Volume 1 — 2025
Oberlin Research Review
Feature StoryA Galaxy of Options
Associate Professor of Physics Jillian Scudder is making sure astronomers can trust old data before leaping into new research.
More Stories
Building Blocks
How Shuming Chen uses virtual chemistry to develop real-world solutions
Unpacking Baffling Bacterium
Gaybe Moore ’15 has made a genetic library to help uncover the secrets of the bacteria Caulobacter crescentus.
Agents of Change
Adam Eck is studying whether artificial intelligence-powered robots can fight wildfires more efficiently.
Active Learning, Transformative Education
Cynthia Taylor ’02 is identifying the most effective ways to teach computer science—and understanding how to make it easier for professors to adopt them.
Marketing For Good
Cindy Frantz and John Petersen ’88 found that leveraging stealth marketing can encourage pro-environmental thoughts and action.
The Drawbacks of “Black Don’t Crack”
Alicia Smith-Tran ’10 investigated how looking younger can be detrimental to the professional lives of Black women.
Telling Complicated Stories
Sebastiaan Faber asked Spaniards how they deal with their country’s dictatorial past—and their answers explain the politically polarizing present.
The New South
In her new book, The Jewish South: An American History, Shari Rabin finds unexpected stories of the lives of Jews in the South.
Transcending the Atlantic
Studying amulet pouches associated with the African diaspora in 17th- and 18th- century Brazil helped Matthew Rarey uncover hidden history.
The Meaning Behind the Motions
Samuel Gardner reveals the profound ways a musician’s gestures deepen our connections to music.
A Cosmic Duet
For Julia Christensen, the distinctive convergence of art and technology is explored through connections with leading aerospace engineers—and the music created by trees.
Expressive Machines
How Steven Kemper’s musical robots enhance human creativity.
Feature StoryWhy All Life on Earth is Made of Cells
Associate Professor of Biology Aaron Goldman wants to know how and when cellularity became the organizing principle of life.
Oberlin Faculty on Research and Mentorship
Gaybe Moore, Biology
“I have the great honor of being able to mentor my research students, and we’re really developing a relationship that I see as potentially being life-long collaborators.”
Adam Eck, Computer Science
“Students get to see that research is not just a thought exercise—it’s very hands-on, very collaborative. They work closely together with one another and not just me.”
Alicia Smith-Tran, Sociology
“Students from a winter term project [and I] collected data... and ended up getting to publish it in an American Sociological Association publication, which was really cool.”