In some ways, both of the theses Princeton University senior Sofia Quinodoz took on pertain to an unseen and not fully understood action that is nonetheless felt by those it afflicts, be it in the form of an infection or the void of a loved one suddenly erased.As a molecular biology major, her primary thesis involves uncovering how bacteria communicate to coordinate group behaviors, such as their activity inside a host organism.

The thesis for her certificate in Latin American studies focuses on how Argentine families remember through photographs the victims of the surreptitious government persecution known as the Dirty War. The photos are often the only remnant of people whose lives and deaths were considered so inconvenient that few records of either exist.

Quinodoz has a personal attachment to both of her projects. She grew up in Lansdale, Pa., with her chemist mother and engineer father, who both emigrated from Argentina in the mid-1980s. Influenced by her parents and an engaging high-school chemistry teacher, she knew the scientist's life was for her. This fall, she will begin pursuing her Ph.D. in biology at the California Institute of Technology with support from a 2013 Gilliam Fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She was one of nine recipients nationwide selected to promote diversity in the life sciences.

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