Five Doctoral Candidates Named 2025-2026 Future Faculty Fellows

The Future Faculty Fellowship program was created to prepare Texas A&M doctoral students for the academic job market.

College Station – Doctoral candidates Vanessa Fernandez-Rodriguez, Maria Hurtado-Materon, Shihan Li, Shikhadri Mahanta and Ran Tao have been selected as the Texas A&M Future Faculty Fellowship (F3) awardees for 2025-2026. 

This competitive fellowship program provides one year of funding to five exceptional graduate students. The F3 program is administered by the Graduate and Professional School (Grad School) and the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) – Academy for Future Faculty. 

“Each Fellow has already made a significant impact at Texas A&M through their research and teaching,” said Dr. Charles Criscione, Associate Dean of the Graduate and Professional School, Professor of Biology, and director of the F3 program. “This program allows them to further develop those skills to succeed on the job market and become future leaders and innovators in their disciplines.” 

The Grad School alongside CTE will host an Academic Job Market Preparation Workshop on Friday, October 3, for the F3 fellows. 

At the workshop, the program administrators and a panel of faculty volunteers will review and provide feedback on F3 fellow research and teaching statements, common application materials for academic positions. F3 fellows will take part in discussions on various topics, such as strategies for academic job searches, excelling in job interviews and presentations, negotiating job offers, and overcoming early-stage faculty challenges. 

Dr. Jamie Thompson and Jasmine Zenn Vei from the Center for Teaching Excellence will join Criscione to facilitate the workshop. The five faculty participating are: 

Dr. Uday Bhanu Prakash Vaddevolum (Biological and Agricultural Engineering), Dr. Phillip Kramer (Biomedical Sciences, Oral & Craniofacial Biomedical Sciences), Dr. Christina Belanger (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), Dr. Guilherme Corte (Marine Biology) and Dr. Jinbo Wang (Oceanography). 

"We are honored to support such an outstanding group of doctoral students through this fellowship program,” said Dr. Fuhui Tong, Associate Provost and Dean of Texas A&M’s Graduate and Professional School. “Providing structured support and resources at this stage is vital for future faculty, and I am excited to see the impact they will make as Aggies advancing knowledge, service and leadership beyond Texas A&M." 

A follow-up workshop will be held in spring 2026. 
 

This year’s fellows, listed in alphabetical order: 

Vanessa Fernandez-Rodriguez 

Vanessa Fernandez-Rodriguez is a Ph.D. candidate in marine biology under the advisement of Dr. Anja Schulze. Her research focuses on invasive marine worms in Galveston Bay, which threaten fisheries and native fauna like oysters. She has published in top journals, including the Journal of the Marine Biological Association and Diversity. Vanessa has mentored two undergraduates through the Undergraduate Research Scholar Thesis Program and created an immersive experience as a 2024–2025 Teaching-As-Research Fellow. Her future interests include teaching and researching the ecology and gene expression of invasive species, especially in relation to environmental stressors. Vanessa plans to graduate in August 2026. 
 

Maria Hurtado-Materon 

Maria Alejandra Hurtado-Materon is a Ph.D. candidate in the interdisciplinary ecology and evolutionary biology program, advised by Dr. A. Michelle Lawing. Her research integrates evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation science to improve predictions of how biodiversity responds to environmental and human-induced changes. Hurtado-Materon’s work contributes to real-world conservation efforts, including species extinction risk assessments and the development of open-access software tools to make biodiversity research more accessible. She has secured over $200,000 in research funding and co-authored peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Scientific Reports and Ecology and Evolution. She is committed to mentoring students in both scientific research and open science practices. 
 

Shihan Li 

Shihan Li is a Ph.D. candidate in oceanography, advised by Dr. Shuang Zhang. His research focuses on developing novel numerical models to explore links between climate evolution and the global carbon cycle, offering insights into climate change. He has published in leading journals, including The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Global and Planetary Change. As a teaching assistant, he supported two coding-based oceanography courses with around 90 undergraduates. His future goals include advancing carbon dioxide removal research through innovative modeling and preparing future geoscientists through interdisciplinary instruction. 
 

Shikhadri Mahanta 

Shikhadri Mahanta, a Ph.D. candidate in Biological and Agricultural Engineering advised by Dr. Janie Moore, researches sustainable food systems using atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) to improve wheat safety and quality. Her work shows ACP can boost seed germination and reduce heavy metal uptake. She has taught over 400 students and was recognized as a Teaching-as- Research scholar for leading an IRB-approved project to enhance lab instruction. Mahanta also serves as a policy intern at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. She plans to graduate in May 2026 and continue advancing research and teaching in agricultural engineering. 
 

Ran Tao 

Ran Tao, a Ph.D. candidate in Oral and Craniofacial Biomedical Sciences advised by Dr. Feng Tao, researches orofacial pain – especially TMJ pain – and how gut microbiota-derived metabolites influence it through epigenetic mechanisms. His goal is to develop non-opioid therapies for TMJ disorders. Tao has published ten peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals, including Pain and Infection, and has presented his findings at national and international conferences. Ran also enjoys teaching and has assisted in mentoring summer students who have gone on to receive research awards for their work. He expects to complete his Ph.D. by August 2026 and plans to continue advancing research and education in dental and medical sciences.