Thumbnail of Joia Cappochi’s interview video.
Joia Cappochi, self-described miniature golf aficionado, conspiracy theory connoisseur, and science-loving “black sheep” of her artist family, is no stranger to approaching life with a different perspective. Joia’s fierce independence and commitment to her passions is most evident in her unconventional path to the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine).
From kindergarten to high school, Joia attended ten different schools, experiencing public schools, private education, and even an undercover stint at community college at the age of 13. As she moved through different schools and classrooms, science was always her favorite subject, and she became determined to pursue this passion wherever it took her. When she graduated from high school early at the age of 17, Joia wasted no time in packing up her life in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and driving 900 miles to begin her undergraduate career as an UC Irvine Anteater.
However, Joia was initially unable to apply for financial aid as an independent because she was underage. Working to support herself and pay her own tuition, Joia had to drop out at the end of her freshman year. But this setback didn’t stop her, and she continued to feed her love for science through research. Joia soon earned a full-time staff research associate position in a neuroscience lab. Working full-time financially empowered her to re-enroll in school.
Today, Joia’s list of accomplishments is as impressive and prolific as her backstory. In addition to her extensive involvement in both professional and undergraduate research, Joia’s also co-authored eight scientific articles and delivered several research talks and presentations. She has also been recognized with several awards and fellowships, including receiving the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in 2024.
Set to graduate in Spring 2025 with a degree in neurobiology, Joia embodies what it means to forge your own path and define success in your own terms. To learn more about her time at UC Irvine, her involvement with research on campus, and what it means to be UC Irvine’s only 2024 Goldwater Scholarship recipient, Rose Jones, Director of the UCI Scholarship Opportunities Program (SOP), sat down with Joia for an illuminating interview. Check out Joia’s student highlight video and read the full interview below:
Rose: Welcome Joia! Thank you for meeting with me. I’m excited to talk more about your experiences; your story is so interesting, and I think there’s a lot to learn from sharing it. Can I start by asking what drew you to UC Irvine?
Joia: The way I learned about UC Irvine is a funny story. As a connoisseur of conspiracy theories, I’m a big fan of Ancient Aliens. I discovered UC Irvine after I saw Vice Provost Micheal Dennin on the show describing the physics of how the Ark of the Covenant could work as a capacitor!
Later, when deciding where to go to college, I specifically looked for schools with robust research infrastructures where I wouldn’t have to wait to graduate in order to contribute to science. I chose UC Irvine because it was an R1 institution where hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in medical research each year, and I knew there would be no shortage of research opportunities for me here. However, I ultimately have the extraterrestrial beings who built the pyramids (and Giorgio Tsoukalos’ great hair) to thank for my coming to UC Irvine.
Rose: Research has played such an important role in your UC Irvine experience, so it makes sense that it was always a priority for you. But how did you get started in research on campus?
Joia: My TA (now Dr.) Kendra Walters actually pulled me aside after class and invited me to join her lab group, led by Dr. Jennifer Martiny. I soon found myself marooned at their isolated wilderness experiment site in Loma Ridge. Strapped into snake gaiters and plodding through deep grass, I would collect and analyze soil samples as a robotic weather probe whirred ominously overhead. You might think this an unusual scene for a neurobiology major, but this experience would ultimately define my “ecological” perspective on human health and the brain.
Rose: What role has mentoring played in your research journey?
Joia: Dr. Kendra Walters was the grad student who first gave me the opportunity to get involved in research. Her mentorship not only gave me research experience and confirmed my love for science but ultimately led me to an opportunity to literally pay my bills and to be able to afford an education.
Mentorship from the two principal investigators (PIs), Dr. Jennifer Martiny and Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones, who each took a chance on a clueless teenager and college dropout by hiring her full-time, has also fundamentally changed my life. On top of that, Dr. Katrine Whiteson has given me a unique undergraduate research role with an exceptional amount of freedom to pursue my curiosity with an incomparable level of patience and flexibility. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve anything without these incredible mentors, a very patient and generous boss who always advocated for me (Dr. Hayk Davtyan), and the many grad students who’ve indulged my often silly questions (especially now Dr. Jean Paul Chadarevian and now Dr. Jonny Hasselman). Dr. Jason Rothman (now UC faculty!) and Dr. Gina Faraci in Katrine Whiteson’s lab have made themselves available for guidance on my project and have read many late night Slack messages from me and still maintained their patience and sanity.
There isn’t enough room here to thank everyone whose mentorship has significantly altered my life, which I think is a solid testament to how valuable mentorship can be. Knowing these opportunities and relationships have given me so much, I try to do the same for other students where I can, helping connect classmates with research opportunities.
Rose: What advice would you give to students who are considering getting into research but not sure where to start?
Joia: My advice is to first find and actually read the research you think is interesting! Try going to PubMed and searching “UC Irvine,” lots of fascinating papers will come up. Think of questions as you read; don’t worry about them sounding simple or stupid. They probably will be simple and stupid, but that’s okay. That will just make the person who answers your questions feel all the more expert.
Second, email the PI with your questions and express an interest in the work they do. If you’re referencing a specific paper (and you better be), you can also cc the grad student or postdoc who is the first author on that paper (that’s the name at the beginning of the author’s list). They will have unique insight seeing as it is ultimately their project. While this is kind of controversial, most PIs are going to refer that inquiry email to the lab member whose research it is anyhow, so I personally think including them on the email from the get-go saves them an extra step. Third, if you don’t hear back, email again! PIs get a lot of emails; you might just be lost in their inboxes.
A great way to get connected to a lab, if you don’t already have a specific PI in mind, is to go to office hours and talk to your professors or TAs about what sort of opportunities you’re interested in! They want to help you. You can also talk to your friends to see if they can connect you with their lab, or network with faculty at all of the events Bio Sci sets up to help you learn more about what’s going on around you! Major mixers or Donuts with the Dean are a great start. If you’re in Bio Sci, check out the Bio Sci 199 Research Dashboard. For other schools, talk to your advising office—they can point you in the right direction! And lastly, if you hear anecdotes about how many emails someone had to send out to get a reply or how difficult it is to get a lab spot, don’t be discouraged. Not every PI is explicitly searching for 199 students or putting that information out into the universe for all to see. But I’d say almost every PI is willing to consider having a truly driven, interested, and hardworking helping hand in their lab.
It’s also important to remember you are but a tadpole in the great bog of science—so, once you do get a research opportunity, have an exceptional amount of gratitude and work ethic. Be willing to do the annoying stuff other people don’t want to do—it will pay off, I promise.
Rose: Over the course of your UC Irvine career, your research has opened the door for many opportunities, including receiving the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for Excellence in Research. What inspired you to apply for this scholarship?
Joia: I actually had no idea how to apply for scholarships before I applied for the Goldwater Award! The process was something I was unfamiliar with, and the idea always felt intimidating. Any time I looked into different scholarships, they always seemed to have very specific requirements I never met, and few of them supported someone interested in medicine/medical research. But one day, I got an email from the Scholarship Opportunities Program (SOP) with lots of information and resources to learn more about their scholarships. I set up an appointment with a peer SOP advisor out of sheer curiosity just to chat. At this meeting, the very patient peer advisor helped me figure out what scholarships I might be eligible for and what my next steps should be. The Goldwater seemed like a good fit, so I started working with an advisor, the legendary David Skelton! I was interested in the Goldwater Award because I thought it would be vindicating for me to get financial aid based on merit and not need.
Rose: What was the Goldwater application process like?
Joia: The SOP makes the application process so incredibly simple. The SOP office has a very organized system for helping you break down your application into smaller pieces to make it less intimidating. My advisor David Skelton, one of the greatest humans on this planet, was very supportive, patient, and knowledgeable in helping me iron out every detail of my application.
Since meeting Goldwater Scholars from other institutions, I’ve learned that many schools actually don’t have any support system or formal advising process for their nominees! UC Irvine students have an exceptional resource and advantage in the application process because of the SOP’s diligence and dedication to its students. The SOP will provide you with examples of winning applications, give you feedback and guidance on your application materials, connect you with previous awardees, and keep you on schedule—not to mention that you are paired with a specific advisor whose job it is to specifically help you. I want to thank David Skelton, without whose patience and support I might never have won the Goldwater Award.
Rose: You were UC Irvine’s only Goldwater Scholar in 2024. How did you feel when you learned that you won?
Joia: Excited and elated! It meant a lot to be recognized by the Goldwater Foundation for all of the effort, time, and passion I’d put into research. I wasn’t surprised, but that’s only because the SOP office and David were so supportive, encouraging, and confident in me throughout the process that it completely obscured my understanding of how competitive these awards really are!
Rose: Since receiving the Goldwater, how have you continued your relationship with SOP?
Joia: What’s fun about going through the Goldwater process as part of the SOP’s Explorer’s 11 cycle is that you then get to immediately go through the fellowships process with the Trailblazer’s 10 cycle! I was able to continue my relationship with the SOP by pursuing funding that’s aimed at graduate study. Fortunately, because I already had my Goldwater application, I had raw materials to repurpose and work with as I continued other applications, which was very helpful. For anyone who goes through the SOP cycle, even if you don’t get an award, you finish with a very strong collection of polished application materials that you can carry forward into grad school apps, fellowship apps, or different scholarships.
I am also working with the Goldwater Scholars Community (GSC), a national network of Godlwater alumni, and the SOP to bring together more resources for Goldwater applicants at UC Irvine. This includes access to additional mentorship from Goldwater awardees and potential funding to help Goldwater applicants travel to present their research, network with Goldwater scholars in person, and represent UC Irvine’s excellence in research among other institutions! I’m hoping we can keep improving resources for applicants in the future.
Rose: Speaking of the Goldwater Scholar Community, how did you decide to get involved?
Joia: The GSC is a national network of thousands of Goldwater alumni from around the country who stay connected to the network, share resources, and build collaborative opportunities in science and research. The alumni committees, led by an executive council of chairs, compose a smaller team of about 30 scholars that volunteer to coordinate initiatives and create resources for the larger community.
I didn’t know this community existed until after I got the award. I applied to join a committee because I thought it would be a fun way to meet other scholars and a good way to learn some of the non-research skills involved in research, like organizing a scientific conference, writing grants, and creating educational/career resources. Since joining, I’ve had the pleasure of serving as Chair of two committees, working directly with the two amazing graduate students that run the organization, collaborating with the Goldwater Foundation president, and essentially doing everything I initially wanted to learn!
Rose: I heard that you played a significant role in organizing a recent GSC gathering. What were you responsible for?
Joia: Within the GSC, I am the Chair of the Funding Committee as well as Co-Chair of the Conference Committee, where I work alongside an extraordinary graduate student at Rice University, Kaitlin McAllister. I was excited to arrange the first in-person conference of Goldwater Scholars! I knew Kaitlin’s experience and expertise leading the community’s previous virtual conference would be invaluable, so I brought together the Funding and Conference Committees to form a team to pursue an in-person conference at Rice in collaboration with Rice’s Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Seiichi Matsuda, who leads the Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium (GCURS).
The event would not have happened without Kaitlin and her strong relationships at Rice or without the contributions of our small rag-tag band of misfit scholars. My team sacrificed their weekends for multiple months to organize the many scientific and career events, socials, and our gala dinner.
The two Co-Coordinators of the GSC, Teddy Hsieh (MIT) and Leah DeFlitch (UCSF), offered our team exceptional support and resources, bringing the President of the Goldwater Foundation on board and helping us realize a bigger vision for the event. Paul Nguyen (University of South Alabama) organized and led valuable workshop sessions in collaboration with Rice’s scholarship advisors. Nicole Chan (Reed College) organized and ran a very successful social night that brought together scholars and prospective scholar mentees. Cora Lyon (SUNY Upstate Medical University) and Meg Takezawa (UC Berkeley) coordinated a scientific communication/practice talk session for scholars as extra support for the scientific talks they were to give in parallel with the GCURS program. Matthew Lu (Vanderbuilt) did an exceptional job curating much of the logistics of our dinner and other events. Meeting my team in person was my favorite part of organizing this event. I am grateful to have gotten to work with such a passionate group of students who were excited to show up in Houston ready to get their hands dirty to put together something that hadn’t been done before.
Rose: Was the conference successful? Can you share any future plans regarding the conference?
Joia: Our Goldwater Scholars Community-GCURS hybrid conference brought together almost 100 Goldwater Scholars from across the country to share their research, participate in special workshops, meet the president of the Goldwater Foundation, and create new, lasting collaborations with each other.
Because our small team didn’t have previous experience putting on such an event or any guarantee of success, we anticipated spending the weekend putting out some unexpected fires. Instead, it went better than we could have possibly imagined. Our national virtual network is so valuable, but there is nothing comparable to the energy of having so many Scholars together in one room. I am also especially proud of the support we were able to arrange for not only Goldwater Scholars, but Scholars’ mentees who are going through their own application process. Mentees were also able to get special funding to cover their travel and participate in all of our events.
This past year was sort of our trial run, and now that we have this experience under our belts, we’re continuing our relationship with Rice to scale up the event and make it even better for next year.
Rose: That sounds wonderful! I’m glad it went so well and that you’re planning for future success. While we’re on the topic of the future, can you share some of your post-graduation plans?
Joia: This quarter, I’m going through a handful of grad school interviews, getting to visit schools, wine and dine with grad students, and dork out with faculty. I’m so happy to say I’ve just received my first offer! This time next year, I’ll be doing neuroscience research as a grad student.
Rose: Would you like to give a shoutout or thank anyone specific at UC Irvine for supporting your journey?
Joia: There are so many people who have made a consequential difference in my education, and I wish I could thank them all here, but that would require its own article. I’ve tried to thank them throughout my answers, but I will use this opportunity to reiterate my thanks to the SOP, David Skelton, and you as well Rose. I would also like to thank every professor who may have been irritated by the times I was late or absent as I managed working full-time, going to school full-time, and running around campus for my various commitments. You and your curve are the real heroes.
Rose: Do you have advice for students to help them make the most of their time at UC Irvine?
Joia: One of my mentors, Dr. Jason Rothman, once gave me some great advice: “Don’t say no to yourself.”
The universe has plenty of parameters, limitations, and real nos. Let other people tell you no, but don’t say it to yourself. Try to do the thing, ask questions, go for what you want, apply for things, aim high. Compared to other humans throughout the history of humanity, the fact that you are at a university receiving an education and free of plague or vitriolic humors makes you exceptionally and singularly privileged. Take advantage of the playground, stretch yourself a little thin, and don’t say no to yourself.
To learn more about Joia’s experience, check out her student highlight video. Connect with Joia on LinkedIn to keep up with her news and updates. Interested in applying for the Goldwater or other prestigious scholarships? The SOP can help! Visit the SOP website to learn more about resources and services. You can also connect with the SOP on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.