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Zhenwei Dai

Zhenwei Dai

PhD in Statistics, Rice University

  • Houston, Texas
  • Google Scholar
  • I am a PhD student in the Department of Statistics at Rice University since August 2018. I work with both Prof. Anshumali Shrivastava and Prof. Reinhard Heckel .
  • I received my BSc and MPhil Degrees at Chinese University of Hong Kong in June 2016 and July 2018.

Research Interests

  • Memory efficient algorithms for large scale machine learning
  • Randomized algorithm and probablistic data structure
  • Optimization theory of deep learning algorithms
  • Federated learning
  • Deep learning for the geophysics applications

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John Roberts

Graduate Student, Doctor of Philosophy

[email protected]

Research Areas

Applied probability, uncertainty quantification, and financial mathematics

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About | Facts and Stats

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Alumni Statistics

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Ph.D. Alumni

Alumni of Rice's graduate program in anthropology have gone on to publish award-winning books and to thrive as teachers and scholars at respected academic institutions in the United States and abroad. At the same time, a significant proportion of our graduates have put their theoretical and methodological training to use in government agencies, NGOs, clinical and corporate settings. The movement of anthropological knowledge within, alongside, and beyond the academy remains a central problematic for Rice anthropology today, and our graduates have become interlocutors as well as inheritors of the department's vibrant intellectual tradition.

Charles Lotterman, Senior UX Researcher, Vanguard

Magnus Orn Sigurdsson, Head of Division, Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate (Iceland)

Baird Campbell, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Program in Writing and Communication, Rice University

Ellie Vainker, Deputy Director, Northwest Access Fund and Affiliate, Disability Studies Program, University of Washington

Ethan Wilensky-Lanford, Senior Research Program Manager, SREO Consulting, Ltd.

Svetlana Borodina, Mellon Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Anthropology, Harriman Institute, Columbia University

Drew Robert Winter, Adjunct Instructor, Lansing Community College & Departmental Analyst, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity

Helena Zeweri, Assistant Professor, Global Studies, University of Virginia

Jing Wang, Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Eliza Williamson, Postdoctoral Fellow, Latin American Studies, Washington University in St. Louis

Marcel LaFlamme, Open Research Manager, Public Library of Science

Ian Lowrie, Director of User Experience, eSimplicity

Nathanael Vlachos, Senior Writer, Research Services, American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC)

Abidemi Babatunde Babalola, Postdoctoral Fellow, W.E.B. DuBois Institute, Harvard University

Timothy Chryssikos, Neurosurgery Resident, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore

Brian Clark, Adjunct Instructor, Department of Anthropology, University of Houston at Clear Lake

Jessica Lockrem, Instructor, St. Edward's University and Editorial Assistant, Cultural Anthropology

Rebecca Mantel, Research & Technical Analyst, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), Washington DC

Trevor Durbin, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Kansas State University

Elizabeth Rodwell, Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Houston-Downtown

Ala Alazzeh, Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Birzeit University, Palestine

Casper Bendixsen , Associate Research Scientist, National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation

Nessette Falu, Assistant Professor, African and African Diaspora Studies, University of Texas

Stacey Pereira, Instructor, Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine

Lina Dib , Lecturer, Program for Writing & Communication, Rice University

Laura Resendez, Managing Director, Rice and Beans Culture

Katia Belousova, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of History and Philosophy, York College, City University of New York

Nichole Payne Carelock, User Insights Manager, PenFed Credit Union, Washington DC area

Elise McCarthy, Senior CSR Adviser, Business in the Community, Ireland

Maria Vidart, Bilingual Web Content Manager, Union of Concerned Scientists

Mamadou Cisse, Archaeologist, Direction Nationale du Patrimoine Culturel (Mali)

Laura Jones , Postdoctoral Fellow, Living Links Center, Emory University

Anthony Potoczniak, Language Arts Instructor, St. Thomas More Catholic Student Parish, Houston, Texas

Ayla Samli, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, High Point University

Daniel White , Assistant Professor, Department of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies, Hosei University (Japan)

Michael Adair-Kriz, Contract Videoethnographer, Temple University

Othon Alexandrakis , Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, York University (Canada)

Ebru Kaylaap , Assistant Professor, Faculty of Communication, Istanbul Sehir University (Turkey)

Valerie Olson , Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine

Elitza Ranova , Professional Co-active Life Coach, International Coach Federation, Houston

Cecilia Balli, Freelance Journalist

Hutan Hejazi Martinez, Assistant Professor, School of Social Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid (Spain)

Aimee Placas , Instructor, College Year in Athens, International Center for Hellenic and Mediterranean Studies (Greece)

Erkan Saka , Department Chair, Department of Media, Istanbul Bilgi University (Turkey)

Ana Wandless , Research Officer, University of The Incarnate Word, San Antonio

Timothy Wood, Human Factors Design Engineer, Apple Inc., Cupertino CA

Nahal Naficy, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Tehran

Tarra Drevet, Program Manger, Eaton EMEA (Switzerland)

Michael Powell, Cultural Anthropologist, Shook Kelley, Los Angeles

Angela Rivas, Professor of the Masters Program on CSR, Universidad Externado de Colombia

Tish Stringer , Lecturer and Film Program Manager, Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts, Rice University

Ariel Espino , Founder and President, SUMA Arquitectos y Planificadores Urbanos (Panama), Adjunct Professor of the School of Urban Planning, McGill University (Canada), Co-director of the UNESCO Chair “Dialogues on Sustainability”

Andrea Frolic , Clinical and Organizational Ethicist, Hamilton Health Services (Canada)

Brian Riedel , Assistant Director, Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Rice University

Alioune Deme, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Université Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)

Jennifer Hamilton , Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Anthropology, Hampshire College

Ricardo Lima Soto, Professor, Instituto de Investigaciones Humanísticas, Universidad Rafael Landivar (Guatemala)

Kristin Peterson , Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine

Denise Youngblood Coleman, Executive Vice President and Editor-in-Chief, CountryWatch

Andrea Aureli, Lecturer, St. John's University, Rome (Italy)

Carolyn Babula, Director of Human Resources, Clyde & Co.

Lisa Breglia , Associate Professor, Global Studies; Director of the Global Affairs Program, George Mason University

Stanford Carpenter, Chairman of the Board, Institute of Comic Studies, Chicago

Jae Chung , Professor, International Business Studies, Aalen University (Germany)

Josh Kilroy, Political Consultant, Chicago

Beverly Mitchell, Lecturer, Undergraduate Advisor, Rice University

Andrea Pound, Software Developer, Schlumberger Information Solutions

Stuart Douglas, Founder, Douglas & Co. (South Africa)

Laurel George, Adjunct Professor, College of Arts and Science, New York University

Lamia Karim , Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon

Christopher Pound, Web Developer. Alert Logic, Houston

Sylvia Van Ziegert, Learning Officer, Human Resources Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness, World Bank

Marie-Theresa Hernández , Professor, World Cultures & Literatures Program, University of Houston

Nitin Deckha, Lecturer, Justice Studies Program, University of Guelph-Humber (Canada)

Deepa Reddy , Adjunct Professor, Anthropology, University of Houston-Clear Lake

Alexei Elfimov, Research Scholar, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Belita Leal, Researcher, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston

Mazyar Lotfalian

Mary Ann O'Donnell , Artist/Ethnographer, Shenzhen (China)

Ibrahima Thiaw, Director, Musée Theodore Monod d'Art Africain (Senegal)

Tatiana Bajuk Sencar, Research Fellow, Scientific Research Centre, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Jamila Bargach , Director, Dar Si-Hmad (Morocco)

Mitra Emad , Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota Duluth

Myanna Lahsen , Associate Researcher, Earth System Science Center, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Brazil)

Scott Lukas , Professor, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Lake Tahoe Community College

Jeff Tobin , Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice, Occidental College

Santiago Villaveces-Izquierdo, Professor, University of the Andes, Columbia

Laura Helper-Ferris , Founder, Helper-Ferris Editorial Agency

David Syring , Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Minnesota Duluth and Chief Editor, Anthropology and Humanism

Pamela Smart , Associate Professor of Anthropology and Art History, Department of Art History, Binghamton University

Evan Davies

Judith Lentz

Elionne Walker Belden, Adjunct Professor at the University of St Thomas and Rice University Continuing Studies

Roger Moore , Founder, Moore Archeological Consulting

Stella Grigorian , Instructional Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Houston

*Brenda Jo Bright

Jamer Hunt , Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons the New School for Design

Elizabeth Tudor

Terri Castaneda , Associate Professor and Museum Director, Department of Anthropology, California State University Sacramento

Melissa Cefkin, Principal Scientist and Manager, Nissan Research Center, Silicon Valley

Kim Fortun , Professor, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Bruce Grant , Professor, Department of Anthropology, New York University

Jeff Petry , Founder and Managing Director, AnthroSites Co, Ltd

*Tereba Togola

Rachelle Doody , Professor of Neurology and Effie Marie Cain Chair in Alzheimer's Disease Research, Baylor College of Medicine

Ryan Bishop , Professor of Global Arts and Politics, Winchester Centre for Global Futures, University of Southampton (UK)

Melissa Bowers

Lenore Anderson

Patricia Bass, Fulbright Academic Exchange Specialist, Department of State

Mehdi Abedi , Founder, Pride of Persia Rug Company

Priscilla Weeks , Environmental Anthropologist, Houston Advanced Research Center

Vasumathi Duvvury

Mindi Miller , Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Texas Anderson , Realtor, Greenwood King Properties

R. Jon McGee , Professor, Department of Anthropology, Texas State University San Marcos

Dennis Supernor

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Alumni Corner – Updates and Accolades

See below and check out the latest updates regarding our departmental alumni! Do you likewise have news to share? Let us know the latest with you.  Click here to share.

Kristine Groves (BS, 2006) is a Principal Intern with Randolph County School System. She was selected for and is currently enrolled in UNCG’s Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) program – a nationally recognized and awarded NC Principal Fellows program. PPEERS is an intensive, two-year, all-expenses paid graduate degree program that includes a yearlong, full-time paid internship experience during the second year.

Angela Hall (BS, 1997) was recently announced as the Vice President of Americas Consulting at SAS.

Dr. Leslie Jones (BS, 1996) is a Geospatial Information Officer for the State of Alaska. In March 2022 Leslie was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to serve on the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) – representing the interests of the state sector and joining 30 other leaders selected to achieve a balanced representation on our nation’s spatial data infrastructure.

The NGAC provides advice and recommendations to the US Federal Government related to the management of national geospatial programs, the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and the implementation of Office of Management and Budget Circular A-16 and the Geospatial Data Act of 2018. The NGAC reviews and comments on geospatial policy and management issues and provides a forum to convey views representative of non-Federal partners in the geospatial community.

Emily Oppold (BS, 2023) is a PhD Candidate at Rice University in Houston, TX. Received the T32 Fellowship with the National Institutes of Health within the first semester of her PhD candidacy.

Ron Patten (MS, 1996) is an Instructor of Mathematics at NCSSM-Morganton

John Shaw (BS, 1980) is a retiree as of 2005 from NCDOT as Transportation Engineering Supervisor

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Greetings to all Rice alumni , especially those with ECON and MTEC undergraduate degrees, MEECON degrees, or a Rice Economics PhD, as well as all other friends of the department.

The Rice Economics Department continues to position itself as a leading institution in the research and teaching of economics, with a commitment to excellence and positive impacts at the local, state, national and international levels. This effort has been facilitated by the ongoing Rice Initiative for the Study of Economics, or RISE, a multi-year effort to enhance research and teaching in economics at Rice. The RISE effort was begun under the leadership of Department Chair and then Dean of Social Sciences Antonio Merlo, continued under Department Chair Kenneth Wolpin, and is ongoing under current Chair George Zodrow. We continue to recruit top scholars to join our exceptional faculty and create partnerships and programs that inspire our undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and community members.

We have charted our progress in several easy accessible locations:

  • RICE ECON Newsletters
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  • Public Lectures including our new “Conversations with Our Faculty” and our ongoing Nobel Laureate Lecture Series and Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series

Our goal is to continue these efforts and launch new ones, but to do so we need the philanthropic support of the Rice community. In recent years, we benefited greatly from a collective commitment to excellence at Rice, and we look to you for a continued investment in the quality, creativity and dedication of our faculty and our students. Your philanthropy will provide the resources to open new avenues of academic excellence, nurture a top-class educational experience for our students, and ensure that the Department of Economics reaches its full potential.

We invite you to join us and participate as our department continues to grow and improve. We encourage you to reach out and help us develop ever stronger ties to the community and our alumni network around the world.

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Alumni 2020-Present

Phd in biostatistics.

Deng, Qiaolan (2022) Eames-Seffernick, Anna (2022) Fu, Han (2022) Guo, Xiaohan (2022) Lin, Zihan (2022) Gao, Yuan (2021) Lim, Woobeen (2021) Zang, Xiao (2021)

PhD in Statistics

Hopper, Greg (Dalton) (2024) Yannotty, John Carl (2024) Shao, Meijia (2023) Geels, Vincent (2022) Lin, Yiyang (2022) Liu, Zilu (2022) Chen, Xiaoyi (2021) Onnen, Nathaniel (2021) Richards, Andrew (2021) Cho, Min Ho (2020) Horiguchi, Akira (2020) Khan, Kori (2020) Kim, Jiae (2020) Luo, Hengrui (2020) Wascher, Matthew (2020) Tang, Shuhan (2020)

Cartwright, Max (2024) Chen, Tianyi (2024) Liu, Xiguang (2024) Peng, Sibo (2024) Peng, Yumo (2024) Roychowdhury, Sayoni (2024) Sunderland, Colleen (2024) Xie, Haotian (2024) Handley, Demond (2022) Helwig, Sara (2022) Heyde, Morgan (2022) Williamson, Jim (2022) Goshev, Vilizar (2021) Weidman, Bond (2021) Cao, Cheng (2020) Bracken, Joel (2020) Howell, Jacob (2020) Sousa, Christina (2020)

Balfour, Sarah (2024) Chapin, Jackson (2024) Zheng, Zheng (2024) Wurscher, Krista (2022) Xiao, Ke (2022) Yu, Yue (2022) Contard, Lauren (2021) Conte, Cameron (2021) Coutts, Jacob (2021) Galdo, Brendan (2021) Gratz, Daniel (2021) Lee, Sang Ho (2021) Lumpkin, Robert (2021) Molloy, Fiona (2021) Nixon, Danaye (2021) Ruttenberg, David (2021) Smillie, Katherine (2021) Webb, Brittany (2021) Yang, Hua (2021) Yi, Woojong (2021) Zhang, Boyang (2021) Zhou, Yitong (2021) Zhu, Jingdan (2021) Zink, Elizabeth (2021) Hoisington-Shaw, Kathryn (2020) Li, Zhaojun (2020) Liu, Shuang (2020) Thomas, Noah (2020) Chen, Bingxin (2020) Chen, Tong (2020) Ding, Wen (2020) Krongauz, Azriel (2020) Mejia, Julia (2020) Men, Qiwei (2020) Tong, Xinjie (2020) Wang, Jia (2020) Zhou, Ran (2020)

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May. 31, 2024

Rice engineering’s future faculty fellows program helps launch careers, the 2023-24 cohort navigates tenure-track application process with support from tailored workshops, one-on-one consultations..

Verduzco leads a Future Faculty Fellows workshop

The Future Faculty Fellows (FFF) program in Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering helps PhD students and postdocs explore the academic career path and successfully compete in the job market. The FFF program supported 12 fellows in the 2023-24 cohort along their job application journey. 

The program offers resources to fellows to help them develop their research, teaching and diversity statements for their application packets, prepare for interviews, and begin their faculty positions. Fellows received feedback on their written application materials and research presentations from engineering communication faculty through one-on-one consultations.

Collectively, the 2023-24 FFF cohort submitted more than 430 applications to tenured-track faculty positions and received more than 20 offers for employment.

“This program is truly an asset to the School of Engineering at Rice, helping doctoral students and postdocs understand and prepare for a successful academic career,” said Renata Ramos, senior associate dean of academic affairs and teaching professor in bioengineering. “Over the course of the year, the fellows progressed in their understanding of the application process and expectations of a faculty position, developed confidence and self-awareness in making decisions about their careers and became more articulate when presenting their research.”

This year, the FFF program offered 13 workshops and panels featuring 18 Rice Engineering faculty members who shared their insight about the academic career path. The Activate Engineering Communications Program ’s Tracy Volz and Kamisha Escoto led many of the workshops, with topics including preparing the job talk, preparing a cover letter, interview tips and managing Q&A. The Center for Teaching Excellence led a workshop on best practices for writing a teaching statement.

Activate Engineering’s faculty also led an Interview Tips workshop for the fellows. “I hadn’t done a faculty interview at that point,” said Jaihee Choi, who graduated in 2024 with a Ph.D. in statistics and recently accepted a tenure-track position with Marquette University. “Everyone leading the workshop was seasoned and helpful in framing responses.”

By the end of May 2024, three fellows had accepted tenure-track positions with other universities, and two fellows took positions with national research labs. Fellows shared that the one-on-one guidance from the FFF program faculty helped them make the right decisions at a critical stage in their careers.

“If you are curious about academia as a future, you should apply to this program,” said Paola Castante-Bonilla, who graduated in 2024 with a Ph.D. in computer science and recently accepted a tenure-track position with Stony Brook University. “It will help you figure out what you want to do in the future.  The program is a great place where you can figure out if academia is a good match for you.”

Rice Engineering Ph.D. students and postdocs who are planning to apply for tenure-track faculty positions in the fall are invited to apply for the 2024-25 Future Faculty Fellows program. Applications will be accepted through June 7, 2024.

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Category: Plant and Soil Sciences

Mistretta presents her capstone project at UD; the laser-cut model was produced at UD’s Pearson MakerSpace.

Leveraging landscape architecture for conservation

May 30, 2024 Written by Molly Schafer

University of Delaware alumna Juliahna Mistretta is leveraging her landscape architecture degree for conservation. This summer, Mistretta completes a master’s degree in global biodiversity conservation at the University of Sussex in Brighton, United Kingdom. The former Blue Hen is building on a strong foundation. At the UD College of Agriculture and Natural Resources , she combined her landscape architecture studies with an internship at the  UD Botanic Gardens . 

Mistretta is adamant that her work should positively impact people, places, and the environment. In 2005, she watched Hurricane Katrina ravage her hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. The massive storm overwhelmed the New Orleans’ levee system, leaving 80 percent of the city underwater. Witnessing this life-changing storm and the environmental challenges that followed catalyzed her interest in conservation and sustainable design. 

“Experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change and rising sea levels ignited my interest in creating sustainable environments,” Mistretta said. “Spaces that are not only resilient toward our changing climate but that can reintroduce biodiversity into urban areas and have a profound effect on people’s lives.”

Mistretta presents her UD capstone project at UD, which was based in New Orleans at the abandoned Market Street Power Plant.

Mistretta was attracted to UD’s landscape architecture program because the major seeks to address solutions to environmental, natural resources and sustainable challenges at local, regional and global levels.

“I moved across the country to study landscape architecture at the University of Delaware because the program focuses on sustainability and resiliency,” underscored Mistretta. 

At UD, Mistretta worked on her capstone project with Anna Wik , associate professor of landscape architecture and registered landscape architect. Her project sought to transform an abandoned power plant in her hometown of New Orleans into a public space bursting with functional, sustainable design.

At Rathfinny Vineyard in Sussex, United Kingdom, Mistretta records pollinators on the vineyard’s wildflower plantings.

“Not only did Juliahna approach this goal from the perspective of landscape architecture, designing thoughtful, sustainable, and exciting outdoor spaces,” Wik explained. “She also took risks and succeeded in devising architectural strategies that transformed the building into a lush and dynamic destination.”

In her master’s program at the University of Sussex, Mistretta’s classes included Advanced Conservation Biology. Visiting lecturers presented on various topics, including dark sky preservation, light pollution, and citizen science. In her Science of Climate Change course, Mistretta studied the history of climate change and climate fluctuations. Her favorite class was Decolonizing Development.

“The class asked you to consider your impact on the world,” Mistretta explained. “We discussed ways to ensure that equity and equality are at the forefront of our work and explored issues with gentrification and Indigenous rights.”

Mistretta’s final presentation for the class was on indigenous self-determination and anti-colonial nationalism.

This spring, Mistretta spent three weeks on a field study with the University of Sussex in Zambia, Africa. Her class collected biodiversity data for Kasanka National Park.

Mistretta stands in an African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) footprint in Kasanka National Park.

“We captured bats via mist netting and then identified them for the park’s database,” Mistretta explained. “Kasanka National Park has the largest bat migrations in the world from October to December; we were identifying which bats are present year-round.”

Another project involved searching the park for dung beetles.

“We found an abundance of beetles and identified three species not previously recorded in the park,” Mistretta elaborated.

Although she was in Zambia to collect biodiversity data, Mistretta couldn’t help but notice the changing climate.

“You see the effects of climate change everywhere now,” Mistretta noted. “Zambia is usually pretty wet this time of year, but they’re experiencing an extreme drought that is affecting the park’s biodiversity.”

The drought is the worst Zambia has experienced in two decades. In February the president of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, declared a national emergency. Food production has been affected as well as the nation’s water and energy supply. 

According to Mistretta, African bush elephants were not in the park during the wet season in previous years. They would be nearby, eating the village’s crops.

“This year, during the wet season, there were elephants in the park while we were there,” Mistretta said. “Their presence affects the availability of food sources for other animals.”

During a field course in Zambia at Kasanka National Park, Mistretta captured bats using mist netting and identified them for the park's database. Here she holds a banana pipistrelle (neoromicia nanus).

Elephant digestion is not very efficient; it is easy to see what they have eaten.

“A lot of the dung we were looking at was elephant dung,” elaborated Mistretta.” We did find maize and pumpkins, suggesting the elephants had gone to the village. But with the extreme drought, the village did not have many crops, so the elephants returned to the park.”

Kasanka National Park will review the data Mistretta and her class collected as part of the park’s biodiversity conservation efforts.

Back in Sussex, Mistretta is collecting data for her dissertation; researching the effects of wildflower availability on pollinator diversity—Using quadrats, FIT counts, and pan trappings she will survey pollinator visits to flowers at Rathfinny Wine Estate and Vineyard in East Sussex, England. Last year, the vineyard planted the same mix of wildflowers at two different locations. Mistretta will examine both sites for increased insect biodiversity and compare findings. 

After she has completed her fieldwork, a 6,000-word essay, and presented her dissertation, Mistretta will return to the U.S. in search of an apprenticeship with a licensed landscape architect. This multi-year undertaking is a requirement for earning a landscape architecture license. 

Mistretta and her research partner sort insects they’ve collected for identification.

“Landscape architecture is what I love to do,” Mistretta stated. “I want to find a way to merge the skills I’ve learned through this master’s course, whether it is conservation or decolonization, with landscape architecture.” 

When searching for apprenticeship opportunities, Mistretta noticed that many firms focus primarily on aesthetics, not sustainability. Instead of being dissuaded, she sees this as an opportunity to incorporate sustainable practices.

“With how the world is changing,” Mistretta emphasized. “I don’t think it will be acceptable for much longer just to have a pretty landscape. It has to be functional.” 

“That is why I enjoyed the University of Delaware so much,” Mistretta smiled. “Because a lot of the work we were doing was conscious of the environment.”

Learn more about the University of Delaware’s  landscape architecture major .

Mistretta visited Per S. Marco, a bookstore in Venice, Italy. She was drawn to the city, which is particularly susceptible to rising sea levels.

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  1. Our Alumni

    Kaleigh Riggs Master of Statistics (December 2019) [email protected]. Santiago Tellez Master of Statistics (December 2019) [email protected]. Peng Yang Master of Statistics (December 2019) A PhD student in the Department of Statistics at Rice University, Houston, TX. [email protected].

  2. Department of Statistics

    Rice Statistics. Rice. Statistics. Our faculty and students have made contributions to statistical theory and methods including modeling of contagious diseases, the genetics of cancer, neuroimaging, machine learning, applied probability, and many other areas.

  3. About me

    About me. I am a PhD student in the Department of Statistics at Rice University since August 2018. I work with both Prof. Anshumali Shrivastava and Prof. Reinhard Heckel. I received my BSc and MPhil Degrees at Chinese University of Hong Kong in June 2016 and July 2018.; Research Interests. Memory efficient algorithms for large scale machine learning

  4. Katherine B. Ensor

    1998 O. Hartley Award, Department of Statistics, Texas A&M University. 1998 Julia Miles Chance Award for Excellence in Teaching, Rice University. 1998 Graduate Student Association Teaching Award, Rice University. 1988-89-90 Outstanding Faculty Associate, Lovett College, Rice University. 1985 Phi Kappa Phi

  5. John Roberts

    John Roberts. Graduate Student, Doctor of Philosophy. Statistics. CONTACT. [email protected]. Research Areas. Applied probability, uncertainty quantification, and financial mathematics. Body. Changes or additions to profiles.rice.edu will not take effect on the Rice sub-sites until after its next refresh which occurs at 5:15am, 10:15am, 1 ...

  6. M.A. in Economics with a Ph.D. in Statistics

    Requirements for Statistics Ph.D. students simultaneously pursuing an M.A. in Economics: econometrics 2 (Econ 511). 5 courses from statistics. Courses that are joint listed between the two departments are counted toward the number of courses in the "home department for the particular course.

  7. Facts and Stats

    Facts and Stats. Graduate Admissions. Student Demographics. Enrollment by Major/Program (trend) Enrollment by Major/Program (snapshot) Degrees Awarded. Majors Completed. Fostering diversity and an intellectual environment, Rice University is a comprehensive research university located on a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas.

  8. Ph.D. in Economics with an M.A. in Statistics

    M.A. in Statistics. Requirements for Economics Ph.D. students simultaneously pursuing an M.A. in Statistics: 5 courses from economics or business that have a strong statistics content. 5 courses from statistics that are significantly different in content to courses in economics. Must take advanced statistical methods and multivariate statistics.

  9. Alumni Statistics

    ALUMNI STATISTICS. Alumni and Degree Counts*. *since Rice University first opened in 1912. Data source: Development and Alumni Relations. As of date: 7/6/2023. Office of Institutional Effectiveness - For assistance, email [email protected]. Alumni (Number of Persons) Earned Undergraduate Degree. Earned Graduate Degree Only.

  10. Doctorate in

    The doctoral program in economics at Rice University trains students to conduct first-rate research. All major areas of economics are covered, with particular strengths in theoretical, applied, and empirical microeconomics as well as econometrics. Our curriculum stresses the grounding of any model in theory ensuring that, even in applied work ...

  11. Ph.D. Alumni

    Ph.D. Alumni. Ph.D. Alumni. Alumni of Rice's graduate program in anthropology have gone on to publish award-winning books and to thrive as teachers and scholars at respected academic institutions in the United States and abroad. At the same time, a significant proportion of our graduates have put their theoretical and methodological training to ...

  12. Alumni Corner

    Emily Oppold (BS, 2023) is a PhD Candidate at Rice University in Houston, TX. Received the T32 Fellowship with the National Institutes of Health within the first semester of her PhD candidacy. Ron Patten (MS, 1996) is an Instructor of Mathematics at NCSSM-Morganton

  13. PhD in Economics

    Economics. The doctoral program in Economics at Rice University provides rigorous training in economic theory and econometrics in order to prepare students for research careers in economics. In 2014, the department launched the Rice Initiative for the Study of Economics (RISE) in order to enhance its role as a leading center of economic research.

  14. Alumni

    Greetings to all Rice alumni, especially those with ECON and MTEC undergraduate degrees, MEECON degrees, or a Rice Economics PhD, as well as all other friends of the department.. The Rice Economics Department continues to position itself as a leading institution in the research and teaching of economics, with a commitment to excellence and positive impacts at the local, state, national and ...

  15. Alumni 2020-Present

    PhD in BiostatisticsDeng, Qiaolan (2022)Eames-Seffernick, Anna (2022)Fu, Han (2022)Guo, Xiaohan (2022)Lin, Zihan (2022)Gao, Yuan (2021)Lim, Woobeen (2021)Zang, Xiao ...

  16. Rice Engineering's Future Faculty Fellows program helps launch careers

    The Future Faculty Fellows (FFF) program in Rice's George R. Brown School of Engineering helps PhD students and postdocs explore the academic career path and successfully compete in the job market. The FFF program supported 12 fellows in the 2023-24 cohort along their job application journey.

  17. Leveraging landscape architecture for conservation

    University of Delaware alumna Juliahna Mistretta is leveraging her landscape architecture degree for conservation. This summer, Mistretta will complete a master's degree in global biodiversity conservation at the University of Sussex in Brighton, United Kingdom. As part of an effort to record the park's biodiversity, Mistretta collected and identified bats and beetles in Africa's Kasanka ...

  18. Hooding 2024: 'A mark of true excellence in scholarship and research'

    "Princeton's graduate alumni continue to play leadership roles in academia, America and the world," Rexford said in her remarks. "Your membership in this alumni community is at once an accomplishment and a call to action. I know that each of you will find your own paths of service to the nation and to humanity."