Community & Culture

MCB students and faculty regularly participate in or host events designed to help strengthen and sustain a culture of inclusion and belonging.

Philosophy & Purpose

The MCB Community & Culture Committee brings together faculty, staff, postdocs, and students to foster an equitable, accessible, and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive in their work. The committee advises departmental leadership and supports programming that strengthens community culture and values the people who make up the department.

 
 

We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2026 MCB Lisa Eshun-Wilson Community Award. This award recognizes outstanding contributions by MCB graduate students and postdocs who demonstrate exceptional leadership and a deep commitment to strengthening our department’s sense of connection and collaboration through community engagement and mentorship.

 

✨ Congratulations to our 2026 Winners!! ✨
Learn about winners from previous years here.

 
 
Izaiah Ornelas headshot

Izaiah Ornelas, PhD Candidate, Nuñez Lab

Expanded access to molecular biology for community college, CSU, and undergraduate students, particularly first-generation and transfer students, through outreach efforts including CRISPR-based demonstrations, mentoring for summer research internships, and lab tours at UC Berkeley. His work focuses on making research pathways more transparent and attainable for students from underrepresented backgrounds, grounded in a mentorship approach centered on trust, listening, and meeting students where they are.

 
Julia Falo-Sanjuan headshot

Julia Falo-Sanjuan, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Eisen and Garcia Labs

Strengthened postdoctoral and graduate community through hosting monthly coffee hours, serving as the GGED postdoc representative, being an elected leader in the Union of Academic Workers at UC and supporting trainees through diversity-focused programs such as PREP and CalBridge. Her work emphasizes mentorship, community building, working with other researchers to improve academia and supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds as they prepare for and succeed in graduate training.

 
Dr. Lisa Eshun Wilson

A note from Dr. Lisa Eshun Wilson

In 2018, I launched iMCB with the mission to enhance every student’s sense of belonging. I believed that if we as an institution implemented evidence-based, sustainable strategies to improve diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on campus, we could transform the institutional culture and alleviate the diversity tax on our marginalized students. It was an ambitious goal, but as a hub for social justice and innovation, Berkeley was the perfect place to cultivate a sense of belonging for historically underrepresented students, specifically those susceptible to institutional bias.

 
 

Questions? Contact Aubrey Green, Director of Community & Belonging, aubreygreen@berkeley.edu