Undergraduate Research
Past Student Research Projects
Meet OUR Featured Researchers for 2022-23. These students were selected to have their research featured online and across campus by Oberlin Undergraduate Research.
OUR Featured Researchers 2022-23
Abby Tejera Rocha ’25
Research about metallicities in different galaxies
Major: Physics and Computer Science
Faculty Mentor: Jillian Scudder
Ankit Barana ’25
Neural Mechanisms of Attentional Alteration to Multisensory Speech Perception
Majors: Neuroscience and Computer Science
Faculty Mentor: Leslie Kwakye
Anna Francis ’23
Transcriptomic analysis of rhamnose treatment on E. coli planktonic and biofilm cells
Major: Biology
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Ryno
Ari Henry ’24
Unhand Me: Misogynoir in the Digital Sphere
Major: History
Faculty Mentor: Meredith Gadsby
Arohi Dandawate ’24
Neural Mechanisms of Attentional Alteration to Multisensory Speech Perception: An Eye-Tracking, Psychophysical, and EEG Study
Major: Neuroscience
Faculty Mentor: Leslie Kwakye
Bour Opoku ’24
A History of the Hypersexualization of Black Women in the United States
Major: Sociology and Law and Society
Faculty Mentor: Pamela Brooks
Cecil Pulley ’24
Intersections of Queerness & Christianity in the Art, Life & Legacy of Keith Haring
Major: Art History and GSFS
Faculty Mentor: Christina Neilson
Chudi Martin Jr. ’24
The Standing History of Music and Physical Expression through Capoeira Angola and Steel Pan
Major: Africana Studies and Environmental Studies
Faculty Mentor: Charles Peterson
Dee Pegues ’24
Dopamine’s Role in Updating New Time Intervals
Major: Neuroscience and Cinema Studies
Faculty Mentor: Christopher Howard
Diana Tymochko ’25
An investigation of structures of two cocrystals of piracetam using 13C solid-state NMR
Major: Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor: Manish Mehta
Eduardo Castro Muñoz ’23
Search for Non-Interacting Photons Experiment (SNIPE hunt)
Major: Physics
Faculty Mentor: Jason Stalnaker
Ehsanullah Nikfar ’25
Axion Star Search
Major: Physics and Computer Science
Faculty Mentor: Jason Stalnaker
Elf Zimmerman ’23
Plains Native American Beaded Items in the Allen Memorial Art Museum
Major: Archaeological Studies
Faculty Mentor: Amy Margaris
Elliot Diaz ’23
My thesis’s working title is אָס֑וֹן to ἐξεικονισμένον: Exodus 21:22-23 in the Works of Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus.
Major: Jewish Studies, History, and Latin Language and Literature
Faculty Mentor: Cindy Chapman and Chris Trinacty
Emily Aguilar ’24
Predicting Student Success Based on Clicker Question Accuracy
Major: Computer Science
Faculty Mentor: Cynthia Taylor
Francesca Corti ’24
An Administrative Law Analysis of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act
Major: Politics and Law and Society
Faculty Mentor: Miranda Yaver
Gabriel N. Morais ’25
Development of small-molecule inhibitors against mammalian rhomboid intramembrane proteases
Major: Chemistry and Biology
Faculty Mentors: William Parsons
Haoyuan Gao ’24
Characterizing striatal patch-dopamine interactions in freely-moving mice
Major: Biology and Neuroscience
Faculty Mentor: Christopher Howard
Hibatullah Shaalan ’25
Precision and Accuracy of Analysis Using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry
Major: 3-2 Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Zeb Page
Iago Braz Mendes ’24
Numerical solution of differential equations for analyzing black hole event horizons
Major: Computer Science and Physics
Faculty Mentor: Robert Owen
Jackie Oh ’23
A Sociological Analysis of Physician Video Biographies
Major: Biology and Sociology
Faculty Mentors: Alicia Smith-Tran
Kari Allen ’23
That Ain’t None of My Sista: Stereotypes of Black Women in Film and Self-Perception
Major: Africana Studies and Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Candice Raynor
Kathleen O’Melia ’23
Late-Holocene Sedimentation in Cone Pond, NH
Major: Geology
Faculty Mentor: Amanda Schmidt
Langa Sibanda ’23
Investigating neural mechanisms for attentional alterations to multisensory speech perception
Major: Musical Studies
Faculty Mentor: Leslie Kwakye
Lena (Huizhou) Yang ’24
How Does Nico Muhly Update Benjamin Britten for the 21st Century?
Major: Musical Studies
Faculty Mentor: James O’Leary
Sara McDonald ’25
Investigating the neuroprotective effect of the plant extract, Ginsenoside Rg1, on Huntington’s disease
Major: Neuroscience
Faculty Mentor: Gunnar Kwakye
Stephanie Celina Shugert ’23
In the Eyes of the Beholder: The Radicalization of La Virgen de Guadalupe in Latine Spaces
Major: Comparative American Studies and Latin American Studies
Faculty Mentor: Pablo Mitchell
Sunniva Sheffield ’23
An Experiment Comparing Biochar Effects on Root, Shoot, and Fruit Production in Beans, Tomatoes, and Willows
Major: Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Environmental Studies
Faculty Mentor: John Peterson