Graduate Affiliates

Alyssa Mitson-Salazar

Alyssa Mitson-Salazar is a ninth-year MD/PhD student in immunobiology studying regulatory T cells in intestinal homeostasis and allergy. Originally from a rural farming town in southern Colorado, she studied biology as an undergraduate at Yale (JE 2012). Her fondest memories of undergrad include working in lab, choreographing for Danceworks, tutoring for the STARS I program, and being a FroCo. Before returning to Yale, Alyssa worked for two years at the National Institutes of Health. When she’s not in lab, Alyssa enjoys hiking, dancing, and eating tacos. She’s all ears if you ever want to chat about anything—just shoot her an email to meet up! :)

Brooke Bodensteiner is a fourth year PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Before attending Yale, Brooke did two years of PhD at Virginia Tech studying Biology, and got her Masters of Science and BS from Iowa State University in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology. Her scientific interests broadly relate to how organisms interact with their environment, particularly their thermal environment, and what that means for the evolution and persistence of these organisms in a rapidly changing world. When not chasing lizards around the world, Brooke enjoys spending time with her dog, hiking, crafts, and movie nights. Brooke is excited to meet the JE students and discuss doing research, graduate school, and whatever else comes up.

Daniel (Danny) Mejia-Cruz is a third-year law student at Yale Law School. Originally from Honduras, and after living in Alaska and Texas, he majored in government and history as an undergrad at Bowdoin College. After college, he spent a year in Cairo, tried his hand at investment banking in New York, and ultimately landed in the New York DA’s Office, where he served on the teams that prosecuted Harvey Weinstein and investigated the Trump Organization. He’s happy to chat with anyone about anything, including postgrad career options, law school, movies, books, LGBTQ issues, and navigating college as a first-generation student. Always feel free to email him or say hi if you see him around campus!

David Jon Walker

David Jon Walker is a second year Master of Fine Art (MFA) student in the School of Art for Graphic Design. He grew up in Tennessee earning degrees from Tennessee State University (B.A. Studio Art) and the University of Memphis (MFA in Web Design). Before coming to Yale, David taught web design courses at Austin Peay State University. Beyond the academy, he loves traveling, going to galleries and libraries, running and hand-lettering. Being from the South and limited snowfall, he’s overjoyed to be in close proximity of ski slopes. Please feel free to reach out to him to chat about anything or to go for a run. Do say hello if you see him around campus!

Dorthy Fang

Dorthy Fang is a fourth year Ph.D. student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) studying RNA modifications. She grew up in (sort-of) upstate New York, and received a B.A. in Environmental Biology at Columbia University. In her gap years before coming to Yale, she conducted plant surveys in rural Wisconsin and worked at a biotech startup in San Diego. When not holed up in lab, she can often be found exploring the great outdoors to relive her ecology days, trying new restaurants, or jamming to music. Please feel free to reach out to her about anything and everything - she is excited to get to know everyone in JE!

Hang Nguyen (Co-Head GA & Resident GA)

Hang is a second-year medical student. She graduated from Yale (JE 2021) with a BS in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. During college, Hang was involved with the first-generation/low-income (FGLI) community and the Vietnamese Students Association at Yale. In her senior year, she served as a first-year counselor (FroCo) for JE. In her free time, she enjoys painting and taking care of her plants. If you have questions, especially about being pre-med, email her at hang.nguyen@yale.edu.

Holden Miles

Holden Miles is a second-year Masters of Architecture I student undergoing his professional degree program. He holds a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Virginia with a minor in Architectural History. Holden’s fascination with architecture is primarily in the built form and seeks to achieve designs which balance current social-environmental issues with strong, atmospheric and emotional engagement. He is always interested in how architecture is utilized and perceived, not only from an academic perspective, but from all who encounter it. Yale has a strong architectural legacy so if anyone has even the slightest interest in architecture, urbanism, or design in general, Holden is happy to speak with you about it. When not in studio, you can find Holden sleeping, playing guitar, or sleeping.

Jacob Romm

Jacob Romm is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint program between Comparative Literature and Early Modern Studies, also working on certificates in translation studies and book history. His research interests include trans and queer histories of the early modern period, cultural and literary exchanges between Jewish and Christian communities, and the history of the printed book. Jacob translates from French, Yiddish, and Hebrew and is currently translating the Yiddish poet Menke Katz as a Yiddish Book Center fellow. He also is an enthusiastic student of the art of letterpress printing, and has recently started a tiny print shop, Letter and Spirit Press.

Jisun Kim (Culural Draw Ticketing / Show Schedule Manager) 

Jisun Kim (she/her) is a DFA candidate in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism at Yale School of Drama. She is an idealist, dramaturg, artist and scholar. She created a non-verbal puppetry/movement piece benjisun presents bodyssey with Benjamin Benne, and an online puppet musical Let’s Go to the Moon with Nicole E. Lang (Yale Cabaret). Jisun is a former managing & web editor of Theater magazine (Duke UP). She received her BA and MA in English Literature from Ewha Woman’s University, South Korea. She believes in a transformative power of theater, because it transformed her. Her recent research interest is queer of color comedy. Jisun is also deeply in love with coffee. Please let her know if you want to get a coffee (or tea or water) with her. She’s excited to get to know JE students.

Katherine Salinas

Katherine Salinas is a first-year student at Yale Law School. She’s originally from Austin, Texas and graduated from Yale College in May 2022 with a degree in Ethnicity, Race, & Migration. She’s passionate about criminal justice and human rights work. In college, she was an undergraduate research assistant at YLS focusing on prison policies. She also did criminal justice policy work in Texas, got involved in a couple campaigns during the 2020 election, and researched recidivism at New Haven’s City Hall! She makes time in her schedule for frequent Willoughby’s runs, West Wing rewatches, and trips to the farmer’s market. She’s so excited to be returning to the best college at Yale as a graduate affiliate; don’t hesitate to reach out or say hi if you see her around!

Kathleen Voight

Kathleen is a Master of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. Her research focuses on agricultural land management throughout the Rocky Mountain West and on improving drought resiliency on farms and ranchers. Kathleen studied History of Art while in JE during undergrad at Yale College. Prior to returning to Yale, Kathleen worked in environmental education and in agriculture, growing diversified vegetables and raising pastured livestock in Colorado. In her free time, Kathleen likes to bike, hike, and ski as much as possible.

Kelly Xu

Kelly Xu is a first year MBA student at the Yale School of Management. She is a New York City native and majored in Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. After graduating early, Kelly spent some time volunteering in Amsterdam, the Netherlands as a primary school English teacher and traveling around Europe. She worked in the financial services industry at Citigroup’s HQ in Manhattan prior to Yale SOM. Kelly enjoys biking, swimming, trying new desserts, reading fantasy novels, and learning about art history in her free time. Fun fact is that she named her cat after Kalliope, the muse of epic poetry in Greek mythology. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Kelly to grab coffee or share a meal in the dining hall to discuss anything on your mind, she’s excited to meet everyone at JE!

Maureen Gill

Maureen is a PhD student in Psychology. She is interested in formalizing people’s judgment and decision-making processes. When not doing research, you can find her drinking starbucks or at the gym. She’s happy to talk about anything, e.g., psych or grad school, and she can look over your drafts too. 

Nick Fisk (Co-Head GA)

J Nick Fisk is a 6th year PhD Student in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics in the Townsend lab, trainee of Yale’s Cancer Biology Training Program, and President of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate at Yale. Originally from Las Cruces, NM, they did their undergraduate at RIT.  Nick is an avid poet (English and Spanish), pedagogist, and lover of birds. In their free time, they coach Yale’s wrestling club–come give it a try! Nick also enjoys flower arranging, anime, and (playing) most sports. Feel free to get a hold of them, be it for fun bird facts, coffee, or just to get something off your chest.

Nick Nordlund

Nick Nordlund is a fifth year PhD student in Electrical Engineering. His research involves using machine learning to solve various resource allocation problems in Network Science. Nick graduated with JE ‘17 so you may have already met him playing IM ping pong or working the Buttery. Outside the lab, you’ll find him playing guitar with DPops, trying to stay upright on a snowboard, or playing golf on the Yale course. He’s always happy to chat - just send him an email!

Yoonmin Kim (Culture Draw Operations Manager)

Yoonmin Kim is a PhD candidate in Slavic Languages and Literatures. She is interested in contemporary Russophone poetry and what makes a piece of poetry good or bad (if it’s poetry at all). Before coming to Yale, Yoonmin studied Russian language and literature at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea, and Ural Federal University, Russia. When not working, you can find Yoonmin playing guitar, doing yoga, or doing clown exercises with friends. Yoonmin is happy to chat with you about anything or practice Russian or Korean together. Just shoot her an email!