Meet our 2023-2024 Cohort!

Carla Salazar 

Carla Salazar Gonzalez is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at UCLA where she investigates how Central American asylum-seeking mothers, along with their attorneys and advocates, negotiate and are affected by the immigration and border policies. Her goals are to become a university professor, continue her research, and mentor underrepresented students in higher education. Gonzalez’s personal interests include reading with her two children and going for walks with her partner.

Christopher Luthers 

Christopher Luthers is a 4th year Molecular Biology PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Donald Kohn. His research focuses on genome editing for the treatment of various immune and neurogenetic disorders. After graduation, Christopher is interested in pursuing a career in science communication within the public health, infectious diseases, and epidemiology fields. Christopher’s interests outside of school are on providing increased access to STEM resources and mentorship for underrepresented students from elementary all the way through graduate school.

Jessica Lee 

Jessica Lee’s current project centers on embodiments of watery Black Diasporas, Atlantic Ocean Literature, new Middle Passage imaginaries and Africa(n) roots tourism as forms of or portals to futurism. Her future goals include continuing to teach for the LACCD and being an Editor-In-Chief at a Condé Nast publication, most notably Vogue. Traveling abroad and afar interests her most because it affords autonomy to explore, think, write, create and rest!

Kayla Lim 

Kayla is currently a 4th year Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology PhD Candidate and NIMH NRSA fellow in the lab of Dr. Weizhe Hong at UCLA studying the neural circuit mechanisms of prosocial behaviors in mice. Kayla’s work focuses on understanding how individuals display positive social interactions and how these behaviors are regulated by neural circuits in the brain. Outside of the lab, Kayla is passionate about bridging the gap between science and society. She serves as the President for the Science Policy Group at UCLA, where she leads initiatives aimed at cultivating opportunities spanning across science communication, outreach, and policy for early-career scientists. She is also excited about making science more accessible through visual communication and creating experiences that empower people to engage more with science.

Yessica Nelson

Yessica is currently a fourth-year graduate student at UCLA, pursuing her Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry under the mentorship of Dr. Alexander Spokoyny. Her research is centered on boron-based systems, exploring both three-dimensional closo-dodecaborate structures and two-dimensional borophane materials, with a focus on their applications in energy storage and drug delivery. Upon completing her Ph.D., Yessica intends to work in nanotechnology development where she can make impactful contributions towards sustainability.

Program Affiliates

Georgina Aguilar

Briana Munoz Flores

Daniel Wong

Onyebuchi Arah

Tracy Daniels

Manuel Penichet

Armenta Amanda

Juan Herrera

Past Events

• Yale Bouchet Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education
  April 5-6, 2019
• Yale Bouchet Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education 2017
  April 7-8, 2017
• UCLA Bouchet Welcome Luncheon 2017 (Photos)
  March 10, 2017
• Bouchet Honor Society Fall Forum at Howard University
  September 15-16, 2016
• Yale Bouchet Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education 2016
  April 1-2, 2016
• UCLA Bouchet Welcome Luncheon 2016 (Photos)
  March 18, 2016
• Yale Bouchet Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education 2015
  April 10-11, 2015

Our Alumni

Alumni Cohorts 

Contact Us!

Graduate Education Portal 

retention@grad.ucla.edu