The graduate dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:

Serena M. Birnbaum, Ph.D., Polymer Science and Engineering, Monday, May 11, 9 a.m., Conte Polymer Research Building A110/111. Dissertation: “Extending Adhesive Functionality by Tuning Adhesion Through Internal Phase changes and by Modulating Impact Through Adhesive Interfaces in Metamaterials.” Alfred J. Crosby, chair.

Sherry Woods, Ph.D., Psychological and Brain Sciences, Monday, May 11, 4 p.m., via Zoom. Dissertation: “Examining NSSI Motives as Predictors of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Response.” Katherine Dixon-Gordon, chair.

Leah M. Travis-Taylor, Ph.D., Geoscience, Tuesday, May 12, 9 a.m., via Zoom. Dissertation: “Late Quaternary Caribbean Hydroclimate Variability.” Martin Medina-Elizalde, chair.

Shreyas Chaudhari, Computer Science, Tuesday, May 12, 10 a.m., CS 203. Dissertation: “Compact Reinforcement Learning: Resource- Efficient Formulations for Large-Scale Decision Making.” Bruno Castro da Silva, chair.

Tatiana Daza Merchan, Ph.D., Food Science, Tuesday, May 12, 10 a.m., South College W245. Dissertation: “Urea Promotes Bifidobacterium Longum Subsp. Infantis Morphological Plasticity without Disrupting Community Structure in a Modeled Infant Gut Microbiome.” David Sela, chair.

Lan Mi, Ph.D., Chemistry, Wednesday, May 13, 10 a.m., Goessman 153. Dissertation: “Genetically Encoded RNA-Based Fluorescent and Bioluminescent Sensors.” Mingxu You, chair.

Ali Zeynali, Ph.D., Computer Science, Wednesday, May 13, 10 a.m., LGRC A311. Dissertation: “Online Sequential Decision Making for Resource Allocation.” Mohammad Hajiesmaili and Ramesh Sitaraman, chair.

Abhinav Bhatia, Ph.D., Computer Science, Wednesday, May 13, 11 a.m., CSL E400. Dissertation: “Learning to Think about Thinking: Metareasoning with Deep Reinforcement Learning for Efficient and Safe Decision-Making.” Shlomo Zilberstein, chair.

Cosku Mihci, Ph.D., Economics, Wednesday, May 13, noon, Crotty Hall 308 and via Zoom. Dissertation: “Deaccumulation in the Capitalocene: Mitigating Ecological Crisis and Economic Inequality by Degrowth and Democratic Planning.” Michael Ash, chair.

Nazanin Jafari, Ph.D., Computer Science, Wednesday, May 13, 1 p.m., via Zoom. Dissertation: “NLP-Based Approaches for Improved Information Integrity.” James Allen, chair.

Timothy Nsubuga, Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wednesday, May 13, 2:30 p.m., Kellogg 118 ELab 2. Dissertation: “Water Quality and Water Age: Insights into Watershed Processed in the Northeastern United States.” Christian Guzman, chair.

Miguel Fuentes, Ph.D., Computer Science, Thursday, May 14, 10 a.m., CSL E239. Dissertation: “Data with Applications to Privacy and Ecology.” Daniel Sheldon, chair.

Kwan-Hyuck Kim, Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Thursday, May 14, noon, 118 ELab 2. Dissertation: “Advancing Large Scale River Discharge Estimation: Ungauged Prediction and Urban SWOT Correction.” Kostas Andreadis, chair.

Grace Leone, Ph.D., Polymer Science and Engineering, Thursday, May 14, 1:30 p.m., Conte Polymer Research Building A110/111. Dissertation: “Designing Functional Polymers for Semiconductor Nanocrystal Performance.” Todd S. Emrick, chair.