Meet the Graduate Writing Consultants

We encourage you to make an appointment with a writing consultant in an academic area similar to yours, so please review the consultant bios listed below. All writing consultants have been trained to help graduate students with general writing issues in any field, but it can be helpful to work with someone in a field more similar to your own.

Foreign languages : a few of our writing consultants feel comfortable reading work in other languages. See their bios for more information.

Abraham

Department: English
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Professional Writing, Humanities & Arts, Application Documents, Oral Presentations, Cultural Studies, Critical Race Theory, Writing Process, Revision Strategies, Style/Flow, Creative Writing, Narrative Writing
Pronouns: he/him
Bio: Abraham is a Ph.D. candidate in English and is interested in comparative work between 20th century U.S. multi-ethnic literature and Latin American literature. He has two years experience working in the Graduate Writing Center. He can speak, read, and write in academic Spanish fluently and has done work in oral and written translation. He has conducted interviews for oral history projects archived in the UCLA Library. He has taught creative writing classes with a focus on revision strategies. He has written letters of recommendation for students applying to graduate school, internships, jobs, and scholarships. His favorite punctuation mark is one not typically used in academic writing but overused in the comic book genre: the excellent exclamation mark!

Aidan

Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Writing Specialities: Academic Writing, Application Documents, Article Manuscripts, Fellowships/Grants, Lab Reports, Quantitative Methods, STEM, Style/Flow, Writing Process
Pronouns: he/him
Bio: Aidan is a PhD student studying evolutionary developmental biology. His research focuses on the rules that govern how variation develops in animals. Aidan earned a BSc in Biology from McGill University, where he studied developmental biology and paleontology. As a graduate student, he has received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP). Aidan’s ~favorite~ punctuation mark is the tilde, for its ability to add ~special emphasis~ with its squiggly arms.

Amelia

Department: Comparative Literature
Writing Specialties: English Language Learners, Academic Writing, Application Documents, Humanities & Arts, Cultural Studies, Writing Process, Revision, Editing, Grammar/Mechanics, Style/Flow, Master’s Thesis
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Amelia is a PhD student in Comparative Literature. Her research interests include Memory Studies, Turkish literature and culture, Latin American literature and culture, and interdisciplinary approaches to literary study. She has an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, where she studied critical theory and Turkish and Arabic literatures (in translation!). Before attending UCLA, Amelia worked as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructor for university students and adult learners in Japan, Turkey, and Colorado. Her favorite punctuation mark is the em dash, because it can get her out of punctuation pickles and because it adds a little extra drama to her writing.

Andrew

Department: Sociology
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Application Documents, Professional Writing, Social Sciences, Qualitative Methods, Writing Process, Style/Flow
Pronouns: he/him
Bio: Andrew is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology. He studies social and political responses to climate change, with a current focus on adaptation to sea level rise in coastal areas. Andrew has an MSc in political sociology from the London School of Economics and a BA from McGill University. His professional background includes teaching English in Iksan, South Korea and providing one-on-one tutoring in English Composition. Before attending UCLA, Andrew worked in arts education, where he produced and edited a professional publication. He is the recipient of a Graduate Research Mentorship Award. His favorite punctuation mark—even though his many asides might indicate otherwise—is the period.

Brenda

Department: English
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Professional Writing, Humanities & Arts, Application Documents, Oral Presentations, Conference Proposals/Papers, Cultural Studies, Critical Race Theory, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Critical Theory, Writing Process/Revision Strategies, Article Manuscripts, Fellowships/Grants
Pronouns:she/her
Bio:Brenda Wang is a PhD candidate in the English department at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her dissertation explores beauty as an embodied cultural project by which questions of desire, gender, and racial belonging are adjudicated. Her research interests include Asian diaspora studies, twentieth century transnational visual culture, critical race and ethnic studies, cinema and media studies, and feminist and queer of color critique. She received her BA in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania and an MPhil in Modern and Contemporary Literature from the University of Cambridge. She is a Cota-Robles Fellow, and has been the recipient of the GRSM, the GRM, and the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Dissertation Year Award.

Cooper

Department: Neurobiology
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, STEM, Scientific Writing, Article Manuscripts, Application Documents, Grant Proposals, Fellowship Applications, Lab Reports, Computational Biology, Quantitative Methods, Statistical Reporting, Oral Presentations, English Language Learners, Revision and Editing Strategies, Style/Flow, Diction
Pronouns: he/him/his
Bio: Cooper is a Ph.D. student in the Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program (NSIDP). His early appreciation for the power of language was inspired by his mother—a Lebanese immigrant and AP English teacher. This passion was cultivated further by his own AP English teacher, who emphasized iterative inquiry and the selection of precise diction in the writing process—principles that continue to inform his writing. Following his undergraduate studies in Molecular Biology and Cognitive Neuroscience at UC San Diego, Cooper developed a talent for translating complex scientific findings into compelling narratives under the guidance of his first research mentor, who demonstrated the art of storytelling in academic writing. At UCSF's Institute for Human Genetics, he co-authored multiple manuscripts and facilitated workshops empowering English language learners to find their unique writing voice, while mastering the principles of effective scientific communication. Committed to helping students refine their scientific and expository writing, Cooper brings a keen eye for optimizing precision, coherence, and flow in articulating complex ideas. His favorite punctuation mark is the parentheses (emblematic of his penchant for providing nuance to enrich comprehension).

Dominique

Department: Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, STEM, Fellowships/Grants, Application Documents, Oral Presentations, Public Speaking, Quantitative Methods, Lab Reports
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Dominique is a PhD student in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences researching Earth's radiation belts. She uses a machine learning approach to establish a relationship between high and low-orbit electron flux data to better predict space weather. She is a recipient of the NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) award and has presented her work at national conferences. Dominique earned her BS from UCLA in astrophysics and worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Atmospheric Physics and Weather Group during her gap year. Beyond research, Dominique enjoys crocheting blankets, hanging out with her 6 lb poodle, and cooking. Her favorite punctuation mark is the comma, especially the oxford comma!

Ebony

Department: Gender Studies
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Application Documents, Fellowship/Grants, Writing Process, Revision Strategies, Style/Flow, Humanities, Qualitative Methods, Cultural Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Black Studies and Critical Theory
Pronouns: they/them, she/her
Bio: Ebony is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Gender Studies. Their research areas broadly include black feminisms, black studies, fat studies, disability studies, and visual culture. They received their BA in Ethnic Studies from the University of Oregon in 2012 before obtaining their MA in Educational Leadership and Policy from Portland State University in 2018. At UCLA, Ebony is a recipient of the Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Fellowship Program, is a Eugene V. Cota Robles Fellow and a member of the Black Feminism Initiative here at UCLA. Outside of graduate school, Ebony enjoys experimenting with art and fashion. Her favorite punctuation mark is the colon.

Emma

Department: Biological Anthropology
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Social Sciences, Fellowships/Grants, Style/Flow, Revision Strategies, Mixed Methods, Writing Process, Application Documents
Pronouns:she/her
Bio: Emma is a PhD student in Biological Anthropology. Her research interests include human evolutionary adaptations to extreme climate and characterizing genotype-environmental interactions. She has a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Kansas. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) and the intramural Genomic Analysis Training Program Fellowship (GATP). In her spare time, she enjoys drawing and painting.

Esther-Priscilla

Department: Community Health Sciences
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Professional Writing, Non-Academic Writing, Social Sciences, STEM, Quantitative Methods, Qualitative Methods, Medical Writing, Policy Writing, Fellowships/Grants, Application Documents, Article Manuscripts, Oral Presentations, Public Speaking, Writing Process, Revision, Editing, Grammar/Mechanics, Style/Flow
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Esther Priscilla Ebuehi is a PhD Student in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her research interests include sexual and reproductive healthcare delivery, access, and decision-making across the life course. She is passionate about using decolonized, community-based approaches to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes at the population level. Esther Priscilla earned her BS in Human Development from UC Davis and her MS in Health and the Public Interest from Georgetown University. As a doctoral student, she has been awarded the UCLA Graduate Dean’s Scholar Award, Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship, Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Fellowship, and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development T32 Training Fellowship. Her favorite punctuation mark is – let’s be real – the em-dash, because it adds a sweet tempo to the rhythm of a text.

Harmeet

Department: Education
Writing Specialties: Social Sciences, Oral Presentations, Public Speaking, Cultural Studies, Critical Race Theory, Academic Writing, Professional Writing, Fellowships/Grants, Application Documents, Academic Writing, Writing Process, Style/Flow, Revision Strategies, Quantitative Methods, Qualitative Methods, Creative Writing.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio: Harmeet (she/her/hers) is a fourth-year mixed methods scholar in the Higher Education and Organizational Change Ph.D. program. She is a first-generation community college transfer student who earned a BA in Sociology from UC Merced and an MA in Education from UCLA. She has mentored students and reviewed their professional and academic documents (which ranged from resumes, CVs, graduate school, scholarship, fellowship, and job applications). She also has experience supporting students when they are planning, preparing, and perfecting their oral presentations (including research presentations, professional interviews, and conferences). Harmeet is researching the resilience of Punjabi Women’s educational trajectories during three moments of historical oppression through qualitative and historical methods and the use of asset-based critical theories. Outside of research, Harmeet loves music, creative writing, traveling outside of the U.S., and exploring local LA events and activities. Her favorite punctuation mark is “?” because it allows her to learn more about someone’s personality, perspectives, and narratives.

Janel

Department: Chicana/o and Central American Studies
Writing Specialties: Fellowships/Grants, Creative Writing, Revision Strategies, Cultural Studies, Critical Race Theory, Humanities & Arts, Professional Writing, Style/Flow
Pronouns: she/her/ella
Bio: Janel is a poet, educator, and scholar of U.S. Central American Literature. Her research analyzes contemporary works by diasporic Central American poets and investigates the ways that poetry can be used to counteract narrative silencing and to reclaim familial and cultural (hi)stories. Prior to joining UCLA, she earned a BA in English from Dickinson College, and received a Marshall Scholarship to pursue graduate study in the UK. She holds dual master’s degrees in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge, and in Creative Writing and Education from Goldsmiths, University of London. As a graduate writing consultant, she specializes in supporting students with competitive fellowship applications, with a particular focus on working with first-generation students. She has extensive training in academic writing tutoring and in pedagogical strategies for strengthening creative writing. Janel has received grants and fellowships from the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, UCLA’s Graduate Summer Research Mentorship, the Eugene V. Cota Robles fellowship, the California Arts Council, the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture, and more. Her favorite punctuation mark is the em dash—quite simply because it’s just so good.

Jessie

Department: Anthropology
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Editing/Revision Strategies, Application Documents, Social Sciences, Humanities/Arts, Fellowships/Grants, Article Manuscripts, Oral Presentations, Critical Race Theory, Qualitative Methods, Master’s Thesis, Style/Flow, English Language Learners, Grammar/Mechanics, Writing Process
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Jessie is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Anthropology, specializing in sociocultural anthropology. Her research focuses on historic entanglements between Black and Jewish communities in North Africa. Specifically, she examines how different elements within the archival landscape in Morocco resist and construct notions of difference between Black and Jewish Moroccans. She holds a B.A. in Middle Eastern and North African Studies as well as Romance Languages and Literature (Spanish) from the University of Michigan in addition to a M.A. in Anthropology from UCLA. Jessie has worked (and aspires to continue working) in the publishing industry as a content and copy editor as well as a translator (Arabic, North African Judeo-Arabic, French, and Spanish.) Jessie has received a Fulbright Student Researcher grant, an Andrew Mellon Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, the GRM, the GSRM, and the Keck fellowship. Parentheses are her favorite punctuation mark(s) because they are so versatile (and look like a whisper on the page!)

Karina

Department: Neuroscience
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Professional Writing, Application Documents, Oral Presentations, Writing Process, Style/Flow, Fellowships/Grants, STEM, Article Manuscripts, Editing Strategies, Grammar/Mechanics, Research, Conference Presentations/Posters
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Karina is a PhD student in the Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program (NSIDP). Her research interests include developing research tools for fluorescence microscopy in order to image neural activity in different animal models. As a doctoral student at UCLA, Karina has been awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF) and the UCLA T32 Training in Neurotechnology Translation Fellowship. With cumulative experience in five research labs, Karina has authored seven conference posters, co-authored an additional three posters, and co-authored two peer-reviewed manuscripts. Prior to her doctoral work, Karina graduated from UCLA with a BS in Neuroscience, where she was awarded UCLA fellowship positions in I2URP, CARE Scholars, and PEERS Scholars, with summer internships at UCLA (CARE SEM SPUR) and Dartmouth College (MD-PhD Summer Research Program). In the past, Karina served as a newspaper copy editor and managing editor for the UCLA Undergraduate Science Journal. In defiance of the New York Times style guide, Karina’s favorite punctuation mark is the Oxford comma.

Kiana

Department: Education
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Application Documents, Social Sciences, Article Manuscripts, Qualitative Methods, Fellowships, Writing Process, Revision Strategies, Style/Flow, Editing Strategies
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Kiana is a PhD candidate in the School of Education and Information Studies focusing on post-secondary institutions. Prior to this, she received a B.A. at Colgate University where she double majored in Behavioral Neuroscience and Educational Studies. She has published in science and social science academic journals, and presented at national and international conferences. She has received intramural fellowships including the Graduate Summer Research Mentorship and Bunche Fellows Program Summer Funding. Kiana also helps high school students with their college applications, and particularly their personal statement. Her favorite punctuation mark is the classic period because sometimes, simple is just better.

Leezet

Department: Psychology
Writing Specialties: Fellowships/Grants, Academic Writing, Social Sciences, STEM, Statistics, Statistical Reporting, Quantitative Methods, Critical Race Theory, Application Documents, Oral Presentations, Writing Process, Style/Flow, Revision Strategies, Editing Strategies, Master’s Thesis
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio: Leezet is a third-year Psychology PhD student who specializes in social cognitive neuroscience. Her current research investigates how people from dominant and marginalized racial groups understand and experience our racialized social world, using both social neuroscience and computational linguistics approaches. Over the course of her graduate career, she has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, a UCLA Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship, a UCLA Graduate Summer Research Fellowship, a Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship, and a UCLA Alumni Fellowship. Leezet graduated from Princeton University with a BA degree in Neuroscience and a strong background in African American Studies, Critical Race Theory, and Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Studies. Before pursuing her PhD, she gained experience in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) development while working as a data scientist for a technology start-up. Her favorite punctuation mark—which she admittedly overuses—is the em dash.

Lika

Department: Comparative Literature
Writing Specialties: Academic writing, Non-academic writing, Application Documents, Humanities & Arts, Fellowships/Grants, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Cultural Studies, Critical Race Theory, Oral presentations, Writing Process, Editing Strategies, Style/Flow, Grammar/mechanics.
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Lika is a PhD candidate in comparative literature. Her research interests include representations of gender and sexuality and space/environment in 20th century and contemporary literature and film, French and Francophone literatures, and notions of space, confinement and movement within French and English-language contexts. Most recently she has written about Albert Camus, space, and gender; national allegory and metonymy; and 20 th century re-imaginings of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Lika holds B.A. degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in English and French literature and an M.A. in comparative literature from UCLA. In addition to research and teaching, Lika copyedits for an independent press that publishes work on politics, art, and philosophy and volunteers with small nonprofits on their grant writing efforts. Prior to grad. school she worked as a writer in a behavioral psychology lab, in academic administration and in continuing education. Her favorite punctuation = the ( ) and the …

Marie

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Application Documents, STEM, Fellowships/Grants, Article Manuscripts, Oral/Conference Presentations, Quantitative Methods, Statistical Reporting, Dissertation, Writing Process, Revision & Editing Strategies
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Marie is a (Bio)Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate who studies the effects of mechanical and physiological stimulation on 3D stem cell and cancer tissues. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP), has presented her work at national conferences, and has published peer-reviewed journal articles as both a first and co-author. Prior to UCLA, she earned her B.S. from Stanford University in Civil & Environmental Engineering. Her favorite punctuation mark is the comma since it is both simple and effective.

Marilyn

Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Marilyn Gray is the director of the UCLA Graduate Writing Center. She has a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from UCLA. Her dissertation examines Mikhail Bakhtin’s thought and narrative theory from the perspective of Russian theological anthropology. After completing her BA in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Stanford University, she lived and worked in Moscow for four years. During her graduate work at UCLA, she worked for the Center for Digital Humanities assisting faculty with instructional technology and taught Russian language and English composition. She is a big fan of the em-dash and semi-colon when used judiciously.

McKenna

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Writing Specialties: Fellowships/Grants, STEM, Academic Writing, Application Documents, Quantitative Methods, Writing Process, Revision Strategies, Editing, Lab Reports, Oral Presentations, Public Speaking, Post-Graduate Opportunities, Journal Reviews
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: McKenna is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Aerospace Engineering. She develops novel software to improve the performance and lifetime of electrospray thrusters for spacecraft propulsion in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and multiple Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRLs). Prior to pursuing her PhD, McKenna graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics and Mathematics and a minor in Business. McKenna is a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow and has also been awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, a Goldwater Scholarship, a NASA Space Grant, and a Woman in Engineering award. She has authored journal and conference publications, reviewed journal articles, and presented her research internationally.

Michael

Department: Political Science
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Professional Writing , Humanities, Social Sciences, Application Documents, Oral Presentations, Public Speaking, Cultural Studies, Critical Race Theory, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Writing Process, Revision, Editing, Grammar/Mechanics, Style/ flow, English Language Learners, Master’s Thesis, Creative Writing, Narrative Writing
Pronouns: he/him
Bio: Michael is a PhD student in political science focusing on political theory. His circuitous academic career has led him to get degrees in English, Philosophy, Education and Gender Studies. He has been tutoring writing since college and enjoys the challenge of reading across disciplines. Beside his academic work, he is a sporadic book reviewer and writer for publications such as Jewish Currents and Public Books. His favorite punctuation mark is the em-dash because of its variety of uses and because it makes long sentences readable.

Victoria

Department: Sociology
Writing Specialties: Academic Writing, Professional Writing, Social Sciences, Policy Writing, Fellowships/Grants, Application Documents, Article Manuscripts, Oral Presentations, Qualitative Methods, Critical Race Theory, Writing Process, Revision, Master’s Thesis, Style/Flow
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: Victoria is a PhD candidate in the Sociology department. She studies urban governance, redevelopment, policing, and race. She holds a B.A. in Leadership and Public Policy from the University of Virginia. Before UCLA, Victoria worked at a social policy research institution, where she produced policy reports and memos. She has received intramural fellowships including the Graduate Research Mentorship Award and Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Awards, and extramural fellowships from the Russell Sage Foundation and the Haynes Lindley Foundation. Her favorite punctuation mark is the semicolon.

Xochitl

Department:Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Writing Specialties:Academic Writing, Application Documents, STEM, Fellowships/Grants, Article Manuscripts, Oral Presentations, Quantitative Methods, Revision, Editing
Pronouns: she/they
Bio: Xochitl is a Ph.D. candidate studying behavioral ecology. Her research focuses on the long-term survival consequences of early-life adversity in a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots. Xochitl earned a BA in “human ecology” with a focus on wildlife ecology and evolution from the College of the Atlantic—a small, liberal arts college in
Maine. Xochitl was born in Nicaragua, but grew up in Italy and England, where she earned the International Baccalaureate Diploma. As a graduate student Xochitl has received the NSF GRF, honorable mentions for the Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the UCLA Graduate Council Diversity Fellowship, and several small research grants. She has also published and reviewed a few scientific journal articles and presented her research at academic conferences. Xochitl loves to be outdoors, hiking and photographing wildlife, unless she’s indoors crocheting. Her favorite punctuation is the em dash—the most dramatic pause. However, when it comes to emails and more casual writing, she can’t help but overuse parentheses (because there is always an extra idea waiting to burst forth) in a sort of whisper-like tone.