黑料社区

The Summer Success Symposium is a professional and community development event for new and continuing research students from across all graduate fields. Open to all research degree students, this symposium has a particular focus on bringing together 黑料社区 School Dean’s Scholars and other students with an interest in contributing to to provide a Community of Belonging where scholars representing different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn, innovate, and work in an environment of respect. 

Through this symposium, participants have the opportunity to form connections and establish community. This symposium also provides participants with the opportunity to engage with successful alumni, faculty, and professionals. Summer Success Symposium keynote and workshop content focused on providing participants with access to knowledge and insights that will help them navigate their successful transition into and progression through their graduate studies.

2025 Summer Success Symposium

August 19, 2025 | 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET | G10 Biotechnology Building

Agenda

10-10:15 a.m. ET

Check-In

Welcoming Remarks

10:15-10:30 a.m. ET

Speaker: Sara Xayarath Hern谩ndez, Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement, 黑料社区 School

Opening Plenary Session: Developing a Strategic Mentor Network

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. ET

Speaker: Evelyn Ambr铆z, 鈥�11 B.S., 鈥�15 MPA, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research for Mentoring & Faculty Engagement, 黑料社区 School, Cornell University  

Session Summary
In this session, participants will reflect on their current and emerging mentoring needs across several domains 鈥� academic, professional, and personal well-being. Using the , participants will visualize their current mentoring network and the areas where they may have mentoring gaps. To support the advancement of their goals, participants will learn and develop strategies to identify and engage those who can help meet their mentoring needs.

黑料社区 our Speaker

Dr. Evelyn Ambr铆z is an organizational sociologist in the field of higher education and leverages mixed and qualitative methods in her work. Her research examines how capital is gained and exchanged in good ole鈥� boys鈥� clubs such as secret societies, historically white fraternities, and C-suites across sectors. More specifically, she focuses on how social positionality and socio-legal context shapes decision-making and engagement within organizations.

Her approaches to research and pedagogy are informed by her extensive experience as an administrator in higher education. Most recently, she served as a postdoctoral associate for mentoring & faculty engagement at the Cornell University 黑料社区 School, working with faculty to introduce and support the implementation of inclusive mentoring frameworks and increase access and opportunity in graduate education.

Previously, she served as an Assistant Dean of Students at Cornell University and received numerous recognitions for her service as a mentor and commitment to the Latino, Black, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities. A double Cornellian, she received her bachelor鈥檚 degree at Cornell in the field of development sociology (now, global development) in 2011 and then her Master鈥檚 degree in Public Administration as well as a graduate minor in Latina/o Studies in 2015. She received her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin, where her work centered sociolegal dynamics that shape diversity and inclusion policy in higher education.

Flash Talk & Engagement Session: Caring for Your Health & Well-Being 

11:40 a.m. 鈥� 12:40 p.m. ET

Speakers

Janna Shine Lamey, Associate Dean for 黑料社区 Student Life

In her role, Janna focuses on being available to graduate students who may want to chat about almost anything. Specifically, Janna takes a student-centered approach to support the unique needs of each graduate student while understanding that a holistic approach is essential. In addition to meeting with individual students, Janna continuously seeks out partnerships across campus to identify strategies to more significantly impact the graduate student experience. The goal is always how we can improve the student experience through an upstream approach 鈥� what structures, systems, and programs are needed for our students to thrive. Janna has been in graduate education for over 20 years and continues to be in awe of our graduate students and feels privileged to be a small part of their journey as they prepare to be leaders in their field of study. 

Janna has an M.S.Ed. degree from SUNY Cortland in Health Education. And, fittingly, she is experiencing the first-hand struggles of the doctoral degree experience as she finishes her dissertation in the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership and Change from SUNY Empire University. In her spare time, Janna likes spending time with her daughter, enjoying all things about the Fall season (including watching the Buffalo Bills), and learning new things.

Olivia Hopewell, Ph.D., 黑料社区 Student Life Advisor

Olivia brings a wealth of unique qualifications and experiences to the 黑料社区 School. With a PhD in Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies from Bryn Mawr College, she has taught as an adjunct professor at BMC, SUNY Cortland, and Cornell through the Prison Education Program. Her role as a College Campus Violence Prevention Educator in Tompkins County has honed her skills in managing sensitivities in challenging conversations. Olivia’s experiences have required excellent interpersonal skills, solid problem-solving, and dynamic student advising. She is a systems thinker who uses a student-development approach to working with graduate students. Her goal is to serve graduate students holistically and support the unique needs of the graduate school community. Additionally, she is an experienced activist in the anti-racism and DEI realms, served as an FGLI mentor for graduate and undergraduate students, and has organized multiple national and international student research conferences. 

Wahie帽hawi 鈥淗awi鈥� Hall, Assistant Director of Counseling & Psychological Services and Community Liaison for Indigenous Students

Hawi thoroughly enjoys the privilege of being entrusted to hold an emotional space with individuals, where safety can be established, healing facilitated, and growth fostered. Her experience is primarily with Indigenous communities, working as a therapist, liaison, and prevention educator. She has recently found great joy in conducting workshops, trainings, and partnering with collaborating agencies to enhance knowledge of mental health issues and to decrease stigma. Hawi’s areas of interest include alternate methods to healing apart from Western Talk therapy, and she strives to use a holistic approach to facilitating an individual鈥檚 healing journey. She thoroughly enjoys utilizing strength-based approaches to assisting in the therapeutic journey with individuals. She has had trainings in adolescent grief, trauma (specific to Indigenous populations as well as the general population), and several trainings over the years specific to ADHD, disruptive behaviors, anxiety and depression. 

Having grown up immersed in her Onkwehonwe (鈥渢he Original People鈥�) culture, Hawi has an intrinsic respect and appreciation for the interconnectedness that her people have with Creation. As a result, she finds that her 鈥渉appy place鈥� is outside surrounded by Creation – whether it be in the woods, by the water, or just sitting under a tree. She is very proud of her family and all of her free time is spent engaged in family activities, such as hiking, sports, and going to the park. She is an avid softball player, and has played on recreational as well as collegiate levels during her lifetime. Hawi’s perspective and approach to life is based on the belief that the day that we stop growing spiritually, emotionally and mentally, is the day that we leave this Earth. Until that day arrives, she believes it is her responsibility to continue to evolve and be a beacon of Light and Love. 

Session Summary
This session will include a series of flash talks highlighting the importance of taking a proactive approach to managing your overall health and well-being, opportunities on campus in the greater Ithaca community to engage in fitness and recreational activities, and counseling resources accessible through Cornell Health.

Networking Lunch

12:40-1:15 p.m. ET

Alumni Keynote Session: From East LA to the Ivory Tower – A Mestiza’s Story of Empowerment and Transformation in STEM

1:15-2:30 p.m. ET

Speaker: Erika Tatiana Camacho, ’03 Ph.D., Berrioz谩bal Endowed Chair of Mathematics, Professor of Mathematics and Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio

Session Summary
Dr. Erika Camacho has navigated the challenges of being in STEM and academia at the crossroads between races, nations, languages, cultures, and social classes, with multiple identities and contradictions. She will talk about her journey and constant fight against the physical and imaginary borders imposed on her by others, tradition, and disciplinary fields. She will also talk about what it took to get to where she is while navigating new worlds and being torn between forces that did not fully accept her. Through the story of her journey, she will illustrate her quest to stay true to herself by gathering the strength to embrace her multiple intersectional identities and learn to be unapologetic for being her, even in the face of adversity. Growing up in East Los Angeles, attaining her PhD from Cornell University, playing a pivotal role in NSF HSI Program, becoming a Fulbright Research Scholar, and extending her research to include wet lab work, she understands the struggles that many students and faculty face in attaining their academic and professional goals. Drawing from her personal experiences and the ability to constantly reinvent herself, Dr. Camacho will share her journey of resilience, tenacity, and hard work. She will highlight key decisions that contributed to her continued success and transformation and individuals that were part of her journey.

黑料社区 our Speaker

Dr. is the and professor in 鈥檚 and departments. Camacho has a long and very successful career in and outside of academia as a mathematical biologist, researcher, educator, mentor and leader in racial and gender equity. She is one of two researchers in the world leading the mathematical work on photoreceptor degeneration and one of the few mathematicians with a wet lab where she is focusing on metabolic adaptation and protective stress responses in diseased and aging retinas. Camacho was a 2022-2023 and a full professor in the at Arizona State University 2007-2023. Between 2019-2022 she was program director co-lead of the and program director of the and the programs.  Her leadership, scholarship, and mentoring have won her numerous national and regional recognitions including named a and , the ,  award from the White House, ,  , , , and .

Camacho earned her Ph.D. in applied mathematics at Cornell University in 2003 where she was a Cornell Sloan scholar.

Knowledge in Action: Shared Strategies for Sustainable Success

2:30-3:30 p.m. ET

Facilitators

Helen Stec, Ph.D. Candidate, Neurobiology & Behavior, OISE 黑料社区 Coordinator for Academic Success & Engagement

Helen Stec is a 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate in the field of Neurobiology and Behavior. Their research explores how internal physiological states shape behavioral decisions. Using an interdisciplinary approach in livebearing fish, Helen investigates how chromatin structure and gene expression in the brain regulate female receptivity across the female reproductive cycle. Helen currently serves as the OISE 黑料社区 Coordinator for Academic Success & Engagement with the Dean鈥檚 Scholars Program, where they support the academic and professional development of graduate students. Previously, they led the MAC Peer Mentoring Program, aiding first-year graduate students in identifying and forming community at Cornell.

 

Alexis Smrekar, Ph.D. Student, Biomedical & Biological Sciences, OISE 黑料社区 Coordinator for Academic Success & Engagement

Alexis is a second year PhD student in Reproductive Immunology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, where she studies the role of uterine NK cells in regulating implantation and other processes during early pregnancy. Outside of the lab, she serves as an OISE 黑料社区 Coordinator for Academic Success and Engagement and coordinates the Dean’s Scholars Engagement Seminar Series. Alexis received her dual-degree BSc in Biology and Environmental Science from the University of Florida, where she began her research journey in the UF Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology.

Session Summary
During this interactive session, participants will connect with fellow graduate students and exchange practical strategies for academic success and personal well-being. Through collaborative discussions and hands-on activities, participants will explore ways to manage time effectively, build transferable skills, and navigate the challenges of graduate school with greater confidence and resilience.

Event Sponsors
黑料社区 School Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement, the , and the Cornell Chapter of the Bouchet 黑料社区 Honor Society

Attribution Statement
This program was modeled in part after PROMISE: Maryland’s NSF AGEP Summer Success Institute.

The launch and institutionalization of the Summer Success Symposium benefited from support from the and National Science Foundation under Award No. 1647094, CIRTL AGEP Transformation Alliance from 2016-2022. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the Cornell PI team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.