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Summer research has wrapped, culminating in the first-ever virtual  Along with the majority of undergraduate researchers from other disciplines, as well as summer interns, all 22 Mellon SURFs gave oral or poster presentations on their research outcomes. Given the distance working and mentoring environment this summer, due to the Covid-19 crisis, this was no small feat! Separated physically from campus, fellow researchers, and their mentor(s) for the ten-week period, all students were able to do their work remotely, checking in with mentors through Zoom, phone, or email during each week, making important contributions to their team’s project and producing some impressive resources, such as bibliographies, websites, and exhibits. We are so proud of each and every student and their accomplishments this summer, least of which were their extraordinary resilience, grit, focus, and good humor. 

Mellon students shine brightly!

Peyton Tvrdy (�԰����� ‘20) stands in front of the Coates Library Mural. This summer, Peyton worked on cataloguing the mural’s images and creating an . According to her mentor, digital technologies librarian Dr. Elizabeth Poff, “Peyton is a "research rockstar" and did an amazing job with this! It turned out better than I could have ever imagined.”

Cecelia Turkewitz (�԰����� ‘21) presents the research she completed on the founders and founding of �԰����� as part of the �԰����� Roots Commission team. The team of four students, Cecelia, Camille Johnson, Rachel Kaufman, and Rohan Walawalkar, led by �԰����� faculty members from different departments, researched “�԰�����'s early history and [...] ties to slavery and racial injustice.” The students have published their findings on their Roots Commission website.  

Stephen Ford (�԰����� ‘21) speaks about creating a database for LGBTQ+ comic book characters. Stephen worked on this ongoing study under the mentorship of communications professor Dr. Aaron Delwiche and created a  that also contains a catalog of some 550 LGBTQ+ characters he was able to identify during his research. 

Read more about all students’ projects and check out their presentations!