Kenyon is a place of learning for all seasons.
While most of the student population scatters for the summer, a core group remains on campus to continue research. Working alongside faculty mentors, these scholars continue to expand the realm of knowledge — both for themselves and for the world — by taking on a host of projects in the natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, fine arts and much more.
The following 110 students were involved in summer research projects, under the expert guidance of 56 faculty mentors, in 2024.
Cascade Science Scholars
The Cascade Science Scholars program is designed for first-year and second-year students in the natural sciences who have no previous research experience:
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Ethan Blake ’26, Explorations of Photothermal Spectroscopy — Novel Optical Techniques for Chemical Analysis
Mentor: James Keller, professor of chemistry
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Damaris Darkwah ’27, Structure-function Relationship of the Enzyme in the Valine Degradation Pathway
Mentor: Kerry Rouhier, associate professor of chemistry
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Godwin Idowu ’27, Coding Theory: Search for Good Classical and Quantum Codes
Mentor: Noah Aydin, professor of mathematics
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Ashley Martinez ’27, Exploring Differences in Flight Muscle Size
Mentor: Natalie Wright, professor of biology
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Jenna Ray ’27, Bespoke Polymer Degradation
Mentor: Yutan Getzler, Pamela G. Hollie Chair in Global Challenges, professor of chemistry
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Julia Sobel ’26, The Role of the Internet in Identity Development Among Individuals Who Identify as Queer
Mentor: Sarah Murnen, Samuel B. Cummings Professor of Psychology
Center for the Study of American Democracy Summer Scholar
The CSAD Democracy Scholars Program provides opportunities for students to work in close collaboration with faculty members as full participants on a fundamental question, text or theme of American liberal democracy. The program is supported by the Class of 1978 Summer Research Fund and the Pamela K. Jensen Faculty Research Fund endowments for the Center for the Study of American Democracy.
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Olive O'Riordan ’25, Exploring the Dynamics of Immigration Legislation in Response to Economic, Political and Demographic Force
Mentor: Nancy Powers ’83, CSAD associate director and assistant professor of political science
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Caroline Russell ’25, Codes, Narrative and Performance: Agreement Between Political Opponents During a Period of Polarization
Mentor: Celso Villegas, associate professor of sociology
Community-Engaged Summer Research Program
The Community-Engaged Summer Research Program provides opportunities for students to collaborate with faculty members as full participants in community-engaged research. The program is supported in part by the "Sense of Place" grant from the Mellon Foundation.
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Ashley Sanchez ’26, Global Water Dance
Mentor: Julie Brodie, director of the Office for Community Partnerships and professor of dance
Environmental Studies Sustainability Scholars
The Sustainability Scholars program provides opportunities for environmental studies majors to pursue research with a faculty mentor related to climate change or sustainability. The Sustainability Scholars program is supported by The Fund for Environmental Studies.
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Ethan Ashbrook ’25, Crafting a Current Conditions Report of the Brown Family Environmental Center in Collaboration with the Philander Chase Conservancy
Mentor: Eric Holdener, assistant professor of physics and scientific computing
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Natalya Delsante ’25, Homeric Inheritance: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Classical and Indigenous Environmental Knowledge Through the Three-Sisters Agricultural Method
Mentor: Patrick Bottiger, associate professor of history -
Grant Gerhardt ’25, Understanding the Trajectory of Ecological Restoration from Golf Course to Green Burial Site: Decomposition and Trophic Dynamics at Kokosing Nature Preserve
Mentor: Lauren Schmitt, assistant professor of environmental studies
Hoskins Frame Summer Science Writing Scholars
The Hoskins Frame Summer Science Writing Scholars program supports student writers who wish to communicate artfully and with precision about science, with the goal of deepening our understanding of the natural world and our place in it. The program is supported by the Hoskins Frame Science Writing Student Associates Fund.
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Isabella Clark ’25
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Desmond Dietz ’25
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Hannah Ehrlich ’26
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Samantha Ofori ’26
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Michelle Polak ’25
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Anh Quach ’26
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Lillian Webb ’25
Mentors: Frances Cannon, Mellon Science and Nature Writing Fellow; Chris Gillen, professor of biology; Orchid Tierney, assistant professor of English; Sally Wilson ’12, affiliated scholar in biology.
John W. Adams Summer Scholars Program in Socio-Legal Studies
The John W. Adams Summer Scholars Program in Socio-legal Studies provides opportunities for students to work in close collaboration with faculty members as full participants in the design and execution of a socio-legal studies research project. The initiative was established in 2008 by the Foundation for Law, Justice, and Society in honor of the father of Michael W. Adams ’93.
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Niamh Cahill ’25, The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Decision and College Admissions
Mentor: Kyla Bender-Baird, visiting assistant professor of legal studies and sociology
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Sacha Franjola ’26, Ancient Art, Cultural Heritage Law, and the Politics of Return — Global Implications of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Blick-Harris Study Collection
Mentor: Brad Hostetler, professor of art history
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Rafael Frias ’27, Risk Protection Orders and their Role in Florida Municipal Law
Mentor: Jennifer Johnson, professor of sociology
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Conner Gebben ’27, Patterns of Immigration Enforcement in Ohio
Mentors: Eric Holdener, assistant professor of physics and scientific computing, and Jennifer Johnson, professor of sociology
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Mae Ling Gorin ’26, Geographical Disparities in Immigration Law
Mentor: Christopher Levesque, assistant professor of law and society and sociology
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Ashlee J. Molina ’26, Executive Branch Associations Among Federalist Society Affiliates
Mentor: Zachary McGee, assistant professor of political science
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Marielle Musick ’27, Expertise and Inquest: Expertise and the Potential Lack Thereof in the U.S. Coroner System
Mentor: Alexandra Bradner, visiting assistant professor of philosophy
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Hung Nguyen ’26, Public Hospital Autonomy Implementation in Vietnam
Mentor: Michelle Mood, assistant professor of political science and Asian studies
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Christian Picot ’25, Intern in applied research on family violence, Nationwide Children's Hospital's Center for Family Safety and Healing
Mentor: Margaret Stevenson, associate professor of psychology
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Desideria Rood ’25, Trust and Memory in the Legal System
Mentor: Christopher Levesque, assistant professor of law and society and sociology
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Emerson Salome ’25, Federalist Society Affiliates in Private Practice and Legal Academia
Mentor: Zachary McGee, assistant professor of political science
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Marissa Sun ’25, Does Child Race Predict Prosecutorial Decisions in Child Sexual Abuse Cases?
Mentor: Margaret Stevenson, associate professor of psychology
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Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault ’26, The Federalist Society's Affiliates: Influence in Political and Legal Leadership
Mentor: Zachary McGee, assistant professor of political science
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Chau Vu ’26, Examining H-2A Workers’ Working Conditions During and After COVID-19 Lockdown
Mentor: Christopher Levesque, assistant professor of law and society and sociology
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Chloie Wilson ’26, How is the Case of Guantanamo Bay a Product of Religio-racial Biases Employed by the U.S. Government as a Legal Justification for the Criminalization and Dehumanization of Muslim and Arab Individuals?
Mentor: Christopher Levesque, assistant professor of law and society and sociology -
Oli Wulff ’26, Trans Cultural Competence
Mentor: Kyla Bender-Baird, visiting assistant professor of legal studies and sociology
Kenyon College and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Pelotonia Partnership
For this highly competitive 10-week summer research project at Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital that uses Pelotonia funds, scholars participate in groundbreaking studies and methods to advance cancer research.
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Justine Cole ’25
Mentor: Wayne Miles, associate professor of molecular genetics at Ohio State
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Logan Coleman ’25
Mentor: Richard Bruno, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State
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Sam Connors ’26
Mentor: Jian-Qiu Wu, professor of molecular genetics at Ohio State
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Durwynn Jno. Baptiste ’25
Mentor: Yael Vodovotz, professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State
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Ally Lavy ’26
Mentor: Dehua Pei, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State -
Kavya Thaker ’25
Mentor: Electra Paskett, Marion N. Rowley Chair in Cancer Research at Ohio State
Kenyon Farm Fellows
The Kenyon Farm Fellow program provides opportunities each summer for students to work with a faculty mentor on research or scholarship related to agriculture at the Kenyon Farm. The program is funded by the Diane Elam ’80 and Nancy Donohue Endowment for Kenyon Farm Fellows.
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Harrison Solomon ’26, Designing Multifunctional Farms: Intercropping to Maximize Green Lacewing Ecosystem Services Across Life Stages
Mentor: Lauren Schmitt, assistant professor of environmental studies
Ohio 5/Ohio State University Research Scholars
The Ohio State University and the Five Colleges of Ohio co-sponsor 20 paid summer research internships in biochemistry, chemistry, mathematics, physics and statistics. The 10-week program partners interns from Kenyon, Wooster, Denison, Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan with Ohio State University faculty members to create and execute a research project, then present results in a public forum.
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Syed Rafey Abbas ’25
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Sydney Geboy ’25
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Brooke Heis ’26
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Hannah Joo ’25
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Dustin Lee ’25
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Jonathan Lee ’26
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Susan Li ’27
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Isabella Strickland ’26
Summer Scholars in the Humanities, Fine Arts and Social Sciences
This Summer Scholars fellowship allows students to work as full participants in the processes of creating a research plan in certain fields, executing a research project and preparing results for presentation in a public forum. The program is funded by Kenyon and a grant from the Beulah Kahler Foundation.
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Cooper Bertschi ’26, Associations, Adversaries and Agriculture: Plotting the Peoples and Places of the Upper Ohio River Region, 1750-1820
Mentor: Patrick Bottiger, associate professor of history
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Chenxiao Cui ’26, Contemporary Sound Poetics
Mentor: Orchid Tierney, assistant professor of English
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Theo Jacobs ’26, Anti-Trans Politics and the Persistence of Transnormativity
Mentor: Austin Johnson, associate professor of sociology
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Will Johnson ’26, Feminist Pedagogy and the Trigger Warning
Mentor: Jessica Pruett, assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies
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Aidan Jordan ’26, Critical Theory: Interventions, Reclamations, and Pedagogies
Mentor: Alex Brostoff, assistant professor of English
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Braeden Singleton ’25, Denis Baly Slide Collection Summer Research
Mentor: Brad Hostetler, assistant professor of art history -
Yueqi Song ’25, Town Music in Electoral Saxony c.1550-c.1685: Determining Possible Pathways of Acquisition (or, How Did They Get All That Stuff?)Mentor: Dane Heuchemer, professor of music
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Sonia Suben ’25, Art, Religion and Autocracy: Coinage of the Komnenian Dynasty
Mentor: Brad Hostetler, assistant professor of art history
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Annastasia Rose Winston, Layered Traumas: The First World War Refugee Crisis and Holocaust Survivor Testimonies
Mentor: Eliza Ablovatski, professor of history
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Er Yue ’25, Youth and Boredom in the Twentieth-Century World Literature
Mentor: Jesse Matz, John Crowe Ransom Professor of English
Summer Science Scholars
Student-faculty pairs spend up to 10 weeks in the summer delving into research projects in the natural sciences. Science scholars present their findings to the public at a research poster session during Family Weekend in October.
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Mira Allen ’26, Parental Care in the North American Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster)
Mentor: Iris Levin, associate professor of biology and environmental studies
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James Baker ’26, Characterizing Abundancy Outlaws
Mentor: Judy Holdener, professor of mathematics
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Moe Belghith ’26, Search for Linear Codes over Z_4 from Cyclic Codes of Even Lengths
Mentor: Noah Aydin, professor of mathematics
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Aishik Biswas ’27, Intraspecies Forelimb-hindlimb Investment Correlation in Bird Species
Mentor: Natalie Wright, professor of biology
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Keller Bueneman ’25, Screening for Mortality and Developmental Defects in ahr-/- Xenopus tropicalis Embryos and Tadpoles
Mentor: Wade Powell, professor of biology
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Madeleine Campbell ’26, Testing the Effect of Brood Size and Parental Care on Nestling Feather Barb Density in Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster)
Mentor: Toshi Tsunekage, assistant professor of biology
The Fund for Environmental Studies
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David Chintala ’26, Hyperparameter Tuning LIGO Glitch MLAs
Mentor: Madeline Wade, associate professor of physics
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Aidan Cullen ’26, Associating Hand-Wing Index and Muscle Measurements to Understand Flight Ability in Birds
Mentor: Natalie Wright, professor of biology
Andrew J. Bobick '00 Summer Science Endowment Fund
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Eve Currens ’25, Adding Non-linear Gravity to Alpha-attractor Preheating
Mentor: Tom Giblin, professor of physics
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Anyssa El Mhaia ’26, High-Resolution Imaging System For Single-Atom Trapping
Mentor: Aaron Reinhard, professor of physics
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Olivia Fairlamb ’26, Exploring the Optical Properties of Scandium Aluminum Nitride Alloys
Mentor: Frank Peiris, professor of physics
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Leah Fanello ’26, The Impact of Word Choice and Format on Decoding SMS Abbreviations
Mentor: Shauna de Long, visiting assistant professor of psychology
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Dominick Frost ’26, Understanding Coherence of a Three-Body System Near Förster Resonance and the Design of an Upgraded Electrode Package
Mentor: Aaron Reinhard, professor of physics
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J'sun Gardner ’26, Modeling the Early Universe Using GABE
Mentor: Tom Giblin, professor of physics
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Lily Gehres ’26, Using a Spatial Light Modulator to Create an Individual Atom Trap for Highly Excited Rydberg Atoms
Mentor: Aaron Reinhard, professor of physics
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Tapiwa Gono Phiri ’25, Controlled Polymerization Experiment of Epsilon Caprolactone
Mentor: Yutan Getzler, Pamela G. Hollie Chair in Global Challenges, professor of chemistry
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Greyson Greischar ’27, Synthesis of g-(acyl)-e-caprolactone
Mentor: Yutan Getzler, Pamela G. Hollie Chair in Global Challenges, professor of chemistry
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Kiersten Hoffmann ’25, Spatial and Learning Memory in Male/Female Autism Spectrum Disorder Model Mice (BTBR T+tf/J)
Mentor: Hewlet McFarlane, assistant vice president for enrollment, director of strategic programs and partnerships, and professor of neuroscience
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Bo Huang ’25, AHR Expression and cyp1a Inducibility in Wild-type and ahr-humanized Frogs
Mentor: Wade Powell, professor of biology
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Blythe Karras ’25, Will I Remember You? Anxiety and Memory Performance Mediated by Theta Synchronization During Face Perception
Mentor: Andrew Engell, associate professor of psychology
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Emma Kelley ’26, Properties of Organic Semiconductors in the Solid State
Mentor: Katie Mauck, assistant professor of chemistry
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Jackson Kennedy ’25, A Statistical Analysis of Player Performance and Development in the NBA
Mentor: Brad Hartlaub, professor of mathematics and statistics
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Christine Kessens ’26, Inflation, Preheating, and Gauge Fields
Mentor: Tom Giblin, professor of physics
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Erik Kim ’27, Cloud-Managed Enterprise WiFi Platform Using OpenWrt
Mentor: Jim Skon, professor of mathematics and computer science
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Hollen Knoell ’25, Will I Remember You? Anxiety and Memory Performance Mediated by Theta Synchronization During Face Perception
Mentor: Andrew Engell, associate professor of psychology
Kenyon High Impact Practice Experience Fund
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Kuba Kopczuk ’26, Improving the Methods for Detecting Glints in Gravitational Wave Signals
Mentor: Leslie Wade, associate professor of physics
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Samuel Kovach ’25, Dielectric Functions of Novel Semiconductors: Simulations using Density Functional Theory and Measurements Using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry
Mentor: Frank Peiris, professor of physics
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Peter Krosniak ’27, Supermassive Black Holes from Preheating
Mentor: Tom Giblin, professor of physics
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Rosa Kwon ’26, Determining the Effects of mecr-1 Gene Deletion on the Hermaphrodite Caenorhabditis elegans Germ Line Through Immunofluorescent Analysis of FOG-3
Mentor: Peter Kropp, Harvey F. Lodish Assistant Professor of Biology
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Christophe Leblanc ’25, Exploring Gaps in Stationary Paths of Functionals
Mentor: Marie Snipes, associate professor of mathematics
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Jinghao Li ’25, Liver Histology of ahr-null Xenopus tropicalis Frogs
Mentor: Wade Powell, professor of biology
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Valeriia Lukianova ’26, The Functional Consequences of Sexual Dimorphism in Flight Muscle Size in Birds and its Effect on Flight
Mentor: Natalie Wright, professor of biology
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Advaitha Manigandan ’26, Computing, Mathematics and Statistics
Mentor: Jim Skon, professor of mathematics and computer science
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Elizabeth Manning ’26, Expression and Localization of FOG-1: A Pro-spermatogenic Marker
Mentor: Peter Kropp, Harvey F. Lodish Assistant Professor of Biology
Dr. Joseph Babb '61 & Professor Charles Thornton Summer Science Research Fund
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Teddy Masters ’25, Using Machine Learning Algorithms to Improve Searches for Gravitational Waves with LIGO
Mentor: Madeline Wade, associate professor of physics
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Andrew Mayer ’26, Calculating Sensitivity Metrics Empirically for Computer Experiments that Have Non-Rectangular Input Spaces
Mentor: Erin Leatherman, associate professor of statistics
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Amanda Miller ’25, Simulating Cosmological Processes with Full General Relativity
Mentor: Tom Giblin, professor of physics
Child Family Summer Scholars Fund for Physics
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Kylie Mullaly ’25, Replication and Analysis of Organic Cordage and Textile Manufacture, Decomposition, and Preservation
Mentor: Bruce Hardy, J. Kenneth Smail Professor of Anthropology
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Nushin Nawar ’26, Developing Methods of Frequency Domain Fluorescence Lifetime Measurements to Improve Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
Mentor: James Keller, professor of chemistry
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Trang Nguyen ’26, Constructing New Quantum Codes from Classical Codes
Mentor: Noah Aydin, professor of mathematics
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Tasnim Islam Orco ’26, Amplification of Circular Dichroism Signal Through Fluorophore Binding
Mentor: James Keller, professor of chemistry
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Maria Peacock ’26, Expression and Purification of β-Ketoacyl ACP Synthases I and II from the Glandular Trichome Tissues of the Solanaceae Plant Family
Mentor: Kerry Rouhier, associate professor of chemistry
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Calista Pearlstone ’27, Exploring Coherence Times of Three-Atom Entangled States Near Förster Resonance
Mentor: Aaron Reinhard, professor of physics
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Owen Peterson ’26, Extracting the Electronic Transitions of PtSe2 using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry
Mentor: Frank Peiris, professor of physics
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Wyatt Phillips ’25, Examining Early Dark Energy’s Possible Generation of Gravitational Waves
Mentor: Tom Giblin, professor of physics
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Benji Rothman ’26, The Internet’s Role in Queer Identity Development
Mentor: Sarah Murnen, Samuel B. Cummings Professor of Psychology
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Hatim Taimour Ahmed Saeed ’26, Modeling the Dielectric Function of PtSe2 using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry
Mentor: Frank Peiris, professor of physics
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Dilara Sen ’25, Developing a Magneto-Optical Setup to Study Magnetic Semiconductors
Mentor: Frank Peiris, professor of physics
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Josephine Smith ’26, Constraining The Neutron Star Equation of State Using Parameter Estimation
Mentor: Leslie Wade, associate professor of physics
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Katy Spilsbury ’25, Effects of a mecr-1 Deletion on the C. elegans Germline
Mentor: Peter Kropp, Harvey F. Lodish Assistant Professor of Biology
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Frank Szaraz ’25, Dental Calculus and Microfossil Analysis from 12th Century Northern Iceland
Mentor: Kimmarie Murphy, John B. McCoy-Banc One Distinguished Teaching Professor of Anthropology
Cynthia Patterson Internship/Research Fund
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Joshua Temple ’25, Identifying Glitches In LIGO Data Using Advanced MLA Strategies
Mentor: Madeline Wade, associate professor of physics
Stautberg Fund for Career Development
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Izzy Thompson ’27, Studying Properties of Semiconductors in the Solid State
Mentor: Katie Mauck, assistant professor of chemistry
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Long Tran ’26, Constructing Quantum Codes from Classical Codes in More Direct and Elementary Ways
Mentor: Noah Aydin, professor of mathematics
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Jackson Twaddle ’25, The Three Sisters: A Living Archive of Indigenous Knowledge
Mentor: Patrick Bottiger, associate professor of history
Kimber High Impact Experience Fund
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Sarah Verner ’26, Social Behavior of Socially Monogamous Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster) During Incubation and Laying
Mentor: Iris Levin, associate professor of biology and environmental studies -
Ngoc Ha Vu ’25, The Rise of Ethnic Tourism in Vietnam: Staged Authenticity in Pa Vi Village
Mentor: Sam Pack, professor of anthropology
Thomas W. Smith Free Market Societies Scholars
The Thomas W. Smith Free Market Societies Scholars Program provides opportunities for students to explore how markets and market-supporting institutions may shape social life and social outcomes, be used to address pressing social problems, or contribute to greater prosperity, democracy, or human liberty. The program is supported by a grant from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation to the Center for the Study of American Democracy.
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Zachary Kobban ’25, Analysis of the Efficacy of Development Subsidy Policy in the United States
Mentor: Daniel Kolliner, Wright Family Assistant Professor of Economics