ULRI-ULSE Triples Number of GEM Fellows for 2025

This summer, seven GEM Fellows will contribute their talents as they join labs and offices across UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement through our partnership with the National GEM Consortium.

Since becoming a GEM partner in 2021, ULRI-ULSE’s GEM Fellowship program has steadily developed to broaden understanding and participation in the safety sciences. The partnership is led by Office of Research Experiences & Education Senior Education Specialist, Steph DeSisto, who contributes the program’s growth and success to collaboration.

“As a career, safety science is an unfamiliar term for many students,” she says. “Working together with our communications and talent acquisition teams has given us a solid foundation for connecting with postsecondary students and establishing the GEM partnership as a pathway for accessing safety science research opportunities at ULRI and ULSE.”

Working across our six institutes and offices, as well as ULSE, summer 2024 interns and fellows:

• Built dashboards to automate manual work and support researchers in the lab
• Pioneered first-of-its-kind battery research
• Helped build on and finish ULRI’s Materials Discovery Research Institute’s lab
• Worked on atmospheric water harvesting research, as well as a database for that research
• Assessed the effectiveness of standards by evaluating associated incidents

GEM Fellows and interns across both organizations are supported by the OREE Student Engagement Program, which encourages early career persistence through professional development, mentorship, and connection building.

Read about the work done by each of our 2024-25 interns and GEM Fellows, as well as their insights into the impact of the Student Engagement Program in this special publication.

2024 GEM Fellow Michael Henderson said this about his experience at ULRI in summer 2024:

“Everyone felt like a family, and was so welcoming, kind, and encouraging. Being a part of the Student Engagement Program made my time at ULRI very enriching and beneficial. It was great getting to meet different scientists and others who have all taken different paths that led them to ULRI.”

This summer, we look forward to welcoming the following GEM Fellows:

• Amorette Chiossi at ULRI’s Materials Discovery Research Institute: currently a M.S. student in materials science and engineering at University of Washington, entering a Ph.D. program this summer
• Zina Deriche at ULRI’s Electrochemical Safety Research Institute: currently a Ph.D. student in chemical engineering at Rice University
• Roulince Dukuly at MDRI: currently a Ph.D. student in chemical engineering at Columbia University
• Makayla Headley at OREE: currently a Ph.D. student in engineering and science education at Clemson University
• Michael Henderson at ESRI: currently a master’s student in civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley
• Everett-Alan Hood at ULSE: expected to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in June 2025, entering a master’s program this summer
• Zahin Ritee at ULRI’s Fire Safety Research Institute: currently a BS student in physics and mechanical engineering in a dual degree program at Adelphi University and Columbia University

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