Executive Council
Shannon Combest
President
Nutrition and Food Sciences
Shannon is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Nutrition within the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at Texas Woman's University. Prior to TWU, she earned a Master of Science in Food Science and Technology at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on reducing food waste and landfill accumulation by creating secondary food products from waste created during manufacturing. Shannon enjoys interacting with graduate and undergraduate students in the Nutrition and Food Sciences Department while promoting graduate student advocacy, community, and excellence as the President of the Graduate Student Council. During her free time, Shannon finds joy in mentoring high school students to help them see their potential and experience success in life. Shannon also enjoys trying new restaurants with her husband, antiquing, and experimenting with DIY projects around her house. She loves all things pumpkin spice and considers Joanna Gaines her spirit animal.
Jeannine Rios
President-Elect
Health Studies
Jeannine is in the Health Studies 2015 PhD Cohort where her focus is on health equity for underserved communities. She has a Master of Public Health degree in International Public Health from Loma Linda University. She has been working in the field of Public Health for the last 24 years. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics from UC Berkeley, she joined the US Peace Corps where she worked for two years as a Child Survival Health Specialist in a small village of Honduras with local health workers, midwives, and the town nurse to decrease morbidity and mortality among children from 0-5 years old. She has been fortunate to live in a variety of states, Honduras, and now Texas, for the last 13 years. She is most proud of her daughter who is 16 years old. Jeannine enjoys being active outdoors, rollerblading, and Salsa dancing. She is committed to making this world a better place by helping others.
Nicholas Levine
Vice President of Advocacy and Sustainability
Kinesiology
Nicholas is a third-year doctoral student studying Kinesiology with a specialization in Biomechanics and Motor Control and minoring in Mathematics. Nicholas is passionate about how kettlebells can help strengthen someone, while keeping them safe when performed correctly. Previously, he completed his Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Houston. Nicholas initially came to TWU to start his master's degree, but after the first year of his program, he transitioned directly into the doctoral program at TWU. He is currently a Graduate Assistant for the Kinesiology Department and has started a weight lifting club called Pioneer Power. When Nicholas is away from school he likes to play video games, practice Judo and exercise.
Sri Padmini Chennapragada
Vice President of Community
Kinesiology
A third-year doctoral student, Sri is majoring in Adapted Physical Education, with minors in Educational Leadership and Sport Management. She has a master's in Adapted Physical Activity from Texas Woman's University. Born and raised in the South-Indian city of Hyderabad, Sri speaks Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. The exposure to services that are provided to individuals with disabilities in the United States is a major inspiration behind her interest to take Adapted Physical Education into schools and communities of developing countries. At GSC, Sri currently works on increasing graduate student engagement and to also establish an effective working connection between the GSC and the leadership at TWU’s colleges. While not in school, Sri is committed to promoting the Adapted Sports India movement, and enjoys blogging about life experiences on her personal blog.
Geethanjali Ravindranathan
Vice President of Excellence
Biology
Originally from India, Geetha has previously obtained an integrated graduate degree in Biotechnology from DY Patil University in Mumbai, and is currently working towards her Master of Science degree in Biology from TWU’s Department of Biology. Her research focuses on studying the effect of various stressors on the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. She particularly likes microscopy, bio-informatics and programming. Geetha has been a part of the Council since 2016, and is passionate about finding new ways to promote graduate student excellence. She loves going on adventures trips, teaching, and cooking foods from different cuisines being around little kids. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering at various places including the American Heart Association, and the on-campus organization, Helping Hands.
Aiswariya Chidambaram
Dallas Campus Chair
Health Systems Management
Aiswariya Chidambaram is currently a 2017 MHSM candidate at TWU. Previously, she completed her Engineering (B.Tech) in Biotechnology at Anna University, India and has worked with reputed multi-nationals such as Bayer Healthcare and Frost & Sullivan for over 6 years. As a zealous management consultant, Aiswariya aspires to work for the growth and development of life science companies through conceptual thinking, strategic analysis and scientific communication. An avid traveller, she has to this date visited over 13 countries while also creating and promoting an online e-commerce portal that sells traditional and contemporary Indian art.
Saro Ntagha
Houston Campus Chair
Executive Master of Business Administration
Saro is a second year MBA graduate student at Texas Woman's University. Saro graduated as a basketball and lacrosse student-athlete from Centenary College of Louisiana with a Bachelor of Science in Geology, where he served as Alpha Phi Alpha Tau Beta Chapter President and the Coordinator of Intercultural Engagement. He is currently a graduate student intern for the Division of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Prior to his internship at MD Anderson, Saro worked as an engineering analyst with QED Energy Associates where he oversaw the planning, implementation, and tracking of various projects from mapping with ArcGIS, QGIS, and running economics within ARIES and PHDWin. In his free time, he enjoys working out and spending time with his friends. Saro is a strong advocate of education and community service and hopes to advance TWU’s innovative environment through the Graduate Student Council.