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What do CAs do?

Community Associates (CAs) are graduate students who enjoy being involved with the Rains community. Their goal is to help build a sense of community among Rains residents. CAs:

• Plan educational, cultural, social, and recreational programs at the neighborhood and Rains-wide levels.

• Offer information and advice to anyone who needs help finding services or information on Stanford Campus.

• Create opportunities for residents to take an active role in the organization of events.

Each building in Rains is part of a neighborhood served by at least two CAs. We have a lot of information about Stanford and the surrounding communities. We're available when you have specific questions and when you just want to talk.

Who are the CAs?

CA Bios

Adam Van Etten

Adam is a CA

Andrew Danowitz

Welcome Rains Residents! My name is Andrew, and I'm one of the Frontier CAs . I did my undergrad at Harvey Mudd, and I'm now a 4th year PhD student in Electrical Engineering at Stanford. When I'm not working, I enjoy hiking, playing guitar, dancing, running, hitting the gym, playing tennis, watching movies, and hanging out. I'm always looking for cool stuff to do, so if you have any ideas for events, drop me a line or come over and say hi.

Caroline Jordan

Born in the far-away town of Los Altos Hills, Caroline has traveled all the way to Stanford to study Bioengineering (and Medicine) and does research developing MRI techniques. Coming from the party school MIT, she has continued to have fun, playing all sorts of sports at Stanford, including indoor volleyball, grass volleyball, and sand volleyball (all very different sports).

Dan Pivonka

My name is Dan, and I did my undergrad at Harvey Mudd and am working on a PhD in the Electrical Engineering program here at Stanford. The entire time, I've lived in the most social place on campus, Rains! I'll be a CA in midtown this quarter, and I'm really looking forward to it. I am originally from Montana and enjoy a variety of activities and am always willing to try new things. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, backpacking, skiing, racquetball, and I have recently started windsurfing. Let's have a great year!

Elah Bozorg-Grayeli

Greetings, and welcome to Rains. My name's Elah, and I'm a 2nd year MS-PhD student in the mechanical engineering department. Yes, that means I like to build stuff. No, it does not mean I can fix your car. I grew up in AZ and did my undergrad at Caltech, where I majored in building huge structures out of 2 by 4s. I love making hiking trips to Yosemite and exploring the nearby beaches. When I'm not outside, I'm either chillin' with some old N64 games, reading sci-fi, or hitting the gym. If you wanna play some Mario Kart or need a workout buddy, shoot me a line. L8rs, and enjoy your year in Rains.

Etosha Cave

Welcome to Rains!! I am a fifth year, mechanical engineering student from Houston, Tx. I love spicy foods and great conversations. For fun, I like to listen to stand-up comedy and to spend time in the city. I am excited to be a CA this year and to be a part of the remix of the Multicultural Theme House (MCTH). My fellow CAs and I are looking to make MCTH the most social and culturally aware neighbor in all of Rains!

Javier Stober

Javier is a CA.

Justin Foster

Welcome to Rains! I am a fifth-year Ph.D. in EE-wannabe-Neuroscience. This is my third year as a CA in Rains - first year as a Head CA. I'm originally from southern CA and lived in New York during undergrad, but the cold weather drove me back. When I'm not in lab, I enjoy tennis, volleyball, snowboarding, swimming laps, playing piano, cooking, and running. Looking forward to another great year in Rains!

Karla Gleichauf

Hey there! I'm Karla and I'm a CA in the Frontier. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, I attended Rice University before I came out to Stanford. I am a 4th year PhD student (already?!) in the Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory in Civil and Environmental Engineering, which means that I really enjoy studying and being in the water. Besides water, I love baking, running, traveling, cooking, and spending time in the amazing California weather! Rains has been a great place to make new friends and unwind after lab, so I hope to continue running fun events for you guys!

Konrad Karczewski

Hey! I'm Konrad and I'm a CA in the best place to live on campus, MCTH (and unlike everyone else that says that, I have data to back me up). I'm a 2nd year in the Biomedical Informatics program, but really spend most of my time in the Genetics department, thinking about what your genome can do for you. I grew up outside Philadelphia and went to undergrad at Princeton. Yes, I spent a lot of time in New Jersey and the Jersey shore. No, my life wasn't like that. I love running and biking, especially the Dish and the foothills. Oh, and hiking, skiing, golf, sailing, windsurfing. That and going out downtown and throwing parties. And festival-type concerts. And vegetarian food (and vegan food, though completely giving up cheese is not something I'm prepared to do). And wine. And discovering fun new things. I look forward to meeting you all and a great year with you and my awesome co-CAs, Cynthia and Trisha. Let me know if you have any ideas for activities!

Kristina Popova

Greetings, Rains residents! My name is Kristina and I come from the idyllic Eastern European country of Bulgaria (yes, the same one that used to be communist; no, that's not an oxymoron). This year I am completing my MA degree in International Policy Studies, an interdisciplinary program at the intersection of political science, economics and public policy. My area of concentration is International Security and Cooperation with an emphasis on nuclear proliferation, counter-terrorism and home-grown violent extremism. Don't let my degree fool ya thou - I am a peaceful outdoorsy person, with an insatiable appetite for chocolate and coffee. I look forward to crowding your social calendar with fun events in the amazing year ahead!

Kunal Sahasrabuddhe

Hello and welcome to Rains! My name is Kunal Sahasrabuddhe, and I am a CA for Hilgard. I am a second year PhD student in applied physics, currently working with a material science group on solar energy conversion. I've spent most of my life in India, where I was born and raised. I've been in the US since starting college at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) back in 2004.

I like to sing and dance, love watersports, and have recently been involved in martial arts too. I'm also always up for go karting; the thrill and adrenaline are hard to match! I love putting together and attending all sorts of fun events, so you'll probably see me around Rains events quite often. I like to try new things too! If you have an idea for an event, for something you love doing and would like to share with others, let me know!

Laura Campo

Hey there! I'm Laura, and I'm a CA in the Midtown neighborhood of Rains. I'm a third year PhD student in the Mechanical Engineering department, where I do experiments to study shock dynamics in high speed flows. I lived in a whole bunch of different places when I was growing up, so I never have a good answer for where my hometown is (but will tell you the whole saga if you're willing to listen!). I went to undergrad at Rice University in Houston, TX, and then spent a year at University of Cambridge before coming to the beautiful Bay Area. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, running, hiking, skiing, photography, and cooking/baking. I'm really looking forward to putting together some awesome events for you this year. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to drop me a line!

Liz Wiltshire

Kia Ora (that means Hello), and welcome to Rains! I'm a CA in what is clearly the best neighbourhood around: the Plains of Rains! My name's Liz, and I'm in my second year here. I'm from New Zealand (which is where I did my undergrad), so if I say things a little bit funny and have a bizarre love of Marmite, that's probably why! Research-wise I'm a PhD student in Biology, where I use laser microscopy to look at how plants and bacteria communicate inside the roots of legume plants. When I'm not peering at microscope images, I love to sing, dance (latin, waltz, Irish ceili...), play the bassoon, go camping, scuba dive, watch cheesy musicals (live, recorded or animated) and bake cookies...I'm also a huge sci-fi and board gaming fan. I’m super excited to meet you all this year, and to run a whole pile of awesome events!

Madeleine Udell

How do you do! I'm Madeleine, and I'm quite pleased to meet you. I'm a second year in Computational and Mathematical Engineering, aka iCME, aka Applied Math, studying optimization, high-dimensional statistics, and model selection in complex networks. In my less ethereal life, you'll find me climbing the courtyard lemon trees in pursuit of elusive ripe fruit, and running in dangerously minimal footwear, and in my moderately ethereal life you may notice some harp music wafting out of my window. Graduate school is no walk in the park, either academically or socially, but living in Rains makes it at least a walk in a forest with well-tended trails. Your CAs are here to help you meet other students in diverse disciplines and to create opportunities to talk when you're feeling less-than-rosy, and we'd love to hear any recommendations for how we can do it better. If you're needing a cup of tea, recommendations for on-campus tangerine trees, or a friendly ear, please do let me know!

Mahalia Miller

Mahalia Miller is a 2nd year graduate student in the Civil Engineering Department researching systems reliability. Originally from Wisconsin, she did undergraduate studies at MIT and Cambridge University. Her favorite pastimes include running, cycling, cooking, learning languages and traveling.

Michael Siddiqui

Hello, I am Michael Siddiqui CA for the Hood. Welcome to Rains. I am really happy to be living in Rains and so should you! I am a Chemical Engineering PhD student here and in my free time I enjoy running, road biking, skiing, and playing soccer (and just about any other sport pick-up). I also love to cook, bake, and eat lots of different foods. I'll be working with Kim Vande Wydeven to organize all sorts of fun events in the Hood this year. Last year some of the events I enjoyed organizing most were a trip to San Francisco to see a concert at the Fillmore, pizza making and dessert baking in the Buttery kitchen, and of course fun TNTs! Let us know if you have any particular activities in mind that you think would be fun for everyone. We are always open to new ideas!

Praveen Bommannavar

Hi and welcome to Rains! Although I hail from the midwest, I've gotten used to being a west coaster now that I'm in my fourth year at Stanford. I am excited about getting to meet everyone and continuing the tradition of Rains being a ridiculously fun place to live! Things I enjoy include rock climbing, cycling, backpacking, ultimate frisbee and other outdoorsy activities. I'm capable of more sedentary hobbies too, however: occasional cooking and pool playing have been seen on my schedule, and I even learned to knit last year at a Rains event. I'm a big fan of trying new things.If you have new ideas, especially related to the rains website, I'd love to hear about them!

Sarah Barrett

Sarah is a CA

Sharon Briggs

Sharon is a CA

Trisha Stan

Hi! I'm Trisha and I'm super excited to live and plan awesome things to do in the Mad Cool Thrilla House! I'm a second year Ph.D. student in Immunology, and when I'm out of the lab, I especially enjoy making things -- art, crafts, baked goods, and, of course, friends! I love to try creating new things, and I'm always looking for good excuses to use everything from yarn to power tools, so let me know if you have ideas! I grew up in Kansas, so I'm ecstatic to live in the Bay Area where I can take advantage of all of the interesting and unusual community happenings and unparalleled outdoor activities, which I hope to explore with you throughout the year. I'm always up for a random adventure, so stop by anytime -- there's a good chance I have cookies I need help getting rid of!