Research Profiles

People are not always rational beings. Instead, we have the tendency to switch our preference from one prospect to another simply because of the passage of time. Teaming up for a study of human decision-making, Allison Barrera-Flores, C’27, and Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology Thomas Reppert aimed to quantify the human tendency to devalue goods that are received in the future.

Undergraduate student Rowland Fournier, C’27, and alumnus Phillip Gould, C’16, recently collaborated on a research project with scientists at the Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute (REWI) and Appalachian State University. For the project, which focused on the distribution of freshwater turtles in agricultural and rural landscapes of the southeastern United States, the research team surveyed 64 sites in the Mississippi embayment and evaluated how surrounding land use, road density, and habitat type affected species' occupancy.

On Thursday, July 10, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS) hosted the annual Sewanee Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Research Frenzy, highlighting the work of summer researchers across a variety of academic fields.

It’s a warm summer morning at Beans Creek, and sunlight filters through the trees, dappling the narrow, winding waterway. Mary Elizabeth Jackson, C’26, and Bryce Martin, C’28, stand near the water, preparing to place a giant net in it. The net slices through the cool stream, settling against the rocky bottom as the two students brace it in place. Another pair of waders upstream disturbs the substrate, causing a swirl of silt and fish to charge forward.

In March, four students—Louise Block, C’28; Mohana Buckley, C’27, Arden Gibson, C’26; and Olivia Morris, C’28—attended the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Mid-South Regional Conference at Morehead State University in Kentucky, where the students had the opportunity to perform for a broad audience that included a panel of judges. Block, a freshman from Huntsville, Alabama, was recognized as a national quarterfinalist in the NATS National Student Auditions competition.

On April 25, undergraduate student scholars convened for the 32nd annual Scholarship Sewanee event. A daylong showcase of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative work, this year’s event featured student research and scholarly activity in the fields of biology, chemistry, history, art, psychology, environmental studies, language and cultural studies, and more.

In September 2024, a cast of professional actors, as well as a professional director, traveled to Sewanee for a three-day residency. That residency included an intensive workshop of Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing Elyzabeth Wilder’s latest play, The Untitled Measure for Measure Project. Three students—Amelia Barakat, C’25; Sofia Tripoli, C’26; and Ivy Frances Moore, C’26—were selected to participate in the workshop, giving them an opportunity to experience the development of a new work firsthand.

We know that the ability to perceive the human gaze evolved to support social interactions and cooperation. However, we do not know whether it is easier to meet or follow the gaze of another person. Rob Sullivan, C’25, served as a research assistant on a study using a novel experimental paradigm to distinguish between those two possibilities.

As she pored over a medieval manuscript last summer, Taylor Tunstall, C’25, found herself faced with something unexpected: a centuries-old mistake embedded in the margins of the text. Though just a single word, it would end up deepening her perspective not only on what it means to engage with ancient works, but also where she fits in with the long line of people who have kept them alive throughout history.

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) has announced that a research team from Sewanee has been selected for the council’s Scholars Transforming Through Research (STR) program. One of just 63 teams chosen from across the country, Sewanee’s delegation is led by Professor and Chair of Biology Elise Kikis, and includes students Laine Prince, C’27; Hannah Talbott, C’25; and Ellen Woodward, C’25.

Kabir Menon, C’25, spent the summer in the remote environs of Hanson Island, a small island off the coast of British Columbia. There, he braved extreme conditions—including a near-miss with a grizzly bear—to join the OrcaLab research team in their 24/7 quest to observe and learn more about orca whales.

Five Sewanee students were nominated for awards by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) for the recent theatrical production of Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters, presented Oct. 4-8 at the Tennessee Williams Center. The KCACTF is a national theater program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country.

Meridith Frazee, C’24 (pictured above left), spent the summer studying subalpine forest species at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, Colorado. Working with Sewanee Visiting Assistant Professor of Forestry Tom Powell (pictured above right), Frazee contributed to Powell's Department of Energy-funded project examining the stability of subalpine forests in the Colorado River watershed.

Sewanee neuroscience major Seif Selim, C’23, studied the impact of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) on synaptic strength, neuroinflammation, and plasticity in mice—an experience that not only complemented his coursework, but also helped him confirm his passions and set a course for his future.

Dr. Max Dahlquist, Assistant Professor of Geology, uses remotely sensed data to examine the impact of glacial lake outburst flood frequency on river and valley geometry in the Nepal Himalayas.

Cade Sterling, C'22, spent the summer of 2021 working in the coronavirus lab of Dr. Clint Smith, Assistant Professor of Biology, doing research supported by a Ledford Undergraduate Research Scholarship provided by the Appalachian College Association. His goal was to dramatically improve the efficiency of the lab’s reverse genetic system by making a new one from scratch. Hear Cade describe his experience here and read about it below.

Greer King, C'21, designed the costumes for the October 2020 Sewanee performance of Scapin, by the French playwright Molière using extravagant Italian high fashion as the overarching theme for the costumes. She researched current trends and found a loud “streetwear meets Italian high fashion” approach that worked well for the production. Greer submitted her designs for the show to the annual meeting of the Southeastern Theatre Conference, and her work was selected for the juried session by Broadway designer Dede Ayite.

Ezechias Nshimiyimana, C’21, a politics and economics major from Rwanda, was part of a group of 18 international students who were unable to return home during the winter break of 2020-2021. They were therefore provided with research opportunities, as part of a program that was organized and supported by the Office of Global Citizenship and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship. Ezechias assisted Dr. Amy Patterson, Professor of Politics, on a research project about the shockingly high economic costs of mental.

Jade Winter, C'21, from London, England, has been working with Bret Windhauser, C’18, Visiting Instructor of Arabic on a University of Washington project focused on 61 volumes of handwritten diaries written by Joseph Svoboda, an Austro-Hungarian man who lived in Baghdad between 1857-1908 while working for a British trading company. The Svoboda Diaries Project merges Middle Eastern History, colonial history, political economics, and the anthropology of daily life in Ottoman Iraq.

Sewanee student Lucy Whaley, of Red Bank, New Jersey, spent a great deal of time this past summer studying the role that nature plays in the psychological well being of people during a pandemic. Dr. Keri Watson served as a mentor to Lucy as they examined how COVID-19 has affected nature access and mental health. Lucy closely tracked the closing and opening of parks in California and New York and found a large increase in the number of people who sought solace in parks even as they became less accessible.

Benefit from the research recommendations and experience of Dr. Katharine Cammack, Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience

Máté Szurop, C’21, an economics and math major from Budapest, Hungary, is studying ethnic enclaves in the immigrant community, under the guidance of Dr. Tao Song. He is testing two competing explanations for educational attainment in this population. Máté has analyzed over 90,000 observations from census data and has found that the socialization effect is 6-7 times stronger than the compensation strategy.

Research and scholarship can take many forms. For Kelsey Arbuckle, C’19, and Alexa Fults, C’21, both politics majors from Grundy County, it has involved uncovering information about a coal mine disaster that was personal for both of them even though it occurred long before they were born. In 1981, Mine 21, near Whitwell, Tennessee, exploded, killing 13 workers. During her sophomore year at Sewanee, Kelsey read a newspaper story about the tragedy and realized that her grandfather had been one of the victims.

Read this Sewanee Purple article about how Emma Zeitler, C’20, fell in love with biology and research   

Dr. Clint Smith is dedicated to students and mentorship in the laboratory. Few opportunities for virology research exist at liberal arts colleges, and Sewanee is one of only two liberal arts colleges in the country with the capacity to utilize the CoV reverse genetics system. Thus, the collaborative research experience in Dr. Smith’s lab provides his students with a truly remarkable opportunity, and might end up saving lives in the process.

Learn about the award-winning liver research of Jacob Piatt, C'21 in this story from the Sewanee Purple.

Four Sewanee students presented rhetorical criticism papers at an Honors Conference in Nashville. The Clevenger conference is one of the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate research forums in the field of rhetoric. All papers are competitively selected for presentation. The Sewanee contributions emerged from research projects in RHET 311: U.S. Public Address, 1620-1865, a course that surveys American rhetoric and oratory of the period. Each paper offers a close reading of a speech or rhetorical controversy in its historical context.

Meet Jasmine Huang, C'21, whose artistic accomplishments were profiled by the Sewanee Purple.

Dr. Celeste Ray of the Environmental Arts and Humanities Program recently completed a research leave in Ireland. Her research focused on sacred landscapes and specifically holy wells. These holy wells can have a range of attributes. Some involve specific prayers or cures, others are dedicated to saints—canonized and non-canonized. She studied patterns in well dedications and in the folklore associated with cures the well waters are believed to possess.

A recent $350,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations will support water-related research on the Domain. A key part of the grant is hiring a research manager who can both assist faculty in research design and implementation and who will disseminate findings to the public. Research can be related to water, water quality, wastewater treatment biodiversity, and other topics and should be readily translatable to the public or respond to public interest.

Enjoy the Sewanee Purple story of Environmental Art and Humanities major Henri Bonner, C'20, who studied red wolves for her senior capstone project