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Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships

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A summer in the tick trenches
A person in PPE holding blue painters tape covered in several ticks.

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A summer in the tick trenches

With the help of five Penn undergrads, biology professor Dustin Brisson’s research group collected 9,000 tick specimens this summer to understand how seasonal activity patterns of these arachnids affects human pathogens and what role a changing climate might play.

Kristina Linnea García

Bold ideas and innovation on display at the Fall Research Expo
Houston Hall full of posters and students and visitors at the CURF Poster Expo

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Bold ideas and innovation on display at the Fall Research Expo

On Sept. 15, hundreds of posters were presented throughout Houston Hall at the annual Fall Research Expo, representing the research projects of 410 undergraduate students conducted through the Center for Undergraduate Research.

3 min. read

Exploring the influence of the Scottish Enlightenment on America’s founding
Eric Ryu stands outside of College Hall.

Eric Ryu spent part of his summer in Scottish university archives researching the Scottish Enlightenment.

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Exploring the influence of the Scottish Enlightenment on America’s founding

Fourth-year Eric Ryu studied 18th and 19th century lectures notes from university archives in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and St. Andrews to trace the intellectual roots of the two movements.

2 min. read

Where AI models fall short in mimicking the expressiveness of human speech
Ethan Yang, Jjianjing Kuang, Kevin Li, and Henry Huang.

Through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program, students Ethan Yang, Kevin Li, and Henry Huang worked with linguistics professor Jianjing Kuang to study the ability of AI models to replicate the expressiveness of human speech.

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Where AI models fall short in mimicking the expressiveness of human speech

Undergraduates Kevin Li, Henry Huang, and Ethan Yang worked with linguistics professor Jianjing Kuang to compare speech production and perception by humans and AI—research that can help companies move closer to natural and expressive AI speech.

2 min. read

Diving into the causes of crime
Ella Vance stands in front of a staircase with her arms crossed.

Ella Vance says her psychology and criminology double-major meshes well with Paul Robinson’s research on the root causes of crime. Her summer work was supported by the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program.

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Diving into the causes of crime

Third-year Ella Vance spent the summer working with Penn Carey Law’s Paul Robinson exploring the potential roots of crime, including addiction and poverty. Her 10-week opportunity was supported by the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program.

2 min. read

Who, What, Why: Third-year gets a taste of the film biz
Bea Hammam

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Who, What, Why: Third-year gets a taste of the film biz

This summer Bea Hammam, a third-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, completed two internships with companies in the film industry, both founded by Penn alums.

3 min. read

Students use machine learning to track and protect whale populations
Chinmay Govind writing equations on a chalkboard.

Chinmay Govind, a rising second-year in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, writes equations on a chalkboard in his team's research space at David Rittenhouse Laboratory. For his portion of the PURM project, Govind used AI to track and map whale locations.

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Students use machine learning to track and protect whale populations

For their Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program project, Chinmay Govind and Nihar Ballamudi leveraged AI to locate and census whales. The study may inform policy measures that help to improve protections for whale populations worldwide.

5 min. read

Investigating barriers to menopause care for Medicaid patients
Eri Maeda standing outdoors against a brick wall and smiling, facing forward.

Eri Maeda, a rising third-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, spent her summer in the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM) studying the impact of insurance status on menopause care access in the U.S. A neuroscience major pursuing a pre-medicine path, Maeda has gained new insights and research skills throughout her PURM experience.

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Investigating barriers to menopause care for Medicaid patients

Rising third-year Eri Maeda dedicated her summer to a Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program project exploring how insurance status may shape access to menopause care in the U.S.

4 min. read

Three undergraduates map climate and health education opportunities across campus
Wendy Hernandez Higarede and Veronica Baladi look at glass case in Houston Hall.

Wendy Hernandez Higarede and Veronica Baladi made observations in Houston Hall as part of their fieldwork.

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Three undergraduates map climate and health education opportunities across campus

For a Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program project, Wendy Hernandez Higarede, Veronica Baladi, and Faith Amolo Owino are engaging with Penn’s Climate and Health Education Working Group and learning ethnographic methods.

2 min. read

Hunting for relics of a universe past
a spherical halo created by dark matter.

Image courtesy of ESO/L. Calçada

Hunting for relics of a universe past

In the lab of associate professor of physics and astronomy Robyn Sanderson, Alexandra DiMauro and Mariam Tskitishvili search for hints about dark matter and analyze data that could inform what is known about how stars form.

Laura Dattaro

2 min. read