WELCOME
“ARCS SUPERNOVA 2026: The Minds of TODAY Creating Solutions for TOMORROW”
California Chapter’s major annual event. Supernova supports the ARCS mission to advance science by celebrating ARCS Scholars as emerging scientists, raising the visibility of their cutting-edge research, and providing them with public speaking opportunities.
Supernova is ARCS Foundation Northern California Chapter’s major annual event supporting the ARCS mission to advance science by celebrating ARCS Scholars as emerging scientists, raising the visibility of their cutting-edge research, and providing them with public speaking opportunities.
Guests will enjoy a buffet celebration with passed hors d’oeuvres, hearty finger foods, and a selection of wines, while mingling with scholars, ARCS members, and friends. Curious minds will enjoy engaging with scholars and their research during the poster sessions, two Ted talks, and a roundtable discussion on AI. Participation in our Talk-to-a-Scholar Raffle (prizes awarded!) is encouraged.
The 74 ARCS NCC Scholars for the current academic year are US citizens selected from 100 departments at our seven partner universities: San Francisco State University, Stanford University, and the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz.
SCHOLAR SYMPOSIUM
This website is the online version of the SUPERNOVA symposium. In the Poster Halls, you’ll find each scholar’s biography, a 3-minute video, and a research poster to gain deeper insights into scholars’ innovative pursuits.
And, you can watch the recordings of the event’s roundtable and TED Talk, each moderated by esteemed industry and science education leaders. The panels discuss current topics of societal interest.
Explore and be inspired!
SCHOLAR QUOTE
“
As I enter the final year of my PhD, I am beginning to look for mentors to oversee my post-doctoral training. One of the significant ways I can find a mentor is through the networking opportunities offered at conferences. Without this generous support, these opportunities to share my work with the greater neuroscience community would have been impossible for me. In addition to attending conferences and connecting with neuroscientists worldwide, support from ARCS has helped ease the economic burdens associated with the cost of living in Santa Cruz. Because I don’t have to focus so heavily on dealing with basic needs, I have the freedom to spend more time and mental energy focused on research and intellectual pursuits central to a successful PhD.
Jeremiah Tsyporin
University of California, Santa Cruz
“
I will be pursuing my master’s degree in integrative biology at San Francisco State University and conducting my research at the California Academy of Sciences. I am thrilled to get started on my research and mentoring projects. … This combination of research activities will offer me the opportunity to build my technical lab skills, storytelling abilities, and capacity to help other students succeed in science. … I am deeply honored to receive the [ARCS Award] and take great joy in starting graduate school. I thank you for making this possible for me. I am ready to get to work.
Katherine Montana
San Francisco State University
“
I’m conducting applied limnological research on the pristine lakes of Northern Patagonia, in collaboration with Fundación Chile Lagos Limpios. This model will be used to investigate how the physics and water quality of these pristine lakes wi1l be impacted by climate change and watershed development over the course of the 21st century. In September 2019, I had my first opportunity to visit Northern Patagonia … but due to Covid-19 safety and travel restrictions, I have not had the opportunity to return to Chile. With your financial support, I will be able to return to the region in January 2022 and continue collecting data to improve the accuracy of the lake model under development.
Micah Swann
University of California, Davis
SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATION & ROUNDTABLE
TED-STYLE TALKS
7:00 PM – 7:45 PM
11 TH FLOOR
Moderator:
Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD
ARCS Scientific Advisor
Chair and Professor, Department of
Biochemistry and Biophysics, UCSF
TOPIC 1:
When Cells Make Mistakes:
How Quality Control is
Disrupted in Aging
ARCS SCHOLAR
CHLOE WOHLENBERG
UC Santa Cruz
Department of Molecular, Cell &
Developmental Biology
VIEW PRESENTATION
TOPIC 2:
AGRIVOLTAICS IN THE CENTRAL
VALLEY:
Increasing Renewable Energy
Production While Providing
Shade for Plants During High
Heat
ARCS SCHOLAR
ANDREW SILVERSTEIN
UC Merced
Department of Environmental Systems
VIEW PRESENTATION
SCHOLAR ROUNDTABLE
8:25 PM – 9:10 PM
11 TH FLOOR
Moderator:
Regis Kelly
Professor, Biochemistry and Biophysics
UCSF School of Medicine
TOPIC:
AI: How Scientific Research is
Changing and Adapting to the
New Technology
ARCS SCHOLAR
PANELISTS:
STEPHANIE BRENER
UC San Francisco
Department of Bioengineering
YASEMIN GOKCEN
UC Merced
Department of Cognitive and
Information Sciences
DOREEN JOSEPH
UC Davis
Department of Computer Science
JESSICA ZHAO
UC Berkeley
Department of Industrial Engineering
& Operations
VIEW PRESENTATION
POSTER HALLS
POSTER HALL 1:
Computer Science & Electrical Engineering
POSTER HALL 2:
Climate, Environment & Ecology
POSTER HALL 3:
Bioengineering
POSTER HALL 4:
Physics, Math & Astronomy
POSTER HALL 5:
Cell, Micro & Molecular Biology
POSTER HALL 6:
Engineering
POSTER HALL 7:
Agriculture, Animal Science & Biology
POSTER HALL 8:
Ocean & Earth Sciences
POSTER HALL 9:
Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics & Neuroscience
ABOUT THE ARCS SCHOLAR AWARD PROGRAM
SUPERNOVA is part of the ARCS Scholar Award Program, our annual initiative to support the research endeavors of exceptional graduate students at our seven partner universities. The Scholar Award Program enables scholars to give maximum attention to their research by receiving meaningful scholar awards, raises the visibility of ARCS Scholars’ research, increases ARCS Scholars’ science communication skills, and connects ARCS Scholars to industry and to each other.
Your gift to the Scholar Award Fund is 100% tax-deductible and 100% unrestricted to the scholars.
Help shape the trajectory of scientific program and transform the life of a young scientist. Make your Scholar Award Fund gift today.
SPONSORS
