Ambassador Biographies
Current Ambassadors
Angelique Giraud
Master's student
College: Agricultural Sciences
Department: Agriculture and Resource Economics
Advisor: Greg Graff
AGiraud@colostate.edu
Angelique is a second-year master’s student in the department of Agriculture and Resources Economics. She is the graduate research assistant on the Technology-to-Market team on a project studying corn breeding for enhanced root structure to promote drought tolerance, carbon sequestration, and soil quality improvement. Her thesis research seeks to understand what influences farmer adoption of these potential technologies.
Allee Klug
PhD Candidate
College: Natural Sciences
Department: Chemistry
Advisor: Travis Bailey
Allee.Klug@colostate.edu
Allee studies block polymer synthesis, nanostructure, and mechanical characterization. Her research focuses on designing a hydrogel with fatigue resistance and fracture resistance for use in mechanically-intensive applications such as a meniscal tissue replacement.
Aaron Magnuson
Post-Doctoral Researcher
College: Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Department: Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology
Advisor: Glenn Telling, Prion Research Center
AMagnus@rams.colostate.edu
Aaron researches Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) which are infectious neurodegenerative diseases caused by the misfolding of normal prion protein (PrPC) to (PrPSc). The work focuses on identifying diagnostic tools to detect early disease onset as well as developing therapeutic strategies as there is no known cure for these diseases.
Jeremy Primus
Research Associate
Colleges: Natural Sciences and Walter Scott, Jr., College of Engineering
Department of Biology & School of Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Graham Peers
Jeremy.Primus@colostate.edu
Jeremy is a Research Associate working in plant synthetic biology. Bachelor of Science degrees in Applied Physics and Biology from the University of Minnesota Duluth empower him to use computational modeling and data science to inform the design and optimization of novel genetic circuits to impart pragmatic function to plants. Also a part-time graduate student in the Biomedical Engineering program, diverse interests at the confluence of various disciplines have motivated Jeremy towards entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. Outside of his research and professional interests, Jeremy enjoys music, travel, and a variety of outdoor sports and activities.
Ryan Riskowski
Post-Doctoral Researcher
College: Natural Sciences
Department: Chemistry
Advisor: Chis Ackerson
Ryan.Riskowski@colostate.edu
Originally from Omaha Nebraska, Ryan received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and then went on to receive a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Florida State University in Tallahassee Florida. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Colorado State University in the Department of Chemistry, working with Dr. Chris Ackerson to develop nanotechnologies for remote, nano-scale measurement and manipulation inside of living cells. He is also an active member of the CSU Postdoctoral Association, and is dedicated to supporting the cultivation of scientific communication and collaboration between researchers at CSU.
Matt Saxton
PhD Candidate
College: Natural Sciences
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Advisor: Tim Stasevich
matt.saxton@colostate.edu
Matt’s research focuses on the spatial organization of cellular genetic material. He uses a combination of single-molecule tracking and fluorescence microscopy to study how chromatin is accessed and regulated to facilitate selective genetic expression. In his free time, Matt can be found backpacking, camping, skiing, and riding his motorcycle through the canyons.
Darrell Suer
MBA student
College: Business
Program: Global Social & Sustainable Enterprise MBA
Darrell.Suer@colostate.edu
Darrell Suer graduated from Colorado State University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration (emphasis Computer Information Systems) as well as earning a minor in Religious Studies. After graduation he worked as an IT Systems Analyst, and Senior IT Systems engineer for Progressive Insurance. At Progressive, Darrell supported critical back-end systems as an on-call resource and was responsible for engineering high-availability IT solutions. While engineering provided a daily challenge, Darrell believes strongly in the power of enterprises focused on doing the right thing first. He recently began working on his first “start-up,” and intends to use enterprise to help shape a better future.
Previous Ambassadors
College of Agricultural Sciences
Scott Fulbright
Cohort Years: 2012-2013, 2013-2014
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences & Pest Management
Advisor: Ken Reardon
Angelique Giraud
Cohort Year: 2018-2019
Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics
Advisor: Greg Graff
College of Business
Sumanth Belwadi
Cohort Year: 2107-2018
Program: Professional MBA
College of Health & Human Sciences
Alistair Cook
Cohort Year: 2015-2016
Department of Education
Advisor: Michael De Miranda
Sarah Hibbs-Shipp
Cohort Years: 2015-2016, 2016-2017
Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition
Advisor: Laura Bellows
College of Liberal Arts
Annabelle Berklund
Cohort Years: 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016
Department of Economics
Advisor: Greg Graff
College of Natural Sciences
Michael Barich
Cohort Years: 2014-2015, 2015-2016
Department of Chemistry
Advisor: Amber Krummel
Virginia Bruce
Cohort Years: 2014-2015, 2015-2016
Department of Chemistry
Advisor: Brian McNaughton
Michael Friedman
Cohort Years: 2015-2016, 2016-2017
Department of Biology
Advisor: Daniel Bush
Chern-Hooi Lim
Cohort Year: 2017-2018
Department of Chemistry
Lab Group/Post-Doc Advisor: Garrett Miyake
David Markman
Cohort Year: 2017-2018
Department of Biology
Advisor: Michael Antolin
Trung Nguyen
Cohort Year: 2017-2018
Department of Biology
Advisor: Keith Paustian
Duncan Ryan
Cohort Years: 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016
Department of Physics
Advisor: Martin Gelfand
Matt Saxton
Cohort Year: 2018-2019
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Advisor: Tim Stasevich
Eric Tauchman
Cohort Years: 2013-2014. 2014-2015, 2015-2016
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Advisor: Jennifer DeLuca
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Megan Aanstoos
Cohort Years: 2014-2015, 2015-20106, 2016-2017
Department of Clinical Sciences
Advisor: Nicole Ehrhart
Nathan Byers
Cohort Year: 2016-2017
Department of Biomedical Sciences
Advisor: Susan Tsunoda
Aimee Colbath
Cohort Year: 2016-20107
Department of Clinical Sciences
Advisor: Steven Dow
Kelly Kirkley
Cohort Year: 2017-2018
Laboratory: Animal Reproduction & Biotechnology Laboratory
Post-Doctoral Advisors: Colin Clay, Christianne Magee
Lindsey Linke
Cohort Years: 2014-2015, 2015-2016
Department of Clinical Sciences
Advisor: Mo Salman
Aaron Magnuson
Cohort Year: 2018-2019
Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology
Advisor: Glenn Telling, Prion Research Center
Miles McKenna
Cohort Years: 2014-2015, 2015-20106, 2016-2017
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences
Advisor: Susan Bailey
Jingyi Nie
Cohort Year: 2013-2014
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences
Advisor: Jack Nickoloff
Walter Scott, Jr., College of Engineering
Jeremy Chignell
Cohort Year: 2012-2013
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Advisor: Ken Reardon
Nasim Esmaeilirad
Cohort Years: 2013-2014, 2014-2015
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Ken Carlson
Esteban Hincapie
Cohort Year: 2012-2013
Department of Mecanical Engineering
Advisor: Anthony Marchese
Jackson Lewis
Cohort Year: 2015-2016
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Advisor: Travis Bailey
Jasan Prapas
Cohort Year: 2012-2013
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Bryan Wilson
Jeremy Primus
Cohort Year: 2018-2019
Department of Biology & School of Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Graham Peers
Michael Somers
Cohort Year: 2016-2017
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Jason Quinn
Warner College of Natural Resources
Noelle Juengling
Cohort Year: 2016-2017
Program: Tourism Management