Harmony Gates, a PhD student in Chemical Engineering, works for Dr. Flagan and Dr. Seinfeld on the measurement and study of aerosols.  Nearly every summer the research group takes instruments and loads them onto a Twin Otter airplane, where they sample aerosols as the plane flies below, through, and above clouds and pollution plumes.  In Summer 2006 the group was deployed in the Houston, Texas and in Summer 2007 was in Monterey, California.  Currently, she is developing a new classifier with the plan to test it and compare it to the robust, classic instrument that it someday might replace.  Born and raised in Southern California, she attended University of California, Irvine where she earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in Biochemical Engineering.  She is active in many of the Women’s Center’s programs and participates in the Vagina Monologues.  She enjoys being active, which includes participating in the Caltech Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team and running (2nd marathon Nov 2008).

Nathalie Vriend is a 5th year PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Geophysics. Her research is on the intriguing topic of booming sand dunes, which brings Nathalie to a few of the most remote places (Death Valley, Mojave Desert) in the middle of the scorching hot summer. For a visual impression of her research, visit her website at: www.its.caltech.edu/~nmvriend/research. Nathalie loves to hike and ski in the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles basin. She is also an enthusiastic softball and tennis player. Nathalie has been involved in several of the Women's Center programs and visits the center weekly for the graduate womens lunches. Nathalie has been both a mentee and a mentor in the Women Mentoring Women (WMW) program and you don't want to attack her at night, as her self-defense strategies are up-to-date thanks to the self-defense courses at the Women's center.