How reaching out to faculty about research possibilities opened up a world of opportunities
Recipients of the 2024 Ken Lepin Prize of Excellence at the home of donor, Ken Lepin. Left to right: Supreeta Ranchod, Casey Hopper, Ken Lepin, Mikhayla Maurer, Kirsten Zubak.
A moment of courage opened up a world of opportunities for Casey Hopper in his second year as a Bachelor of Arts student at Thompson Rivers University (TRU).
It was 2020, classes had gone remote and Hopper had developed a passion for psychology, which would soon become his major. He felt motivated to expand his knowledge beyond the classroom and was encouraged to reach out to Faculty of Arts department chair Dr. Catherine Ortner to enquire about research possibilities.
“It was a big leap for me to reach out to faculty, but she was really open and kind,” says Hopper. “She took me under her wing and even allowed me to present (online) at the Society of Affective Science conference — the biggest emotions science conference in North America.”
He became a research apprentice, and the next semester was hired as Ortner’s research assistant. In his third year, Hopper took another leap and began exploring research opportunities beyond the psychology department, leading to several roles within the Office of Student Research and Community Engagement. He spent a summer working on a team under Dr. Will Garrett-Petts, TRU professor and special advisor on strategic integrated planning, who was then the research director of a national research program exploring the cultural future of small cities. The team used cultural mapping to discover ways to engage more people in community research.
Hopper was able to take that research experience and use it as a springboard to future roles, including research ambassador, research coach, community-engaged research fellow and wellness ambassador.
“Casey Hopper took on a leadership role in terms of undergraduate research, co-leading the development of a report on the meeting place between community engagement and student research,” says Garrett-Petts.
“As a research ambassador he has become a mentor for less experienced students; and as an emerging researcher, he has made outstanding contributions to our cultural mapping and community-engaged research initiatives at TRU. Casey embodies the spirit of student research engagement.”
Ken Lepin awards recognize excellence
Casey Hopper graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology (honours) with a minor in sociology.
Along his academic journey, Hopper was rewarded for his hard work and commitment to excellence with several achievement awards — in 2021, he received the TRU Foundation Undergraduate Achievement Scholarship and in 2023, the Magdalen Mak Award and the Stollery Charitable Foundation Bursary.
His crowning achievement came in April 2024, shortly after completing the last final exams of his undergrad when he was awarded a Ken Lepin Prize of Excellence in Bachelor of Arts — given to the top graduating BA student. The selection considers academic achievements, research accomplishments, leadership activities and active involvement in the university and/or general community.
“I was super amazed and very thankful when I found out I got the award. I feel really thankful that all the work I have put in is recognized,” says Hopper, adding that receiving the award became even more impactful when he was able to meet his benefactor, Ken Lepin, in person.
“Meeting him inspired me to continue working hard and continuing on this journey.”
Engaging other students
Passion and tenacity helped Hopper forge connections that led to research opportunities early in his scholastic career, but finding such opportunities is difficult for many first- and second-year students. When Hopper joined TRU’s research rookie program as a co-facilitator, he helped remove some of the barriers that prevent students from engaging in research. The team asked students what was holding them back from exploring research opportunities and then gave them the tools to remove those obstacles, including teaching them how to reach out to a professor and how to connect with the research office.
“Peer support and mentorship is really important,” says Hopper. “Participating in the rookie program makes people feel like they belong in research and really boosts their confidence.”
Working as a wellness ambassador also gave Hopper plenty of opportunities to connect with and support fellow students, but over time, he began looking beyond campus for ways to make a difference. A book recommended to him by Ortner, his honours program supervisor, introduced Hopper to the often-disturbing world of social media content moderators and inspired the development of his thesis research topic. He was fascinated by the Sarah T. Roberts book, Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media, and felt compelled to delve further into the topic.
Hopper’s research, which he conducted with fellow honours student Hayleigh Armstrong, looked at the overwhelming burnout, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, among content moderators and explored how they regulate their emotions.
Content moderators act as the gatekeepers for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. They are tasked with finding, assessing and removing content that is deemed unlawful or inappropriate before it has a chance to harm online viewers.
“A lot of the time the content that they view is violent, discriminatory or pornographic in nature. It’s really nasty stuff and they’re the filters,” says Hopper, adding that these people are often paid extremely low wages and receive little to no counselling or support to help them deal with the fallout from the work they do.
Based on that research, Hopper was again invited to present at a Society of Affective Science conference — this time in person.
“It was in Long Beach, California, and we presented with the biggest of the bigs from all over — like Harvard — which was pretty amazing. I was starstruck,” he says.
Hopper’s future plans include pursuing a thesis-based master’s program and then a PhD, but for now, he’s looking forward to soaking up the glory of convocation and getting used to his status as a fresh TRU alum.
Graduating with a BA in psychology (honours) with a minor in sociology, he’s grateful for all the research work he was able to be part of and encourages current students to make the most of the substantial research opportunities available at TRU.
“Research puts knowledge into practice and allows students to use critical thinking to test their knowledge in a new, applied way,” says Garrett-Petts. “TRU’s goals challenge us to become Canada’s leading university in research and scholarship based on community partnerships and undergraduate research training.”
Written by Thompson Rivers University; used with permission. Find the original article here.
University of Delaware hosts 10th gathering of Regional Undergraduate Student Research Conference
The Regional Undergraduate Research Conference, held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, in The Perkins Student Center, celebrated its 10th anniversary. This regional conference was launched in 2010 by Dr. Carol Henderson to promote research opportunities to under-represented minority students.The event included students from other schools including Arcadia University, Rutgers University and Lincoln University. Students presented papers and posters to judges and prizes were awarded.
If you’ve ever wondered about the power of great mentors, you might want to put the 2025 Regional Undergraduate Student Research Conference on your calendar.
At this year’s conference, hosted by the University of Delaware in April, evidence of this power seemed to be everywhere.
Mentors were in every room and listed on every poster. They were there in person as organizers, keynote speakers or cheerleaders for young protégés. Others were named by students as they explained details of the research they were doing.
Research — and the scientific method itself — is built on shoulders such as these, with generations of experts building on the work of others and passing new questions along to the next generation.
Effective mentors know that good connections and partnerships can lead to great new opportunities. But many students do not see themselves in research-related roles. The RUSRC, which includes member schools UD, Delaware State University and Rutgers, with Lincoln University as an affiliate, focuses on supporting students from minority populations and aims to give them new perspectives on their own potential.
The conference has significant importance for UD, said Rosalie Rolón-Dow, faculty director of UD’s Undergraduate Research Program and the McNair Scholars Program.
“We’re a big university in a little state,” she said. “Participating with other institutions helps us grow and learn as a university and extends the networks of our participants. Who knows what new connections may shape your future?”
Rolón-Dow said each participant had valuable contributions to make.
“Maybe you are the only one of color, the only woman, the only first-generation student or the only one of some other identity,” Rolón-Dow said. “We hope you feel a more acute sense of belonging and recognize that who you are and the identities you bring really do matter. You bring something unique to the table.
“You are here,” she said, “and you belong. We need you. You have much to contribute as a researcher.”
The Regional Undergraduate Research Conference, held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, in The Perkins Student Center, celebrated its 10th anniversary. This regional conference was launched in 2010 by Dr. Carol Henderson to promote research opportunities to under-represented minority students.The event included students from other schools including Arcadia University, Rutgers University and Lincoln University. Students presented papers and posters to judges and prizes were awarded.
About two dozen students participated in this 10th gathering, sharing their work in chemical engineering, sociology, Africana studies, health sciences, agriculture, environmental science, neuroscience, education and more.
Megan MacWade, a UD sophomore from Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, said she was excited to present her paper, titled “How Periods of Environmental and Social Upheaval Exacerbate Violence,” but wasn’t sure she would even be considered.
Her professor, Jeffrey Richardson, urged her to try, she said. “He told me, ‘You’d be really good at it.’”
And he was right. MacWade won the top prize for papers presented.
“These new scholars will be intelligent leaders,” said Richardson, an expert in environmental justice. “They’re looking at different issues with their presentations and they’re thinking through solutions. They have a level of passion about social change and intelligent inquiry is part of that. It’s exciting to see the growth and development and confidence. They are inspiring each other.”
Professor Myrna Nurse of Delaware State University was delighted to see the revival of the conference she co-founded in 2010 with Carol Henderson, who was professor of English and Black American Studies at UD at the time. The conference was suspended for several years during the coronavirus pandemic and returns at a critical juncture.
The Regional Undergraduate Research Conference, held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, in The Perkins Student Center, celebrated its 10th anniversary. This regional conference was launched in 2010 by Dr. Carol Henderson to promote research opportunities to under-represented minority students.The event included students from other schools including Arcadia University, Rutgers University and Lincoln University. Students presented papers and posters to judges and prizes were awarded.
“This is a new post-COVID generation, dealing with their own issues and mental health stresses,” Nurse said. “This provides a continuing, safe space to still grow and still flourish.”
Nurse said good mentors were key to her academic trajectory. She mentioned two faculty members — Michael Cottsell (English) and Lucia Palmer (philosophy) — who were especially helpful as she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English at UD.
“They saw my potential as an undergrad,” she said. “They both nurtured me.”
And she went on to earn her doctorate at Temple University.
Henderson served as UD’s vice provost for diversity from 2014-2019 and now is the chief diversity officer and vice provost for diversity and inclusion at Emory University in Atlanta.
She returned to UD as a keynote speaker for this 10th gathering and savored the reconnections with former students and colleagues in attendance.
Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Henderson was a first-generation college student who lived the kinds of struggle she now works to help others navigate.
Henderson said she changed majors four times during her undergraduate studies.
“Education is about exploration,” she said, “and that’s OK.”
Research is an important discipline to develop, she said, because diverse voices, backgrounds and perspectives are needed in the quest for knowledge. Without diversity in research, much of history will remain buried or obscured by bias, disinterest or ignorance.
“Until the lion learns to write or tell their side of the story, every story will glorify the hunter,” she said, citing an African proverb.
“Education is about discovery,” she said. “Am I who you say I am? I didn’t see myself in the material in the classroom. Or if I did, I was relegated to 1619, 1863 or 1960. There was the Civil Rights Movement and then nothing else.”
A multigenerational lens is needed to fill in the gaps, she said, and now many historians and other researchers are uncovering stories that had long been hidden.
“That is your legacy, your responsibility,” she said. “I hope you will take that charge. You come from a community that believes in the brilliance of who you are.”
And each student carries the power to enlighten the world.
“Research, write and repeat,” she said. “Do the research. Get your research published. And repeat that cycle.”
Henderson urged students to savor the connections they now have with each other and to share their gratitude with those who have supported them along the way.
The Regional Undergraduate Research Conference, held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, in The Perkins Student Center, celebrated its 10th anniversary. This regional conference was launched in 2010 by Dr. Carol Henderson to promote research opportunities to under-represented minority students.The event included students from other schools including Arcadia University, Rutgers University and Lincoln University. Students presented papers and posters to judges and prizes were awarded.
“When you go home, thank the community that birthed you — your mother, your other mother, your pastor, your professor,” she said. “They will feed your soul when the academy drains it.”
One of the students Henderson mentored while at UD — Brooklynn Hitchens — was among the first students to participate in an RUSRC conference.
Now a professor at the University of Maryland, Hitchens was one of the keynote speakers at the 2024 conference.
“I sat in the same chairs as you all,” she told the students. “I remember being terrified, feeling the pressure and terror. Little did I know that conference would shape the direction of my life.”
She urged the young researchers to consider three things:
“You deserve to be here.” Hitchens said she has often needed such reminders during her journey and studying at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) such as UD can make the need for such reminders greater. She remembered receiving much support from the Center for Black Culture, the McNair Scholars program and from some faculty members. “At a time when people are actively threatening diversity, equity and inclusion in education, your research matters. You are value-added.”
“Move beyond research for research’s sake,” she said. Research can carry impact far beyond its findings and the data analysis it produces. It can change policy, fuel social activism, increase awareness and insight of the broader community. “Constantly consider research as how it affects lives. What are the implications of your work?” Hitchens quoted the poet Toni Morrison to underline the importance of passing the torch: “If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then you have the job to empower somebody else.” Research and scholarship are not just keys to personal upward mobility, but also can carry great social value for others.
“Take care of yourself.” Hitchens urged students to make their health a priority — their physical health, emotional health and mental health. “Carve out space for yourself to mitigate the exhaustion that comes. Surround yourself with people who will pour into your cup.”
Two UD faculty leaders — Regina Wright, professor of nursing and associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion in the College of Health Sciences, and Kimberly Blockett, professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies — were central to reviving the conference and managing UD’s role as host this year.
They, too, pointed to mentors as essential guides during their academic journeys.
Wright, a UD graduate, was not aware of anything like this research conference when she was a student.
“I worked in a few psychology labs to get the experience I needed to get into graduate school,” she said, “but I never presented research until I was a graduate student.”
The Regional Undergraduate Research Conference, held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, in The Perkins Student Center, celebrated its 10th anniversary. This regional conference was launched in 2010 by Dr. Carol Henderson to promote research opportunities to under-represented minority students.The event included students from other schools including Arcadia University, Rutgers University and Lincoln University. Students presented papers and posters to judges and prizes were awarded.
Blockett said faculty involvement is essential to helping students see these opportunities and act on them.
“Very few undergraduates have the wherewithal to seek something out, follow up on it and then do it,” she said. “This is not part of their world. It’s not something you would necessarily do even if you knew about it.”
Blockett said her academic journey started at Highland Park Community College, where advice from a professor changed the course of her life. He pushed her to start presenting her research and she agreed to give it a try.
“I was not jumping to take on extra work,” she said. “I didn’t understand what the long-term and even the immediate benefit could be. But he was constantly forcing me to do things I didn’t want to do that he knew would be good for me.”
She transferred to the honors program at Eastern Michigan University and by the time she finished her undergraduate degree she had done research presentations in Michigan, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.
“I must have presented at least four or five times as an undergraduate,” Blockett said. “It’s not something I would have done, but then I got it. It was interesting to get feedback on my work and have the opportunity to do that. And it made sense. You were presenting on work you already had done or were in the process of doing, so it wasn’t on top of all the other things I was doing.”
Wright said such experiences are valuable for the rest of your life.
“It’s great training for anything you want to do,” she said. “If you’re going directly into a professional field, you need to know how to talk to people you don’t know and explain what you’re doing in terms everyone can understand. These are critical skills that should be practiced before you step out to that first job or even that first job interview.”
A sampling of student presentations:
Afua Ofori-Agyekum of Claymont, Delaware, presented research on how racial inequities persist in Delaware’s public schools. She said she pursued this topic first as part of a class she had with Jorge Serrano, professor of Africana Studies.
Natalie Sierra, also a student of Serrano’s, presented research on the Puerto Rican identity crisis and how environmental disasters and economic instability have influenced Puerto Rican identity over recent decades.
Michael Earley presented work from a project he did as part of UD’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders. He and other students worked to develop low-cost water filters and water purifiers to help residents of Malawi after Cyclone Freddy devastated the East African region in 2023 with catastrophic flooding, leaving many vulnerable to cholera and water contaminated by E.coli bacteria.
Emmanuel Ortiz, a sophomore engineering major at UD, studied catalysts that could help produce diesel fuel from shale gas. His work was part of an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program he participated in at Purdue University last summer.
Written by Beth Miller, photos by Maria Errico, University of Delaware; used with permission. Find the original article here.
The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) congratulates the following 63 teams accepted to be a part of the 2024-25 Scholars Transforming Through Research (STR) Program. The STR Program is a competitive application-based professional development opportunity for teams consisting of a campus representative and one to three undergraduate students. These teams will participate in a multi-month program aimed at developing their communication and advocacy skills which will empower them to convey the power of the high-impact practices of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative inquiry experience to diverse stakeholder groups.
“This cohort of students and mentors represents the future of research, innovation, and advocacy. Their passion for discovery and dedication to expanding access to undergraduate research opportunities is truly inspiring. As we navigate a pivotal time for both higher education and civic engagement, this year’s STR cohort will be equipped to advocate for the transformative power of research at their institutions and on the national stage. We are excited to support them as they grow into leaders who will make a lasting impact in their fields and communities.”
Lindsay Currie, CUR executive officer
These teams represent 57 institutions from 22 states and are made up of 65 Campus Representatives and 146 undergraduate researchers.
Alabama
Emily Hyman | Troy University
Jacqueline Jones | Troy University
Mario Robledo | Troy University
Kate Grissom | University of North Alabama
Cynthia Stenger | University of North Alabama
Lydia Uptain | University of North Alabama
Arizona
Peniella Irakoze | University of Arizona
Kelley Merriam-Castro | University of Arizona
Desiree Nguyen | University of Arizona
Alexia Vance | University of Arizona
California
Subodh Bhandari | Cal Poly Pomona
Levite Huang | Cal Poly Pomona
Valerie Chavez Rosa | California State University, Fullerton
Guadalupe Rodriguez | California State University, Fullerton
Riley Scanlon | California State University, Fullerton
Nanette Villegas | California State University, Fullerton
Bianca Garcia | California State University, San Bernardino
Ryan Keating | California State University, San Bernardino
Vicky Lopez | California State University, San Bernardino
Michael Rubalcava | California State University, San Bernardino
Antoinette Jane Dizon | California State University, San Marcos
Jane Kim | California State University, San Marcos
Neila Serumaga | California State University, San Marcos
Carla Garcia | Mission College
Urania Morales | Mission College
Jared Ashcroft | Pasadena City College
Ani Hakobyan | Pasadena City College
Gracious Mhlanga | Pasadena City College
Stephanie Dingwall | University of California, Riverside
Vanessa Kwong | University of California, Riverside
Anthony Stevens | University of California, Riverside
Qingwen Dong | University of the Pacific
Jessica Lacap | University of the Pacific
Elizabeth Monterroso | University of the Pacific
Karen Nateras Perez | University of the Pacific
Colorado
Roya Akrami | Colorado School of Mines
Lakshmi Krishna | Colorado School of Mines
Jude Lowe | Colorado School of Mines
Marco Salgado | Colorado School of Mines
Allison Hilger | University of Colorado Boulder
Karis Lowe | University of Colorado Boulder
Florida
Carol Mills | Florida Atlantic University
Jaimie Yap | Florida Atlantic University
Daniela Marquez Paulin | Miami Dade College
Thalia Sautie | Miami Dade College
Dinesh Vidhani | Miami Dade College
Lidhu Arakkal | Nova Southeastern University
Ali Bahsas | Nova Southeastern University
Casey Homorody | Nova Southeastern University
Marcus Marek Tortorella | Nova Southeastern University
Ashley Thompson | Nova Southeastern University
Julie Torruellas Garcia | Nova Southeastern University
Sophia Wehle | Nova Southeastern University
Eric Haseman | University of Central Florida
Martha Hubertz | University of Central Florida
Alfredo Hurtado | University of Central Florida
Miranda Kraenzlin | University of Central Florida
Fapianey Alexandre | University of Florida
Sara Burke | University of Florida
Georgia
Antinett Ampiah | Augusta University
Charlotte Downs | Augusta University
Deborah Jehu | Augusta University
Elizabeth Nelson-Twakor | Augusta University
Kaiya Edwards | Clark Atlanta University
Chasity Evans | Clark Atlanta University
Medha Talpade | Clark Atlanta University
ShaDe Townsend | Clark Atlanta University
Hawaii
Chloé Houy | University of Hawaii at Manoa
Kayla Lum | University of Hawaii at Manoa
Kristyn Miyamoto | University of Hawaii at Manoa
Noah Perales-Estoesta | University of Hawaii at Manoa
Sladjana Prisic | University of Hawaii at Manoa
Idaho
Nicolas Diaz | Boise State University
Joselyn Gutierrez | Boise State University
Jacob Scott | Boise State University
Amethyst Tagney | Boise State University
Illinois
Sophia Borjon | Bradley University
Anant Deshwal | Bradley University
Tara Geyer | Illinois State University
Gina Hunter | Illinois State University
Brenna Long | Illinois State University
Indiana
Thomas Chandler | Butler University
Lillian Miller | Butler University
Anne Wilson | Butler University
Clara Zuniga | Butler University
Mason Martin | Purdue University
Jason Ware | Purdue University
John Campbell | University of Notre Dame
Quinn Deitch | University of Notre Dame
Amy Stark | University of Notre Dame
Maryland
Yury Alvarez | Montgomery College
Zhou Dong | Montgomery College
Nurahmed Multezem | Montgomery College
Madeleiene Soenens | Montgomery College
Gabriel Fricks Starratt | Towson University
Aspen Huls | Towson University
Katherine Sterner | Towson University
Keely Vie Brock | Towson University
Massachusetts
Paula Chaves da Silva | Bentley University
Franchesca Vilmenay | Bentley University
Nebraska
Ashley Fricks-Gleason | Creighton University
Alessandra Kakish | Creighton University
Alexandra Woog | Creighton University
Cleo Zagurski | Creighton University
Jade Escarsega | University of Nebraska at Omaha
Erik Garcia | University of Nebraska at Omaha
Jenna Kramer | University of Nebraska at Omaha
Caiden Williams | University of Nebraska at Omaha
New Jersey
Emma Smith | College of New Jersey
Cadence Willse | College of New Jersey
NewYork
Vincent Calvagno | Adelphi University
Ennie Conner | Adelphi University
Ashley Kreth | Adelphi University
Justyna Widera-Kalinowska | Adelphi University
William Koumbaros | Pace University
Christelle Scharff | Pace University
Julia Tretyakov | Pace University
Michael Dunn | Skidmore College
Robyn Karchere-Sun | Skidmore College
Clea Oneil | Skidmore College
Heba Salman | Skidmore College
Kodjo Adabra | State University of New York at Geneseo
Addie Balogun | State University of New York at Geneseo
Sam Scamardo | State University of New York at Geneseo
North Carolina
Eric Hall | Elon University
Lucy McAfee | Elon University
Makeda Sanders | Elon University
Chase Siewert | Elon University
Alaina Doss | University of North Carolina Wilmington
Niki Dwight | University of North Carolina Wilmington
Katherine Liu | University of North Carolina Wilmington
Nicky Mendoza-Quinonez | University of North Carolina Wilmington
Laurie Minns | University of North Carolina Wilmington
Anna Vreeling | University of North Carolina Wilmington
Pennsylvania
Annabelle Johnson | Penn State
Tim Kane | Penn State
Jasmine Khalil | Penn State
Evan Marcinkevage | Penn State
Stephen Robertson | Susquehanna University
Catherine Shipsky | Susquehanna University
Ash Stryker | Susquehanna University
Timothy Wood | Susquehanna University
Alan Barrera | Villanova University
Anthony Lagalante | Villanova University
Tennessee
Suzy Aguirre | Milligan University
Joy Drinnon | Milligan University
Samantha “Sami” Maldonado | Milligan University
Mark Matthews | Milligan University
Wendy Rice-Hensley | Milligan University
Jennifer Bui | Rhodes College
Hugh Ferguson | Rhodes College
Brent Hoffmeister | Rhodes College
Layla Lammers | Rhodes College
Trinity Liaw | Rhodes College
Larryn Peterson | Rhodes College
Catherine Prabish | Rhodes College
Alice Grace Beavers | University of Tennessee
Jocelyn Hess | University of Tennessee
Adrianna Johnson | University of Tennessee
Meredith Malburne-Wade | University of Tennessee
Elise Kikis | University of the South
Laine Prince | University of the South
Hannah Talbott | University of the South
Ellen Woodward | University of the South
Texas
Tamarah Adair | Baylor University
Chloe Kautt | Baylor University
Berkley Ponce | Baylor University
Elise Zeigler | Baylor University
Michael Bellot | Lamar University
Shannon Jordan | Lamar University
Kayla McKinley | Lamar University
Elizabeth Eich | Rice University
Zoe Griffin | Rice University
Kevin Hernandez Guadarrama | Rice University
Bennett Husick | Rice University
Danika Li | Rice University
Caleb McKinney | Rice University
Abigail Schuh | Rice University
Ruoqing Wang | Rice University
Ken Fiffick | Stephen F. Austin State University
Blake Maillet | Stephen F. Austin State University
Rashid Mia | Stephen F. Austin State University
Cari Mitchell | Stephen F. Austin State University
Jessica Lan-Anh | Texas A&M College of Medicine
Tia Pandey | Texas A&M College of Medicine
Katherine Ray | Texas A&M College of Medicine
Siara Rouzer | Texas A&M College of Medicine
Zoe Bustillos | University of Texas at El Paso
Karina Canaba | University of Texas at El Paso
Thelma Garcia | University of Texas at El Paso
Rafael Salinas | University of Texas at El Paso
Darrell C. Balderrama | University of Texas at San Antonio
Allen Brown-Zubillaga | University of Texas at San Antonio
Jennifer Mendoza | University of Texas at San Antonio
Miguel Rivera | University of Texas at San Antonio
Utah
Vinodh Kumar Chellamuthu | Utah Tech University
Michael Orr | Utah Tech University
Claire Parker | Utah Valley University
Elyse Vaccaro | Utah Valley University
Virginia
Mark Daniel | Radford University
Jason Davis | Radford University
Sandra Liss | Radford University
Jovanny Machuca Tiznado | Radford University
Grace Parton | Radford University
Annie Riffee | Radford University
Quentin Shivnen | Radford University
Eniko Szabad | Radford University
Wisconsin
Damanpreet Khaira | Carthage College
John Kirk | Carthage College
Xingchen Liu | Carthage College
Abigail Swihart | Carthage College
Building from the success of the previous two years, this year’s STR program begins in November 2024 and concludes in March 2025 with in-person visits with stakeholders and elected governmental leadership in Washington, DC.
Which is why these 10 NYU students aren’t waiting for graduation to make an impact in the lab, the field, or the studio.
The telegraph. The polio vaccine. The bar code. Light beer. Throughout its history, NYU has been known for innovation, with faculty and alumni in every generation contributing to some of the most notable inventions and scientific breakthroughs of their time. But you don’t wind up in the history books—or peer-reviewed journals—by accident; academic research, like any specialized discipline, takes hard work and lots of practice.
And at NYU, for students who are interested, that training can start early—including during an undergraduate’s first years on campus. Whether through assistantships in faculty labs, summer internships, senior capstones, or independent projects inspired by coursework, undergrad students have many opportunities to take what they’re learning in the classroom and apply it to create original scholarship throughout their time at NYU. Many present their work at research conferences, and some even co-author work with faculty and graduate students that leads to publication.
As 2023-2024 drew to a close, the NYU News team coordinated with the Office of the Provost to pull together a snapshot of the research efforts that students undertook during this school year. The nine featured here represent just a small fraction of the impressive work we encountered in fields ranging from biology, chemistry, and engineering to the social sciences, humanities, and the arts.
These projects were presented at NYU research conferences for undergrads, including Migration and Im/Mobility, Pathways for Discovery: Undergraduate Research and Writing Symposium, Social Impact: NYU’s Applied Undergraduate Research Conference, Arts-Based Undergraduate Research Conference, Gallatin Student Research Conference, Dreammaker’s Summit, Tandon’s Research Excellence Exhibit, and Global Engagement Symposium. Learn more about these undergrad research opportunities and others.
Jordan Janowski (CAS ’24) Major: Biochemistry Thesis title: “Engineering Chirality for Functionality in Crystalline DNA”
I work in the Structural DNA Nanotechnology Lab, which was founded by the late NYU professor Ned Seeman, who is known as the father of the field. My current projects are manipulating DNA sequences to self-assemble into high order structures.
Essentially, we’re using DNA as a building material, instead of just analyzing it for its biological functions. It constantly amazes me that this is possible.
I came in as a pre-med student, but when I started working in the lab I realized that I was really interested in continuing my research there. I co-wrote a paper with postdoc Dr. Simon Vecchioni who has been a mentor to me and helped me navigate applying to grad school. I’m headed to Scripps Research in the fall. This research experience has led me to explore some of the molecules that make up life and how they could be engineered into truly unnatural curiosities and technologies.
My PI, Prof. Yoel Ohayon, has been super supportive of my place on the NYU women’s basketball team, which I’m a member of. He’s been coming to my games since sophomore year, and he’ll text me with the score and “great game!”— it’s been so nice to have that support for my interests beyond the lab.
Anthony Offiah (Gallatin ’26) Concentration: Fashion design and business administration MLK Scholars research project title: “project: DREAMER”
In “project: DREAMER,” I explored how much a person’s sense of fashion is a result of their environment or societal pressures based on their identity. Certain groups are pressured or engineered to present a certain way, and I wanted to see how much of the opposing force—their character, their personality—affected their sense of style.
This was a summer research project through the MLK Scholars Program. I did ethnographic interviews with a few people, and asked them to co-design their ideal garments with me. They told me who they are, how they identify, and what they like in fashion, and we synthesized that into their dream garments. And then we had a photo shoot where they were empowered to make artistic choices.
Some people told me they had a hard time conveying their sense of style because they were apprehensive about being the center of attention or of being dissimilar to the people around them. So they chose to conform to protect themselves. And then others spoke about wanting to safeguard the artistic or vulnerable—or one person used the word “feminine”—side of them so they consciously didn’t dress how they ideally would.
We ended the interviews by stating an objective about how this co-designing process didn’t end with them just getting new clothes—it was about approaching fashion differently than how they started and unlearning how society might put them in a certain box without their approval.
My concentration in Gallatin is fashion design and business administration. In the industry some clothing is critiqued and some clothing is praised—and navigating that is challenging, because what you like might not be well received. So doing bespoke fashion for just one person is freeing in a sense because you don’t have to worry about all that extra stuff. It’s just the art. And I like being an artist first and thinking about the business second.
Lizette Saucedo (Global Liberal Studies ’24) Major: Politics, rights, and development Thesis title: “Acknowledging and Remembering Deceased Migrants Crossing the U.S.-Mexican Border”
My thesis project is on commemorating migrants who are dying on their journey north to cross the U.S.–Mexican border. I look at it through different theoretical lenses, and one of the terms is necropolitics—how politics shapes the way the State governs life and especially death. And then of the main issues aside from the deaths is that a lot of people in the U.S. don’t know about them, due to the government trying to eschew responsibility for migrant suffering. In the final portion of the thesis, I argue for presenting what some researchers call “migrant artifacts”—the personal belongings left behind by people trying to cross over—to the public, so that people can become aware and have more of a human understanding of what’s going on.
This is my senior thesis for Liberal Studies, but the idea for it started in an International Human Rights course I took with professor Joyce Apsel. We read a book by Jason De León called The Land of the Open Graves, which I kept in the back of my mind. And then when I studied abroad in Germany during my junior year, I noticed all the different memorials and museums, and wondered why we didn’t have the equivalent in the U.S. My family comes from Mexico—my parents migrated—and ultimately all of these interests came together.
I came into NYU through the Liberal Studies program and I loved it. It’s transdisciplinary, which shaped how I view my studies. My major is politics, rights, and development and my minor is social work, but I’ve also studied museum studies, and I’ve always loved the arts. The experience of getting to work one-on-one on this thesis has really fortified my belief that I can combine all those things.
Sade Chaffatt (Abu Dhabi ’24) Major: Biology Thesis title: “The Polycomb repressive component, EED in mouse hepatocytes regulates liver homeostasis and survival following partial hepatectomy.”
Imagine your liver as a room. Within the liver there are epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression. Imagine these epigenetic mechanisms as a dimmer switch, so that you could adjust the light in the room. If we remove a protein that is involved in regulating these mechanisms, there might be dysregulation—as though the light is too bright or too dim. One such protein, EED, plays a crucial role in regulating gene expression. And so my project focuses on investigating whether EED is required in mouse hepatocytes to regulate liver homeostasis and to regulate survival following surgical resection.
Stepping into the field of research is very intimidating when you’re an undergraduate student and know nothing. But my capstone mentor, Dr. Kirsten Sadler, encourages students to present their data at lab meetings and to speak with scientists. Even though this is nerve-wracking, it helps to promote your confidence in communicating science to others in the field.
If you’d asked 16-year-old me, I never would’ve imagined that I’d be doing research at this point. Representation matters a lot, and you often don’t see women—especially not Black women—in research. Being at NYUAD has really allowed me to see more women in these spaces. Having had some experience in the medical field through internships, I can now say I’m more interested in research and hope to pursue a PhD in the future.
Kimberly: The Robotic Design Team has been active at NYU for at least five years. We’re 60-plus undergrad and grad students majoring in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and integrated design. We’ve named our current project TITAN because of how huge it is. TITAN stands for “Tandon’s innovation in terraforming and autonomous navigation.”
Sarah: We compete in NASA’s lunatics competition every year, which means we build a robot from scratch to be able to compete in lunar excavation and construction. We make pretty much everything in house in the Tandon MakerSpace, and everyone gets a little experience with machining, even if you’re not mechanical. A lot of it is about learning how to work with other people—communicating across majors and disciplines and learning how to explain our needs to someone who may not be as well versed in particular technologies as we are.
Kimberly: With NYU’s Vertically Integrated Project I’ve been able to take what I was interested in and actually have a real world impact with it. NASA takes notes on every Rover that enters this competition. What worked and what didn’t actually influences their designs for rovers they send to the moon and to Mars.
Eva Fuentes (CAS ’24) Major: Anthropology Thesis title: “Examining the relationship between pelvic shape and numbers of lumbar vertebrae in primates”
I came into NYU thinking I wanted to be an art history major with maybe an archeology minor. To do the archeology minor, you have to take the core classes in anthropology, and so I had to take an intro to human evolution course. I was like, this is the coolest thing I’ve learned—ever. So I emailed people in the department to see if I could get involved.
Since my sophomore year, I’ve been working in the Evolutionary Morphology Lab with Scott Williams, who is primarily interested in the vertebral column of primates in the fossil record because of how it can inform the evolution of posture and locomotion in humans.
For my senior thesis, I’m looking at the number of lumbar vertebrae—the vertebrae that are in the lower back specifically—and aspects of pelvic shape to see if it is possible to make inferences about the number of lumbar vertebrae a fossil may have had. The bones of the lower back are important because they tell us about posture and locomotion.
I committed to a PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis a few weeks ago to study biological anthropology. I never anticipated being super immersed in the academic world. I don’t come from an academic family. I had no idea what I was doing when I started, but Scott Williams, and everyone in the lab, is extremely welcoming and easy to talk to. It wasn’t intimidating to come into this lab at all.
Elsa Nyongesa (GPH, CAS ’24 ) Major: Global Public Health and Biology Project: “Diversity in Breast Oncological Studies: Impacts on Black Women’s Health Outcomes”
I interned at Weill Cornell Medicine through their Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program where I worked with my mentor, Dr. Lisa Newman, who is the head of the International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes. I analyzed data on the frequency of different types of breast cancer across racial and ethnic groups in New York. At the same time, I was also working with Dr. Rachel Kowolsky to study minority underrepresentation in clinical research.
In an experiential learning course taught by Professor Joyce Moon Howard in the GPH department, I created a research question based on my internship experience. I thought about how I could combine my experiences from the program which led to my exploration of the correlation between minority underrepresentation in breast oncological studies, and how it affects the health outcomes of Black women with breast cancer.
In my major, we learn about the large scope of health disparities across different groups. This opportunity allowed me to learn more about these disparities in the context of breast cancer research. As a premedical student, this experience broadened my perspective on health. I learned more about the social, economic, and environmental factors influencing health outcomes. It also encouraged me to examine literature more critically to find gaps in knowledge and to think about potential solutions to health problems. Overall, this experience deepened my philosophy of service, emphasizing the importance of health equity and advocacy at the research and clinical level.
Rohan Bajaj (Stern ’24) Major: Finance and statistics Thesis title: “Measuring Socioeconomic Changes and Investor Attitude in Chicago’s Post-Covid Economic Recovery”
My thesis is focused on understanding the effects of community-proposed infrastructure on both the socioeconomic demographics of cities and on fiscal health. I’m originally from Chicago, so it made a lot of sense to pay tribute back to the place that raised me. I’m compiling a list of characteristics of infrastructure that has been developed since 2021 as a part of the Chicago Recovery Plan and then assessing how neighborhoods have changed geographically and economically.
I’m looking at municipal bond yields in Chicago as a way of evaluating the fiscal health of the city. Turns out a lot of community-proposed infrastructure is focused in lower income areas within Chicago rather than higher income areas. So that makes the research question interesting, to see if there’s a correlation between the proposed and developed infrastructure projects, and if these neighborhoods are being gentrified alongside development.
I kind of stumbled into the impact investing industry accidentally from an internship I had during my time at NYU. I started working at a renewable energies brokerage in midtown, where my main job was collecting a lot of market research trends and delivering insights on how these different energy markets would come into play. I then worked with the New York State Insurance Fund, where I helped construct and execute their sustainable investment strategy from the ground up.
I also took a class called “Design with Climate Change” with Peter Anker in Gallatin during my junior year, and a lot of that class was focused on how to have climate resilient and publicly developed infrastructure, and understanding the effects it has on society. It made me start thinking about the vital role that physical surroundings play in steering communities.
In the short term I want to continue diving into impact-focused investing and help identify urban planners and city government to develop their communities responsibly and effectively.
Andrea Durham (Tandon, ’26) Major: Biomolecular science Research essay title: “The Rise and Fall of Aduhelm”
This is an essay I wrote last year in an advanced college essay writing class with Professor Lorraine Doran on the approval of a drug for Alzheimer’s disease called Aduhelm—a monoclonal antibody therapy developed by Biogen in 2021, which was described as being momentous and groundbreaking. But there were irregularities ranging from the design of its clinical trials to government involvement that led to the resignation of three scientists on an advisory panel, because not everybody in the scientific community agreed that it should be approved.
When I was six years old, my grandmother was diagnosed. Seeing the impact that it had over the years broke my heart and ignited a passion in me to pursue research.
When I started at NYU, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do in the future, or what opportunities I would go after. This writing class really gave me an opportunity to reflect on the things that were important to me in my life. The September after I wrote this paper, I started volunteering in a lab at Mount Sinai for Alzheimer’s disease research, and that’s what I’m doing now—working as a volunteer at the Center for Molecular Integrative Neuroresilience under Dr. Giulio Pasinetti. I have this opportunity to be at the forefront, and because of the work I did in my writing class I feel prepared going into these settings with an understanding of the importance of conducting ethical research and working with integrity.
Written by: Eileen Reynolds, New York University; used with permission. Find the original article here.
