Steering Committee Leadership
The Steering Committee is a group of postdoctoral scholars who regularly take part in meetings, events, and interact with the officers of the UMN-PDA. The Steering Committee are the postdoctoral scholars responsible for shaping postdoctoral policy at the University of Minnesota. Officers are voted on annually and can serve up to three years.
Any postdoc can become a member of the Steering Committee simply by notifying the PDA and showing up for meetings (in person or virtually).
Minutes of all Steering Committee meetings are publicly available.
Officers
President
Tori Osinski, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Medical School
Vice President
Neetu Yadav, PhD
Department of Chemistry; College of Science and Engineering
Policy and Advocacy Officer
Courtney Matson, PhD
Department of Microbiology; Medical School
Treasurer
Nilanjan Chatterjee, PhD
Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology; College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Sciences
Secretary
Holly Korthas, PhD
Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology; College of Pharmacy
Chairs
Communications and Outreach Chair
Raisa Andeme Ela, PhD
Department of Chemical Engineering & Material Science; College of Science and Engineering
International Affairs Chair
Marco Künzli, PhD
Department of Microbiology; Medical School
Social Chair
Beatriz Baselga Cervera, PhD, DVM
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; College of Biological Sciences
Representatives and Liaisons
Kelsey Johnson, PhD
Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development; College of Biological Sciences
Tori Osinski, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Medical School
SCFA Term Faculty Advisory Subcommittee
Courtney Matson, PhD
Department of Microbiology; Medical School
Beatriz Baselga Cervera, PhD, DVM
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; College of Biological Sciences
Graduate Student Advisory Board
Courtney Matson, PhD
Department of Microbiology; Medical School
Vacant - contact pda@umn.edu to join
Provost's Task Force on Faculty Behavior in Graduate Education Committee
Manisha Munasinghe, PhD
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology; College of Biological Sciences
Delegates
Delegates are self-nominating volunteers responsible for participating in monthly PDA meetings and representing the interests of their unit colleagues. Each college, center, institute, or satellite campus is given a number of seats on the PDA Steering Committee depending on the proportion of postdocs they employ. PDA officers are elected from the pool of delegates. Additional delegates to colleges currently with delegate representation are welcome.
UMN-Duluth
Lei Wang, PhD
Office for the Vice President of Research (Hormel Institute, Institute on the Environment, Minnesota Population Center, and the Supercomputing Institute)
Elizabeth Abraham, PhD
Non-affiliated Academic Health Center departments (e.g. Cancer Center, Center for Drug Design)
Noelle Gillis, PhD
College of Liberal Arts/College of Education and Human Development/Public Affairs/Public Health
Vacant - contact pda@umn.edu to join
College of Biological Sciences
Beatriz Baselga Cervera, PhD, DVM
Kelsey Johnson, PhD
College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences/Veterinary Medicine
Nilanjan Chatterjee, PhD
Medical School, Dentistry, Pharmacy
Tori Osinski, PhD
Holly Korthas, PhD
Courtney Matson, PhD
Marco Künzli, PhD
College of Science and Engineering
Neetu Yadav, PhD
Morgan Turner, PhD
Raisa Andeme Ela, PhD
Team Members
Team members are ad-hoc volunteers that have agreed to be contacted to help organize specific events, without any predetermined time or effort commitment. All PDA members can volunteer throughout the year (no elections needed).