Graduate Adviser to the Huck Institutes

The Graduate Adviser to the Huck Institutes is a position(s) held by one or two graduate students in one of the six Huck graduate programs. The Adviser acts as a voice of their peers in the Huck Institutes by serving as a liaison to the Huck administration, and as a leader for the community by serving as chair of the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee.

The Graduate Adviser to the Huck Institutes is a one-year term beginning August 1. The months of June and July prior to the position are used for training and guidance with the current chair(s).

Avery Sicher
Jessica Walnut

Your current Graduate Advisers to the Huck Institutes for 2023-2024 are Avery Sicher, a student in the Neuroscience Program, and Jessica Walnut, a student in the Plant Biology program.


Responsibilities

  • Act as Chair of the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee (HGSAC)
  • Communicate with members of the HGSAC, Huck faculty and staff, and invited speakers
  • Attend weekly graduate education meetings with Huck administration
  • Gather feedback about Huck-related events to report to the faculty adviser and/or Huck administration
  • Organize and run the Career Exposure Seminar Series & Events page as well as the Career & Professional Development page.

The Graduate Adviser to the Huck Institutes fellowship is a one-year fellowship appointment beginning August 1. The months of June and July prior to the fellowship appointment beginning are used for training and guidance with the current fellow. The time commitment for this position is 20 hours/week as full stipend and tuition are covered by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences during the fellowship appointment period.

Eligibility

Graduate students participating in one of the Huck Institutes graduate programs who have passed both their qualifying and comprehensive exams.

A call for applications will occur each year starting March 1st, and a final decision will be made by April 15th.

Previous Advisers

YearGraduate Adviser(s)Program
2014-2015Carrie LewisMCIBS
2015-2016Jennifer LegaultNeuroscience
2016-2017Colleen McSweeneyNeuroscience
2017-2018Kelly NessPhysiology
2018-2019Bruce ChenGenetics
2019-2020Dominika Dec Peevey and Amanda Van BuskirkEcology
2020-2021Isabel da SilvaPhysiology
2021-2022Maria SolaresMCIBS
2022-2023Alenka Hafner and Corinne SmolenPlant Biology, Bioinformatics and Genomics