Inquiring Minds in Action

Research awards, grants, and fellowships are supposed to give undergrads a chance to enhance their skill sets in their discipline.  That may be true, but Pitzer’s 2023–24 crop of recipients isn’t content with just developing some scholarly chops. Whether they’re exploring ecology and heirloom plants, what mushrooms can teach us about climate resilience, or how solar power systems can aid Sri Lankan farmers, this season’s student and alumni winners are doing more than simply studying problems. They’re seeking solutions. 

Fulbright Program

Neha Basu ’24, a psychology and sociology double major, is conducting research in India. Basu is examining street food vendors’ interactions with the law and what local vending reveals about public space, culture, and economics. This project builds on her work as a CASA Pitzer Research Fellow with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice. 

Sahar Dabirian ’24, a public health major and Spanish minor, is teaching English in the La Rioja region of Spain. A child of Muslim immigrants, Dabirian intends to provide representation of the “insider/outsider” cultural experience while utilizing her multilinguistic background. 

Ava Francis-Hall ’24, a political studies major and economics minor, is conducting the study “Politics of Care: Life for Returnee Migrants with Chronic Kidney Disease.” The project investigates the economic and social conditions of Nepali migrant laborers from Malaysia and Gulf countries diagnosed with kidney disease. 

Erica Hjelle ’24, a psychology major and religious studies minor, is teaching English in Laos. Hjelle is influenced by coursework in East and Southeast Asian religion and by her experience in Pitzer’s Nepal study abroad program. 

Skylar Masuda ’24, a classics and human-centered design double major, is conducting research in Turkey. Masuda is working with the Turkey Design Council on an interdisciplinary analysis of the display and community impact of repatriated artifacts. 

Elizabeth (Ellie) Montoro ’24, a major in philosophy, politics, and economics, is conducting research in Italy. Her project examines how current Italian maritime policies related to mass migration in the Mediterranean impact NGO rescue vessels, volunteers, migrants, and Southern Italian residents.

Lauren Robles ’24, a political studies major and Chicanx Latinx studies minor, is teaching English in Taiwan. Robles’ interest in teaching stems from her deep passion for learning as well as her positionality and experience working with students of diverse ethnic and learning backgrounds.

Laila Scarborough-Scharf ’23, a critical global studies major and media studies minor, is teaching English in the Canary Islands. Having studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain, Scarborough-Scharf brings substantial country knowledge and experience in writing, tutoring, and teaching English to Spanish-speaking students.

Tommy Shenoi ’24, a double major in food and agricultural studies and environmental analysis, has been granted the Fulbright/Casten Family Foundation Award for a master’s degree in world food studies at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. Shenoi also received the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to explore mushrooms as a key to climate resilience. This project is taking him to Italy, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Netherlands, and Brazil.

Sarah Snyder ’24, an environmental analysis and organizational studies double major, is teaching English in Timor-Leste. Through Pitzer’s study abroad program, she has lived with host families in Tanzania and South Africa. In Timor-Leste, Snyder is engaging in a cultural exchange with her students and volunteers at UmaAmerika.

Robert (Bobby) Stitt ’22, a double major in economics and environmental analysis with a minor in studio art, is conducting research in Sri Lanka. Stitt is addressing energy efficiency issues in solar irrigation systems with the aim of empowering farmers, optimizing equipment manufacturing, and aligning government subsidies with efficiency goals.   

Additional Awards, Grants, and Fellowships

Bertha M. Posada Villanueva ’26, Daniel Bonilla ’25, Sophia Lore ’25, and McKayla Khatija Proulx PO’25 studied how rising salinity in the Salton Sea affects microbial communities. Their group project received The Claremont Colleges Library Undergraduate Research Award.

Licheng She ’25 and Corrine Waters ’26 received the Pitzer College Art Galleries’ Benjamin Godsill ’00 and Anna Burns Student Apprenticeship Award. She is a media studies major and has her apprenticeship with Fulcrum Arts this fall. Waters is an art history major and finished her apprenticeship at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions last spring.

Diego Borgsdorf Fuenzalida ’24, an anthropology and Spanish major, was among the third cohort of AllPaper Seminar Fellows at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College.

Alaina Neuburger ’24, a double major in economics and public policy, was selected for the 2024 Judicial Fellowship under the Capital Fellows Program.

Kayla Mathurin ’24, an international political economy major, received a scholarship from Emery Reddy PLLC as she pursues her JD at Columbia Law School this fall.

Vitor Lacerda Siqueira ’24, a linguistics major and Spanish minor, received Pomona College’s Glass Linguistics Prize.

Daniella Levy ’24, psychology major and economics minor, joined the McLean Hospital Post-Baccalaureate Child and Adolescent Clinical Fellowship Program to pursue a career in counseling.

Taeya Boi-Doku ’24, an environmental analysis major, earned the Napier Award and a Projects for Peace Award to develop gardens as living libraries in Ghana.

Jansikwe Medina-Tayac ’25 and Alexander Rodriguez ’24 received a Projects for Peace Award for their oral history project about women’s indigenous identities and culture in the Dominican Republic.

Benjamin Sievers ’22 is pursuing a PhD at the University of Cambridge through the National Institutes of Health Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program.

Sami Gottsegen ’25, an organizational studies major, achieved the Newman Civic Fellowship for her environmental advocacy and civic engagement. 

Chi Adi ’25, Feven Aklilu ’26, Ben Ma ’26, Diane Orozco ’26, Luna Romero ’26, and Chase Wade ’26 received the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, which seeks to increase diversity in the ranks of institutions of higher learning.