Current (2025-2026) Board Members

Kristina Trifonova

Kristina Trifonova

President

Kristina is a third-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate in the Vaikuntanathan and Murugan groups studying how neural network-like abilities emerge from the dynamics of biomolecules. When she is not coding, Kristina enjoys printmaking, reading, and spending time outside running, climbing, or swimming in Lake Michigan.
ktrifonova@uchicago.edu
Vanessa Tian

Vanessa Tian

Treasurer

Vanessa is a third-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate. In her spare time, she enjoys committing to the bit. 

vtian@uchicago.edu

Serina Tressler

Serina Tressler

Media Coordinator

Serina is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Mazziotti group, where her research focuses on the study of strongly correlated molecules and phenomena using reduced density matrix theory. When she’s not fixing broken code, she enjoys crocheting, playing video games, reading books in one sitting, and telling everyone why they should have a library card.

tresslers@uchicago.edu

Rachel Leech

Rachel Leech

Administrative Coordinator

Rachel is a fifth-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate in the Engel Group where she uses two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to study the photophysics of biological systems. Beyond the sciences she also loves the arts- drawing, music, and especially dance. If she’s not tuning the laser or isolating proteins, she’s probably filling her time with as many ballet classes as possible.

The WiC+ Leadership Board changes annually, with student-led nominations and elections taking place during the summer quarter each year. If you are interested in joining WiC+ Leadership take a look at our Bylaws page and keep an eye out for the nomination email sent to the listserv during the summer!

Past Leadership
2024-2025

Irma Advic
Jill Belluomini
Qijie Shen
Elizabeth Jamka
Kristina Trifonova
Spela Kunstelj

2023-2024

Julie Korsmeyer
Allison Hohreiter
Yumin Lee

2022-2023

Julie Korsmeyer
Allison Hohreiter
Yumin Lee
Jelena Momirov
YouYou Li

2021-2022

Maia Czaikowski
Olivia Laxton
Shubhashree Pani
Julie Korsmeyer
Yuqing Qiu

2020-2021

Kate Berger
Brooke Schuster
Kathryn Segner
Clare Keenan
Yuqing Qiu

2019-2020

Kate Berger
Michelle Brann
Brooke Schuster
Nasim Mirzajani

2018-2019

Sarah Brown
Julia Murphy
Tessa Lynch-Colameta
Nanetta Pon

2017-2018

Becca Thompson
Sarah Zinn
Youjin Lee
Sara Sohail

2016-2017

Becca Thompson
Sarah Zinn
Youjin Lee
Sara Sohail