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Meet BDP Alumni

Bridging Disciplines Programs alumni have built extraordinary professional and academic careers since earning their certificates. Click a BDP alum’s name to learn about his or her BDP experience and career path. If you’re an alum, we’d love to hear what you’re doing! Share your story or make updates.

Acacia Coronado
Major: Journalism
BDP Certificate: Human Rights & Social Justice
Graduation Year: December 2019

Acacia Coronado is a corps member with the Report for America/Associated Press statehouse news initiative. Her areas of focus include Texas politics, the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas, the 2020 election, voting, crime, racial injustice, and minority communities.

"The classes that I took through BDP on human rights and social justice broadened my horizons and allowed me to know and understand a diverse array of communities and peoples and their struggles. This gave me a deeper sense of purpose, a desire to explore and listen, and a better idea of the difference I wanted to make through storytelling."
Major: Civil Engineering
BDP Certificate: Environment & Sustainability
Graduation Year: Spring 2011

I am an Associate in Technology, Innovation, and Strategic Alliances for Waste Management Sustainability Services. I do Sustainability Consulting, including research and vetting of new technologies and innovations and strategic partnerships for our customers.

Location: Houston, TX

"The interdisciplinary nature of the BDPs helped me understand how to attack modern environmental issues from various angles and viewpoints to determine the best solution."
Carson Taylor headshot
Major: Radio-Television-Film
BDP Certificate: Digital Arts & Media
Graduation Year: Spring 2016

I work for Zynga as a Producer where I do project and product management for mobile games.

Location: Austin, TX

"The BDP experience allowed me to explore game development through the lenses of Computer Science and Fine Arts as well as RTF, which encouraged my interest in the industry and prepared me for a role where I work with a variety of interdisciplinary specialists."
Major: Government
Graduation Year: Spring 2010

I am a post-doctoral research fellow at the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver.

Location: Denver, CO

"...the BDPs helped me find resources to attend research conferences in political science. This experience undoubtedly prepared me for grad school and opened numerous doors into the academic world of research."
Cody Cheek headshot
Major: Humanities, Liberal Arts Honors
BDP Certificate: Ethics & Leadership
Graduation Year: Spring 2007

I’m in the Army Reserves working as an Attorney-Advisor for the National Congressional Commission on Military Aviation Safety.

Location: Arlington, VA

“To date, I have not met anyone else who received such a vibrant education, and I truly believe the cumulative effects of multi-tiered and functional interdisciplinary studies cannot be overstated.”
Major: Psychology
BDP Certificate: Children & Society
Graduation Year: Fall 2015

Courtney Wiesepape is a clinical psychology research position at Indiana University School of Medicine, currently working with a team developing a therapy for individuals diagnosed with first episode psychosis that targets internalized stigma.

"Participating in BDP helped me to begin to think about things from an interdisciplinary approach, which allows me to be thoughtful in my interactions with my team and value different perspectives. "
Jeannie Aguilar headshot
Major: Psychology
BDP Certificate: Children & Society
Graduation Year: Spring 2005

I work for Blue Sprig Pediatrics as the Area Clinical Director. I oversee clinical quality and delivery in clinics that provide Applied Behavior Analysis therapy to individuals with autism.

Location: Austin, TX

“I work in multidisciplinary teams regularly. My background knowledge from psychology, human development, and special education helps me to connect with professionals from those fields.”
Michelle McCloskey
Major: Middle Eastern Studies, Turkish Language and Literature
Graduation Year: Summer 2007

I am the founder of Linguiphile, a non-profit organization that focuses on less-commonly taught, endangered, and diaspora languages.

Location: Brooklyn, NY

"The Bridging Disciplines Programs helped me focus on my goals and determine the trajectory of my graduate research and career."
Nida Virani
Major: Psychology
BDP Certificate: Social Inequality, Health & Policy
Graduation Year: Fall 2013

I am earning an MPH at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Location: Boston, MA

“The courses I took for BDP allowed me to see the complexities of social and health inequities. I realized that simply wanting to make a change isn't enough; you have to understand the context of the issues you want to address.”
Prianka Legesse-Sinha headshot
Major: Biology
BDP Certificate: Social Inequality, Health & Policy
Graduation Year: Fall 2014

I am a Research Project Manager for The University of Texas Medical Branch Behavioral Health and Research where I conduct the evaluation of the Causeway Galveston project. I also earned an MPH in Epidemiology from the UT Health Science Center at Houston.

Location: Galveston, TX

“Interdisciplinary education prepared me for my current job by teaching me to understand various perspectives for approaching problems and situations.”

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