University of Wisconsin–Madison

People Type: Scholars Program 2024

Alvarez, Amelia

Biography Amelia Alvarez is from Boise, Idaho and will be a sophomore during Fall 2024. Amelia studies political science with certificates in education policy and sports communication. Amelia is a Mercile J. Lee scholar and an inclusion development co-chair for the class section of the scholarship group. Additionally, Amelia is a representative of the College …

Dancer, Nate

Biography Nate Dancer is a third year student at UW–Madison pursuing degrees in landscape and urban studies and human geography with a certificate in sustainability. Additionally, Nate will be spending part of summer 2024 in Copenhagen studying urban livability and sustainable development. Nate was born and raised in Chicago, which was an Nate’s inspiration to …

Fechner, Julia

Biography Julia Fechner was born in Madison and grew up in Verona and has a deep connection to cities in Wisconsin. Fechner loves spending time outdoors with her two dogs and has recently returned to reading for fun! Some of Fechner’s other hobbies include cooking, baking, photography, and jewelry making. Fechner works for The People’s …

Garcia, Miguel

Biography Miguel Garcia is a junior at UW–Madison. Miguel was born and raised in Southern Wisconsin and has been fortunate enough to stay and study in Wisconsin for a while longer. During Miguel’s undergraduate academic career, Miguel has focused on pediatric hospital systems research and the process of interactions between caregiver and the health care …

Kaleka, Mandeep

Biography Mandeep Kaleka is a senior at UW–Madison majoring in political science and legal studies with minors in environmental science, public policy, and entrepreneurship. She is from Neenah, Wisconsin and is a lifelong Wisconsinite. During her time at UW–Madison, Mandeep has interned at the federal Departments of Justice & Commerce, the Office of Gov. Tony …

Salem, Muaz

Biography Muaz Salem is a third-year engineering student majoring in mechanical engineering. Growing up in a small town in northeastern Wisconsin with Egyptian parents instilled in Muaz a deep appreciation for community engagement. Outside of classes, Muaz finds joy in fishing and playing basketball, activities that allows Muaz to unwind and connect with others. Throughout …

Shumaker, Carolyn

Biography Carolyn is beginning her senior year at UW–Madison, where she is majoring in landscape and urban studies and people-environment geography with a certificate in public policy. Carolyn also works in the Office of Sustainability as a Zero Waste Project Assistant. In this role, she connects people from across campus to dream up solutions to …

Wongso, Samto

Biography Samto is a PhD student studying geography and urban and regional planning. He is an aspiring planning academic whose primary research area is (sub)urban land use planning and patterns using mixed-method (qualitative, quantitative, and spatial) approaches. He is especially interested in the ways different communities envision, plan, and regulate their land uses, the development …

Yin, Yaxuan

Biography Yaxuan, a third-year PhD candidate at the Information School with a minor in geography, focuses on the evaluation of online social systems like Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, and sharing economy platforms such as Uber and Airbnb. Utilizing innovative computational methods, she addresses social biases within these platforms. Her interdisciplinary research integrates Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), statistics, and …