Congratulations to Sebastian Gonzalez La Corte and Jiayi Zhang, recipients of the 2024 Cassidy Yang award! The Cassidy Yang awards are given to graduate students who excel in academics in science or engineering and display leadership in mentoring other students, participating in outreach activities, and fostering the graduate student community. 

We believe that Sebastian and Jiayi represent the ideals that exemplify Cassidy Yang: diligence as a scholar and a dedication to outreach activities that bring out the best in the members of our community in the LSI and beyond.

Sebastian Gonzalez La Corte

Sebastian is co-advised by Ned Wingreen and Sujit Datta and works on microbial growth in complex environments. 

Sebastian has an exceptional record of service as a graduate student at Princeton, tirelessly working to make STEM more accessible to students from underrepresented communities. He has served as both Treasurer and Vice President of the Princeton University chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), an inclusive national organization dedicated to fostering the success of Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists in achieving advanced degrees in STEM, and has played instrumental roles in SACNAS programming at Princeton as well as their national conference. Additionally, he has contributed to other outreach events on campus, such as the 2023 Princeton “Día de la Ciencia,” where he demonstrated science concepts to K-12 students. He also served as a panelist for the 2024 Princeton Biophysics Graduate Program Open House and the 2023 Annual HISPA Grad School Panel at Princeton University, an event organized by HISPA, a New Jersey-based nonprofit dedicated to inspiring Latino students to pursue higher education. Finally, his dedication to mentoring is evident in his work with undergraduate students at both Princeton and his alma mater, UCSB, such as through the UCSB McNair Short-Term Alumni Mentoring Program (STAMP). 

Jiayi Zhang

Jiayi is advised by Tatiana Engel and is working on developing computational methods for designing informative perturbation patterns for testing the causal link between the brain and behavior with optogenetics. 

Jiayi excels not only at research, but is also dedicated to mentorship and community outreach. She co-instructed a series of Python workshops for the summer research interns at Princeton Neuroscience Institute this past summer. She is currently mentoring an undergraduate student through the Simons Foundation’s Shenoy Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Neuroscience (SURFiN) program. This fellowship aims to spark interest in neuroscience among students whose experiences are underrepresented in science, and Jiayi is the best to fulfill this role; she can explain complex concepts in an accessible way, she is organized, attentive, and an inspiring role model for her mentee. Jiayi is also actively engaged in campus life. She has been a student ambassador of Princeton University concerts and officer to student organizations. Jiayi actively contributes to the LSI community despite being physically away from the Icahn building. She is a member of the LSI colloquium committee, serves as a peer-mentor, and has initiated and co-captained the LSI summer softball team.

Congratulations Sebastian and Jiayi!