Mattea Berglund (offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, STEM writing, Grant writing, Writing process, Revision strategies
Pronouns: she/her
Degrees: Bachelor of Science in Biology, Brown University
Languages: English
Bio: Mattea is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology. Her research focuses on human impacts in aquatic ecosystems. Mattea is passionate about justice-oriented and community-engaged research. As a facilitator for the Asking Different Questions program (sponsored by the Feminist Research Institute), she works with researchers across disciplines to develop reflexivity about research culture and practices.
Mattea has completed coursework in scientific writing at UC Davis and has experience writing and reviewing applications, proposals, and manuscripts. She received an NSF GRFP Fellowship for her proposed graduate research. Mattea looks forward to working with her peers to facilitate the writing process and build community across disciplines.
Bradley Christin (offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: Anthropology
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, Grant proposals, Journal articles, Abstracts, Writing structure, Literature review
Degrees: M.A. Anthropology, California State University, Fullerton / B.S. Geography, B.A. Spanish, Minor Environmental Studies, Illinois State University
Languages: English, Spanish, French
Bio: As an Anthropology Ph.D. student, Bradley's research focus centers on primatology, particularly within the realms of gorilla conservation and sustainable development in the Republic of the Congo. He possesses a deep passion for cultures, languages, and wildlife. His path to UC Davis was paved by his previous experiences studying abroad in Spain, serving as a Peace Corps Environmental Educator volunteer in Paraguay, and researching primate welfare while working as a double-decker bus tour guide at the San Diego Zoo.
Bradley has a diverse writing portfolio that includes a master’s thesis, a peer-reviewed journal manuscript, grant proposals, résumés, and cover letters. He has excelled in several intensive writing courses, helped edit his professor's book on primate socioecology, composed a blog post for the UC Davis Animal Behavior Graduate Group, and taught English on two continents. Bradley finds the writing process to be the most enjoyable aspect of research and aims to instill the same sense of enjoyment in students. He is enthusiastic about helping people convey their message to the world with compelling, concise, and effective written communication.
Alice Dien (not offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: Biological Systems Engineering
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, STEM writing, Non-native
English writing, Writer’s block, Non-academic writing, and Public speaking
Pronouns: she/her
Degrees: M.S. Biological Systems Engineering, UC Davis / B.S. Food and Agricultural Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain)
Languages: English, Spanish, Catalan, French
Bio: Alice is a Ph.D. candidate in Biological Systems Engineering. Her research focuses on designing desiccant-drying systems for agricultural commodities. In addition, as part of the UC Davis D-lab team, Alice works with international community partners on projects related to agriculture, renewable energy, sustainability, and energy efficiency.
Alice has studied writing theory and practice through several courses at UC Davis, the Gotham Writers' Workshop (NYC), and the NASW David Perlman Mentorship Program. Alice is passionate about making science accessible to general audiences. In 2022, Alice won the UC Davis Grad Slam Competition with a 3-min pitch on her dissertation research. Alice has an interdisciplinary approach to her work, and she loves to exchange ideas and practices with fellow graduate students across all disciplines and backgrounds. She looks forward to helping other students find their own writing process and accomplish their personal and professional goals.
Kay Garlick-Ott (offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: Animal Sciences
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, STEM writing (grant proposals, review papers, research manuscripts), Creative non-fiction, Non-academic writing, Writing process
Pronouns: she/her
Degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Pomona College
Languages: English, Spanish
Bio: Kay is a PhD student in Ecology. She studies how social behavior mediates the impact of climate change on seabird nesting success. Her goal is to use behavioral methods to improve species outcomes and contribute to the conservation of seabirds globally. In the future, she hopes to work for an organization like her collaborator, the National Audubon Society Seabird Institute (NASSI), that combines science with policy and outreach. Since 2021, Kay has represented NASSI for interviews with Science Friday, Facebook and Instagram livestreams on the National Audubon Society Account, as well as print outlets including the National Geographic Society magazine and the American Prospect. She strongly believes that science “dies in darkness” and originally chose to pursue STEM so one day she could write about it.
At Davis, Kay is an editor for the Aggie Brickyard, as well as an active member of the GGE Diversity Committee. She is excited to expand her community here and learn about what everyone is working on!
Sophia Minnillo (not offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: Linguistics
Writing Specialties: English as a second language writing, Multilingual writing, Academic writing, Professional writing, Writing for publication, Grant/Fellowship writing, Writing process, Revision strategies
Degrees: M.A. in Linguistics, UC Davis / B.A. Linguistics and French, Emory University
Languages: English, Spanish, French
Bio: Sophia is a Ph.D. Candidate in Linguistics with a Designated Emphasis in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies. She has studied and conducted research in France, Mexico, and Spain. Her research investigates second language learning and teaching, with a focus on writing development and immersive study abroad. At UCD, Sophia has taught classes geared toward honing students’ writing and English as a second language skills. She speaks and writes in English, Spanish, and French, and is delighted to draw on participants’ full linguistic repertoires during consultations.
Sophia has experience publishing in social sciences journals, including Research in Corpus Linguistics and Journal of Spanish Language Teaching. She looks forward to sharing knowledge garnered from writing term, preliminary, and qualifying papers; composing grant applications; communicating in academic and professional settings; and writing while studying internationally to support grad student writers. When she’s not providing writing consultations, Sophia can be found picnicking at the Davis Farmer’s Market or hiking around Northern California. Sophia greatly values helping grad students to accomplish their academic and professional goals through our writing consultations.
Jihan Shaarawi (not offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: Comparative Literature
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, Creative writing, Grant writing, Abstracts, Writing process, Writer's block
Degrees: M.A. in Comparative Literature, UC Davis / MFA in Creative Writing, Columbia University / B.A. in English & Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo / B.A. in Sociology, American University in Cairo
Languages: English, Arabic, Italian
Bio: Jihan is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature. Her research focuses on fear in Egyptian literature and its many adaptations in film and streaming media. She is also interested in the ways that communication infrastructures influence media. She has experience with multidisciplinary research in English, Arabic, and Italian.
Before coming to UCD, Jihan obtained her MFA in Creative Writing, where she conducted workshops, a reading series, and writing groups. For the past three years, she has taught writing-intensive courses for the Comparative Literature department. She is excited to learn from other graduate students' work and support them through the writing process.
Graduate School of Management Fellows
Juliet Han (not offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: International Agricultural Development
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, Grant writing, Science communication, SOPs
Pronouns: she/her
Degrees: B.A. Music & Humanities, Minor is Literatures in English, UC San Diego
Languages: English
Bio: Juliet is a master’s student in International Agricultural Development (IAD). Her studies are interdisciplinary, exploring gender and racial equity in marginalized agricultural communities. She is also a Lead Student Breeder with SCOPE, focusing on celtuce crop, managing their Instagram account, and a research assistant with cultural memory banking project with AAPI farmers.
Between her undergraduate and graduate work, Juliet has built a career in the specialty coffee industry for almost two decades –this has entailed working in quality control and sensory work to roasting coffee. Coffee has sent her to some of the most beautiful places in the world, including Guatemala, Myanmar, and Ethiopia. She is the co-author of a future coffee encyclopedia book with ABC Clio.
Juliet has written several articles for coffee publications and is listed as a co-author of four academic papers in collaboration with the UC Davis Coffee Center. In addition to writing, she was the main editor of the third edition lab manual for the popular coffee class on campus ECH 1 Design of Coffee. Having TAed for the writing course PLS 7v Just Coffee for a year, she has a lot of practice breaking down dense writing practices with clarity –this course made her realize she loves to teach writing. She looks forward to helping you write your story.
Michael Middleton (offering consultations in Winter 2024)
Department: Sociology
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, business writing, persuasion, writing structure, short-form writing
Pronouns: he/him
Degrees: B.A. History, San Diego State University / M.A. International Studies, UC San Francisco / M.A. Sociology, UC Davis
Languages: English, Thai, Spanish
Bio: Michael is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department. His research looks at the intersection of inequality and policy, and his current project explores the racialized reception of climate refugees in the United States. Michael has extensive international experience, spending much of his pre-Davis time living and working in other countries across the globe. Specifically, Michael worked as an English teacher in Thailand and a writer for a digital media company in Colombia, where he developed his writing ability alongside Thai and Spanish language skills.
Due to this career in digital media, education, and academia, Michael is comfortable writing in a wide variety of contexts, from short-form blogs to full-length academic publications. He is excited to share his knowledge with other graduate students.