2016-2017 Thesis Prize Winners
David M. Kennedy Honors Thesis Prizes
Engineering & Applied Sciences: Griffin Dietz, Computer Science. Children’s Use of Decomposition in Problem Solving as an Early Introduction to Computer Science. Mentored by James Landay and Hyowon Gweon
Arts & Humanities: Alex Torres, English. The Blakean Imagination in Nineteenth-Century America: Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson. Mentored by Denise Gigante and Ramón Saldivar
Natural Sciences: Ryan Badiee, Biology. Engineering Bidirectional Regulation of Endogenous Genes. Mentored by Michael Lin
Social Sciences: Whitney McIntosh, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). France and the Internationalization of Security: A Conceptual History of Security During the Interwar Years (1919-1933). Mentored by Stephen Stedman
Firestone Medals for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Iliana Erteza Bray, Electrical Engineering. Frequency Shifts and Depth Dependence of Beta Band Activity in Rhesus Premotor Cortex Perceptual Decision-Making. Mentored by Krishna Shenoy
Marly Carlisle, Education. We Do The Best We Can: Implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act by San Francisco Unified Social Workers. Mentored by Jelena Obradovic
Maria Castro, Human Biology. Quantitative Analysis of White Matter Differences in Children Born Preterm and Full Term. Mentored by Heidi Feldman and Jeffrey Wine
Melissa Eidman, Human Biology. Still Reservations: Identifying Contributors to Health on the Yurok Reservation. Mentored by Donald Barr, Gabriel Garcia, and Sawar Young-Tripp
Bora Erden, Symbolic Systems. Choice-Predictive Activity in the Macaque Premotor and Motor Cortex. Mentored by William Newsome and James McClelland
Kathryn Evans, Biology. Using Viral Tools to Dissect Neural Circuits: Exploring the Nigrostriatal and Claustrocingulate Pathways in Mice. Mentored by Karl Deisseroth
Andrea Fisher, Biology. Genomic Analysis of Southeast Asian and Sahul Ancestry. Mentored by Marcus Feldman and Richard Klein
Zi Yang Kang, Mathematics. Strategy-Proof Bilateral Trade. Mentored by Jan Vondrak
Sophia Laurenzi, Science, Technology, & Society. The Gray Matter of Young Adulthood: Neuroscience, Social Trends, And Justice Reform. Mentored by Angela Garcia
Lauren Newby, Center for International Security & Cooperation (CISAC). From Zero to Sixty: Explaining the Proliferation of Shi’a Militias in Iraq after 2003. Mentored by Martha Crenshaw
Nghia Nguyen, Biomechanical Engineering. A Behavioral System for Imaging Prefrontal Cortex Activity in Freely Behaving Mice. Mentored by Liqun Luo and Ovijit Chaudhuri
Brett Parker, Political Science. Election or Appointment? A Quantitative Study of the Effects of Judicial Selection Method on Judicial Voting in Criminal Procedure Cases. Mentored by David Brady
Indira Puri, Economics. On the probability of receiving a top choice match. Mentored by Jonathan Levin
Daniel Sánchez-Ordóñez, Economics. International monetary policy spillover in Colombia: An SVAR analysis. Mentored by John Taylor
Lydia Tam, Biology. Identifying the Cellular Origin and Enzymatic Mechanism of Activity-regulated Neuroligin-3 Secretion. Mentored by Michelle Monje-Deisseroth
Eileen Williams, Psychology. Interhemispheric Amygdala Connectivity Across Puberty and its Relation to Depressive Symptomatology. Mentored by Ian Gotlib
Ethan Williams, Geophysics. Sycamore Knoll: A wave-planed pop-up structure in a sinistral-oblique thrust system, Southern California Continental Borderland. Mentored by Simon Klemperer
Cristian Zanoci, Physics. Entanglement and Transport Properties of Non-Equilibrium Steady States of 1-D Quantum Systems. Mentored by Patrick Hayden and Brian Swingle
Yuan Zhang, Biology. Bioactive Lipids Enhance Cardiomyocyte Differentiation from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Mentored by Sean Wu
Robert M. Golden Medals for Excellence in the Humanities and Creative Arts
Surabhi Balachander, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE). Our Color in the Fields: Exploring the Intersections of Agriculture and Race in American Literature. Mentored by Michele Elam and Solmaz Sharif
Madelaine Bixler, Theater and Performance Studies. Writer/Director: ‘In Volution’. Mentored by Leslie Hill and Cherrie Moraga
Talia Charme-Zane, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Freaky Forests, Gay Princes, and Guilty Children: A Queer Reading of Sondheim’s Into The Woods. Mentored by Sianne Ngai
Joshua De Leon, Arts Institute. This Brown Body Is A Vessel. Mentored by Michele Elam, Solmaz Sharif, and Whitney Lynn
Michael Gioia, History. The Revolutionary Priest: An Intellectual Biography of Claude Fauchet. Mentored by Keith Baker and Dan Edelstein
Gabriella Johnson, African and African American Studies (AAAS). Re-Reading the Mulatta: A Black Feminist Approach to Understanding the Mulatta in 21st Century Literary Production. Mentored by Michele Elam and Alvan Ikoku
Jacqueline Langelier, Art & Art History. Photography. Mentored by Gail Wight
Quyen Nguyen, Art & Art History. Danh Võ: Ghost Work. Mentored by Alexander Nemerov
May Peterson, Classics. Venantius Fortunatus as Auctor of the Sacred: From Material to Ethereal in Sixth-Century Gaul. Mentored by Grant Parker and Bissera Pentcheva
Al Yuen, Music. Flute Performance. Mentored by Alexandra Hawley