At our recent end-of-year event, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships and the University Scholars Program celebrated the work of the undergraduates who received Service/Research Project Awards (now the Bridge-Builder Award) from our office for the 2018-2019 academic year. These awards enable groups of students to undertake service projects that are informed by academic research. Students receiving these awards undertook a wide range of activities during the 2018-2019 academic year, from tutoring primary and secondary school students in STEM disciplines to putting on a major public health conference for undergraduates. The URF/USP office is very proud of their work!
The members of each group have prepared a poster and a video introducing viewers to their work during the 2018-2019 academic year. These posters and videos, along with a list of each group’s participants and a brief description of their work, can be found below.
Bits & Bots
Project Leaders: John Harrington and Daniel Rassaby
Project Members: Milli Beckers, Chris Bunn, Verda Busal, Rheisen Dennis, Sam Lazarus, Ben Novak, Samuel Pinheiro, Chloe Scudder, and Tina Wu
Bits & Bots provides an after-school education program for elementary and middle school students. The focus of this program is computer programming and robotics. In the fall, group members focused on research and curriculum development; in the spring, they offered classes to students and developed a GitHub repository for their workshop plans.
Bits & Bots Poster | Bits & Bots Video
EcoScholars Program
Project Leaders: Ryan Maia and Abby Plummer
Project Members: Olivia Chagnon, Anna Donnelly, Ava Gallo, Kai Gravel-Pucillo, Paola Stuparich, and Sydney Yonack
The EcoScholars Program offers environmental education lessons to K-12 students in the Boston area. These lessons focus on climate change, its implications for the planet’s future, and everyday actions that can be taken to reduce one’s “ecological footprint.”
EcoScholars Poster | EcoScholars Video
The Flo Initiative
Project Leaders: Eloise Coly, Danielle Reid, and Erin Sedita
The Flo Initiative works to combat social stigmas associated with menstruation and to provide low-income individuals in the Boston area with information regarding, and access to, more sustainable menstrual hygiene products.
Flo Initiative Poster | Flo Initiative Video
Husky High School Hacks
Project Leaders: Logan Jones, Sydney Mason, and Luke Novak
Project Members: Sacheverel Eldrid, Ruth Olowoyeye, and Mahema Singh
Husky High School Hacks provides after-school STEM education tutoring and holds STEM-related “hackathons” for local high school students. Defined by the project group as “short events that pose students with challenges that they can form groups to solve,” these “hackathons” seek to promote collaborative and engaged learning.
Husky High School Hacks Poster | Husky High School Hacks Video
Malaria Free World/NUGHI
Project Leaders: Francesca Giorgianni, Adriell Louis, Hugh Shirley, Kritika Singh, and Stephanie Stumbur
Project Members: Bethlehem Ashagire, Anisa Amiji, Andrew Brady, Theodora Christopher, Connor Holmes, Chloe Hornbarger, Jason Ingerick, Umin Jalloh, Sunyou Kang, Andrew Lee, Shania Lee, Fatemah Mukadum, Carolina Sardinha, and Nyle Sharif
This project group works with the non-profit Malaria Free World, which seeks to promote awareness of malaria and other infectious diseases. The group also developed and promoted the Northeastern University Global Health Initiative (NUGHI) conference, which took place October 19-20, 2018 on the Northeastern campus, as well as a series of “fireside chats” with public health experts in the spring semester.
MFW/NUGHI Poster | MFW/NUGHI Video
The Playground Project: INDIGO
Project Leaders: Charles Chierico, Elise Dovletoglou, and Daniel Ostberg
Project Members: Maria Bermudez Pizano, Kathryn Busemeyer, and Alexander Castillo
This project group strives to increase the number and quality of inclusive playgrounds in Boston. Its members have developed a “scorecard” that they use to assess the inclusivity of individual playgrounds, and evaluated numerous Boston playgrounds using this tool over the course of the academic year.
Playground Project Poster | Playground Project Video
Project FIT
Project Leaders: Danielle Murad Waiss and Agota Sakalauskaite
Project Members: Bota Koshkarova, Victoria Micha Waiss, and Cindy Wu
The members of Project FIT teach group fitness classes at an assisted living facility and a program for older adults in the Boston area. These classes aim to promote not only physical activity, but also social connections and emotional well-being.
Project FIT Poster | Project FIT Video
Roots Through Photos
Project Leaders: Rose Ajegwu and Leila Habib
Roots Through Photos holds photography workshops for youth in the Boston area. Participants in these workshops explore issues related to identity and community through the medium of photography.
Roots Through Photos Poster | Roots Through Photos Video
Roxbury Rocks!
Project Leaders: Lucas Calero Forero and Paulina DeLima
Project Members: Sumya Mohiuddin, Niklas Pousette Harger, Ben Silvers, and Jacqueline Tam
Roxbury Rocks! develops and teaches music and dance courses for children in the Roxbury area. This year, group members focused on making workshop plans that they have developed available via their website.
Roxbury Rocks Poster | Roxbury Rocks Video
Science Squad
Project Leaders: Congtin Nguyen and Maria Paz
Project Members: Neeloy Bose, Nithin Chintala, Anja Deric, Tyler Gogal, Sabie Marcellus, Hugh Shirley, Kritika Singh, and Ffion Titmuss
The Science Squad focuses on getting children and adolescents excited about science. The group volunteers in the science department at a local secondary school and at science fairs around Boston; they also teach classes in Northeastern’s NEPTUN program.
Science Squad Poster | Science Squad Video
STEMVentures
Project Leaders: Anjali Kokra and Cory Langenbach
Project Members: Lilly Carlson, Orianna Kane, Matthew Lamontagne, Jack Marson, Sophia Paxton, Isabelle Prescott, and Hadley Wiggin
This project group leads extracurricular STEM workshops for children at a K-8 school in Boston.
STEMVentures Poster | STEMVentures Video