“Part of the reason I picked ������Ƶ is that I had spent my whole life in Massachusetts,” Honan said. “I was really excited to go somewhere new, meet new people, build new bridges, and most importantly, I was excited to be a part of the ������Ƶ community.”

Working alongside his ������Ƶ College Fellow mentor, Laura Roselle, former professor of political science and policy studies, Honan completed his application for the Lumen Prize. His focus was to combine his passion for writing and knowledge of political science to explore how presidents use storytelling to shape policy outcomes.

“I remember sitting in her office, and we were talking through my project. I was there for an hour and a half, and at some point, I stopped and said to her, ‘This is really fun, I really like this.’” Honan said. “For me, that was the moment that it clicked that I wanted to work in politics. I really enjoy thinking, writing and reading about politics. It certainly was the moment that sparked my intellectual curiosity in politics as a career.”

Both a Lumen Scholar and an ������Ƶ College Fellow scholarship recipient, Honan built a successful start in his career at ������Ƶ. He studied abroad in London for Winter Term and did a semester at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He held leadership positions in ������Ƶ’s Model UN team and was also the president of the former politics forum club.

Most notably, he was an intern in the Office of the President for former President Leo Lambert. As an executive intern in the president’s office, he worked closely with Lambert and Jeff Stein, who, at the time, was chief of staff to the president.

“They had me working on communications. This was one of the first jobs I had where I was doing communications for a senior leader. In many ways, now, looking back, that was one of those moments where I was doing the career path that I wanted,” Honan said.

This experience led him to advance his career and intern for David Gergen, who was a professor at Harvard Kennedy School and a CNN Senior Political Analyst.

“Most importantly, David Gergen was from North Carolina and was a huge ������Ƶ fan. He was also the chair of the board for ������Ƶ Law. I had met him through a few different ������Ƶ and Massachusetts connections. I ended up interning for him for two summers, and when I graduated, he hired me full-time, where I worked for him for three years,” explained Honan.

Honan worked alongside Gergen full-time during the 2016 election cycle. His work included booking Gergen’s television hits, writing talking points, doing research and writing memos for Gergen.

“Working with him and being around him made me realize, not only did I like this work broadly as a career, but I wanted to be someone who was actually in these jobs that he had done,” Honan said. “I wanted to serve in government, I wanted to work on campaigns, and work for people that I cared about and believed in.”

Honan finished his two-year master’s in public policy program at Harvard Kennedy School, graduating in 2020, during the first two months of COVID-19.

“When I graduated, I told everyone I knew who was working on the campaign for then-Vice President Joe Biden, that I wanted to help and was willing to do anything and go anywhere,” he said.

This drive to work for what he believes in led him to work on the Democratic Convention in Wilmington, Delaware.

“I was on the team that worked to help run COVID-19 testing centers, which at the time was a completely new thing. It allowed me to help with the convention, meet incredible people, and help build the momentum towards Joe Biden’s ultimately successful election in November 2020,” he said.

Honan then moved to Washington and spent two years as the Communications Director for a nonprofit called ‘With Honor’, which works to advance veterans’ affairs issues in Congress.

It was around the time of the midterm elections in 2022 when he suddenly got a call to come into the White House and continue his work on COVID-19 operations. This was a perfect way for Honan to get his foot in the door and start working toward his dream position in the White House.

His hard work in COVID-19 operations eventually earned him a spot on the White House’s communications team, which Honan stated was “what I had always dreamed of and doing what I wanted to do when I attended ������Ƶ.”

During the last year of the administration, Honan was the chief of staff to the White House communications director, the director of message planning and special assistant to the president.

“In those roles, I got to work with an incredible team of people who were supporting the president’s communications, and I had the job of a lifetime. If you had asked me what I wanted to do at ������Ƶ, it would have been that job,” he expressed.

When reflecting on what choices he made at ������Ƶ that helped him get where he is today, Honan said, “At ������Ƶ, I was surrounded by professors, staff and classmates who challenged me and made me smarter. They had my back and helped me figure out how to pursue the career and the life that I wanted. I just think back, and I’m so grateful for people like Laura Roselle and Heidi Frontani.”

After his successes at the White House, Honan returned home to Boston to fill the role of deputy chief of communications for the City of Boston.

“Everyone said to me, Mayor Michelle Wu is an incredible person to work for, and working for a mayor in a place that you love is one of the most rewarding jobs you could have in politics. Both of those things are 100% true,” he said. “It is so special to live in the city of Boston and get to work on the issues that the people on my street, the people in my neighborhood and the people I take the train with every day really care about, and it impacts their lives. One of the coolest things about local government is that you’re working on problems that can immediately change people’s lives.”

This tangible and fulfilling work Honan is doing for his city has led him to extend a helping hand to others interested in politics as a career.

“I have incredible mentors who helped me get here. I am trying to spend as much time as I can mentoring other people. Politics is a tough business to get into, and you can’t just apply on LinkedIn, so I’ve helped people figure out how to get in the door because that’s what many good people did for me,” he said. “I would not have any of the career success I’ve had without the people at ������Ƶ. To me, it feels like it’s my duty to pay it forward and continue that legacy.”

That sense of duty keeps ������Ƶ close to his heart no matter where his career takes him. Every ������Ƶ student he mentors, every alum he runs into in the professional world, pulls him right back.

“I’m immediately brought back, and I remember why it was so special and why the people who went there are so special,” said Honan.

The excitement, the community, the sense of purpose he first felt walking through the bricks and under the oaks, never went away. It grew into something bigger, something he now carries with him everywhere he goes, and something he’s committed to passing on.

Maddie Hewgley ’26 is using her undergraduate research to explore a complex and timely question: Why are states continuing to pass Second Amendment Preservation Act laws even after courts have ruled them unconstitutional?

When Hewgley, a political science and music theatre major, Lumen Scholar and ������Ƶ College Fellow, began researching legislation from her home state of Missouri, she did not expect it to open the door to a much broader national conversation about federalism, state power and policy diffusion. She will present her findings during the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) on April 28.

Her research project, “Bullets & Bills,” explores how and why the Second Amendment Preservation Act continues to be adopted at the state level, despite the federal court deeming it unconstitutional.

The Second Amendment Preservation Act aims to prevent states from enforcing federal gun laws that are not mirrored at the state level.

“These are laws that states are passing that attempt to nullify federal gun laws if there is not a state equivalent,’” Hewgley said. “What surprised me most is that states continue to pass them even after federal courts ruled they violate the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution. Civilians can even sue law enforcement for enforcing this federal policy.”

Missouri became the first state to pass this law in 2021, sparking similar legislation in 14 additional states. Hewgley’s research focuses on understanding what is driving these laws.

“My main question is not just what these laws are, it’s how and why they are continuing to proliferate despite legal challenges,” Hewgley said.

For Hewgley, this topic is not just academic, it’s personal.

“I lost loved ones to gun violence when I was younger,” Hewgley said. “I felt really helpless. This research feels like a way to take initiative on something that is much larger than myself.”

That experience led her to participate in gun violence activism and motivated her to conduct this research. She emphasizes that her research is not intended to advocate for one side of the debate, but to understand the mechanisms behind these laws.

Her findings show how states have adapted their strategies over time. Missouri’s original law included aggressive enforcement mechanisms and was struck down; states like South Carolina have passed revised versions with softer language or attached them to broader legislation to avoid legal scrutiny.

“States want to send a message or align themselves politically, but they are learning from earlier failures and adjusting their approach,” Hewgley said.

To analyze this trend, Hewgley has studied the theory of policy diffusion, which examines how and why policies spread between states. Her work explores whether states are motivated by emulation, learning, competition or coercion.

“I think states influence each other,” Hewgley said. “Missouri isn’t usually a policy innovator, so the fact that they were the first to pass this and others are following is really interesting.”

Her research also examines external influences, such as advocacy groups and political shifts at the national level, and how they drive some of this legislation.

Hewgley has studied documents, legislation and conducted a content analysis to build her research. One of her surprising findings was that many residents in Missouri were unaware this law existed, despite its significant implications.

“That finding made me question whether these laws are really meant to have an impact or if they are more symbolic,” Hewgley said.

Ultimately, Hewgley hopes her research encourages people to look beyond this law and consider larger questions about the balance of federalism in the United States.

“This is not just about gun rights; it’s about how states and the federal government interact and how that applies to so many other issues, from abortion to marijuana laws,” Hewgley said.

Hewgley’s research was mentored by Dillan Bono-Lunn, assistant professor of political science and public policy.

“When I met with Dr. Bono-Lunn, I knew before I left her office that she was who I wanted to be by mentor because I came to her with two research ideas, one that was pretty fleshed out and the other was a headline about Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, which I was exceptionally interested in pursuing, but I did not have a research question,” Hewgley said. “She encouraged me to pursue a research idea that I was excited about, and now three years later I am pursuing that research. She allows me to follow whatever thread I find and has taught me that a good researcher stays curious and flexible at every stage of the process.”

As she prepares to present her research, Hewgley reflected on how far she’s come.

“If you had told me as a first-year student that I’d be researching something this complex, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said. “Now, I feel like I can really contribute to the conversation and it’s made me feel like I’ve made an impact.”

Otten and Zito’s research examined how gender and sexual orientation shape public perceptions of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using a nationally representative survey experiment with more than 1,600 U.S. adults, participants were shown the same IPV scenario, but with the perpetrator’s gender and sexual orientation changed across versions. They found that people judged heterosexual male perpetrators most harshly, while gay male perpetrators and heterosexual female perpetrators were seen as less culpable, less dangerous and less deserving of punishment. Lesbian perpetrators fell in between, suggesting that judgments about violence are shaped by assumptions about who is capable of causing harm and who is seen as a “real” victim.

The study draws attention to how stereotypes about masculinity, femininity and sexuality influence responses to abuse. Because intimate partner violence is often framed as a “women’s issue,” violence against men —  especially gay men — can be minimized or dismissed. In contrast, women perpetrators may be seen as less threatening. These perceptions matter because they affect whether victims seek help, how law enforcement and courts respond and whether survivors are believed in the first place.

Zito also presented a study titled “‘It’s Never Stopped Me Doing Anything I Wanted to Do’: Disability (Dis)Identification in Tourette Syndrome” as part of the Disability & Health session. The research explored how adults with Tourette Syndrome (TS) understand and articulate their condition in relation to disability, including how they position themselves as disabled, non-disabled or in-between. Based on 30 in-depth interviews, Zito found that disability identity is shaped less by how people interpret their experiences rather than simply by tic severity. Some rejected the disability label, equating disability with physical incapacitation and having a limited life, while others embraced it by pointing to chronic pain, workplace barriers, stigma and public scrutiny. Many fell somewhere in between, describing TS as disabling at times but hesitating to claim disability status. The research shows that TS exists in the “borderlands” of disability, where identity is influenced by cultural ideas about normality and what counts as a “real” disability.

The Lumen Prize supported Otten’s research. Zito’s research was supported by an ������Ƶ Summer Research Fellowship.

Butterbach’s path to research started in a cell biology course taught by Assistant Professor of Biology Efrain Rivera-Serrano, where she consistently asked questions and engaged deeply with the material. This curiosity led her to join the interdisciplinary project.

“It was a very ‘right place, right time’ circumstance,” Butterbach said. “This research was exactly the sort of thing I was looking to get involved in.”

Through her Lumen Prize, Butterbach is working alongside two faculty mentors from different fields of study, Associate Professor of Mathematics Hwayeon Ryu and Rivera-Serrano, to study viral myocarditis, or heart inflammation, that occurs during the infection of many viruses. Her research is focused on examining the pathways that lead to excessive inflammation and how inflammation can be reduced without compromising the immune system’s ability to clear the virus.

“My research focuses on creating math out of biological reactions,” Butterbach said. “Ultimately, the goal is to create a framework that helps us better understand and predict how cardiac inflammation progresses.”

Viral myocarditis occurs when inflammation damages heart tissue, sometimes leading to long-term complications or sudden cardiac failure, particularly in young, active individuals. Although inflammation is a natural immune response, Butterbach’s research is exploring what causes that response to become excessive.

Butterbach uses mathematical modeling to integrate biology and immunology into a modeling framework to identify factors that most strongly drive harmful inflammation, revealing pathways that could be therapeutically targeted.

“It’s a balancing act to use equations to model what’s happening,” Butterbach said. “If the model is too simple then it is not realistic to the human heart, but if the model is too complex, it becomes difficult to work with.”

Taking an interdisciplinary approach

This research project’s strength lies in its collaboration and intersection between mathematics, biology and engineering. Mathematics offers the language and tools to create the models, while biology provides the foundation for understanding the disease. Engineering ties it together through design, problem-solving and a systems-level mindset.

“This project works precisely because it sits at the intersection of all three areas,” Rivera-Serrano said. “Elise is especially well suited for this work because she is genuinely interested in connecting these disciplines rather than treating them as separate silos.”

Ryu echoed this statement on Butterbach’s interdisciplinary approach.

“Elise approaches research with a rare combination of intellectual curiosity, maturity and persistence, and she is genuinely committed to understanding how mathematics and biology inform one another,” Ryu said. “Her ability to engage across disciplines and contribute thoughtfully at that intersection is what makes her such a strong and promising researcher.”

Butterbach, Rivera-Serrano and Ryu meet weekly to refine their model, troubleshoot challenges and discuss literature.

“The steady back-and-forth is one of the strengths of the project,” Rivera-Serrano said.

For Butterbach, working across disciplines has shaped how she approaches problems.

“I’ve always found that when different disciplines collide, it actually becomes easier to understand complex concepts,” Butterbach said. “Working across engineering, mathematics and virology is fascinating because each discipline approaches the same problem in a completely different way. Learning to think adaptively across disciplines and translate between them has been one of the most valuable parts of this experience.”

Butterbach is motivated by the possibility of using interdisciplinary research to better understand human disease.

“The interdisciplinary nature and the way the team bring together mathematics, biology and engineering is not always easy to achieve, but Elise has embraced it fully and become an essential part of that process,” Ryu said.

Collaborating on this research has been rewarding not only for Butterbach, but for her mentors as well.

“Working with Elise has been incredibly rewarding,” Rivera-Serrano said. “She approaches a difficult project that requires her to be conversant in multiple disciplines with curiosity, maturity and persistence.”

One takeaway she learned from working in disciplines outside of her major is that discoveries in one field almost always influence others.

“By learning how to think like a biologist, a mathematician and a physicist, I have become much more comfortable applying ideas from one subject to another, even when they seem unrelated at first.”

She also values the work with her two mentors, Rivera-Serrano and Ryu, as they have helped her grow as a researcher.

“Dr. E spends a lot of time looking for resources that I can use to calculate the values of different parameters,” Butterbach said. “Similarly, Dr. Ryu works tirelessly to not just improve my mathematical skills but also teaches me how to see mathematical theory working in the real world. They’re not just dedicated to this project; they’re also thinking about what comes next for me.”

Expanding her research

Butterbach was recently selected for a competitive Physical, Engineering and Biology Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at Yale University, focused on physics, engineering and biology. Butterbach hopes to expand her research on the cardiovascular system.

“Elise’s acceptance is especially meaningful because it reflects national-level recognition of her promise as an undergraduate researcher in an interdisciplinary space,” Rivera-Serrano said.

For Butterbach, the opportunity was surprising and motivating.

“I tried not to set any grand expectations for myself, so when I received the email I was genuinely surprised to be selected for the program,” Butterbach said. “It felt incredibly validating of the hard work and dedication I’ve put into my studies.”

At Yale, the program, like her research, is interdisciplinary covering biology, physics and engineering. She will expand her experience in computational and biological modeling while working alongside researchers.

“To me, this program represents the opening of new doors,” Butterbach said. “It’s an opportunity to continue growing as a researcher, meet people working at the forefront of interdisciplinary science and explore new directions that I may not have encountered otherwise.”

“I wasn’t really interested in chemistry whatsoever when I enrolled. I was a lot more interested in sports. That’s really where my heart was at the time,” Seitz said.

Pursuing his current major in exercise science as a freshman, Seitz was enrolled in a required chemistry course when his professor called him to meet in his office.

“He wanted to have a one-on-one meeting, which, as a freshman only two months into college, was a little bit intimidating.”

Unsure of what his professor wanted to discuss, Seitz recalls, “He thought I had a lot of talent and potential in chemistry. He wanted me to take it seriously, and also to think about taking more chemistry classes that weren’t required, just to explore and see if I enjoyed it more than I thought I did.”

Having his potential recognized led him to take his professors’ advice. It was halfway through his second chemistry course that Seitz decided to change his major to chemistry.

“I got into chemistry with the broader goal of trying to help people in some way,” Seitz expressed.

During his time at ������Ƶ, he took full advantage of the opportunities presented to him. He studied abroad in Europe during Winter Term, conducted research through the Lumen Scholars program, completed two internships and immersed himself in service learning, where he taught children who were struggling to read.

Striving to gain experience in his field, Seitz dove right into his internship abroad. He attended RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, Germany, for the summer, contributing to their research efforts.

“This was my first real research experience, and it made me realize that I enjoy research so much that I’m still a researcher today,” he expressed.

The following fall, he started his research with the Lumen Scholars. Alongside his mentor, Sydney F. & Kathleen E. Jackson Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Department of Chemistry Joel Karty, Seitz conducted a project that earned the 2014 Lumen Prize. Focused on expanding research on the reaction preferences of an enolate anion, in both gas and aqueous environments, he aimed to understand why it behaves differently in different environments, with the end goal of other scientists further optimizing the usage of this molecule when they need it.

Seitz’s passion for chemistry research continued the next summer when he was selected to participate in an internship at the California Institute of Technology. This further learning encouraged his eagerness to contribute to research.

“Going to Caltech, I was intimidated by being around so many geniuses. This internship was a good confidence-building exercise. It proved that even though I come from a small school with a tiny science program, I can fit in with these types of people and communicate and share ideas with them. That internship gave me the confidence to go to graduate school and then beyond,” he said.

Right after graduating from ������Ƶ, Seitz went to the University of California, San Diego, and completed his Ph.D. He then went to the University of Chicago and the Argonne National Lab to work on a project where researchers work with the World Health Organization to create a list of ten viral diseases with the greatest potential to cause a global pandemic.

The virus that would later mutate into COVID-19 was on this list, which became a global pandemic just a year later. Due to this, there was more interest from foreign governments to fund this type of work to make vaccines for the remaining viruses on the list and distribute them to prevent the next pandemic.

Joining this team in 2023, Seitz’s work is focused on two viruses: Lassa Fever, which affects people in West Africa, and the Nipah Virus, which affects a few countries in Southeast Asia. The Lassa Fever is very transmissible, but often non-lethal; Nipah is the opposite. Not many people get sick with Nipah; however, when they do, it is often lethal.

Both viruses are concerns for a possible pandemic and require preventative research to fully understand, for a vaccine to be created.

“Those countries in West Africa and Southeast Asia do not have the healthcare capabilities or biotechnology to develop these vaccines themselves,” he said. It’s private U.S. foundations and Western European governments that put money into this non-profit, which is funding my research through the University of Chicago to develop these vaccines. Once the vaccine is successfully developed, they will go to these countries and give them out for free.”

Connecting his current work back to his time at ������Ƶ, Seitz noticed that his ability to work with diverse groups of people and social connection skills that he strengthened at ������Ƶ served him in his current role. He notes, “Because I talk with different types of people who don’t have the experience that I have, I have to accurately communicate what I’m doing, why I need to do this, and so on. So that’s certainly something that helped quite a lot from ������Ƶ, being able to communicate what I’m doing.”

Seitz’s published chemistry research is  available online; he hopes other chemists can read these manuscripts and learn something from them, and hopefully build off of that.

“I’m contributing to advancing science in small steps. Even though I’m doing more of the basic research of trying to find stuff, the overall goal is that people are going to use these to discover stuff that will directly help people,” he added.

Seitz hopes the future of his career holds opportunities to take up a leadership and mentor role for other chemists.

“I really enjoy mentoring and teaching people, I want to have my own research group where I have some people working below me so I can mentor them and help them advance science as well,” Seitz said.

In May, Seitz will be awarded the Top 10 Under 10 Award. This award is given to 10 Alumni from the past decade who have bettered their community and serve as alumni role models.

At this conference, three ������Ƶ students and two faculty attended and presented.

Student Accomplishments:

• Kelly Donovan ’26, a double major in applied mathematics and statistics, a Lumen Scholar and College Fellow, presented her Lumen project titled “Novel Deep-Sea Coral Imputation Technique: Filling in Missing Data to Further Coral Conservation” in a poster session. Her research is mentored by Assistant Professor of Statistics Nic Bussberg.

• Lisa Kranec ’28, a double major in engineering and applied mathematics, presented her recent project in a poster session titled, “ Mathematical Modeling of Cardiac Macrophages in COVID-19.” Her research team is mentored by Associate Professor Hwayeon Ryu and their work has been supported by the  (under Ryu).

• Pagnapech Ngoun ’26, an engineering major, presented her collaborative research in an oral session titled, “ Mathematical Modeling of COVID-19 Reveals Immune Cell Dysfunction.” Her research represents recent findings based on a new mathematical model that accounts for the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and the human immune system. Her research team is mentored by Associate Professor Hwayeon Ryu and their work has been supported by the  (under Ryu).

Faculty Accomplishments:

• Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Keta Henderson gave an invited talk on her collaborative work titled “Analysis of trade-off between dispersal and patch intrinsic growth for a landscape ecological model” in a session “Women in Mathematical Biology”. Henderson also served as a moderator and co-organizer for the Association of Women in Mathematics Panel: “Shattering the Myths—Hiring Women in Mathematics.” In addition, she participated in a professional development session focused on teaching multivariable calculus using CalcPlot3D and 3D printing. She plans to incorporate these strategies into her MTH 2520 Multivariable Calculus and Analytic Geometry in Spring 2026.

• Associate Professor of Mathematics Hwayeon Ryu co-organized a special session titled “Women in Mathematical Biology,” in which a total of 16 invited speakers presented a variety of life science questions through the lens of mathematical modeling to understand complex system dynamics. The goal was to highlight the new developments or advancements along with the diverse group of researchers who drive innovation. In this session, Ryu presented her recently published paper, “,” partially supported by ������Ƶ Faculty Research & Development Full-Year, Full-Pay Sabbatical Award with Financial Assistance.

“I had a very fulfilling time while at JMM. Althe l presentations I was able to attend, all conversations I had with professors from different programs, and all pieces of feedback I received on my poster were very enriching. I’m very grateful I was able to attend the conference and I’m excited to hopefully attend in the future,” said Donovan ’26.

Otten and Zito’s project uses a survey-based experiment to explore how a perpetrator’s gender and physical appearance shape the way people interpret heterosexual intimate partner violence (IPV). Using original data from a nationally representative sample of 935 U.S. adults, they examined how respondents assessed culpability, the harm experienced by victims, deserved punishment, offense severity and the extent to which violent behavior was viewed as “normal” within relationships.

Their findings show that perpetrator gender influenced judgments across all of these areas. They also found evidence of an “attractiveness premium,” in which physically attractive perpetrators were viewed as more justified in their actions or as engaging in behavior that was less troubling, but only when female. Drawing on a feminist criminological perspective, Otten and Zito suggest that cultural norms surrounding gender and violence can lead observers to minimize violence committed by women who fit conventional standards of femininity.

These patterns help explain why some male victims of female-perpetrated IPV struggle to identify their experiences as abuse and often hesitate to seek support. This research is part of Otten’s larger, ongoing research program on perceptions of IPV, supported by the Lumen Prize.

When Sam Hinton ’25 decided to pursue ������Ƶ’s Year of Service Fellows Program, she knew it was more than just a year-long placement; it was an opportunity to deepen her commitment to a community she had already grown to care for.

“I think that there were a lot of questions I still had about how things work and why things are the way they are here,” Hinton said. “I really wanted to get the opportunity to have a more hands-on role here as opposed to research, which is a little bit more like a bird’s-eye view.”

Hinton earned a degree in public health studies and political science, with minors in , Latin American studies, and peace and conflict studies, and now serves at the Alamance County Health Department through the fellows program. She is one of six 2025-26 Year of Service Fellows, recent ������Ƶ alumni who have the opportunity to work with local organizations to improve health education and economic development in the Alamance County community.

Rooted in Alamance County

Though Hinton didn’t grow up in Alamance County, she says it feels like home.

“My grandparents are from here, and all my extended family still lives here for the most part,” she said. “So it feels like a place where I have some roots.”

That sense of connection only deepened through her work as a Lumen Scholar, ������Ƶ’s highest undergraduate research award. Her project explored how immigration policy and discrimination in Alamance County impact the way members of the Latino community access healthcare and social services.

“I was interviewing healthcare and social service providers from across the county on where they were seeing gaps in their ability to provide care,” she explained. “Through that research, I got to meet a lot of the people that I work with now and familiarized myself with the different service provision organizations throughout Alamance County.”

That familiarity helped ease the transition into her current fellowship.

“I felt already decently familiar with the organizations that are doing the work of providing care,” she said. “It also kind of gave me the motivation to get to be a part of it.”

At the health department, Hinton’s days are varied, and that’s part of what she loves most. Her responsibilities range from administrative and event planning tasks to opportunities to engage directly with the community. She primarily works with the Behavioral Health and Substance Use Division, which works to address the opioid crisis and addiction services. The work has also given her a new appreciation for the people she serves alongside.

“It’s been really great to see how deeply everyone there is motivated by the mission of providing healthcare and improving the lives of people in Alamance County,” she said. “Despite the fact that everyone there has so much work to do and is incredibly busy, people are really committed to improving conditions for people across different communities.”

The ������Ƶ difference

Hinton credits ������Ƶ’s Public Health Studies program for preparing her to step confidently into her role.

“They do such an incredible job at situating students in the context of what’s going on in Alamance County, in North Carolina, and then on the national or international level,” she said. “They make sure students leave ������Ƶ aware of the disparities and inequalities that exist and really gear the program toward a health equity lens.”

Her required public health studies practicum, completed with the Burlington Housing Authority, was another pivotal experience.

“That helped me get familiar with the area and how things work in terms of healthcare and social services, as well as giving me connections in the community that I am able to use now,” she said.

Hinton credits Molly Green, associate professor of public health studies, as one of her most influential mentors.

“She really helped guide me through the process of figuring out what I was going to do post-grad,” Hinton said. “Her encouragement to pursue a project that was so specific to Alamance County helped me develop the ability to ask good questions and figure out how to answer them. I use that every single day at the health department.”

Prepared for service

While much of Hinton’s academic and professional journey has been rooted in North Carolina, her curiosity has taken her beyond. She spent a semester abroad in Cusco, Peru, studying maternal health and traditional medicine practices.

“It was an awesome experience and helped me figure out what hands-on research looks like in communities,” she said.

For Hinton, the Year of Service Fellows Program is both a continuation and a new beginning, a way to bridge the gap between the classroom and the community she has studied and come to care for deeply.

“I feel like the hands-on nature of all of my education at ������Ƶ has really come in handy as I’m transitioning into the workforce,” she said. “I feel really adequately prepared for whatever projects are being thrown my way, which has been great.”

This story is part of a series of features on the 2025-26 Year of Service Fellows, highlighting the work they are doing in the Alamance County community.

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With a dancer mother and a math teacher father, it seems like the perfect fit for Lila Snodgrass ’26 to study dance and math at ������Ƶ. But her desire for research as a Lumen Scholar comes from a deep passion for both subjects.

“Dance has always been part of who I am; I’ve been dancing my whole life,” said Snodgrass, who is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “I’ve always liked math out of all of the subjects, and my senior Calculus teacher opened my eyes to how math can be more than just the numbers.”

More than the numbers

Seeing her passion, a faculty member recommended Snodgrass to Nancy Scherich, assistant professor of mathematics, who also happens to be a dancer.

“You might think that math and dance are totally different. How would you combine those? But there’s actually quite a large sub-community in mathematics of people who dance,” said Scherich.

The pair have been working on research in the field of topology, specifically knot theory, a subfield of mathematics dedicated to the study of knots.

“We are all familiar with the mathematical field of geometry as the study of shapes. We can geometrically think of shapes as being made of rigid, unbendable wire. This perspective is limiting because if a circle is made of rope, it can bend and fold and will not be a geometric circle anymore, but it is still a perfectly good loop. This is how the mathematical field of topology thinks of shapes in a different way than geometry- shapes are bendable and flexible,” said Scherich.

According to Scherich, as a dancer travels the stage over time, their path traces out a knotted curve. If multiple dancers are on stage, and it is assumed that each dancer ends in the starting position of another dancer, the total paths danced by all dancers form a large knot. The danceability of a knot is the minimum number of dancers required to create the knot.

Connecting the dance

Mathematicians use tools called “invariants” to distinguish knots, so Snodgrass, along with her research collaborators, have developed a new knot invariant called the “danceability index” and are comparing it to other invariants.

“We’re connecting this one idea of the dancer’s paths on the floor with these other ideas which are more connected to the greater idea of knot theory,” Snodgrass says.

But applying for the Lumen Prize wasn’t initially on Snodgrass’ radar. The Lumen Prize is ������Ƶ’s premier undergraduate research award that includes a $20,000 scholarship to support and celebrate their academic achievements and research proposals.

It wasn’t until her modern dance professor, Keshia Wall Gee, assistant professor of dance, encouraged the class to apply, she brought it to Scherich and was eventually awarded the honor.

From theory to the stage

Lumen Scholars work closely with their mentors during their final two years to pursue and complete their projects. Efforts traditionally include coursework, study abroad, research both on and off campus, internships locally and overseas, program development, and creative productions and performances.

In August 2024, Snodgrass, Sol Addison ‘25 and Scherich presented this research at two conferences, and their research article on the subject has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. They also demonstrating the danceability of twisted virtual knots.

“I’m really excited to be able to connect these two things that feel so me, but so different worlds,” said Snodgrass. “It’s crazy that this is possible and that I’m given the opportunity to do this and be able to present it for other people.”

For her senior year, Snodgrass is hoping to create a movement study and eventually a full-length performance demonstrating her research.

“It’s illustrating these mathematical ideas that I’ve been researching for the past year through movement with live dances and hopefully projections to show audiences this deep math research in a more accessible way,” said Snodgrass.

In June, Bogart studied abroad in Rome, Italy as she worked on a feminist translation and re-vision of Virgil’s “Aeneid,” the Latin epic poem that tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and went to Italy.

“The work I’m doing this summer is rooted in my being in Rome,” said Bogart, who is also minoring in women, gender and sexuality studies. “I’m looking at writing in place and the aspect of writing in the place in which the original author of an ancient text, like the ‘Aeneid,’ was written as I tell it in my own way.”

Last summer, Bogart translated more than 1,000 words of the nearly 10,000-word poem for her work, which focuses on retelling the stories of characters Dido, the queen of Carthage, and her sister Anna. Bogart’s interest in the “Aeneid,” and the characters, began after taking Latin in high school.

“We were studying book four, which is the big Dido chapter and it’s a tragedy in a lot of ways because Dido does die in the end and her sister is left with the great repercussions of everything that had built up in the book,” Bogart said. “I’m a younger sister myself and I see a lot of my own relationship with my sibling reflected in Dido and Anna.”

While Bogart, who is also an ������Ƶ College Fellow, is doing this work as a Lumen Scholar, ������Ƶ’s highest undergraduate research award, she will present during the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) presentation on July 24 in the Snow Atrium of Schar Hall.

SURE provides an opportunity for students to work with faculty and gain meaningful research experience over the summer, without the pressure of other courses during a typical semester. Students apply for the opportunity, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year.

“Because this has been a new aspect of my Lumen research, it has been so fascinating to be able to do this,” Bogart said. “I feel very fortunate that I can be here and do this work and receive a stipend from ������Ƶ. I feel like a very lucky undergraduate student to experience this and I’m excited to share my work at the poster session.”

Undergraduate research and global engagement are two of the five ������Ƶ Experiences. Students are expected to complete at least two of the experiences before graduating. Bogart is also working closely with her faculty mentors from both majors: Kristina Meinking, professor of classical languages, and Margaret Chapman, senior lecturer in English.

“Once I started talking about my interest in classical, feminist retelling in Virgil’s “Aeneid” and the Dido and Anna characters, there was a pretty instant connection where they both were so truly interested in the interdisciplinary work I was seeking between classics and creative writing,” said Bogart. “There’s just this great match of energy when discussing what I’ve been learning and seeing with them.”