Meet Sara Knauz
Major: Neuroscience
Did the GF program impact your career decision? If yes, how so?
After my Green Fellowship, I worked for my fellowship advisor, Carol Tamminga MD, and Elena Ivleva MD PhD for 2 years as a research assistant. Because her lab was truly translational and because she encourages her students to explore, I was able to make the switch from molecular analyses to neuroimaging, broadening my skillset and giving me experience with the tools I'd need to study emotional information processing. Armed with this training, I was better situated to address my research questions.
During those 2 years, I earned 1st authorship on a publication in a high-impact journal and co-authorship on a publication in an even higher-impact journal. I cannot stress enough how proud I was to work with the only female chair of a department at UT Southwestern at the time. I know that Carol's and Elena's recommendations and the authorship I had earned served me well in my admissions to the Master of Arts Program in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago and later to the PhD program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. As of January 2020, I am now a PhD candidate in the 2nd oldest psychology department in the U.S. and ranked consistently in the top 5 for cognitive psychology, researching individual differences in emotional information processing, and preparing for a career as a teaching-first professor. Although it is foolish to predict alternate timecourses, I feel certain that the Green Fellowship was essential in my career trajectory.
Did the GF program impact your career decision? If yes, how so?
After my Green Fellowship, I worked for my fellowship advisor, Carol Tamminga MD, and Elena Ivleva MD PhD for 2 years as a research assistant. Because her lab was truly translational and because she encourages her students to explore, I was able to make the switch from molecular analyses to neuroimaging, broadening my skillset and giving me experience with the tools I'd need to study emotional information processing. Armed with this training, I was better situated to address my research questions.
During those 2 years, I earned 1st authorship on a publication in a high-impact journal and co-authorship on a publication in an even higher-impact journal. I cannot stress enough how proud I was to work with the only female chair of a department at UT Southwestern at the time. I know that Carol's and Elena's recommendations and the authorship I had earned served me well in my admissions to the Master of Arts Program in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago and later to the PhD program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. As of January 2020, I am now a PhD candidate in the 2nd oldest psychology department in the U.S. and ranked consistently in the top 5 for cognitive psychology, researching individual differences in emotional information processing, and preparing for a career as a teaching-first professor. Although it is foolish to predict alternate timecourses, I feel certain that the Green Fellowship was essential in my career trajectory.