The Graduate Division is pleased to announce the ​winners for the Fiona and Michael Goodchild Graduate Mentoring Award ​honoring graduate students who have distinguished themselves in the area of undergraduate research supervision. These students are recognized for their excellence in and contributions to undergraduate research supervision and for encouraging others to become involved in these research efforts. Each of the winning students receives a $1000 award. 

We are thrilled to congratulate our lab member Lauren Ortosky on this award! Lauren writes,

"Mentorship has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in grad school. Four years ago, fellow Goodchild winner Payton Small and I started a mentorship program in the psychology department to secure extra support for URM and first-generation students who are interested in graduate school. Our short-term goals were to demonstrate that there is no one “type” of person who can be a researcher, and to lift up those who may face systemic hurdles on the way to their dreams. Long term, we hope to contribute to the important goal of diversifying the voices contributing to scientific knowledge. This program, Access Grads, has now served over 200 aspiring researchers and engages more than half of the graduate students in the department."

"The Access Grads mentorship program is a labor of love, and will be held among my proudest accomplishments from my time at UCSB. For both Payton and I to be awarded this prestigious honor feels like validation for the broader effort put forward by all of the graduate students who have donated their time as mentors. I am humbled and grateful."