Each year, the UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) proudly recognizes a select group of students who have distinguished themselves through exceptional academic achievements, innovative research, and a commitment to making a positive impact on the science community.

These outstanding individuals are more than just award recipients—they are a testament to the transformative power of scientific exploration and education at CNAS. Their achievements reflect the very best of what CNAS has to offer, demonstrating not only intellectual excellence but also resilience, leadership, and a passion for discovery.

We are honored to celebrate these remarkable students and their accomplishments:
 

2025 CNAS Outstanding Achievement Award

The Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes one graduating senior from the entire college, selected from the Rosemary S. J. Schraer Award nominations, for their exemplary achievement in academics, research or creative activity, their breadth of involvement within the college, and their commitment to service and citizenship.

Hannah Jeanette Moore
CNAS Outstanding Achievement Award
Academic Excellence Award 
Rosemary S. J. Schraer Award Nominee
Biochemistry major Hannah Jeanette Moore began working in Dr. Hollis Woodard’s lab during her second year, managing an experiment designed by a graduate student, before developing her own experiment to examine the impact of starvation on bumble bee pheromones. This research, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Kerry Mauck and Dr. Jocelyn G. Millar, was funded by the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship and presented at the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting. In her third year, Hannah also joined Dr. Samuel Mann’s lab, where she designed de novo protein scaffolds with the goal of studying P450-like intermediates, research she later presented at the annual SoCal Bioinorganic meeting. Outside of her research, Hannah worked as a learning assistant for Dr. Matthew Casselman, supporting undergraduate chemistry education, and has been on the Dean’s list every quarter at UC Riverside.
 

2025 Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award 

In honor of Rosemary S.J. Schraer, who served as UCR Chancellor from 1987-1992, the Schraer Award recognizes two graduating seniors from the entire college for their academic excellence, leadership, and participation in activities.

Arnav Kacker
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Biology major Arnav Kacker is a stellar student at UC Riverside. He wrote a successful minigrant proposal on the “Synthesis and Alkylation of the Chemotherapeutic Molecule Bersavine and Derivative Molecules” that was funded. He is also co-author on two recent publications on the synthesis of biomedically relevant natural products, and will be the first author on an upcoming chemoproteomics study. He maintains a 4.0 GPA and has been admitted to the University of California, San Diego and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s medical school programs.

Theodore Adams
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Academic Excellence Award 
Entomology major Theodore Adams is a highly motivated and accomplished undergraduate with a strong record of academic and research excellence. As an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Mark Hoddle’s lab for over a year, he has actively contributed to ongoing projects, including supervised research on cotton seed bug egg population dynamics and surveys for egg parasitoids of this pest. His dedication is evident in over 600 hours of data collection. Beyond research, Theodore demonstrates leadership as co-president of the Botany and Entomology Undergraduate Student Association, where he plans their weekly meetings, recruits new members, and communicates with faculty about events. His academic achievements are consistently outstanding, earning him Dean’s List honors each quarter.
 

2025 Academic Excellence Award

The Academic Excellence Award for the College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences recognizes one graduating senior who are selected by faculty from each major for their academic success, research, and/or creative activity.

Biology
Naran Luvsanravdan
Naran Luvsanravdan has undertaken two undergraduate research projects over two years while at UC Riverside. In Dr. Margarita Curras-Collazo’s Neuroendocrinology Lab, she studied how environmental toxicants such as PBDEs disrupt the social brain to cause autistic-like traits. She received 3 UC Student Minigrants and one travel mini-grant while at UC Riverside to carry out her research studies. Naran has presented her research findings at the 2023 RISE Symposium and 2024 UCR Undergraduate Symposium, and will be presenting her findings at the 2025 Physiology Summit, sponsored by an international professional society, the American Physiological Society. She is a co-author on several abstracts submitted by the Curras-Collazo lab and is a co-author on a manuscript currently in preparation. In addition to research, Naran worked as a COPE Health Scholar, member of the Mini-Medical School and UCR Highlander Emergency Medical Society, and President of the Chinese Student Association, all while receiving Dean’s or Chancellor’s Honors list every quarter.

Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology
Samiha Alam
Samiha Alam has undertaken two undergraduate research projects over three years while at UC Riverside. Samiha extracted and studied chromatophores from the bacteria in the Quantum Materials Optoelectronics Lab, and later studied gut-brain interactions that contribute to Gulf War Illness in a mouse model in Dr. Margarita Curras-Collazo’s Neuroendocrinology Lab. She received two UC Student Minigrants to carry out her recent study and presented her research findings at the Spring UCR Undergraduate Symposium. She is a co-author on several abstracts submitted by the Curras-Collazo lab and is a co-author on a manuscript in preparation. In addition to research, Samiha worked as a COPE Health Scholar and Leader, providing patient care in multiple clinical areas, all while receiving Dean’s list honors every quarter.

Chemistry
Lina Mai
Lina Mai spent three summers as a research intern in Dr. Thuy Doan’s biomedical lab at the University of California, San Francisco, where she used RNA deep sequencing to identify pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in nasal and conjunctival swabs. With an interest in pharmaceutical sciences and after completing the organic chemistry series, she joined Dr. Kevin Kou’s lab in the Fall of 2023. Over the past 18 months, Lina has contributed to three projects spanning methodology development, natural product semi-synthesis, and total synthesis. Her work on the semi-synthesis of bersavine derivatives resulted in the identification of a series of potent anti-leukemia molecules and co-authorship on a study recently published in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. She is currently developing a new chemical reaction to enable the total synthesis of bersavine and related natural products. After graduation, Lina plans to work in industry for a year to gain additional synthesis experience in medicinal chemistry and then pursue graduate studies in organic chemistry.

Data Science
Eve Caroline Fraczkiewicz
Eve Fraczkiewicz's strong performance in both STAT 169 and STAT 171 demonstrated her deep understanding and genuine passion for statistics. Throughout both courses, she was consistently attentive, thoughtful, and highly engaged with the material. In STAT 171, she stood out as a team player and natural leader in her group project, taking initiative in model development and clearly communicating statistical findings. Beyond the classroom, Eve has built an impressive portfolio, including leading an R'Workshop at the Women in Data Science Conference, completing multiple applied machine learning and data scraping projects, and conducting research through UC Riverside’s RISE program on distinguishing AI-generated from human-written text. Her combination of academic strength, initiative, and leadership make her highly deserving of recognition.

Earth and Planetary Sciences, Geology, Geophysics
Qirui Lin 
Qirui Lin has worked within Dr. Maryjo Brounce’s lab for three years, analyzing the critical mineral content of rock samples from the Salton Sea as part of a project funded by the Department of Energy. He received the McKibben-Turner Scholarship in 2025. In addition to research, Qirui worked as a Highlander Orientation Leader, a Campus Escort, a test writer and Chemistry helper for three Science Olympiads, was an active member of four student organizations (Geology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences and Cheese), worked as a Museum Assistant in the Geology Museum, and earned Dean’s list honors every quarter, and Chancellor’s list honors every year as a dual major in Geology and Environmental Sciences.

Environmental Sciences
Liem Nguyen
Liem Nguyen has demonstrated exceptional academic performance since starting at UCR in Fall 2021. Liem has consistently earned a place on either the Dean’s Honors List or the Chancellor’s Honors List every single quarter and shown remarkable dedication to academic excellence.

Mathematics
Jason Patrick Palos
Jason has been actively involved in research on neutrophil chemotaxis dynamics with Dr. Qixuan Wang and active matter transport with Mykhailo Potomkin. The results of both projects are being submitted for publication, with Jason as co-first author on one paper. He will be attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota as an NSF graduate fellow.

Mathematics for Teachers of Secondary School
Michelle Thanh Pham
In addition to her excellent grades, Michelle has worked as one of the Mathematics Department’s first student lab leaders for the new Math 003 course. This year, she has also served as the president of the “Tomorrow’s Teachers in Science and Math” student organization.

Microbiology
Anastasia Ghilenschi Colton
Anastasia Ghilenschi-Colton received a UC Student Minigrant and Campbell Research grant to carry out her research, and a Travel Minigrant to present her research findings at the upcoming annual conference for the American Physiology Society (APS). The APS awarded her a 2025 Barbara A. Horowitz and John M. Horowitz Outstanding Undergraduate Abstract Award for this work. Anastasia presented her research findings at the 2023 RISE Symposium, 2024 UCR Undergraduate Symposium, the 2024 MolMed Mini-symposium – Drug Development and Capacity Building and the 2025 Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions Conference. She is an author on several abstracts and on a manuscript in preparation. Anastasia has earned other honors at UC Riverside, including the Regents Scholarship and Dean’s Honors list.

Neuroscience
Tara Duo Gao
Tara Duo Gao conducts research in Dr. Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka’s lab at UCR, where she investigates the neural basis of innate fear behaviors in mice. Her independent project examines the role of the medial amygdala in innate fear responses to olfactory predator cues. Recognized as a TRIO McNair Scholar and recipient of the Austin and Helen Riesen Neuroscience Award, Tara has presented her findings at multiple research conferences across California. Driven by her continued curiosity in neuroscience, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. at Caltech following graduation. Outside of academics, Tara continues to excel in piano and oriental dance, performing and competing at advanced levels.

Physics
Shane Levin
Shane Levin has worked in the research lab of Dr. Jonathan Richardson since the Fall of 2022. Her research contributions include the construction, commissioning, and monitoring of a Class 100 cleanroom which is used to assemble and test optical instruments developed in the Richardson lab at UCR for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). She led the development of the lab’s LIGO real-time system, which is a self-contained version of the same system used to read out signals from and control the LIGO interferometers. She is a co-author on a journal article published in Physical Review Letters, which is the premier research journal of physics. She is an outstanding student and a regular participant in Physics and Astronomy outreach events. Shane won the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research. She has multiple offers of admission to some of the most selective physics Ph.D. programs in the country.

Plant Biology
Abigail Noguera 
Abby Noguera's passion for research and academic excellence sets her apart. In Dr. Exequiel Ezcurra’s lab, Abby explores the ecological role of extrafloral nectaries in Ferocactus, contributing critical insight and independent research. She developed her own germination protocol for Ferocactus seeds—discovering rare tricotyledons in the species—and designed a project comparing the phenotypic plasticity of extrafloral nectaries in native habitats vs. botanic gardens. Abby is also a certified Nursery Master, skilled in native plant taxonomy and entomological collections. With previous research in lichen ecology and plant genetics, she brings both depth and versatility to her work.  Among the top GPAs in Botany and Plant Sciences, Abby exemplifies scientific curiosity, initiative, and commitment to plant science and conservation.

Statistics
Saavarni Chilukuri
Srisai Saavarni Chilukuri has an exceptional breadth of research and public health experience. She was awarded “Best Insight” at the Biostatistics Symposium of Southern California for her poster presentation, reflecting her ability to communicate complex findings effectively. Her research includes a study on the impact of Alzheimer’s disease in Down Syndrome and late-onset populations using longitudinal models, and a public health internship where she led a quality improvement initiative to enhance tuberculosis reporting and address health disparities. With experience spanning regression analysis, big data, and bias mitigation in predictive modeling, she brings both technical depth and a passion for health equity to her work.

Congratulations to our students!