• Steph Weber <scweber> (social) is a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department. She got her PhD in Biochemistry from Stanford, where she studied bacterial chromosome dynamics and polymer physics. Steph arrived at Princeton in Fall 2011 and is currently investigating mechanisms of size control in the nematode C. elegans. She enjoys hiking, running and watching worms grow!

 

• Becky Sanders <rlsander> (mailing list) has been a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Geosciences since July, 2011. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University where she used solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize the reactive surface area of clay minerals. She is currently researching changes to the carbon cycle of permafrost soils as the result of thawing conditions. She loves barre classes, watching football, and playing with her Havanese.

 

• Pascal Diévart <pdievart> is an Associate Research Scholar in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) department. He received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Lille (France) where he studied the kinetic aspects of diesel fuel combustion. He joined Princeton University in March 2010. He currently investigates experimentally and theoretically the combustion properties of bio-fuels and jet-fuels. He likes baking and the color green.

 

• Shani Elbaum <selbaum> (family liaison) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Chemical and Bioengineering Department at Princeton. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University where she studied mechanisms of tau aggregation implicated in neurodegenerative disease. Shani is currently working on identifying the molecular forces underlying cellular phase transitions associated with RNA/protein granule assembly. These days she enjoys yoga, juicing and biking along the canal.