Anika Sarna
(sHe/Her)
Anika is a sophomore Chemistry major on the pre-medical track who grew up in Houston, Texas. She is a Health Science Scholar and also the president of UT's Longhorn Squash Club, a sport she has been playing since starting middle school. She is also the fundraising chair for UT's chapter of the American Chemical Society. She is a part of Urban Ecosystem's Data Mining team, doing research using R to correlate environmental stressors and their impact on the ecosystem. She is very passionate about equity and accessibility in healthcare, leading her to pursue a certificate in Spanish for the Medical professions. In her free time, Anika likes to read fiction books and has recently gotten into thriller and mystery books. She hopes to attend medical school after completing her undergraduate education. As a Walker Fellow, Anika hopes to gain a deeper understanding of social issues within Austin and what actions can be taken to support underserved communities most effectively.
Will Jackson
(He/Him)
Will is a fourth-year MIS and Plan II student who is passionate about the stewardship of our planet. Though he grew up in Houston, he spent much of his childhood in Kemah, Texas, where he sailed casually and competitively and was fortunate enough to spend many weekends in the outdoors. It was there that he developed his love for the natural world that extends into his work today. Will hopes to eventually combine his various passions of environmentalism, technology, business, and energy into a unified interdisciplinary practice. He feels that it is primarily through the confines of the business world that we can create lasting, positive change. To that end, Will has picked up a minor in entrepreneurship in hopes that he might develop the principles associated with bringing a positive idea to market. While he is deeply driven to protect the future of our planet, he acknowledges that humans are defensive of their lifestyles and adamant to change them. Keeping that in mind, Will sees environmentalism as an opportunity to get creative and tactful. Like Indiana Jones’ idol swap scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but imagine trading plastic water bottles for boxed water (and not triggering a massive boulder trap).
Teo Jakobsen
(He/Him)
Teo is a fourth-year student majoring in Neuroscience and Plan II Honors. He is a Polymathic Scholar and serves as co-president of the Plan II Pre-Medical Society. He serves as a research assistant for one of his former Plan II professors, works as a teaching assistant for neuroscience courses, and mentors first-year Plan II folks. He writes for the Texas Triple Helix and serves as their finance director, and is a founding fellow and returning board member of the E. Lee Walker Fellowship. Though raised in McKinney, Texas, he spent many summer months north of the arctic circle in Steigen, Norway, where his father is from. There, he developed a strong appreciation for healthy living and the natural environment. For his senior thesis, he is conducting an ethnographic study of community-centered outdoors activities (contextualized through the philosophy of Friluftsliv) in rural areas of northern Norway. In his free time, Teo enjoys playing ultimate frisbee and pickleball, noodling around on his saxophone, and cruising down Lady Bird Lake on his SUP (stand up paddleboard). After undergraduate studies, he aims to attend medical school. More than anything, Teo embraces exposure to all sorts of people and ideas, and cherishes the ability to work with such talented individuals in the Walker Fellowship.
Christine Okoro
(She/Her)
Christine Okoro is a fourth-year student from Houston, Texas. She is currently majoring in neuroscience and pursuing a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies. She works as a student assistant at the UT Child Development Center and volunteer coordinator for the Dell Medical School’s Pre-Health and Diversity Scholars Program. She is extremely passionate about serving underrepresented communities and advocating for equity within the healthcare industry. So, she joined the Healthy Rural Texas project, a study which bridges the gap between intervention and diabetes education for rural Latino communities. Her commitments toward service and advocacy are driven by her childhood experiences in Nigeria and Angola, which have ultimately inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. Using her role as a Walker Fellow, Christine hopes to continue expanding her understanding of service and the ways in which human-centered design can allow us to enact sustainable changes within any community setting.
Joshua Rodriguez
(He/Him)
Joshua Rodriguez is a Rio Grande Valley native and fourth-year student from Weslaco, Texas, double-majoring in Neuroscience and Plan II Honors, while also on the pre-medical track. As a future medical care professional, Joshua was inspired to pursue the long path to becoming a Physician when the Covid-19 Pandemic broke out during the latter-half of his senior year in high school, and witnessed firsthand the effects of inequitable access to healthcare that is rampant in impoverished regions in the U.S. Josh worked to become an Emergency Medical Technician in the summer following his senior year of high school, and was able to help assist the Emergency Medical Services that were understaffed especially during the peak of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Furthermore, Joshua is the current Vice President of Plan II Pre-Medical Society, a returning Board Member for the Walker Fellowship, and an undergraduate research assistant for the Nixon Lab here at UT Austin, studying the various underlying neurological mechanisms behind Alcoholism & Addiction, with the hope of pinpointing areas of promise for further medical research. In his free-time, Josh loves to play pick-up basketball wherever he can, especially at Gregory Gymnasium at UT, and also has volunteered with the Edcouch Fire Department, a neighboring city to his hometown.
Emma Roseman
(She/Her)
Emma Roseman is a fourth-year student from Dallas, Texas pursuing a degree in Neuroscience with a BDP certificate in Children and Society. She has always been passionate about closing gaps in healthcare disparities and hopes to gain more experience in the policy and nonprofit work that could ensure more health equity. Most recently, Emma spent two months in Madrid, Spain working at a nonprofit that provides resources and care to individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis. On campus, Emma has explored her interests further through the Synapse organization and the Glow Worms Lab where she conducted genome editing research using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. These experiences have sparked Emma’s interest in building connections with communities of people in need of either physical or mental health care. While serving as a Walker Fellowship board member, Emma hopes to encourage students to build bridges between these communities, fostering deep and meaningful relationships along the way.
Rathna
(She/Her)
Rathna is from Round Rock. She spends her time making costumes for her dog Nemo and painting. Growing up, Rathna enjoyed volunteering on the weekends at the CARITAS of Austin Soup Kitchen for 10 years, with her self-granted title of Executive Pastry Organizer (she arranged HEB dessert donations in trays). She also enjoyed mentoring elementary school robotics team. Her involvement in robotics teams throughout high school and middle school led her to pursue electrical engineering, and she wants to provide the same types of STEM opportunities to schools that may not have the funding or personnel to allow for such programs. She mainly wants to encourage all interested students to find their place within the STEM industry, no matter their backgrounds or talents. As an Electrical Engineering and Plan II Student, she hopes to combine social work and engineering, creating innovations that promote sustainability and access to vital and limited resources, such as water.
Max Stein
(He/Him)
Max is a third-year student from Austin, Texas studying Plan II and History. Although he has a passion for learning about social, political, and economic developments throughout history, he enjoys an interdisciplinary education. Max loves learning about new subjects and ideas, so he does not know what he wants to do after college. Max grew up in a family that valued community and many of his relatives volunteer their time with non-profit and aid organizations. He has followed suit by helping to organize a day of service, called J-Serve, for three years before arriving at UT. Max has addressed an issue he is very passionate about, hate, by working with the Anti-Defamation League to develop educational programming for his peers. Max hopes to tackle other prominent issues with his cohort in the Walker Fellowship while also gaining new perspectives to become a better global citizen. In his free time, Max is involved in Texas Hillel and Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity and enjoys rooting for the Longhorns.