Board members are elected once per academic year, following a nomination process (at the end of Winter or at the Spring GMM) and a vote among all GTFF members.
Please feel encouraged to email us with any and all questions!
For more information on each of the positions, see the GTFF Bylaws.
Meet your 2025-26 Executive Board!
Rye Davies | President
president@gtff.net
Pronouns: they/she
Department: English
Rye is a sixth year PhD student in the English department. Her research focuses on bodies as a site for play in queer, trans, and disabled lives. She lives with a wonderful partner, a very energetic first-grader, and a small terrier mix named Baxter. She spends a totally responsible amount of time playing board games, video games, make believe with their kid, guitar, and drums, and would love to talk with you at length about organizing, music, movies, or video games, but only you if have several hours to spare. Let’s work together to kick ass and build collective power in the coming year! Solidarity forever!
Ben Mannix | VP for Organizing
organizing@gtff.net
Pronouns: he/him
Department: Physics
Ben is a sixth year PhD student in the Physics department. He works in gravitational wave astronomy studying how large stars may produce gravitational waves detectable with LIGO after they collapse. Along with his current role as VP for Organizing, he’s previously been a physics steward, Lead Steward of Natural Sciences, and a member of the Bargaining Team during the 2023-24 contract negotiations.
Alex Colombo | VP for Grievances
grievances@gtff.net
Pronouns: they/them
Department: German and Scandinavian
Alex is a fourth year PhD student in the German and Scandinavian Department. Their research focuses on archives of queer feminist political struggle and resistance. Outside of their work at UO and on the GTFF Executive Board, they enjoy cooking vegan food and tending to their houseplants.
Franscesca Ark | VP for Membership
membership@gtff.net
Pronouns: she/her
Department: Physics
Franscesca is a fourth year PhD student in the physics department, studying random walks in random environments and the effect of shared environments on diffusing particles. She has served as a physics steward for a few years before this. Outside work and GTFF, she enjoys knitting, climbing (poorly), and walking around Eugene looking for cats to pet.
K Goldstein | VP for Operations
operations@gtff.net
Pronouns: he/they
Department: Political Science
K is a 4th year doctoral student studying political theory. K’s research is about how the transgender community takes care of one another. He enjoys video games, scary movies, emo music, and hanging out with his cat, Margaery. K loves GTFF and has served in a variety of roles, but most recently was co-chair of the Disability Access Caucus and a GTFF representative on the Grad Assistance Fund Advisory Committee.
Kaito Campos de Novais | Co-VP for Equity & Inclusion
equity@gtff.net
Pronouns: he/him/ele
Department: Anthropology
Hi, I am Kaito. It was my honor to serve as the first VP for International Affairs in GTFF last year and to advocate for our collective wellbeing, especially for us who live under visa constraints. I am a 6th year PhD candidate in cultural anthropology, studying contemporary queer/cuir/trans Latine diasporas in the United States. I keep the accent and longings from the place I come from: Goiânia, heart of the Brazilian Cerrado. But I am proud to say GTFF has given me a community to belong and a chosen family always ready to support me no matter what. I hope that, amidst the burdens of displacement that comes with being an immigrant inside U.S.-academia, other international grad students-employees can feel a sense of home in our union too.
Sanjula Rajat | Co-VP for Equity & Inclusion
equity@gtff.net
Pronouns: they/them
Department: Philosophy
Hi! I’m Sanjula, a third year PhD student in the Philosophy department. I am from Kolkata, India. My work emphasizes the interconnectedness of decolonial, feminist, anti-caste, and queer and trans theoretical perspectives and political struggles. I love playing guitar (recently also banjo), making pottery, climbing, and cooking (especially for friends). I am so grateful and excited to be our co-VP of Equity and contribute to our beautiful union community.
Frida Heitland | VP for International Affairs
international@gtff.net
Pronouns: they/them
Department: English
Frida is a PhD candidate in English working on climate change adaptation as a continuation or disruption of white supremacist and colonial (power) structures. They predominantly focus on comics and video games. As a white international student from Germany, their approach to union activism is grounded in intersectionality, meaning they understand that there is not one single international GE experience and they hope to inspire and agitate as many fellow international GEs to become active with GTFF as possible. When off work, they love to lift, eat, and snuggle their senior pup Sophie.
August Harrell | VP for Member Communications
member.communications@gtff.net
Pronouns: he/him
Department: Earth Sciences
I’m August, and I’m VP of Communications for GTFF! I’m in the fourth year of my PhD in the Earth Sciences department studying wildfire impacts on hazardous heavy metals in soils. I’m always down for a walk or a camping trip or just to lay under a tree, and you’ll often find me burning things in the lab or chilling outside with my cat, painting or reading.
Sophia Lewis | VP for Political Education
political.education@gtff.net
Pronouns: she/her
Department: Comparative Literature
Sophia is a second-year PhD student in Comparative Literature. Her research interests include Russian and Japanese literature, literary theory, political economy, and continental philosophy. Her current research project explores the representation of capitalist modernity in 19th century Japanese literature through Japanese writers’ encounters with Russian literature. In her free time she enjoys reading, petting her cat, and messing around with synthesizers.
Jacob T. Schmidt | VP for External Relations
external.relations@gtff.net
Pronouns: he/him
Department: History
Jacob is a third year PhD candidate studying environmental and Native American history. His research traces the development and preservation of land, water, and wildlife by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes on and off of the Flathead Reservation in the twentieth century. He also writes about the history of rock climbing. Prior to graduate school Jacob worked in salmon conservation and as a raft guide. He was raised in Northern Arizona but has been a northwest resident (yes, Missoula counts) for most of his adult life. Jacob loves bringing people together to share their knowledge and skills.
Carver Goldstein | Treasurer
treasurer@gtff.net
Pronouns: he/him
Department: Physics
Carver is a third-year physics PhD student working in the discipline of high-energy theory. He is very passionate about the GTFF and organizing to build power within it. When not building worker power in our union, he can often be found biking, camping, or extolling the beauty of the Northern Nevada desert.
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