Welcome!

Welcome to Shiori's website! My name is Shiori Nakaya (she/her) and I'm currently an undergraduate student at the University of California, Riverside majoring in Geophysics and minoring in Mathematics. My prospective graduation date is Spring of 2026 and I am anticipating on entering a PhD program for Fall of 2026. I am a proud transfer student from Pasadena City College and a first generation, non-traditional college student. 

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I'm currently an undergraduate research assistant with Dr. Heather Ford where I'm exploring gravity anomalies to determine the origins of Poverty Hills. I'm also a NASA-JPL intern studying under Dr. Suzanne Smrekar exploring driving forces behind wrinkle ridge formation to determine if wrinkle ridges are an indicator of recent seismicity on Venus.

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Additionally, I'm involved with the Cosplay for Science initiative as an invited scientist after completing my ACCESS PALEO internship with the Raymond M. Alf Museum in the summer of 2023. I've previously been involved with outreach events with Pasadena City College's Natural Science Department by representing the Geology department as a student. 

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I'm open to future research opportunities and STEAM outreach collaboration! Reach out if you have any questions or if you would like to collaborate with me. 

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Research Interests: Geodynamics, Planetary Gravimetry, Planetary Interiors and Surface Processes, Planetary Evolution, and Planetary Analogs for Space Exploration