Graduate Affiliates 2023
Graduate Affilates (GAs) are graduate students at Yale who are associated with Silliman. Many of them are former Yale College students and Sillimanders! They will be hosting events throughout the semester, but also are available for support and advice. Feel free to reach out to them if you ever want to meet up!
Zach Silver (Head GA)
Undergrad Institution: Illinois Wesleyan University
Undergrad Major: Music, Psychology
Current Grad Program: PhD in Psychology
Favorite things to do: Outside of the lab, I enjoy Yoga, stand-up paddleboarding, and playing with my dog!
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: I’m currently watching Schitt’s Creek, reading The Wheel of Time series, and listening to all sorts of music including Ben Howard, Bon Iver, and The National.
My email: zachary.silver@yale.edu
Minh Huynh Vu
Undergrad Institution: Yale College (Silliman ‘20)
Undergrad Major: English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Current Grad Program: Ph.D. in American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Graduate Certificate in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration
Favorite things to do: Going to Taco Bell and taking mid-day walks
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: Everything Everywhere All at Once, Abbott Elementary, and SZA’ SOS
My email: minh.vu@yale.edu
Astrid Hengartner
Undergrad Institution: Yale (Silliman!)
Undergrad Major: Neuroscience
Current Grad Program: Medical School
Favorite things to do: I love hiking, skiing, backpacking, guitar, film photography, and propagating my plants!
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: I’m currently reading Klara and the Sun and listening to Gracie Abrams on repeat.
My email: astrid.hengartner@yale.edu
Sonia Ruiz
Undergrad Institution: Yale (Grace Hopper ‘19)
Undergrad Major: Psychology
Current Grad Program: PhD in clinical psychology
Favorite things to do: I like drawing/painting, landscape photography, collecting vintage postcards, going on Atticus/East Rock walks with friends, and tending to my foodstagram! My unsolicited food recs: Chacra, quesitos from Pan del Cielo 2, and anything out on the P&M Market patio.
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: Currently listening to Keane, ALLBLACK (yes Bay Area!), and Nikolai Kapustin. I also have a soft spot for ASMR, especially paper crinkles. I enjoy reading the New Yorker.
My email: sonia.ruiz@yale.edu
May Conley
Undergrad Institution: University of Montana
Undergrad Majors: Psychology; Environmental Studies (Food and Farming focus)
Current Grad Program: PhD in Clinical Psychology
Favorite things to do: Outside of research you can catch me powerlifting, aggressive inline skating, riding my bike, snowboarding, going to museums/galleries, and cooking dinner with friends.
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: Recently, I have been working my way through the 1001 Movies You Must Watch Before You Die list, reading The Song of The Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and can’t stop, won’t stop listening to detroit house, italo disco, dancehall, and 2000s reggaeton.
My email: may.conley@yale.edu
Edwin Ruiz Fuentes
Undergrad Institution: Yale (Silliman ‘22)
Undergrad Major: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Current Grad Program: Yale School of Public Health
Favorite things to do: spending time outdoors, wine tasting and wineries, trying things for the first time, brunch, vibing with friends and family, grocery shopping
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: Netflix originals (Wednesday, Kaleidoscope, Mo, Cobra Kai, The Umbrella Academy, Stranger Things, You, The Crown), Abbott Elementary
My email: edwin.ruizfuentes@yale.edu
Raqib Valli
Undergrad Institution: University of St Andrews ‘20
Undergrad Major: Ecology & Conservation Biology
Current Grad Program: Masters of Forestry
Favorite things to do: outside of class, I enjoy backpacking, surfing in Rhode Island, listening to classical music and cooking Asian food. I also have a weakness for good knitwear and am the owner of several partially-complete scarves.
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: I’m currently reading Either/Or (Kierkegaard) and Eyeless in Gaza (Huxley), and listening to Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending on repeat.
My email: raqib.valli@yale.edu
Lauren Lautermilch
Undergrad Institution: Yale (Silliman ‘22!)
Undergrad Major: Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology
Current Grad Program: YSPH, MPH in Chronic Disease Epiemiology
Favorite things to do: Outside of class and research, I love cooking and baking for friends & family, watching Ohio sports (especially the Cleveland Cavaliers!), and FaceTiming my dog who unfortunately lives in Ohio, not Connecticut.
What I’m watching, reading, listening to: Currently reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro; currently watching Anne with an E, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15, Station Eleven; currently listening to Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (I listen to more audiobooks than music!!)
My email: lauren.lautermilch@yale.edu