Defense Announcements

04/9/2026 | Connor Orrison, PHD, Chemistry

9:00AM, ILSB 3147

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
GENERATION, QUANTIFICATION, AND MODULATION OF HYDRATED ELECTRONS FROM COLLOIDAL MN(II)-DOPED QUANTUM DOTS FOR ENHANCED VISIBLE-LIGHT DRIVEN PHOTOCATALYSIS

Arts and Sciences
Chemistry

Chair: Dong Son

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25785


04/9/2026 | Patrick Wayne Grigsby, PHD, History

10:00AM, GLAS 107

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
The Limits of Machine Charity: Rediscovering Lost Perspectives on the Tammany Hall Political Machine in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Arts and Sciences
History

Chair: Katherine Unterman

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25779


04/13/2026 | Lina Marcela Villa Zapata, PHD, Industrial Engineering

10:00AM, ETB 4002

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Mean-Risk Stochastic Mixed-Integer Programming with Endogenous Uncertainty: Modeling and Application to Wildfire Management

Engineering
Industrial & Systems Eng

Chair: Lewis Ntaimo

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25791


04/13/2026 | Kenna N. Ashen, PHD, Materials Science and Engineering

10:30AM, RDMC 302B

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
First-Principles Studies of Layered Neuromorphic and Ferroelectric Materials

Engineering
Materials Science & Engr

Chair: Xiaofeng Qian

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25795


04/13/2026 | Yuwen Li, PHD, Electrical Engineering

11:00AM, WEB 236C

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Microfluidic Electrical Impedance-based Sensing of Microbial-Material Interactions

Engineering
Electrical & Computer Eng

Chair: Arum Han

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25778


04/13/2026 | Devleena Samanta, PHD, Mechanical Engineering

2:00PM, PETR 126

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
MECHANOCHEMICAL COUPLING IN HYDROLYTIC DEGRADATION OF BIODEGRADABLE POLYESTERS: POLYMER-SPECIFIC RESPONSES OF PLGA AND PLA TO CONCURRENT MECHANICAL LOADING AND AQUEOUS EXPOSURE

Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

Chair: Matt Pharr

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25777


04/14/2026 | Tarun Hejmadi, MS, Aerospace Engineering

11:00AM, HRBB 210

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Sensor Fusion Methods for Gaussian Mixture Models in Cislunar Space Domain Awareness

Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Chair: Suman Chakravorty

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25794


04/15/2026 | Margarita Chouliara, MS, Nutrition

2:00PM, Borlaug, Room 101

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
A Formative Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Culturally Tailored Bilingual AR/AI Digital Menu Prototype in a Hispanic Restaurant Setting

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Nutrition

Chair: Hyunjung Lee
Co-Chair: Po-Ju Chen

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25787


04/17/2026 | Kadie L. Graves, MS, Animal Science

11:15AM, Kleberg

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Metabolome development of raw and cooked Biceps femoris, Semimembranosus, and Gluteus medius muscles under extended aging times impacts on Beef Flavor

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Animal Science

Chair: Christopher Kerth
Co-Chair: Rhonda Miller

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25772


04/17/2026 | Aayushman Sharma, PHD, Aerospace Engineering

1:00PM, HRBB 210

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Data driven control for high-dimensional systems

Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Chair: Suman Chakravorty

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25792


04/22/2026 | Alecia Lynn Bell, EDD, Educational Administration

1:00PM, 527 HT

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Executive Leaders’ Perceptions and Operationalization of Sustainability within Prescriptive Transformation Models in an Urban-Intensive School District: A Phenomenological Study

Education and Human Development
Educ Admn & Human Resource Dev

Chair: Valerie Hill-Jackson

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25775


04/22/2026 | Calvin Jacob Young, MS, Ecology and Conservation Biology

2:00PM, WFES 236

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Stream fish movement in relation to mussel density and local environmental conditions.

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ecology & Conservation Biology

Chair: Joshuah Perkin
Co-Chair: Kirk Winemiller

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25788


04/23/2026 | Sam Altan Cerezo, MS, Entomology

2:30PM, TBD

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Assessing the Cross Protective Efficacy of a Commercial Eastern Equine Encephalitis Vaccine against Madariaga Virus in a Murine Model

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Entomology

Chair: Tereza Magalhaes

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25780


04/23/2026 | Payton Payton Bow, MS, Nuclear Engineering

4:00PM, Zoom

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Analysis of the Implementation of Tantalum-Sensitive Systems in Whisper for Nuclear Criticality Safety Applications

Engineering
Nuclear Engineering

Chair: Craig Marianno

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25789


04/27/2026 | Kristen Dene York, PHD, English

9:00AM, LAAH 360

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Spells, Miracles, and Jests: Masks in Medieval English Poetry and Plays of the West Midlands

Arts and Sciences
English

Chair: Britt Mize

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25793


04/27/2026 | Jessica Aoi Bryan, PHD, Neuroscience

10:00AM, HPEB LL46

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Sympathetic signaling as a candidate mechanism underlying spinal cord injury-induced bone loss

Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine
College of Medicine

Chair: Michelle Schapiro

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25771


04/27/2026 | Hailey Schmidt Melzow, PHD, Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management

11:00AM, HFSB 303

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Toward Multi-Scale, Data-Driven Monitoring of Woody Plant Encroachment in Rangelands

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Rangeland Wildlife & Fish Mgmt

Chair: Javier Leyton
Co-Chair: Sorin Popescu

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25784


04/30/2026 | Grace Lily Martindale, MS, Ecology and Conservation Biology

1:00PM, TBD

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
INVESTIGATING PEROMYSCUS SPECIES IDENTIFICATION THROUGH EXTERNAL TRAIT MORPHOLOGY

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ecology & Conservation Biology

Chair: Jessica Light

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25770


04/30/2026 | Suzanne R Peterson, PHD, Materials Science and Engineering

1:00PM, RDMC 208

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
CHARACTERIZATION OF NANOMECHANICAL PROPERTY GRADIENTS IN MULTIPHASE POLYMER SYSTEMS BY USE OF AFM-BASED NANOINDENTATION

Engineering
Materials Science & Engr

Chair: Pavan Kolluru

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25790


05/1/2026 | Mthokozisi Ndhlovu, PHD, Communication

2:00AM, BTN 208

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
African leaders' rhetorical responses to US-China rivalry

Arts and Sciences
Communication & Journalism

Chair: Nathan Crick

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25786


05/4/2026 | Santiago Nicolas Radi Severo, PHD, Mathematics

11:00AM, BLOCKER 306

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Groups of finite type and fixed-point proportion

Arts and Sciences
Mathematics

Chair: Rostislav Grigorchuk
Co-Chair: Volodymyr Nekrashevych

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25776


05/5/2026 | Jeong Jae Han, PHD, Interdisciplinary Engineering

1:00PM, WEB232

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A HIGH-THROUGHPUT DRUG SCREENING PLATFORM TARGETING ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANT MICROBES BASED ON DROPLET MICROFLUIDICS TECHNIQUE

Engineering
Multidisciplinary Engineering

Chair: Arum Han

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25767


05/6/2026 | Chun Yip Tong, PHD, Biology

1:00PM, TBD

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Decoding Circadian Rhythm Using Single-Cell Multiomics and Spatial Transcriptomics

Arts and Sciences
Biology

Chair: Yuchao Jiang

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25781


05/7/2026 | Isabella R. Villarreal, MS, Poultry Science

1:30PM, Kleberg

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
EFFECTS OF PROVISIONING A MOONLIGHT REGIMEN ON LAYER HEN FEAR AND STRESS SUSCEPTIBILITY, EGG PRODUCTION, AND GROWTH

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Poultry Science

Chair: Gregory Archer
Co-Chair: Nancy Ing

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25769


05/18/2026 | Jared Patrick Lilly, PHD, Aerospace Engineering

2:00PM, TBD

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Modeling of Tow-Steered Composites Towards High-Speed Morphing Structures Design

Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Chair: Darren Hartl

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25783


05/19/2026 | Randall Keith Andringa, PHD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

10:00AM, WFES 336

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Ecological Risk-factors and Ecotoxicological Consequences of Ingested Microplastics in Birds

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Ecology & Conservation Biology

Chair: Jacquelyn Grace

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25773


05/22/2026 | Shelby Ann Gunnells, PHD, Oceanography

9:00AM, OMB 112

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Impacts of deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining on water column chemistry

Arts and Sciences
Oceanography

Chair: Jessica Fitzsimmons

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25768


05/29/2026 | Griffin T Best, PHD, Biology

9:00AM, MSC 2500

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Circadian Clock Control of Translation Fidelity in Neurospora crassa

Arts and Sciences
Biology

Chair: Deborah Bell-Pedersen

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25774


05/29/2026 | Kevin F. Lieb, PHD, Aerospace Engineering

10:00AM, HRBB 621

Tentative Title of Thesis / Dissertation / Record of Study:
Computational and Experimental Quantification of Cavity Noise Reduction via Hybrid Structural Morphing

Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Chair: Darren Hartl
Co-Chair: Pablo Tarazaga

| Direct Link: https://grad.tamu.edu/aggie-life/Defense-Announcements#da25782