CNAS Awards 2026

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:

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.

Yaser Naji
CNAS Outstanding Achievement Award
Academic Excellence Award
Rosemary S. J. Schraer Award Nominee
Yaser Naji is a biochemistry major at UCR and a Chancellor’s Research Fellow working in Dr. Seán O’Leary’s lab, where he leads an independent project investigating how phosphorylated human eIF4E influences oncogene mRNA translation initiation using single-molecule techniques. His research contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms behind cancer progression and will be presented at the 2026 UCR Undergraduate Research Symposium. Beyond research, Yaser serves at the Riverside Free Clinic and works as a medical assistant in urgent care. He is also a Pre-Health Ambassador at PPAC and a former Supplemental Instructor at the ARC. Following graduation, Yaser aims to bridge gaps in healthcare access and translate research into meaningful impact, which he will carry forward as he pursues a career in medicine.

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.

Falon Marie Butcher
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Academic Excellence Award
Falon Butcher has researched in the Heteropteran Systematics Lab for almost two years, focusing on the biodiversity and evolutionary history of a lineage of plant bugs from the arid Succulent Karoo in South Africa. She is currently finalizing her Honors Capstone and is ready to embark on the MS portion of her BS+ MS degree in Entomology. She presented her work at the Entomological Society of America meeting in Portland in fall 2025 and a manuscript reporting her results is in preparation. She has also taken virtually every Entomology class in our curriculum and has excelled in all of them. Falon is also a very gifted science communicator and single-handedly ran an interactive game show entitled “Insect Family Feud” during the 2025 Riverside Insect Fair to an engaged audience.

Juan Salvador Arreola Contreras
Rosemary S.J. Schraer Award
Since the fall of 2024, Physics major Juan has worked in Andrew Joe’s laboratory studying quantum materials. Juan’s research experience includes 2D materials fabrication and the study of strongly correlated quantum phenomena. In the summer of 2024, he completed a nationally competitive extramural research program at Cornell University. Juan has been highly active in extracurricular service, leadership, and outreach activities, all while maintaining his status as a top physics student. He is currently President of the Physics & Astronomy Department’s Society of Physics Students branch. He has also served as the Vice President of the Astronomy Club. Juan was one of UCR’s Barry Goldwater Scholarship nominees in 2025, and has been the recipient of our department’s Outstanding Physics Student Award.

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.

Biochemistry
Yaser Naji
Yaser Naji is a biochemistry major at UCR and a Chancellor’s Research Fellow working in Dr. Seán O’Leary’s lab, where he leads an independent project investigating how phosphorylated human eIF4E influences oncogene mRNA translation initiation using single-molecule techniques. His research contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms behind cancer progression and will be presented at the 2026 UCR Undergraduate Research Symposium. Beyond research, Yaser serves at the Riverside Free Clinic and works as a medical assistant in urgent care. He is also a Pre-Health Ambassador at PPAC and a former Supplemental Instructor at the ARC. Following graduation, Yaser aims to bridge gaps in healthcare access and translate research into meaningful impact, which he will carry forward as he pursues a career in medicine.

Biology
Omeid Majd
Omeid Majd conducts research in the Ostevik Lab, investigating drought adaptation and insect herbivory in Helianthus annuus, and has presented his findings through posters and presentations at multiple conferences. He also serves as a copy editor for the UCR Undergraduate Research Journal and as a Pre-Health Ambassador with the Pre-Professional Advising Center (PPAC), where he mentors students pursuing careers in healthcare. He is a scholar in the California Alliance for Maximizing Potential (CAMP), an NSF-funded program, and his Honors capstone research examines the impact of interdisciplinary experiences on STEM student development. After graduation, he will pursue a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences at the UCR School of Medicine before applying to MD-PhD programs.

Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology
Grace Lin Su
Grace Su exemplifies both outstanding leadership and academic excellence, with a strong commitment to impactful service and engagement. At Dr. Meng Chen's Plant Botany Lab, she has made significant contributions to ongoing research investigating the molecular signaling mechanisms by which plants perceive and respond to environmental light and temperature changes and will present her findings at the 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Additionally, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership through her involvement in Air Force ROTC and ASUCR, where she has held multiple leadership positions guiding and mentoring fellow cadets and students, and leading recruitment and community service efforts. At UCR, she has also led initiatives driving campus safety efforts, women’s rights and equity, while serving on the SSFAC Committee to advance student resources and support.

Chemistry
Rihan Ouyang
Rihan Ouyang worked within Dr. Bahamonde's Organometallic Chemistry Lab for a year and a half, focusing on research in organometallic synthesis and computational chemistry. He contributed to a paper investigating cyanide activation that was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In addition to research, Rihan worked as a pseudo dental assistant, helping the dentist with patient care. He also serves in a board position for a community service organization, where he prepares and donates sandwiches to local homeless shelters. Rihan also made the Dean's list honors every quarter, earning a 3.914 cumulative GPA.

Data Science
Niu, Lydia Pei-Hsiuan
Lydia Niu is a B.S. candidate in Data Science. She was a model student in STAT 171, one of the most theoretically demanding courses in our program, attending every lecture, engaging consistently, and asking questions that often helped clarify the material for her peers. She earned an A in the course and demonstrated strong statistical thinking through her project work, applying rigorous analytical methods and translating findings into meaningful insights. Her independent projects further showcase her range, from image compression pipelines to flight delay modeling and credit card expenditure forecasting. Beyond academics, Lydia founded and leads two student organizations and serves as a Student Assistant for a CS course. Her engagement, initiative, and breadth of skills make her a deserving recipient of the Academic Excellence Award.

Earth and Planetary Sciences, Geology, Geophysics
Shiori Nakaya
Shiori Nakaya is a Geophysics major, who transferred in Fall 2024 from Pasadena City College. Shiori has served as a long-term intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, helping with the upcoming VERITAS mission and has presented her work at several major conferences and currently has two manuscripts in preparation. At UCR, Shiori has conducted research on seismic imaging and gravity modeling, under the supervision of Dr. Heather Ford. Shiori served as Vice President of the Geology Student Organization, Copy Editor of the Undergraduate Research Journal, and was a member of the Rapid Response Deployment Team following an earthquake in Julian, CA in 2025. Shiori is also a dedicated science communicator, taking part in numerous events as an Invited Scientist for the Cosplay for Science Program.

Entomology
Falon Marie Butcher
Falon Butcher has researched in the Heteropteran Systematics Lab for almost two years, focusing on the biodiversity and evolutionary history of a lineage of plant bugs from the arid Succulent Karoo in South Africa. She is currently finalizing her Honors Capstone and is ready to embark on the MS portion of her BS+ MS degree in Entomology. She presented her work at the Entomological Society of America meeting in Portland in fall 2025 and a manuscript reporting her results is in preparation. She has also taken virtually every Entomology class in our curriculum and has excelled in all of them. Falon is also a very gifted science communicator and single-handedly ran an interactive game show entitled “Insect Family Feud” during the 2025 Riverside Insect Fair to an engaged audience.

Environmental Sciences
Adam Jay Huynh
Adam Huynh Adam, a graduating senior majoring in Environmental Sciences, has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement with a cumulative GPA of 3.77. Since beginning his studies at UCR as a freshman in Fall 2022, Adam has consistently earned recognition on either the Dean’s Honors List or the Chancellor’s Honors List multiple times. Adam has shown remarkable dedication to academic excellence.

Mathematics
Mark Sandey
Mark has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, including excellent performance in several graduate-level mathematics courses. In addition to his coursework, he has participated in a variety of research projects with faculty both within and outside the university, spanning a broad range of topics. His work has been presented at national conferences, including the 2025 National Association of Mathematicians Undergraduate MATHFest, the 2026 Joint Mathematics Meetings, and the 2025 Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics. Mark is also highly engaged in campus life and has taken on multiple leadership and service roles in student organizations, including the Botany and Entomology Undergraduate Student Association and Spectra at UCR. His accomplishments have been recognized through the Bryce Mason Award as well as Dean’s List and Chancellor’s List honors, and he will continue his studies in a mathematics PhD program starting this fall.

Mathematics for Teachers of Secondary School
Xinyao Zhao
During her time at UCR, Xinyao Zhao has demonstrated academic achievement, research experience,and commitment to mathematics education. As a first-generation college student, she has pursued her academic goals with notable independence, determination, and resilience. At UC Riverside, she participated in mathematics research on compositionally modeling classical mechanical systems and presented her work publicly to both faculty and students. Faculty members describe her as hardworking and consistently positive in the classroom. Her academic accomplishments and promise are further reflected in her selection as an Impact Scholar in the USC Rossier Master of Arts in Teaching program, where she will begin her graduate studies this summer with scholarship support.

Microbiology
Hannah L Yuan
Inspired by her mother’s battle with Parkinson’s and her father’s dedicated research, Hannah entered university with a bioRxiv preprint. At UCR, she has bridged biology and technology, minoring in Data Science while leveraging computer vision to study movement disorders under Dr. Amit Roy-Chowdhury. A consistent Dean’s and Chancellor’s List scholar and NIH MARC Trainee, Hannah has co-authored multiple publications in human pose estimation and time-series analysis. She is deeply grateful to her mentors, including Mr. Gordon Bourns, Dr. Ernest Levister, and her PI, as well as her family and her husband, who have given their unwavering love and support, as well as her Christian faith for the strength to turn trials into a professional mission for discovery.

Neuroscience
Sidd Lokray
Sidd has conducted research as a fellow across multiple laboratories at UC Riverside and Boston University. At UCR, he works in Dr. Erfan Nozari's lab in the Mechanical Engineering Department, where he trains biologically constrained recurrent neural networks to model calcium imaging data from mouse visual cortex neurons, decoding how the brain processes visual information at a population level. At Boston University, he has applied deep learning methods to study structural brain heterogeneity in autism spectrum disorder, with multiple first-author works. Beyond research, Sidd has served as Treasurer of the Riverside Free Clinic, a Learning Assistant in the Dynamic Genome Program, and a Medicare counselor for seniors across Riverside County through HICAP. He has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout his undergraduate career, earning Chancellor's and Dean's Honors every term. After graduation, Sidd plans to pursue medicine, with a long-term vision of advancing neurotechnology to bridge the gap between clinical care and the brain.

Physics
Mingyue (Cynthia) Liang
Cynthia has been working for 2.5 years in Jonathan Richardson’s research group on the development of new detector technologies for gravitational wave detectors. Her research experience includes working with ultra high vacuum systems, optics, and the development of advanced laser optical simulations for The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). She is a co-author on two peer-reviewed journal articles. Cynthia maintains a cumulative GPA of 3.93 and has been recognized for her academic excellence in physics. She was the recipient of R. Stephen White Undergraduate Award and the Brown Williams Scholarship Award in the Physics & Astronomy Department.

Plant Biology
Carter Keyworth
Plant Biology major Carter Keyworth is a highly motivated and accomplished undergraduate student. They have engaged in multiple research opportunities including with Dr. Robert Jinkerson and Dr. Loralee Larios at UCR, Dr. Jun Wen at Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and as part of the California Ecology and Conservation Research Program. These efforts resulted in one publication and two manuscripts in review – one of which they are the lead author. Meanwhile, they maintained a strong academic record earning them Dean’s List and Chancellor’s honors. Beyond research, Carter demonstrates leadership as co-president of the Botany and Entomology Undergraduate Student Association, where they plan weekly meetings, recruit new members, and lead multiple events. Overall, Carter exemplifies scientific curiosity and a strong commitment to plant science.

Statistics
Mihir Ranjan
Mihir Ranjan is an undergraduate student at UCR studying Statistics and Mathematics. He enjoys studying mathematics, its applications, and the theory that underlies it, with interests in statistical learning, deep learning, and mathematical statistics. He has completed coursework in probability theory, regression analysis, real analysis, and machine learning, and has worked on projects involving convolutional neural networks, data augmentation methods, and applied regression modeling. At UCR, he has worked as a Math Lab Leader for MATH 003 for six quarters, supporting student learning through collaborative problem solving and active instruction. He values both the abstract and practical sides of mathematics and is interested in how quantitative thinking can be used to better understand complex problems.

Congratulations to our students!