EEB Ph.D. Candidate, Ashlyn Ford, named a Taylor M. Brown Memorial Award Recipient
The Taylor M. Brown Memorial Award was established in honor of biosciences graduate student Taylor M. Brown. Taylor was a long-standing and vibrant member of the UCLA community. As a UCLA undergraduate, she majored in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, receiving her B.S. in 2015. She then joined the Immunity, Microbes, and Molecular Pathogenesis Home Area in the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Program for her Ph.D., where she pursued her interest in understanding host-pathogen interactions. Taylor was deeply committed to increasing diversity in the biosciences, serving as an active member of the Association for Multi-Ethnic Bioscientists’ Advancement (AMEBA) and the UCLA SACNAS Chapter (SACNAS@UCLA). She was passionate about teaching, mentoring, and outreach. Her kindness and compassion made a lasting and widespread impact on the UCLA biosciences community. Taylor’s many accomplishments, her promise as a scientist, and her strong dedication to diversifying the biosciences were recognized by her selection in 2018 as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellow.
The Taylor M. Brown Award recognizes exceptional Ph.D. students in the biosciences who reflect the characteristics that made Taylor such a special member of the UCLA community. The awardees are well-rounded, with strong interpersonal skills and broad interests, and are passionate about mentorship, leadership, teaching, and science. They are highly engaged with the UCLA biosciences community and have a powerful commitment to increasing diversity in the biosciences.
Ashlyn Ford, 2023 Awardee
Ashlyn Ford is a Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology in the lab of Dr. Peggy Fong. Ashlyn’s thesis research is focused on understanding coral ecology and coral host-parasite interactions in Moorea, French Polynesia. Ashlyn has been an event coordinator and mentor for the UCLA EEB Peer Mentorship Program (PMP), an event coordinator for the UCLA EEB Graduate Student Association (GSA), and organizer of the UCLA EEB Department Seminar Committee. Ashlyn is a mentor for Black Women in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Science (BWEEMS); Black in Marine Science (BIMS); the UCLA Graduate Research Mentorship (GRM) program; and the UCLA Diversity Project UC-HBCU Initiative. Ashlyn is the recipient of a UC Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative Fellowship.
For more information on this award and the recipients, please visit UCLA Graduate Programs in Bioscience.