Summer Spotlight

As the UD community has stayed home to flatten the curve, Shay Smith has embraced the creativity and excitement of making a podcast, with the guidance from experts at UD’s Morris Library. “Shay Says” offers different perspectives on cultural myths and mental health.  

These health science majors are helping older adults stay sharp.  

Marine science major Cara Lamberty is working to help understand the population dynamics of sand tiger sharks along the East Coast to advance conservation efforts for this globally vulnerable species. 

Farida is a biological science major who is connecting children to gardening through story time.  

This Ph.D. student is studying the nesting ecology and breeding season movements of the Clapper Rail, a salt marsh bird species. Her fieldwork is conducted in Delaware salt marshes where she monitors rail nest survival, chick survival and adult movements.

Noah is a policy intern with Student Veterans of America. He is spending his internship conducting research, developing public facing infographics, and preparing key points for congressional testimonies.
 

Paige Cummins is documenting and describing a little-known plant-eating insect called the Derbid planthopper Anotia, in an effort to provide a universal baseline that others in the field can use in their work. 
 

Karen is working with First Street Foundation, a non-profit research group, to analyze the effects of state and local land use policies on municipal flood vulnerability, flood-disrupted access to critical infrastructure, and adaptation and flood-risk mitigation equity.

This financial planning and wealth management major interned with Vanguard last year and is returning this summer as part of the financial advisor development program.



 

Alice's research focuses on 3D printing biobased materials derived from lignin, a complex polymer in the cell walls of plants that makes them rigid and woody. 

 

This environmental engineering major has been putting the knowledge he’s gained at UD to the test by spending his working with Trenton, NJ’s water department. He’s focusing on a project to remove all lead piping from the city’s infrastructure and working to make existing processes more efficient and cost-effective.

Chelsea Chatterton of Vernon, Connecticut, is majoring in exercise science, with a minor in public health. With guidance from Prof. Kimberley Isett of the Joseph R. Biden, Jr.  School of Public Policy and Administration, she is studying physical therapy clinics that offer their services for free to people who cannot get the care otherwise.

Neuroscience major Emma Leefeldt of New Castle, Delaware, is spending the summer analyzing MRI data in her study of how uncertainty affects brain activity. 

Meilyn is interning with the Office of the Commissioner of Health for New York State. She primarily works on creating guidelines and solutions for the daily life of vulnerable populations. She is also looking into the response of college-aged adults to the pandemic and how to better address the lack of care by some.  

Aaron Rubin, a history education major, is an Inspiration and Education Intern developing an interactive tour of Delaware History Museum exhibits in Wilmington. The exhibit will cover topics such as immigration, agriculture and slavery in the First State. 

This civil engineering major is working on a bridge project for the community in Williamsport, Maryland. Under the guidance of Prof. Monique Head, he is studying the structural integrity of an aging bridge that connects the community to a local market and hospital.