�� Boulder graduate student named a Google PhD fellow

Cay Leytham-Powell — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 19:14:22 +0000

�� Boulder graduate student named a Google PhD fellow Cay Leytham-Powell Fri, 10/24/2025 - 13:14

Hye-Young Jo of computer science and the ATLAS Institute will be using the funding to research human-computer interactions

Hye-Young Jo, a PhD student in computer science, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Global Google PhD Fellowship, Google announced this week.

These fellowships recognize outstanding graduate students who are conducting exceptional and innovative research in computer science and related fields, specifically focusing on candidates who seek to influence the future of technology.

Jo, who is also part of the ATLAS Institute, will be using the support from Google.org to research human-computer interactions. She is only the second �� Boulder student to receive the fellowship, and the first since 2022

“We strongly believe that supporting fundamental science leads to a generation of new knowledge, which fuels innovation and ultimately drives broad societal impact. We are excited to support the fellows’ work and see the profound impact they will have on the future of technology and the world,” Google said in its press release.

Google’s fellowship program provides vital direct financial support for PhD pursuits and connects each fellow with a dedicated Google Research Mentor, “reinforcing our commitment to nurturing the academic community,” Google said, adding:

“We look forward to partnering with them as they continue to become leaders in their respective areas.”

Jo is a member of Assistant Professor Ryo Suzuki’s Programmable Reality Lab. Jo’s recent research focuses on enhancing motion learning and digital content authoring through eXtended Reality (XR), AI and haptic technologies.

Jo holds a BFA in fine art (painting and media arts) from Seoul National University and an MS in industrial design from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology. Before getting into research, she worked as a film VFX (visual effects) compositor and XR generalist in the Korean film industry.

Since the PhD fellowship’s inception 16 years ago, Google has supported over 950 students globally, representing 44 countries and 227 institutions. This year’s fellowship will provide over $10 million to support 255 PhD students across 35 countries and 12 research domains, committing to a generation of researchers who understand that accelerating scientific discovery is vital to solving the world’s toughest challenges.

More information about the fellowship, including details on how to apply next year, is available on Google’s research website.

Hye-Young Jo of computer science and the ATLAS Institute will be using the funding to research human-computer interactions.

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�� Boulder graduate student participates in women’s Rugby World Cup

Cay Leytham-Powell — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 16:02:49 +0000

�� Boulder graduate student participates in women’s Rugby World Cup Cay Leytham-Powell Fri, 08/22/2025 - 10:02

McKenzie Hawkins, a doctoral student in ATOC, reflects on balancing the sport with her studies, and why she does both.

Rugby has always been a part of McKenzie Hawkins’ life.

Ever since she was a toddler, she’s had a ball in her hands. Her father coached the sport in her hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., and was an avid fan, exposing her at a young age. Despite that, she didn’t join a team herself until she was 10 years old. And, once she did, never stopped.

“My parents always told me, ‘No pressure,’ (to play) just cause my dad coached. ‘No pressure on playing, you can always stop playing when you stop having fun,’” Hawkins recalls. “I actually still use that mantra now. I still feel like I’m enjoying the sport itself and so that’s what’s kept me in at this point.”

Fast forward to present day, Hawkins, who is a player for the Denver Onyx and a doctoral student in atmospheric and oceanic sciences (ATOC) at the University of Colorado Boulder, has joined the women’s Rugby World Cup team—for the second time.

Her first trip, though, didn’t quite go as planned. While she’d been part of the team, she never earned a jersey, which meant she never played on the field.

“It’s a thing in rugby culture to earn the jersey, and then when you get the jersey, you wear it for the game, and you try and leave the jersey in a better place for the next person who gets to wear it, which is really cool,” Hawkins says.

“There’s a lot of pride in earning your jersey and also passing it on to the next person who can wear it or keep it for as long as you can … There’s a lot of pride in making that 23 roster that gets to represent your country or your club.”

Not getting to see the field “fueled a lot of motivation for this one,” Hawkins says, adding: “When I decided to come back to the sport after that world cup, I knew that I was going to go all in with this one, and I’ve done pretty much everything possible that I can to make sure that I’m in the best spot to hopefully get a jersey once the world cup starts.”

And that work has paid off. Hawkins, who plays fly-half, has been named a starter in the first match against England on Aug. 22.

Whether or not Hawkins continues to play rugby after this year’s world cup is still up in the air, she says. One thing she does know, though, is that she wants to finish her degree at �� Boulder.

It was during Hawkins’ time in Denver that she decided to pursue a PhD in ATOC. While she didn’t have a clear idea of what she wanted to study before joining, it was her time in Professor Peter Pilewskie’s research group that helped her find her way.

Her research uses Earth-observing data from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics’ Compact Total Irradiance Monitor CubeSat, a small satellite that provides low-cost, space-based observations, to compare Earth observations from larger NASA satellites.

“Part of the reason I wanted to do a PhD is that I never want a younger girl to think that she’s limited to the things that she can do. ... For me, when I’m juggling doing rugby, and those training hours are a full-time job, and also doing a graduate program, I think about how we can’t be limited in what we do, and we should reach for the stars in everything that we want to do. That’s a big part of why I do both things.”

Hawkins hopes to use this information to potentially enhance Earth Radiation Budget records, or the data about the level of energy coming in from the sun with the amount going out from the Earth. This information, in turn, could be used to support future climate change policy and action, she says.

“I feel so lucky to be in this program. I couldn’t have found a better fit. I love my little group—the Pilewskie group—super supportive, and for me, it’s really nice to have a program that understands that I’m a person outside of what I do at school, and I think that the program really supports the holistic human,” Hawkins says.

“They support me being here (at the world cup) and having these experiences, because it also develops me as a person and me as a scientist as well. I feel very fortunate to be around the people that are in that program.”

Balancing the two endeavors, Hawkins says, has been tricky, but worth it.

“Part of the reason I wanted to do a PhD is that I never want a younger girl to think that she’s limited to the things that she can do,” says Hawkins.

“For me, when I’m juggling doing rugby, and those training hours are a full-time job, and also doing a graduate program, I think about how we can’t be limited in what we do, and we should reach for the stars in everything that we want to do. That’s a big part of why I do both things.”

McKenzie Hawkins, a doctoral student in ATOC, reflects on balancing the sport with her studies, and why she does both.

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�� Boulder graduate student named a Google PhD fellow

�� Boulder graduate student participates in women’s Rugby World Cup