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Current Graduate Interns

Oluwagbotemi Akinsoji

Oluwagbotemi Akinsoji

ODI Graduate Intern

Oluwagbotemi Akinsoji is a PhD candidate in the chemistry program at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on using metal-organic frameworks as catalysts for CO2 capture and for reducing CO2 both electrochemically and photocatalytically. Oluwagbotemi began her chemistry journey at the University of Central Florida, where she graduated in 2022. During her time at UCF, she was a Ronald McNair Scholar and a Barry Goldwater Fellow. It was also during her undergraduate years that she developed a strong interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). As a first-generation student and the proud daughter of immigrant parents, she is passionate about mentoring underrepresented students and advocating for people of color (POC) within the academic community. Currently, at Northwestern, Oluwagbotemi is a first-generation low-income (FGLI) graduate mentor. During her free time, she enjoys exploring the city.
Kayla Boyden

Kayla Boyden

ODI Graduate Intern

Kayla Boyden is currently a PhD student in the English Graduate Program at Northwestern University. Her research explores Black contemporary poetry and poetics, Black feminist thought, and critical theory. While Kayla was an undergraduate student at the University of California: Irvine she began working with various student organizations focused on outreach and retention of BIPOC students. There she realized that along with her academic passions, she was invested in supporting marginalized students like herself in their academic pursuits. During her master’s degree at the University of California: Los Angeles, Kayla served as the 2020–21 graduate mentor for the Ronald E. McNair Research Scholars program where she supported 14 undergraduate students of color in their journey towards graduate school. Currently, Kayla is a Poetry and Poetics Mellon Cluster Fellow. She is also a First-Generation Low Income (FGLI) graduate mentor at Northwestern.
Spencer Nabors

Spencer Nabors

ODI Graduate Intern

Spencer Alexandria Nabors is a PhD candidate in philosophy at Northwestern University. She began her philosophy journey at Spelman College where she graduated in 2020 with honors. Her research interests are in critical phenomenology, social epistemology, and philosophy of race. At Spelman, Spencer was a Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow. In 2019, she served as president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel Assistants Program at Morehouse College. She is only the second woman to hold the esteemed position. At Northwestern, Spencer is a Critical Theory Mellon Cluster Fellow. She also serves as a fellow in the Office of Diversity & Inclusion where she assists with retention programming and serves as a graduate mentor in the Summer Research Opportunities Program. In her free time, Spencer enjoys reading by the lake and exploring Chicago.

Anthea Wang

Anthea Wang

ODI Graduate Intern

Anthea Weng is currently a PhD candidate in the Driskill Graduate Program in Life Sciences at Northwestern University. Currently, Anthea is studying how the alveolar epithelium repairs and regenerates following lung injury by toggling various genetic pathways.  She received her bachelor’s in Neuroscience and a minor in Legal Studies at Northwestern in 2019. Anthea is also involved in other STEM leadership and diversity initiatives including starting BiomedConnect, a life sciences peer mentoring program, and serving as a mentor for first-generation low-income undergraduate students. Anthea joined the Summer Research Opportunity Program as a group leader in the summer of 2024.

If you'd like to work with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion as a graduate intern, please apply here.