Zachary Brown, a sixth-year PhD candidate in the Department of Environmental Earth System Science, grew up in the small Alaskan coastal town of Gustavus, near Glacier Bay National Park, where he developed a passion for oceans and conservation. After studying chemistry at Pomona College, Zachary had the opportunity to study seabirds at a far-flung Polish research outpost in the High Arctic islands of Svalbard, and he’s been hooked on polar research ever since. Zachary’s work at Stanford explores how climate change affects the biological communities of the Arctic. After graduation he plans to establish a field school at a homestead near his hometown in Alaska. When not doing research at Stanford or on the extreme poles, Zach can be found playing his fiddle or climbing mountains with the Stanford Alpine Club. 

Jessia Hoffman, ’15, is a performer, playwright, and improviser from the Bay Area. She graduated from Stanford with a BA in English, minor in Spanish, and interdisciplinary honors in the arts. Jessia has worked as artistic director of the Stanford Improvisors and as an intern for TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley, and now produces events for the Stanford Storytelling Project and Stanford Arts Intensive. She serves as Improv Coach for BATS Improv and the Aragon Improv Team. Recent theatre credits include Lisi in The Man in the Ceiling workshop (TheatreWorks), Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray (Stanford), Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park with George (Stanford), and writer/director of Sheila, an original play.

Chad Kamisugi, who hails from Honululu, HI, is a Stanford Tour Guide, a volunteer usher at Bing Concert Hall, a co-host for the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL) speaker series and a co-president of the Stanford Alumni Mentoring (SAM) leadership team. He’s majoring in Science, Technology, and Society with a focus on organizational behavior and he hopes to pursue a career path that allows him to help align interests within and between organizations.

Lily McElwee is a junior pursuing the Research Honors Track of Political Science and minoring in Management Science & Engineering and Modern Languages. Having lived in Shanghai from 2005 to 2010, she is deeply interested in East Asian political economy and plans to write her thesis on the nature and impact of evolving economic regulations in the region. She has completed internships in Shanghai over the past two summers, and intends to work abroad after graduation. Outside of the classroom, Lily enjoys sports, videography, and languages.  She has competed on the fencing team for the past two years and currently manages the team’s social media channels.

Austin Meyer is an English major with a creative writing emphasis, a Master’s student in Communication-Journalism, a member of the Stanford Improvisers (SImps), center midfielder for the varsity men’s soccer team and an avid mandolin player. With interests in social good, environmental protection, athletics, and education, Austin uses the power of story to illuminate aspects of the human condition and the world. After next year Austin hopes to tell some stories while playing professional soccer overseas. He was born and raised in Santa Rosa, CA.

Ben Strauber, MA ’17, PhD ’17, is a PhD candidate in neuroscience focusing on the cognitive and neural processes involved in language and learning. A lover of language and culture who has studied and worked around the world, Ben speaks Hindi and Spanish fluently, and he knows bits and pieces of Bengali, Punjabi, Arabic, and Mandarin. He also enjoys computer languages, which he puts to good use in his work with Code for India.  Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Ben came to Stanford after completing his undergraduate studies at Arizona State University as well as a Masters at the University of Cambridge. He eventually hopes to apply his understanding of language and learning to improve education and bridge cultural divides, either through academia or a more entrepreneurial avenue.