Mentoring &
Community Engagement

I believe that science, teaching, and service are all best done in community. Part of my mission as an academic is to practice research and teaching as liberatory work that builds up community. This means that we recognize the ways that academic structures and culture perpetuates harms such as racism, classism, ableism, and that we are practicing ways of research, teaching, and service that move towards justice. Rather than fixing symptoms of injustice one-by-one, we address them in an integrated way. In contrast with the culture of individualism, we do this together in community.

Concretely, the way I have practiced this at Stanford and MIT has been through mentoring, teaching, and service, particularly through programs or initiatives that support graduate student inclusion and well-being.

A Zoom screenshot of Joel and his labmates. There are nine screens.

Highlighted Service Activities:

  • President, Stanford ChemE Graduate Student Action Committee

  • Head Community Associate, Stanford Graduate Life Office

  • Mentor, Stanford Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education program

  • TA Mentor, Stanford ChemE

  • TA Training Workshop Leader, Stanford ChemE

  • Fellow, David M. Mason Fellowship for scholarship & service (inaugural recipient)