The 2026 Annual ETOX Symposium

On Wednesday May 27, the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program held its annual Student Symposium which consisted of student oral and poster presentations, several meals, a career panel discussion with three alumni, a host of awards, and some social activities.  The symposium was very successful with many excellent student presentations.  The award winners are shown on the first two photographs.  In the third photo, ETOX Director gave a new initiatives to the ETOX mini-GSA representatives to recognize their activities over the past year. Other photos from the symposium are shown below.  

The award winners flanked by ETOX Director Linlin Zhao (on left) and Prof. Wei-Chun Chou, faculty lead of the Symposium committee (on right). 

ETOX mini-GSA representatives being recognized for their service by Director Linlin Zhao (on right)

ETOX alumni, Nicole Sparks (left), Lauren Walker (center) and Tom "Lok Ming" Tam (on screen) being recognized for participating in the Panel Discussion on Careers.  William Troxell (on right) moderated the discussion.

  

Daniel Petras Leads Team Investigating Chemical Prevalence in Marine Waters Around World

Daniel Petras, a professor in the Biochemistry Department and ETOX faculty member, recently led a multi-national team investigating the presence of human-made chemicals in the marine environment in many parts of the world.  Their work was recently published in the journal Nature Geoscience and was highlighted in UC Riverside News. Their sampling locations are shown in the figure above (from their Nature Geosciences article).  Their "analysis revealed that common pollutants such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals were predominantly detected in estuaries and coastal areas but declined with distance from shore, whereas industrial chemicals and additives, including polyalkylene glycols, phthalates and organophosphates, were widely distributed across marine ecosystems."  Our congratulations to Dr. Petras and his collaborators for this important work and for the recognition that their study is receiving.   

ETOX Field Trip to the Stringfellow Hazardous Waste Site

On April 14, 2026, Linlin Zhao, Director of the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, led a group of students to the infamous Stringfellow Acid Pits hazardous waste site in Jurupa Valley, a community near Riverside, CA.  The group met with site personnel and officials from California's Department of Toxic Substances Control who helped them learn firsthand about the site’s complex history and the extensive remediation strategies taking place at the Pyrite Canyon Treatment Facility. Those on the trip indicated that "seeing how science, policy, and environmental stewardship come together in real-world applications made this visit truly impactful".  My thanks to Linlin for providing the above photo of the group at the Stringfellow site.  

Consulting Positions at TRC Companies

TRC Companies (the Strategic Health Sciences, specifically its Product Stewardship group) is looking to fill two Principal/Senior Scientist leader positions (10+ years experience). The company has a diverse specialty in consulting that focuses on toxicology, risk assessment, applied research, product stewardship, etc.  The job location is Herndon, VA or Pittsburgh, PN, but can also be remote.  Please follow the links below for more information.

Senior Scientist - Strategic Health Sciences | TRC Companies, Inc. | LinkedIn 

Senior Scientist - Strategic Health Sciences in Herndon, Virginia | Careers at Herndon, VA

Our thanks to ETOX alumna Crystal Hua, who works for TRC Companies, for letting us know about these positions.   

ETOX Program was Well Represented at SOT Meeting in San Diego

Quite a few Environmental Toxicology Program students, faculty and alumni attended the SOT meeting in San Diego. It was great to see some of them, and take their photo (see below).  

Prof. David Eastmond with my first Ph.D. student Dr. Hongwei (Victor) Chen

Alumnae Drs. Aali Reddam (on left) and Sarah Avila-Barnard (on right) with David Eastmond (center). We are in front of Sarah's poster. 

2024 Graduate Dr. Alexa Canchola

Prof. Prue Talbot with alumna Dr. Lauren Walker

David Eastmond and alumna Dr. Crystal Hua

After lunch with alumni Sharada Balakrishnan (on left) and Efrem Neuwirth (on right) and David Eastmond (center) 

Current student John Hoang

Madeline Vera-Colon Receives BMS Research Training Award at the Society of Toxicology Meeting

Madeline Vera-Colon, an ETOX M.S. alumna and current Ph.D. student at UC Irvine received the Bristol Myers Squibb Graduate Student Research Training Award to Promote Diversity in Toxicology.  Madeline works in the laboratory of Professor Nicole Sparks, another ETOX alumna.  The award was presented during the recent Society of Toxicology meeting San Diego.  Both Madeline and Nicole were invited to the podium. Several photos from the award ceremony are below. Our congratulations to Madeline on this well deserved award.  

Environmental Toxicology Faculty Recognized at 2026 UCR Awards Reception

On March 5, 2026, UC Riverside held a Faculty Recognition Reception at the Riverside Convention Center in downtown Riverside to recognize faculty on campus who had been promoted or were recipients of national awards.  The Environmental Toxicology Faculty were well represented.  Below are the names and recognitions received by our faculty. More information about the event can be found in a recent Inside UCR News article. 

Promotion to Associate Professor with tenure: Sihem Cheloufi and Jernej Murn.

Advancement to Professor Step VI: Jikui Song. 

Manuela Martins-Green - Elected as Fellow of the Wound Healing Society and as a member of its Board of Directors.

Mihri Ozkan - Selected for the Invention Ambassador Award by the National Academy of Inventors.

Changcheng Zhou Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Our congratulations to these faculty members for their promotions and recognitions.  [The photo above of Mihri Ozkan (on right) and her husband Cenziz Ozkan is from the Inside UCR article.]