Virginia Tech's Edward A. Bouchet Honor Society chapter inducts five new members
Five Virginia Tech doctoral students will be inducted into Virginia Tech’s chapter of the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society.
The society is named for the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1876.
The honor society was founded in 2005 by Yale and Howard universities and holds an annual Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education at Yale to celebrate inductees. The society’s goal is to create a network of scholars and professionals who “serve as examples of scholarship, leadership, character, service, and advocacy for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the academy,” according to its website.
Virginia Tech is one of 19 university partners with Bouchet Society chapters across the nation. Each year, the Graduate School receives nominations of Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral fellows for membership in the society and a selection committee chooses the new members. The following students will be inducted into the honor society:
Dongmei Alvi is a Ph.D. candidate in civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech focusing on environmental and water resources engineering. Her research primarily involves monitoring and assessing water quality in various environments, notably indirect potable reuse systems, urban recreational waterways, and municipal separate storm sewer systems. Alvi spearheaded a team to obtain environmental laboratory certification and become the only university environmental laboratory in Virginia with commercial lab status. Her leadership earned her lab the Outstanding Performance in Laboratories award from the Office of the Vice President for Research. She has established strategic partnerships between regional and local government water management bodies and fostered collaborations among diverse communities and academic institutions. Alvi has actively supported other graduate students by providing training in analytical instrument operation, data interpretation, advocacy, and community networking.
Nayara de Oliveira Faria is a Ph.D. candidate in industrial and systems engineering with a concentration in cognitive engineering. Her research focuses on safety-centric evaluation frameworks for head-up displays in surface transportation. She earned a master’s degree from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, where she discovered her passion for the synergy between psychology and technology. She is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion within the engineering domain and she actively leads initiatives through Virginia Tech's Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity. This work is aimed at empowering underrepresented students in engineering, fostering a more inclusive and diverse academic community. Her work contributes to the advancement of cognitive engineering and champions the cause of inclusion in STEM fields.
Kellie V. Johnson is a Ph.D. candidate in agricultural, leadership, and community education. Her research investigates the impact of institutional support programs for underrepresented and underserved graduate students in STEM disciplines by assessing the extent to which participation in these programs influences students’ academic and career success. Johnson has been recognized as a Graduate Education Diversity Internship Fellow with the American Evaluation Association, received the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Graduate Teaching Award, and received the National Grain and Feed Association Scholars Program Award. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from South Carolina State University. Johnson enjoys working in youth development capacities and has volunteered with the Virginia FFA. She believes teaching and learning occur in various stages and places in our everyday lives.
Jatia Mills is a Ph.D. candidate in the biomedical and veterinary sciences program with a concentration in neuroinflammation and traumatic brain injury. Her research focuses on the mechanisms regulating peripheral-derived innate immune cell recruitment to the brain and their role in microglial fate and function after such injury. She has been recognized for her work as president of the Black Graduate Student Organization, student mentor for the VT-PREP post-baccalaureate program, diversity and inclusion representative for her department, and more. Her background in leadership and community service from her bachelor’s degree work at Morgan State University helped her plan and organize several initiatives to enrich the lives of minoritized undergraduate and graduate students. Her civic engagement in the scientific community for people of diverse backgrounds runs deep.
Clint Whitten is a Ph.D. candidate in curriculum and instruction's foundations of education program in the School of Education with a focus on rural education. His research explores the intersections of rural education and queerness in K-12 public schools. He is a former middle school English, creative writing, and theatre teacher and served as the co-equity lead at his school and developed faculty book clubs centered on social justice advocacy in the classroom. As a graduate student, he assisted in programming a youth summer enrichment camp for gifted, rural, underserved youth. His publications explore topics, such as rural queer visibility, policy analysis of anti-aueer initiatives, humanizing hierarchies in co-teaching relationships, and anti-racist pedagogies. In his community, he co-founded Community Pride in Blacksburg and For the Love of Wine, programs designed to celebrate and support queer communities while educating businesses and the region on queer livelihood.
