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Nat App Biographies for Spring 2016

	Alannah Alvarez – Project Manager Alvarez is a fifth year graduating this semester with her degree in Mechanical Engineering. She is a returning member and is the Engineering Service Learning team, Project Manager this semester for team Naturalist App. She choose the team because she has developed a new profound love for the Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve and wishes to utilize her mechanical engineering skills for the community. Currently, she is a founding and an active member of the new chapter Society of Women in Engineers. Outside of her engineering life, Alannah loves to play her trumpet and perform with the Bobcat Band.
	Armando Leon – Assistant Project Manager Leon is a second year Computer Science and Engineering student. Leon is the Assistant Project Manager of the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. He choose it because it gave him the opportunity to make an impact in the community of Merced. In the present, Leon is an executive board member of the on-campus engineering organization Ingenieros Unidos where he helps organize events and workshops to improve students academically and professionally. He has a strong desire to learn robotics and wishes to attend graduate school in the future to study robotics.
	Israel Fernandez –Communication Officer Fernandez, better known as “Izzy”, ever since my third grade teacher gave me that nickname. He is from Southern California. He lives near Palm Springs so he loves hot sunny days. His passions are music, food, and basketball. He loves going to the gym so if you want to tag along to make some gains you're always welcome to come. He is majoring in Bioengineering. His goals for this semester are to strive for success, build meaningful connections, and overall serve the community. Fernandez is currently majoring in Bioengineering. He is the Communications Officer for the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. He lives near Palm Springs so he loves hot sunny days. His passions are music, food, and basketball and he loves going to the gym with other people. His goals for this semester are to strive for success, build meaningful connections, and overall to serve the community.
	Justin Ho Ching Lok – Intellectual Property Officer Justin Ho Ching Lok is a first year student at UC Merced. Lok works as the Intellectual Property Officer for the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. As an aspiring Computer Science and Engineering major, Lok looks forward to assist the team in the creation of the Naturalist App. Although lacking in experience, he is enthusiastic about working with the team. As a person interested in environmental sciences, Lok choose to work on the Naturalist App to help monitor the UC Merced Vernal Pools and Grasslands Reserve. In his off time, Lok enjoys playing video games and purchasing various snacks in the campus marketplace.
	Zhao Ming “Russell” Yu – Procurement and Finance Officer Yu is a first year Computer Science and Engineering Student. Yu is the Procurement and Finance officer of the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. He choose working on the app to gain meaningful experience in app creation. Yu plans on using the experience to work with other teams in the future to produce applications useful for the general public. He has a strong passion with working with computers and through this passion strives to be a valuable asset in the application’s creation process. Although a person with subpar handwriting, he procures fountain pens.
	Hang Liang – Team Leader Liang is a second year Computer Science and Engineering student. He is the team leader of the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. Liang chose Naturalist App because it gave him an opportunity to help develops technologies that will impact the experiences of people going through the Vernal Pools Reserve. Through hand-on experiences, he hopes to gains valuable leadership and communication skills from overseeing and managing the App sub-team. Academically, Liang is very interested in Big Data researches and is planning to further pursue this topic in graduate school.
	Landon Becker – Team Member Landon Becker is a third year student at the University of California, Merced in the field of Computer Science and Engineering. He is a member of the App development sub-team for the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. Becker has a passion for working with computers and enjoys solving problems by coding programs. He joined the Naturalist App team in order to learn about mobile application development and to have the opportunity to work together with other computer scientists on a significant project. In his spare time, Becker enjoys playing the piano and gaming; he particularly likes challenging himself to complete difficult games.
	Isabel Lawrence – Team Member Lawrence is a fourth year Earth Systems Science major and Merced native. She is a member of the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. This team allows her to integrate her knowledge of the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve with an app that will improve visitors’ overall experiences on the reserve. Lawrence is involved with raptor research on UC Merced’s reserve and also participated in the first-ever California Ecology and Conservation Field Course through the UC Natural Reserve System. She spends most of her free time with her pug, Harry.
	Fatima Shah – Team Member Fatima is a third year Computer Science and Engineering student. She is a team member of the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist App. She joined the Naturalist App team because she feels that this team is good experience for her. She hopes to learn and use the experience she gains from this team in the future through her career. She enjoys reading and doodling.