GSA 2022–2023 OFFICERS
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President
Paige-Erin (she/her/hers) is a sixth year Ph.D. student in the department of linguistics. Her research focuses on factors influencing vowel duration in Enlhet-Enenlhet languages, which are indigenous languages of Paraguay. She earned her MA in Linguistics from UT Austin in 2020, and her BA in Spanish with a concentration in Linguistics from Grinnell College in 2016. She has previously served as the Linguistics department's GSA representative (2018-2019), the GSA communications director (2019-2020), and the GSA administrative director (2021-2022). She's excited to be serving this upcoming (hopefully final!) year at UT as the GSA president. In her spare time during graduate school she leads alternate lives as a half-elf bard and a lizardfolk cleric. She's also a dedicated owner of three guinea pigs and a cat that she co-parents with her roommate.
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Vice-President
Dana Sheinhaus
dana.sheinhaus@utexas.edu
Dana (she/her) is in her first year of the Pharmacology and Toxicology program at the College of Pharmacy. She plans to study the complex interactions between environmental toxicants and human disease. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, volunteering, and hanging out with her roommate's cat, Ollie. Dana is excited to connect with members of the UT community through her position as GSA Vice President.
Edwin Bautista
edwinbautista@utexas.edu
Edwin Bautista moved to Austin in 2016 and earned his B.A. in Urban Studies from UT Austin in 2020. He is currently pursuing a M.S. in Community and Regional Planning and is drawn to the intersection of city planning and policy and has an ambitious goal to restructure contemporary planning practices and policies to more effectively prioritize social equity and environmental sustainability. Edwin is a strong advocate for affordable housing and community representation. He is a native north central Texan who speaks Spanish and enjoys going on bike rides to Lady Bird Lake with his dog.
Internal Policy Director
Meg (she/her) is the External Affairs Director for the GSA. She is a fifth year PhD candidate in the Institute for Neuroscience. Her current research project focuses on how memory systems in the brain are impaired in neurodevelopmental disorders.
External Affairs Director
Haley (she/her/hers) is a third year PhD student in Human Development and Family Sciences studying community and neighborhood context and child development. Haley previously served as the Student and Academic Development Director for the Graduate Student Assembly in 2021-2022. She is a proud Midwesterner who attended the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) where she studied Psychology and Women's Studies. In her free time, Haley enjoys reading, spending time with her cat, Earl, going to concerts, and paddle boarding! This year, she hopes to establish a stronger online and social media presence for the GSA!
Communications Director
Daisy (she/her/ella) is in her second year of the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior doctoral program in the Department of Integrative Biology. Most of her research projects include traveling to the tropics, scuba diving, and working with baby corals! She is also looking forward to helping to build graduate student community at UT Austin as the Membership and Outreach Director of GSA. In her free time, Daisy likes to watch Lil Jon's HGTV show while cuddling with her dog Luna.
Membership & Outreach Director
Emma Brockway
etbrockway@utexas.edu
Emma (she/her) is a sixth year PhD candidate in the Institute for Neuroscience. Her research focuses on neural systems of learning and memory, seeking to better understand extinction of fearful memories and how to facilitate this process. Emma has been a department representative for the past three years, and is excited to continue to work with the graduate student body as the Student & Academic Development Director this year.
Student & Academic Development Director
Nicholas Russell
nickmr@utexas.edu
Nick (he/him) is in his first year of the Pharmacology and Toxicology program at the College of Pharmacy. His work focuses on molecular pathways that underlie nervous system disorders like addiction and chronic pain. In his free time, he enjoys bouldering, reading, and gardening.
Administrative Director
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Tanvi Dalal
tanvi.dalal@utexas.edu
Tanvi Dalal (she/her/hers) is a first-year Master's of Science student in Business Analytics at McCombs School of Business. Tanvi received her B.B.A. in Management from the University of Texas at Austin in 2022.
Her interests include reading, hiking, traveling, and working together with people within her community to make a change in her society. She is excited to be the Finance Director of GSA and help bring ideas to the assembly!
Finance Director
Inclusive Excellence & Community Engagement Director
Melanie Thorpe
melaniethorpe@utexas.edu
Melanie (She/They) is a second-year graduate student in Curriculum Studies - Language and Literacy Studies. Melanie received her B.S. in Education from the University of Missouri in 2015 and taught in South Africa, rural Missouri, Wailuku, and Saint Louis. Currently, Melanie works through UT as a field supervisor mentoring pre-service teachers during their multi-year unpaid internships. Her interests include teaching communities, critical literacies, and troubling traditional pre-service teacher education. Outside of UT Melanie is a devoted cat parent of two rotund orange menaces, and enjoys traveling and the catharsis of creating mediocre art.
Aaron Woods (he/him/they/them) is a second-year doctoral student in the biomedical engineering department. In his research group, he helps develop imaging techniques to study brain blood flow and structures to better understand how the brain works and diagnose and treat brain disorders. Outside of the lab, he makes art by painting abstract canvases and recording and performing songs on random eclectic instruments.
Black Graduate Student Agency (BGSA) Director
Dheeraj Satyavolu
sdheeraj@utexas.edu
Dheeraj Satyavolu (he/him) is a second year graduate student in the Operations Research and Industrial Engineering program at the Cockrell School of Engineering. His academic interests include studying and applying optimization methods, stochastic modeling and game-theory based techniques to improve decision-making in businesses. He is a part of the multi-institutional academic initiative, Mechanism Design for Social Good (MD4SG).
Dheeraj is passionate about data, emerging technologies, digital transformation & entrepreneurship and enjoys talking to people about those topics.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Agency Director
Sherri Castillo (she/her/hers) is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning Program at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on LGBTQ+ issues of equity in K-12 public education systems, specifically policies that protect the rights of transgender and non-binary students.
Sherri received a BS in English Education from Millersville University and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Penn State University. She worked in urban education for ten years as a teacher before transitioning to academic work and research.
Queer Graduate Student Agency (QGSA) Director
Hari (she/her) is a second year Master's student in the Data Science track at the School of Information. Her interests include Machine Learning and Computer vision. Previously, she was a part of the Master's Committee at the School of Information where they discussed curricular and programmatic issues to ensure smooth operations of the programs offered in the department. She love making videos, volunteering, insect watching (yes, you read it right :P) and any kind of adventure traveling.
International Graduate Student Agency (IGSA) Director
Health Agency Director
Viktoria Beck
vbeck@utexas.edu
Viktoria Beck (she/her/hers) is a first-year dual master’s student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and UT Health Science Center School of Public Health. She graduated undergrad from UT Austin in May 2022 with a degree in Health & Society, and previously served on the executive board of Texas Sunshines, a spirit organization dedicated to disrupting the pipeline of human sex trafficking through peer-to-peer and community education. This past year, she interned at the Texas Senate researching health policy. Viktoria’s ultimate goal is to protect the rights and wellbeing of vulnerable populations through health and social policy work.
