Nexus Scholar Faculty Mentor Profiles 2026

Personal Introduction

I am a historical and environmental anthropologist whose research concerns how people politicize “impure” environments in the long afterlife of American industry. Much of my work to date has been based in Baltimore, where I follow industrialism’s enduring traces in toxified landscapes, patchy regulation, quotidian expressions of white supremacy, and particular orientations toward time. My newer work, on far-right environmental movements in the Pacific Northwest United States, moves to new terrain but stays with these core themes.

Project Description

This project concerns the rising tide of ecofascist sentiments in the United States. Spectacular acts of ecofascist violence have been in the news given mass shootings by white men who propose that eliminating racialized people will ease environmental pressures, including in Christchurch and El Paso. But they are only the most spectacular face of a pervasive set of structures and beliefs about what, and whom, the environment is for - and whose being counts as existential threat - which this study aims to show are foundational to the United States.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The Nexus Scholars for this project will collaborate on three main tasks: (1) reviewing and organizing reporting on the rise of ecofascist sentiments in recent years, integrating blog posts, articles, podcasts, essays, and the like into this project's existing media library; (2) reviewing, organizing, and analyzing archival documents from the American Eugenics Society and the Sierra Club, tracking both organizations' concern with population control as a salve for environmental pressures; (3) and drafting a report analyzing how eugenic solutions to environmental problems historically figured in the American environmental movement and how this has changed over time, based on both of the above. The Nexus Scholars should be reliable, communicative, and independent, and can expect to gain experience synthesizing historical documents, news media, and scholarly literature in the humanistic social sciences, as well as familiarity with this pressing topic.

Required Skills and Coursework

A demonstrated interest in the humanities and/or social sciences is preferred. Introductory coursework in American studies, anthropology, history, and the environmental humanities would all be beneficial.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Familiarity with research on scholarly databases; reliable and communicative; able to work independently; good sense of limitations and ability to ask for support; ability to synthesize scholarly arguments into key points; ability to note and analyze trends in historical documents; ability to note and analyze trends in popular media; personal commitment to working against ecofascism and other white supremacist environmentalisms.

Personal Introduction

I am a psycholinguist interested in understanding how humans extract meaning from natural language strings during linguistic interactions. My background is in Linguistics and Cognitive Science.

Project Description

A cornerstone of linguistic communication is the ability to adapt to how different speakers use language. For example, when listening to accented speech, listeners recalibrate their perception of speech sounds in order to successfully decode the intended message. Although research has shown that adaptation occurs across all levels of linguistic representation, little is known about how this ability emerges during childhood. This project aims to investigate the developmental trajectory of adaptation in language comprehension through experimental research.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Code behavioral experiments; generate experimental stimuli; obtain the required certifications to be able to interact with children; work on recruiting interested families; travel to different schools/summer camps/museums in the Ithaca area to administer experiments to children ages 5-8; generate visualizations of the data collected throughout the summer.

Required Skills and Coursework

No specific coursework is required. The ideal candidate will have strong interpersonal skills and enjoy engaging with children aged 5–8.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Prior completion of Introduction to Linguistics (LING 1101) or Introduction to Cognitive Science (COGST 1101) is preferred. Familiarity with a programming language and/or R scripting is also an advantage. Possessing a valid driver’s license and access to a car is helpful but not required.

Personal Introduction

Although my primary appointment is in Music, my work falls at the intersections of feminist and gender studies, critical disability/autism studies, and anthropology. I am currently working on a constellation of projects with a common theme of education/pedagogy, digital humanities, access, and social justice.

Project Description

Students will be preparing materials for the Palestine Pedagogy Network, an in-progress, collaboratively-sourced, open-access digital humanities platform that compiles and organizes pedagogical resources—academic texts, but also multimedia sources like music and artworks—for public use. It addresses the accessibility of knowledge along multiple axes: by making sources broadly available, by building intentional pedagogical tools into the platform itself, and by creating those tools with different kinds of users and access needs in mind.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Students will be responsible for identifying, collecting, and coding resources for a large-scale digital humanities platform focused on democratizing pedagogy and for generating original text and summaries.

Required Skills and Coursework

Basic familiarity with Excel, able to closely follow instructions but self-motivated to work; strong reading and writing skills including ability to summarize and synthesize scholarly texts; familiarity with the Cornell library catalog.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Coursework in anthropology, sociology, critical ethnic and/or gender studies; capacity in French or Arabic; familiarity with basic web editing.

Personal Introduction

The broad research focus of the lab is the behavioral neuroscience of social behavior. We use teleost fishes as model systems to identify how the brain drives and modulates social behavior.

Project Description

This project focuses on development of a neurogenomic model for aggressive behavior in the context of sound (acoustic) and visual communication. The study group are Danionella minnows, which are among the smallest fish and also remain transparent throughout their lifetime (unlike their close relative, zebrafish, which have been used for decades as a model system for biomedical research). Danionella's especially small size and transparency into adulthood offer a significant advantage for neuroimaging studies of brain circuitry underlying behavior.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Students will assist in one of two projects: (1) generating transgenic lines of Danionella fish for neuroimaging studies of brain circuitry or (2) learning to label neurons in larvae and adults with different molecular markers to identify their neurotransmitter/neuromodulator phenotype.

Required Skills and Coursework

Excellent manual dexterity, patience with repetitive tasks, introductory courses in the biological sciences.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Laboratory courses in the biological sciences.

Personal Introduction

I'm a writer and filmmaker, with an interest in exploring and expanding the form of the documentary. I have a particular expertise in hybrid filmmaking, combining narrative and nonfiction storytelling techniques.

Project Description

"A Common Ground" is a 30-40 minute documentary about transformative mediation and alternative responses to policing and litigation. Using interviews, archival research, reporting, and restaged/dramatized actual mediations, the film explores what agreement and reconciliation actually looks like in America in 2025. The student will be trained as an assistant editor and post-production supervisor — logging footage, working with transcripts, editing sequences, arranging licenses, etc. There is the possibility of assisting in production as well. The goal is to produce a film for distribution to public television and film festivals.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Logging footage in Adobe Premiere, organizing and backing up drives, reviewing transcripts, making selects, assembling rough cuts of sequences, and administrating post-production licenses and contracts (for music).

Required Skills and Coursework

Knowledge of documentary film

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Editing experience; mediation/social justice coursework; experience in film production and post-production.

Personal Introduction

In the Extreme Astrophysics group at Cornell Astronomy, we study neutron stars in their various manifestations and use them as laboratories for astrophysics. Radio pulsars can be exquisitely precise clocks that enable observation of low frequency gravitational waves emitted by distant supermassive binary black holes, while Fast Radio Bursts emitted by distant magnetars probe the intergalactic medium in the voids between galaxies.

Project Description

Fast Radio Bursts are difficult to detect, since they are only millisecond-duration flashes, but they can provide insight into the underlying engines, the host galaxies, and the intergalactic medium, as well as the disk and halo of our own Milky Way. The imminent release of the second catalog of bursts detected by the CHIME radio telescope will increase the known sample of these bursts by nearly a factor of ten. The student will use the new catalog along with previously known bursts to investigate various aspects of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and their host galaxies.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

- Data mining, to extract burst properties of interest from FRB catalogs. - Cross matching of burst positions against archival imaging resources at different wavelengths. - Data visualization, e.g., to create histograms of burst properties and extract relationships between parameters. - Deployment of new methods to search for bursts in data from other radio telescopes.

Required Skills and Coursework

- Computer skills: familiarity with Unix / Linux, running programs from the command line, and expertise in Python (NumPy, Matplotlib). - Data analysis and visualization. - Eager to learn methods and techniques (e.g. machine learning methods for burst detection, unsupervised classification, etc.) on their own with pointers to starting resources.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Familiarity with radio astronomy, neutron stars, and transient sources will be helpful.

Personal Introduction

I work in extragalactic astronomy/astrophysics and cosmology, with an emphasis on radio and mm-wave surveys that reveal how the earliest galaxies form and transform gas and dust into stars. I'm involved in several collaborations that generate and analyse simulations and real-world data spanning hundreds of billions of cubic lightyears, with the highly sensitive nature of the instrumentation and surveys requiring numerical and analytic techniques at the cutting edge.

Project Description

Collaborations like COMAP, TIME, and CCAT/FYST are deploying surveys to undertake line-intensity mapping, which involves mapping out how gas distributes itself over large scales across the cosmos in three dimensions to learn about the structures hosting that gas. In this project, we will work to refine our understanding of line-intensity mapping observations, either in simulation or in real-world data. More precisely, the goals are to better understand the behaviour of streams of data from arrays of highly sensitive detectors, and/or to better relate astrophysical/cosmological parameters to summary statistics of reduced data (power spectra, histograms, cross-correlation statistics against external datasets).

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Students will perform generation and/or analysis of simulated or real-world data, with precise tasks depending on the project as tailored to the student's interests. For instance, students may verify analysis techniques for COMAP data based on simulations generated from real-world measurements of instrument noise and systematics over the course of an observing season, synthesising summaries and comparisons of different ways to suppress systematics. In another example, students could investigate the summary statistics of simulated line-intensity maps in cross-correlation with other observables, generating mock data using pre-existing code and building new code as necessary to generate or compare summary statistics. In most sub-projects like these, shared tasks would include creating and/or executing computer programs, creating summary plots or tables, and writing short reports for collaborators who may be interested in the outcome of the project. Throughout the execution of such sub-projects, students will be given readings and other resources as desired so as to aid in learning new skills and scientific context in a way that will guide them in navigating future careers.

Required Skills and Coursework

The student should have prior experience or be motivated to learn computer programming (primarily Python scripting), with a sufficient understanding of control flow to write standalone scripts (not just code in Jupyter notebooks) to be potentially run over the command line. (Prior experience with Unix-like command line tools is not required, however.) Basic knowledge of calculus, linear algebra, and statistics will guide successful work on the project.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

An elementary background in topics in astronomy, astrophysics, and/or cosmology is helpful. Knowledge of further mathematical topics in analysis and numerical techniques (principal component analysis, convolutional operations, Fourier transforms) can guide successful work on the project depending on the student's exact interests. Familiarity with Unix-like command line tools, Git, and numeric/scientific Python are desirable. None of these would be required by any means, only the motivation to learn depending on the student's interests.

Personal Introduction

The work of my lab focuses on evolutionary genomics, with the goal of understanding mechanisms that maintain genetic variation in phenotypes of like immune function or reproductive success. We work primarily with Drosophila, often on problems that have direct connection to processes like neurodegeneration, that have significance to human health.

Project Description

We have constructed a collection of Drosophila lines that are genetically identical except for their Y chromosomes. The Y chromosomes differ by tens of megabase pairs in their abundance of simple repetitive sequences, also called satellite DNA. The project will assess the neurodegeneration effects of paraquat on these lines, with the purpose of understanding how satellite DNA abundance impacts epigenetic changes across the genome (paraquat is known to drive hyperacetylation of histone 3, and preliminary results suggest that satellite repeat abundance modulates this effect).

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The student will perform the screen for the effects of paraquat on the collection of Y replacement lines of Drosophila, scoring negative geotaxis, gene expression (RNA-seq) and dopaminergic neuron mortality. The student will analyze the data that they collect and assist in design of follow-up validation experiments.

Required Skills and Coursework

Ideally the student will have had some experience working with Drosophila, but this is not strictly necessary. Some skill with R would also be helpful for the data analysis. The project can go in a range of directions depending on the student's interests and background.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

BioMG 2800 and 2801 (Genetics and Genetics Lab) would be helpful, but again, not strictly necessary.

Personal Introduction

My background is in the study of rotating neutron stars and their utility for probing the interstellar medium in the Milky Way Galaxy and as detectors of long-wavelength gravitational waves. In aggregate, this requires knowledge of a wide range of physics combined with methods in radio astronomy and the application of machine learning algorithms.

Project Description

Using pulsars as detectors led to the 2023 discovery of the background hum of gravitational waves from the collective effects of the most massive black holes in binary systems across the universe. Under the NANOGrav collaboration, our goals now include detection of individual binaries, requiring greater measurement precision. The project involves experimentation and development of new algorithms that can be applied to data in hand and also data expected from the next generation radio telescope that NANOGrav will use.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Simulations of pulses that take into account interstellar and instrumental effects that distort pulses. - Develop visualization graphics for simulation output. - Analysis of pulse shapes measured at different radio frequencices to obtain better arrival times. - Testing algorithms based on simulations.

Required Skills and Coursework

- Computer skills: familiarity with Unix / Linux, usage of command-line execution of programs, and expertise in Python (NumPy, Matplotlib). - Data analysis and visualization. - Eager to learn methods and techniques for data analysis.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

- Familiarity with astronomy, neutron stars, and gravitational waves, even at a cursory level. - Statistics, probability, and Fourier series.

Personal Introduction

I am a sociologist who has been a professor at Cornell for about 17 years, after having received my Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Chicago in 2007. I study social networks, social capital, sequences, and classical theory -- and I apply those to studies of disruptive events like disasters, health and mortality, and affluence and inequality.

Project Description

The project I have in mind involves the analysis of unique data that I have accumulated on the social networks of Samuel Pepys, a famous English politician in mid-1660s London. Through his detailed daily diary entries, I am hoping to reconstruct and analyze Pepys's extensive social networks, which included prominent members of London society (for example, British royalty). My goal is to see how his network changed during the time of the Great Plague of London, and how it changed through the course of the epidemic, which killed about a quarter of the entire population of London.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Specific tasks include helping me to analyze the data to identify moments when the network experienced shocks (such as the death of a close, well-integrated network member), and how it adapted to them. This will involve producing and analyzing network diagrams, and creating tables for publication in a forthcoming book on the social structure of pandemics.

Required Skills and Coursework

The ability to make simple tables using Excel, as well as the ability to import the network data into R or Python and produce basic network measures from it. The student should have taken at least one course relating to social network analysis and/or data management/analysis using computational methods.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

A familiarity with sociological research that uses social networks is preferred, but not required.

Personal Introduction

Brian Crane trained in biochemistry and biophysics through studies of cofactor-containing metalloproteins and photoinduced electron transfer reactions. He was then drawn to understand mechanisms of photochemistry and redox chemistry in signal transduction. His group researches: 1) molecular interactions and assemblies that mediate receptor signaling and energy sensing in bacterial chemotaxis, 2) the structure and function of the bacteria flagella, 3) the entrainment of circadian clocks by photoreceptors, 4) the enzymology of nitric oxide signaling in bacteria, and 5) fundamental properties of photochemistry and electron transfer that are relevant to these and related systems.

Project Description

We are developing a new class of genetically encoded biological sensor that can report on cellular environment and molecular structure through the formation of stable radicals (unpaired electrons) induced by light. The student would be optimizing the photochemical properties of these probes and studying their signals upon targeting to different cellular locations and environments.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Molecular biology and protein engineering (basic cloning and mutagenesis, and protein expression and production in bacterial and mammalian cells). Electron-spin resonance spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy imaging.

Required Skills and Coursework

Introductory coursework in chemistry, biology, and biochemistry. Some knowledge of basic molecular biology (e.g. knowledge of how proteins are produced recombinantly, for example).

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Some computational/programming skills would be helpful but not necessary. Any advanced biochemistry or molecular biology lab skills would be an advantage, but not necessary.

Personal Introduction

A literary theorist and philosopher by training, I am the only literature professor to be affiliated with Cognitive Science at Cornell, and I have published some fifteen books in related fields. The founding director of the Humanities Lab at Cornell, I am especially invested in non-reductionist research at the interface of the humanities, the arts, and the sciences.

Project Description

World-famous captive bonobo Kanzi and his nephew Nyota are two non-human great apes (NGAs) who, over the course of several decades, have been raised in a symbolic environment that granted them access to aspects of human culture, endowing them with a large comprehension of spoken English and the ability to use arbitrary signs ("lexigrams") for word communication with interlocutors. Our project is the first one to investigate the relation between language and painting in NGAs through a series of experimental tasks under controlled conditions. All sessions (including painting ones) are videotaped by the caretakers. Our goal is to investigate elements of symbolic cognition and art appreciation, as well as differences between great apes, "languaged" bonobos, and human populations (children, self-trained artists, prehistoric painters).

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

In the Spring of 2024, both Kanzi and Nyota completed four full experimental sessions (each). By the end of Fall 2025, both Nyota and his son Teco should have completed another set of four full experimental sessions (each); further sessions might happen in S26 (tbc, and pending budgetary approval). All sessions are video-recorded. An ongoing effort, first undertaken by two Nexus scholars in 2025 then prolonged by a team of five undergraduate researchers in 2025-26, consists of producing a fine-grained description of the apes’ behavior during at least four recorded sessions per ape, and using a specific code and ethogram (software being ELAN). The 2026 Nexus Scholars will (1) study, review, synthesize, and expand the relevant bibliography, (2) participate, if needed, in the completion of the behavioral coding of the videos and in the assessment of that part of the work (inter-observer reliability), and (3) join the collective, and transdisciplinary, effort in interpreting the data (behavior, paintings, gestures, communication). An exhibition on the experiment will take place at Mann Library in S26; in conjunction with it, a new class on “The Dawn of Art” will be offered, and a conference will be organized at Cornell. The Nexus scholars will be invited to present at the conference. Several research papers are currently being considered on the basis of the experiment, sometimes involving external collaborators. Some additional info here: https://blogs.cornell.edu/humanitieslab/in-memoriam-kanzi/ and here: https://blogs.cornell.edu/humanitieslab/kanzis-legacy-workshop/.

Required Skills and Coursework

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the project, students from different disciplines could be a good fit. Previous coursework at the 2000 level or above is welcome in one or, preferably, several of the following fields: art history, experimental psychology, primatology, humanistic "animal studies," cognitive science, cinema, literary theory, philosophy, linguistics, and statistics. The students will be encouraged to do additional scholarly readings to further their comprehension of the experiment.

Personal Introduction

I am a scholar of Asia, religion, and politics with an overarching interest in the question of "modernity" in the 20th and 21st centuries. My research has followed many different paths, from Islamic statehood and religious pluralism, to gendered care work and health.

Project Description

My new project centers religion against the backdrop of environmental degradation as caused by tourism-led development, unregulated urbanization, cementification of agricultural land, and changing social dynamics in the island of Bali, Indonesia. This is a multilayered project that asks how religion (as ritual, beliefs, and a shared cultural vocabulary) can be activated as a social and economic force to ensure environmental protection and regenerative practices in Bali’s tourism-led economic development, and what role do women—as mothers and wives as well as ritual assistants and performers—play therein.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

(1) Building annotated bibliographies (searching physical and digital academic sources and using sources provided) that bridge across fields and geographies, and writing a short report; (2) searching physical archives and digital databases of historical visual sources from Bali; and (3) populating biophysical and ethnographic data in an interactive database of large trees in Bali. Examples of annotated bibliographies at the intersection of (sub)fields, include (1) the history of capitalism and its environmental impact; (2) religion and ecology in the Anthropocene/Ecozoic; (3) legal regimes of land ownership in Bali and Indonesia; (4) human-nonhuman relations in Bali’s beliefs and stories; (5) social reproduction theory and the environment; (6) Balinese women in ritual; (7) sustainable/regenerative tourism; (8) ritual and agricultural practices in Java and Bali; (9) social lives of trees in urbanizing areas; and (10) urban green infrastructure. This stage of research is also comparative, hence students will be able to focus on Bali (Indonesia) as well as other geographic locales that offer a valuable comparative angle (e.g., Pacific islands, Tahiti, Hawai'i, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore).

Required Skills and Coursework

No specific coursework is required, but required is the ability (or enthusiasm about learning how) to: (a) navigate the physical library and digital databases, (b) organize scholarly sources, and (c) pursue a literature review for a research question developed collaboratively. Students with specific skills (e.g., coding, Indonesian language) will be able to apply their skills in meaningful ways.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

This project welcomes applications from students who have taken classes in a variety of fields, including (but not limited to): history, gender studies, environment and sustainability, S&TS, Asian studies, religious studies, Indigenous studies, anthropology, global development, law, urban planning, government, information science, labor studies, hotel administration, agricultural sciences, etc. Training in accessing materials will be provided; experience writing longer essays would be beneficial but is not required.

Personal Introduction

I am an experimental physicist pursuing projects in x-ray enabled physics where I am investigating predicted but unobserved photon radiation accompanying the ejection of an electron from an atom and collective quantum behavior of solids and in biological physics with an emphasis on the onset of cooperative behavior in a microbial system. My activities have been enabled through tremendous undergraduate research collaborators.

Project Description

In photon science, we will be searching for light that we expect will herald the ejection of an electron from an atom in order to try to resolve our recent surprising discovery (P. Jacobson et al. Phys. Rev. A 104, 042809 (2021)). I also expect that we will be planning for new measurements to further test the ideas of J. Kas et al, Phys. Rev. B 91, 121112 (2015) about quantum collective behavior in condensed matter. In biological physics, we will be exploiting a new imaging system we have completed to critically test for the simultaneous cell divisions we have possibly observed in the course of our recent work (I. Segota et al., Phys. Bio. 19, 026002 (2022)).

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

To assist in the design, operation, and analysis of experiments in one of these two realms. Much of our current effort is based on an x-ray apparatus completed and commissioned last summer by our amazing Nexus Scholars Adam Hoskin and Wenlong Fang.

Required Skills and Coursework

Two strong semesters of science (in physics or biology as appropriate) and mathematics as follows. For our x-ray physics projects: grades of B or better in two Cornell introductory physics courses which are appropriate for the physics major. For our biology project: grades of B or better in two Cornell biology/biochemistry/chemistry courses appropriate for biology, chemistry, or physics majors. For either project: grades of B or better in two Cornell math courses that go together with the courses described above.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Experience with MATLAB or the equivalent for either project. Bench biology experience for the biological physics project. Familiarity with electronics for the photon science project.

Personal Introduction

I study the evolution and development of vocal and social learning. My lab focuses on how babies learn to talk and how birds learn to sing.

Project Description

My lab seeks to understand the development of communication as part of a larger parent-infant system, which means that we study parental behavior as well as infant development, we connect prelinguistic social and vocal learning with the development of later linguistic skills (e.g. word learning), and we take a comparative approach to understanding the development and evolution of vocal learning. Current projects include studies of early vocal learning and parental responsiveness in human infants and songbirds.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

1

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Infant lab: running experiments, coding behaviors and vocalizations from video and audio recordings, recruiting and scheduling participants, participating in lab meetings. Bird lab: running experiments, coding behaviors and vocalizations from video and audio recordings, participating in lab meetings.

Required Skills and Coursework

No specific courses or skills are required.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Knowledge of R statistical software would be helpful but not required.

Personal Introduction

I am a forest ecosystem ecologist. My lab group and I study how trees, soils, and microbes cycle and store carbon and nutrients, and how forests respond to climate change, air pollution, and other disturbances.

Project Description

Several projects are available for Nexus Scholars in summer 2026, all centered on how local forests contribute to emissions or uptake of greenhouse gases. They will include a study of forest soil responses to an experimental addition of crushed basalt (a new approach for enhancing removal of CO2 from the atmosphere); a study of how trees affect emissions of methane from forested wetlands; a study of tree and soil responses to nutrient additions; and a study of beech leaf disease, a rapidly spreading new forest pathogen.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Specific tasks will vary by project, but all will entail a mix of fieldwork (for example, measuring gas fluxes or collecting plant or soil samples) and lab work (for example, measuring gas emissions from soils; preparing plant and soil samples for elemental analysis).

Required Skills and Coursework

Students do not need to have any prior technical skills to participate in this research. We do require willingness to spend some long days in the woods for fieldwork, along with the capacity for organization and attention to detail in sample processing and lab work. Skills for success include interest in learning from others and reading about ecosystem ecology in the primary literature.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

We encourage, but do not require, students to have some coursework in introductory ecology (BIOEE 1610), or similar courses in plant, microbial, or soil science.

Personal Introduction

I am an astronomer who studies the most energetic explosions in the universe in order to learn about the lives and deaths of stars: how a star’s properties determine its manner of death and its corpse. To do this, I use telescopes across the Earth and in space, as well as analytical modeling.

Project Description

The student will work on multiwavelength observations of cosmic explosions, using data from telescopes such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the Very Large Array in New Mexico. The student will help analyze and interpret the data to answer questions about stellar mass-loss and the formation of powerful jets.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The student would analyze data and make plots using the Python programming language.

Required Skills and Coursework

Skills with programming (Python) required. Quantitative skills---mathematics at the level of calculus (required). Strong organizational skills (from previous jobs, research projects) because the dataset involved is large and somewhat complex.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Some experience with astronomy (knowledge of magnitude system, etc.) would be helpful.

Personal Introduction

My research group studies physics education research - the teaching and learning of physics. We particularly focus on instructional physics labs, studying what students are learning, how they are experiencing labs, and how we can improve instruction to improve students' learning and experiences.

Project Description

The successful student will help evaluate new designs for instructional physics labs that introduce students to experimental physics topics such as cosmic ray muon detection and active matter. The goals for the summer research include iterating on preliminary instructional materials, evaluating the levels of inquiry in the instructional materials, analyzing data collected during the academic year, and preparing for upcoming data collection.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The student will work with a team of postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students to update the instructional materials, use a rubric to evaluate the instructional materials, and analyze data collected from previous semesters (including scoring assessments and surveys, using rubrics to evaluate students' written work, and/or performing statistical analysis on the data).

Required Skills and Coursework

Coursework: Some introductory physics instruction, preferably Phys 1110. Skills: None!

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Other previous coursework and skills will inform the particular tasks the student will carry out. For example, if the student has taken statistics coursework, the project can involve more data analysis. If computer science coursework, the project can involve exploring natural language processing possibilities. The project offers lots of flexibility to best serve students' interests, expertise, and areas for development.

Personal Introduction

I am an inorganic chemist training in synthetic inorganic and electrochemical techniques. In my PhD and postdoctoral research I developed novel strategies to probe complex heterogeneous chemical systems with molecular precision, targeting impacts in energy conversion, catalysis, and electronics.

Project Description

I will have two projects available for undergrads this summer. The first is a synthetic chemistry project, in which students will work with a postdoctoral or graduate student researcher in my lab to develop new synthetic tools to access an unusual class of compounds called "magic-sized" transition metal oxide clusters. These are the smallest possible molecular phases of metal oxides that we expect to be useful for catalysis and electronics alike. I also have a separate project where students will explore the development of environmentally benign electrochemical techniques for the separation of precious metals such as gold.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Project 1: Students will synthesize reported starting materials and novel inorganic coordination compounds using air-free synthetic techniques that the Kephart Lab specializes in. Students will gain experience in characterizing the compounds that they make using a wide range of techniques including NMR, UV-vis-nIR, and IR spectroscopy, 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffractometry, cyclic voltammeter, and potentially solid-state magnetometry. Project 2: Students will synthesize organic molecules well-suited to coordinate precious metal interfaces (e.g., thiolates) that can be used to extract metal atoms from the surface under an applied electric field. Students will gain experience in a range of electrochemical techniques including cyclic voltammetry, electrical impedance spectroscopy, and chronoamperometry. Students will also gain experience in conducting operando spectroscopic measurements and electrokinetic analysis.

Required Skills and Coursework

In principle, I think that any student interested in pursuing an education in chemistry could thrive in this work. I am open to taking rising sophomore and junior students. Students should be able to use Excel and other software that is fairly straightforward.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Some laboratory experience and/or experience in synthesis is preferred, but I don't view this as a firm requirement - you've got to get started somewhere!

Personal Introduction

I am an inorganic chemist who studies metal-catalyzed reactions in both biology and non-biological contexts.

Project Description

Students will either synthesize transition metal complexes or purify metalloproteins. The synthetic projects will involve learning molecular orbital theory. The metalloprotein project will involve studying how nature uses ammonia as a fuel instead of sugar.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

A student who joins the synthesis subgroup of the laboratory will carry out the preparation and characterization of transition metal complexes with sterically bulky ligands to enforce low coordination numbers. They will learn to manipulate air and moisture sensitive compounds and to characterize them using an array of spectroscopic methods as well as structural methods including NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. A student who joins the biochemistry subgroup of the laboratory will prepare and characterize metalloproteins relevant to biological ammonia oxidation, an entirely distinct primary metabolism whereby ammonia, not sugar, is life's fuel. The student will learn cell culture, protein extraction, protein purification, and enzyme kinetics.

Required Skills and Coursework

CHEM 2070/2080 or equivalent, CHEM 3570/3580 or equivalent.

Personal Introduction

My area of study is the intersection of the performing arts and the carceral system, examining the creative and performing arts in prison, as well as facilitating a prison theatre group at both Auburn and Cayuga Correctional Facilities. I also make films and teach courses on stand-up comedy and Shakespeare. I've worked with Nexus Scholars for three summers.

Project Description

I have two projects for this summer. First is taking all the historical documents, videos, programs, and reviews and resurrecting the history of theatre at Cornell, creating a PowerPoint presentation and possibly a website. Second is assisting with the creation of a new course on virtuosity in the areas of theatre, dance, music, and film. What is virtuosity? What articles and books exist discussing and defining it? What web resources might be used as examples in a class? There may be some updating of the Phoenix Players website and additions to the Comedy Class database as well.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

An ability to dig through archival material in storage in the department and in the library to tell the story of theatre at Cornell. Also, research for articles and texts relevant to the subject of virtuosity, and extracting the relevant material and organizing it in a way that makes sense for a seminar course.

Required Skills and Coursework

A sense of historical flow and narrative, comfort with library and web research, skills with PowerPoint and web hosting services. Knowledge of Squarespace is a plus.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Some previous research in the University Library System. A knowledge of New York State geography is a plus. Any familiarity with theatre, film, and dance in general a plus.

Personal Introduction

I am the first in my extended family to attend college, and I obtained my Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology at Cornell University. I believe that science is for everyone.

Project Description

The Liu lab uses the free-living nematode C. elegans as a model system to identify new players and define their functions in a highly conserved signaling pathway, the BMP (bone morphogenetic protein) pathway (details can be found at https://blogs.cornell.edu/liuwormlab/research-ii/). Our research findings will contribute to the general understanding of developmental processes and fundamental mechanisms involved in cell-cell communication. Students joining the lab will learn various molecular genetic techniques at the bench, develop problem solving and critical thinking skills, and work both independently and in a collaborative environment.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Perform various molecular genetic experiments, such as genetic crosses, PCR, gel electrophoresis, fluorescence microscopy, and others.

Required Skills and Coursework

No prior research experience is necessary, but being enthusiastic, curious, motivated, and organized is essential.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

BioG1500, BioMG1350.

Personal Introduction

My research interest is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the interaction between an intracellular bacterial pathogen and its hosts. We use molecular, cellular, biochemical, and structural approaches to how bacterial toxins hijack host cellular pathways.

Project Description

We have several options tailored for undergraduate summer interns. 1) How bacterial toxins hijack host mitochondrial function. 2) How bacterial toxins posttranslationally modify host proteins.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Nexus Scholars will work with graduate student(s) on recombinant protein expression and purification; transfection and intracellular localization; and functional analysis of effector proteins secreted by Legionella pneumophila.

Required Skills and Coursework

The candidate has taken intro biology courses.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

It is super if you have some wet lab experience but not necessary.

Personal Introduction

I'm a sociologist and I study social inequality in the areas of education, gender, and health. Social inequality is a multidimensional and dynamic process and my work measures and explains how this multifaceted process plays out in different contexts, changes over time, and differs across subgroups of people.

Project Description

My project examines the experience of sex discrimination in US higher education and university and federal responses to claims of sex discrimination at four-year universities from 1994-2014. With a team of undergraduate research assistants, we have been coding allegations of sex discrimination at the federal level under Title IX and have constructed an original dataset to describe these experiences, how universities have responded, and how these experiences and responses differ by the race and gender of the complainant and the type of discrimination alleged. Project research assistants help develop code books for coding data and analyzing these data both qualitatively and quantitatively. Tasks include learning how to code text-based data, learning how to construct variables and summarize them, and coding open-ended questions. If RAs have quantitative skills using Stata or R, they can participate in cleaning, coding, and analyzing the quantitative data. I have participated in Nexus Scholars four prior years and my previous research assistants have used this research experience to secure excellent jobs after graduation and to attend graduate and law school.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Students will learn how to develop a code book, how to code qualitative data, and how to clean data. They will also learn how to conduct scientific literature reviews. If they have prior training in coding and quantitative analysis, RAs will set up, clean, and summarize data using statistical software such as Stata. RAs also participate in the data management process of a large and complex data creation project.

Required Skills and Coursework

Our project does not require any specific coursework. Our coders need a very high facility with English language processing because the letters are text-based data. RAs need to understand nuance in written English text and be able to code it correctly. If an RA wants to participate in quantitative analysis, they need to have worked with coding data in a prior project and learn how to use Stata quickly and effectively. Our team works as a hive. Our work is collaborative and transparent to others and our RAs conduct team coding at all times. This means our RAs need to have excellent communication and teamwork skills and a desire to work in this style of environment. If a person really prefers working alone, our project is not going to be a good fit for them.

Personal Introduction

Douglas McKee teaches in the Department of Economics where he works with other faculty to incorporate active learning methods into courses. His research is primarily in economic education, where he tries to identify new methods of teaching that work well for a diverse population of economics students.

Project Description

Math skills, study skills, and positive attitudes toward learning are critical to success in most introductory-level STEM courses, but the COVID-19 pandemic likely had a big impact on all three. In this project, we are analyzing data collected at the beginning of economics courses taught before, during, and after the pandemic to see how students differ in their preparedness for college courses. We will also look into ways instructors can address potential gaps that have appeared to help these pandemic-affected students.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Students will review theoretical and empirical literature related to the impact of the pandemic on educational outcomes. Students will organize data and set it up for analysis. Students will use statistical and econometric methods to analyze data. Students will write up their results and prepare presentations for a technical audience.

Required Skills and Coursework

Students must have taken at least one course in econometrics, and students should be clear thinkers and skilled communicators.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Additional courses in statistics and econometrics would be helpful.

Personal Introduction

I am a scholar of literature, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and political theory, and a practicing psychoanalyst. My research deals with topics as varied as religious history, legal theory, aesthetics, and politics through a psychoanalytic lens.

Project Description

My new research project involves examining Sigmund Freud's contributions to the reconstruction of human prehistory in dialogue with recent scholarship on physical and forensic anthropology and comparative mythology, especially in the context of the ancient Mediterranean. In "Moses and Monotheism," Freud theorized the emergence of the monotheist religions as the final stage in a process evolving over many thousands of years that began with a primeval murder of the father by his sons that inaugurated human societies and the first religions. I am especially interested in revisiting two stages within this reconstruction in relation to recent archeological findings: first, the emergence of the matriarchal religions that, in the Mediterranean context, were eventually absorbed into the ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek religions; and second, the emergence of ancient Judaism out of the Egyptian Exodus.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The specific tasks and duties would vary depending on the skills and interests of the student, but could include reading, summarizing, and evaluating research in religious archeology, comparative mythology from the 19th century to the present and/or religious history; conducting research at the Museum of Natural History in New York City on collections relating to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten whose legacy is at the center of this research; and analyzing ancient artworks using methodologies informed by psychoanalysis.

Required Skills and Coursework

The most important qualification is a real interest in psychoanalytic theory, and secondarily in religious history or comparative mythology.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

The successful student could bring a number of different skills to this project, including but not limited to: basic coursework in archeology, religious history, or mythology (especially in the ancient Mediterranean/Middle East/Africa, although training in other mythological traditions would still be useful); knowledge of German, French, Hebrew, or Arabic (the main languages besides English in which relevant recent research has been published); fine arts and/or art history training.

Personal Introduction

I am a physical chemist with a background spanning physics, materials science, nanoscience, Russian, and allegedly international espionage. My research group studies how molecular materials can harness light to do useful work, from driving chemical reactions to providing clean electric power.

Project Description

In this project, we aim to study how we can use light as an ingredient to change the behavior of molecular materials and other semiconductors. Specifically, we will look into how optical microcavities - extremely small boxes made of mirrors - can be used to "rewire" these materials to change how photoexcited molecules transport energy over long distances or undergo unique light-driven chemical reactions. The goal over the summer will be to explore whether specific material properties (e.g., crystallinity, polarity) have an impact on the physics within the microcavities.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

1

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The student will gain experience in fabrication methods used in semiconductor devices (thermal evaporation & wet processing like spin-coating), the basic principles of optical spectroscopy, modelling of optical properties, analysis of spectroscopic data, and collaboration within a multidisciplinary team.

Required Skills and Coursework

Any chemistry or physics lab course that provides a foundation for safe laboratory practice. Attention to detail and curiosity are musts. Beyond sample fabrication, there are potential ways to contribute to the project from coding to data analysis to tinkering with the optical setups - we can tailor the project to meet the student's skillset.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Prior exposure to physical chemistry (especially quantum mechanics) and/or electromagnetism would help the student to understand the science of the project on a deeper level, but they are not essential.

Personal Introduction

I am an interdisciplinary artist who has been teaching (in the areas of Media Studies, Creative Writing, and African-American Studies) and collaborating with artist Keith Obadike for the last 28 years. We have exhibited and performed at The New Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art and have created books, albums, works for the stage, and many large-scale public sound artworks.

Project Description

This project supports ongoing research at the intersection of art, sound, and technology within the collaborative practice of Mendi + Keith Obadike. The work spans over two decades of interdisciplinary projects—ranging from early Internet art and public sound installations to AI and satellite-based artworks. The Nexus Scholars will contribute to two related initiatives: the development of an archive and research platform documenting these projects and the production of materials for an upcoming book project that explores sound, identity, and digital media in contemporary art. I am hoping to hire one archival research assistant (with a background in African-American Studies, Art History, Media Studies, or New Media Art) and one studio production assistant (with experience in audio or video editing, programming, or art fabrication + a background in African-American Studies, Art History, Media Studies, or New Media Art). It would be helpful for students to familiarize themselves with our work before applying: http://www.obadike.com.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The Archival Research Assistant will be helping to organize existing documentation for our book project, helping to identify research related to our work to complement our archive, and bringing files that currently exist in various formats (and that may be stored on obsolete media) into a usable archive that will live on hard drives (and possibly in an online archive that researchers can access). Student Learning Outcomes: -Learn archival and curatorial methods for new media art. -Engage primary materials and historical research on African-American digital and sound art. -Contribute to the conceptual framing and organization of a forthcoming scholarly publication. The Studio Production Assistant will assist in the editing and sharing of new media works and possibly in creating short pieces of documentation about existing works. Current projects include an immersive installation and sculptural works that include media elements (sound and light). We are also beginning work on other new projects that may be starting in May; it would be helpful to have an assistant with media production skills to assist on these projects as well. The assignments will depend on the student's technical proficiency. Student Learning Outcomes: -Participate in the creation of new sound and media artworks. -Gain hands-on experience with interdisciplinary production workflows bridging code, sound, and visual design. -Develop skills in experimental media practices, including data sonification, AI-based tools, and installation design. Each Nexus Scholar will meet weekly with me (Professor Mendi Obadike) and my collaborator (Professor Keith Obadike) to discuss research progress, skill development, and project outcomes.

Required Skills and Coursework

Position 1: Archival Research Assistant The Archival Research Assistant should have experience in research in the fields of African-American Studies, Media Studies, Art History, and/or Media Art. Focus: Archival organization, metadata creation, contextual research, and digital humanities. Preferred Skills/Background: -Coursework or experience in African-American Studies, Art History, Media Studies, or New Media Art. -Strong writing and research skills. -Familiarity with digital file organization, metadata standards, and media management. Position 2: Studio Production Assistant The Studio Production Assistant should have skills in media editing, programming, and/or art fabrication. Focus: Technical and creative support for sound, video, and interactive systems in an active media art studio. Preferred Skills/Background - technical experience in one or more of the following: -Python programming (for generative sound or video projects) -Audio editing or music production (Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Reaper, etc.) -Video editing or projection design -Studio art/fabrication experience (3D printing, fabrication, or electronics)

Helpful Skills and Coursework

It would be helpful if students interested in either position had completed some courses related to contemporary art, media theory, or African-American Studies. Position 1: Archival Research Assistant: Experience with video editing (Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, or similar) and/or website design is a plus.

Personal Introduction

Our lab group is interested in understanding how early life experience (via parental care or social support) impacts the development of offspring, and how such experiences impact adult behavior, particularly in the realm of reproductive decision-making (mate choice, alternative mating tactics, extra pair copulation, etc.). We accomplish this by investigating the mechanisms (behavioral, neural, genetic, etc.) that result from and/or govern these processes in a bi-parental and monogamous rodent: the prairie vole.

Project Description

We have up to three projects that will be possible this summer. A study manipulating neural function to determine how altering sociability impacts extra pair mating (i.e. cheating). A study investigating how being raised without fathers interacts with being exposed to chronic social defeat (i.e. bullying) to impact brain and neural function. A study investigating the variation in milk quality of females partnered with a mate or rearing offspring alone, and how pup competition for access to high-quality milk results.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Typically, the work in the lab will involve collecting data from video recordings of behavioral trials, sectioning tissue, and processing that tissue for histology or genomic analysis. It may also involve working with animals, performing surgery, and/or performing bioinformatics analyses. We also try to expose students to a range of procedures to help broaden skills and keep the day-to-day work interesting.

Required Skills and Coursework

None

Helpful Skills and Coursework

It is very helpful if the student has taken courses in animal behavior, endocrinology and neuroendocrinology, or neuroscience (with a focus on non-human areas of neuroscience).

Personal Introduction

George Orlov is a part of the Department of Economics, teaching core curriculum courses and working with other faculty to incorporate active learning methods into economics courses. His research is primarily in applied microeconomics and economic education, focused on measuring the effect that new teaching methods have on student learning and the role that peers play in the learning process.

Project Description

The economics department at Cornell has recently implemented an undergraduate Course Assistant (CA) program for its introductory courses where CAs facilitate activities in the classroom and help students with course material in a dedicated Support Center. In this project, we will evaluate the impact of the program on the students in introductory courses and the CAs themselves. Specifically, we will estimate the effects on learning, student satisfaction, growth mindset, and sense of belonging.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Scholars will review theoretical and empirical literature related to the impact of the undergraduate course assistants on educational outcomes. Students will organize survey and assessment data and set it up for analysis. Students will use statistical and econometric methods to analyze data. Students will write up their results and prepare presentations for technical and nontechnical audiences.

Required Skills and Coursework

Students must have taken at least one course in economics, and students should be clear thinkers and skilled communicators.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Courses in statistics and econometrics (including experience with Stata) would be very helpful.

Personal Introduction

I am a computational evolutionary biologist; my lab uses phylogenetic trees (genealogies that depict the historical relationships between species) to understand how evolutionary processes and genetic mechanisms interact to generate patterns of diversity across different species. To study this, our lab i) develops and studies mathematical, statistical, and computational methods; ii) derives theoretical models; and iii) conducts large-scale empirical analyses using genomic data.

Project Description

Our lab is building AI foundation models for genomics (like GPT but trained on genomic information rather than language) with the aim of using these models to understand how natural selection has fine-tuned the regulation of different genes in different organisms. In this project, the students will help evaluate the performance of these models, curate datasets for training and testing, and use the models to make inferences about genomic structure and function.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The student would work closely with a graduate student in the group to conduct research in computational biology. This would involve writing code to evaluate the performance of computational methods, do quality control checks on data, and run analyses on the high performance computing server. The student would also be expected to read papers that inform the work they are doing and to attend weekly group meetings (in person).

Required Skills and Coursework

The main requirement is a familiarity with a programming language; my lab uses both python and R but if you work in another language, that is fine. I am not expecting undergraduates who join my lab to be expert programmers nor to be familiar with working with computer clusters, but they will need to be able to write scripts.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

It would be helpful for students to have some coursework in genetics or molecular biology as well as some quantitative training (math, stats, CS, etc.) at the undergraduate level. Some coursework in machine learning is useful but not necessary. If a student has a particularly strong background in mathematics, I have some additional, related projects that are more focused in this area.

Personal Introduction

I am a former Cornell undergraduate. Our goal is to understand how all nuclear proteins work together to regulate genomes, and apply this knowledge towards better diagnosis and management of human diseases. We use the well-known budding yeast as both a technological and conceptual model.

Project Description

The project involves use of CRISPR/Cas9 to edit the yeast genome such that specific transcription regulators may be rapidly eliminated and their effects on gene expression monitored. Students will learn to design gRNA, use CRISPR, and learn how we map where along the genome regulatory proteins bind.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Design gRNA oligos and "repair" oligos. Prepare Cas9 plasmids, and PCR "repair" DNA. Transform yeast; screen for successful gene-edited projects. Perform ChIP-seq/exo assays if time permits.

Required Skills and Coursework

Familiarity with a chemistry or biochemistry lab environment. Skilled at pipetting, following experimental protocols, and sterile technique. Keeping an accurate and timely lab notebook. Positive, inclusive attitude.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Gel electrophoresis, PCR.

Personal Introduction

Rachel Beatty Riedl is a political scientist in the Government Department and Brooks School of Public Policy, and director of the Center on Global Democracy. Her research interests include institutional development in new democracies, local governance and decentralization policy, authoritarian regime legacies, and religion and politics, with a regional focus in Africa.

Project Description

In cases of democratic backsliding, how do we understand when and why opposition coalitions form and/or succeed around pro-democracy mobilization? The focus will be on how backsliding occurs from actors who are internal to the democratic process itself, and use such institutions and organizations to pursue undue advantage and power accumulation to limit future competition.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

1

Specific tasks associated with the project work

This project will include a literature review, particularly focused on political parties and coalitions and how they function in relation to other institutions of horizontal and vertical accountability (legislatures, courts, electoral systems, watchdog agencies, etc.). The project will then undertake original research on specific cases of successful formation and/or election of pro-democracy opposition coalitions. The student will learn research design and analysis techniques, coding procedures, literature review summaries, and potentially text analysis.

Required Skills and Coursework

Creativity and attention to detail are essential, a statistical background or empirical knowledge of a particular set of cases is not. The student will learn research analysis practices and how to work with qualitative and text data during the course of the project.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Comparative Politics or Democracy and Autocracy courses

Personal Introduction

My research and publications (translations, commentaries, articles, and monographs) center on the literature of ancient Athens, during the age which saw the beginnings of tragedy, comedy, history, philosophy, and rhetoric. My current research specialties are Thucydides, the historian of the War between Athens and Sparta; Aristophanes, writer of Athenian political comedy; and the language of the philosophers Plato (philosophical dialogues) and Aristotle (treatises on ethics, metaphysics and logic, politics, and animal biology).

Project Description

The Lexeis project (https://lexeis.org) digitally rescues the still-unsurpassed 19th century lexica of classical Greek authors, placing them online for literary and linguistic research, updated with links to the Greek text, translations into English, classification into word–families and semantic groupings, and current bibliography. We have worked so far on Thucydides, Plato, and Aristophanes, and our next project will be on Aristotle.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

–Using the Transkribus platform and the AI model produced last summer to complete the transcription of the manuscript of the Aristophanes lexicon (in the German "Kurrent" script), then editing the transcripts and tagging them in XML for posting on our website; assigning key words to word–families and semantic categories, and translating definitions into English. –First steps on the Aristotle Lexicon: completing a survey of digital texts and vocabulary resources, lemmatizing pre-existing digital texts of Aristotle's works with already available NLP tools, and using Transkribus to train an initial AI model for transcribing Bonitz's lexicon.

Required Skills and Coursework

The different tasks in this project can take advantage of a variety of coursework, which will be enhanced on the job: – Greek and Latin (Greek 2101, Latin 2000-level or higher). We specialize in the vocabulary of philosophy and politics, and linguistic/literary analysis. – German (German Studies 2000-level or higher) (Same specialization as for Greek). We will offer a practical crash intro to basic German and the Kurrent script. – Python (CS 1133; even those without coding experience will receive an overview of Python methods to enable them to load and execute scripts and work with the results), web design (INFO 1300 and 2300).

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Most important is an interest in our goals; past student workers have studied Greek literature and history, Linguistics, Information Science, history of the humanities. Being organized and able to work with others is essential, as is openness to learning new computer tools and enhancing language knowledge.

Personal Introduction

Shirley Samuels is Chair of Literatures in English. In October 2025 my new book, titled "Haunted by the Civil War," appeared, treating testimony and culture in the United States.

Project Description

I have begun a new book project, “Women and the Culture of Democracy: Art and Politics in the 19th-Century United States.” The book considers the historical conditions for women writers and artists as they produce works under conditions of necessity, pleasure, politics, and polemical insistence. I would encourage the student to have an interest in 19th century American art, literature, and history and would ask them to locate new materials on these topics as well as to explore the work of women artists and writers.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

They would locate material in the rare book room (Kroch Library), including photographs, pamphlets, and diaries by nineteenth-century women. They would research critics and historians who talk about 19th century American identity. They would investigate how to ask for permission to reproduce images in a book.

Required Skills and Coursework

This project works best for students who have already taken courses in some combination of FGSS, History, Government, History of Art, American Studies, and Literatures in English. In these courses they would have been introduced to the idea of doing research papers in an interdisciplinary context.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

It would definitely help if the student was interested in reading history, biography, and poetry as well as fiction.

Personal Introduction

I'm an integrative biologist who is fascinated by the interplay between the evolutionary processes and regulatory mechanisms that shape the behavior of animals. Having a long love of fish, I generally prefer to explore these interactions in diverse fish species that have naturally evolved unusual situations.

Project Description

We're currently working with a small freshwater fish called Poecilia parae, in which males occur as five dramatically different morphs that differ in body size, coloration, and mating behavior. We've previously shown the morph is determined by highly diverged Y chromosomes, and we're currently working to understand (a) what genes on the Y chromosomes are shaping these behavioral differences, and (b) how changes to the non-coding regions of the Y chromosome have shaped the evolution of these genes.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Tasks associated with this project may include: - Tissue dissections - Various molecular assays for extracting and quantifying both DNA and RNA (eg: custom qPCR assays to identify sex/morph of juveniles, or quantify gene expression) - Running and quantifying behavioral assays of fish - Contributing to fish care of lab colony

Required Skills and Coursework

Skill needed: Attention to detail

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Background coursework that would be helpful: Genetics, Evolution, Animal Behavior

Personal Introduction

My group and I study ice (and sometimes salt) everywhere we find it--from Earth to other planets. We build instruments, underwater vehicles, and use spacecraft and models alike to understand icy and ocean environments.

Project Description

We are conducting studies of Wolstenholme Fjord, Greenland both for polar and planetary science. The student projects associated with this project include looking at underwater vehicle data, environmental data, analyzing water and microbial samples, and/or studying remote sensing and weather data. Many potential areas of study are possible depending on student interest and data collection in early 2026.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

A list of potential tasks for this project is below: -Analyze ocean temperature, conductivity, and pressure data to understand ocean stratification and mixing -Analyze vehicle camera data for ice structure -Measure feature size in sonar data -Analyze trends in ocean and atmospheric temperature data -Perform synchrotron analysis on particle composition -Prepare microbial samples -Analyze metagenomic sequences

Required Skills and Coursework

The best skills for this project include the ability to code (Python preferred), some experience with data analysis and organization, and basic scientific preparation. The ability to work both as part of a team and independently is required. Nominally, background with science and engineering coursework focusing on Earth science, physics, biology, and/or chemistry would be appropriate.

Personal Introduction

For 58 years, I have been privileged to teach and work with students and to have won teaching recognition here and beyond. As for research, I work on many topics and have written 20 books and half of two others, edited many others, and contributed many articles and chapters. My books' subjects include James Joyce's Ulysses, Wallace Stevens, the NY Times, the relationship between Modern Art and Modern Literature, the European Novel (2 volumes), NYC culture between the world wars, literary theory with a focus on narrative, the changes in universities and literary study, undergraduate education, Conrad, Disraeli, Woolf, and more. See, please, my web page: http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/drs6

Project Description

I have 2 projects: 1) Using my original concept of Synchrony, a wide-ranging monograph on the Nature of Narrative--my lifetime subject--with examples from literature (The Divine Comedy, George Eliot's novels, etc.), film, TV series with major historical impact (A French Village, Babylon Berlin, The War is Over), and major painters, with a long chapter in progress on Caravaggio, and some medieval art. 2) Continuing my work on Ekphrasis--art/lit connections, which is the subject of my very well-reviewed book, Reconfiguring Modernism, and other chapters and articles.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Editorial work, research tasks, close reading of primary and secondary material, including video series like A French Village and Babylon Berlin as well as Derry Girls and a few other TV series

Required Skills and Coursework

Enthusiasm, diligence, curiosity, joy in learning, initiative, commitment to excellence, maturity, and writing skill

Helpful Skills and Coursework

For Babylon Berlin, a series about Weimar that has been ongoing, some historical awareness. For the narrative project, some literary or film background. For the art/lit project, some background in art history but not essential.

Personal Introduction

I am a professor of biology and my research is on the study of behavioral evolution. My lab members and I study the evolution of reproductive behavior and how this evolution can cause the origin of new species. We focus on insects, and on behaviors such as acoustic communication, chemical communication via cuticular hydrocarbons, and sperm competition.

Project Description

Our laboratory studies natural populations of Hawaiian crickets brought into the laboratory for observational study and experiments. The student will be engaged in measuring variation in reproductive behaviors of males and females used in courtship communication. Potential questions to be addressed include documenting the mating preference behaviors of males and females and the molecular or genetic control of these preferences.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Daily tasks can range from observational data collection in specific mating experiments, analysis of male song variation and female preferences for aspects of song, chemical work to extract signaling molecules from the crickets, details of the spermatophore system that crickets exhibit, and imaging and microscopy focused on antennae and mating structures.

Required Skills and Coursework

Classification level for the student is flexible depending on their own prior experience. Although we can provide appropriate training no matter the student's background, it would help to have taken a basic laboratory course such as Bio 1500 or equivalent in high school.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Academic exposure to evolutionary biology would be helpful to the student. Introductory coursework in an evolutionary biology class such as BioEE 1780 or BioNB 2210 would be helpful orientation to our research. However, these classes are not required.

Personal Introduction

My research focuses on biology education at the undergraduate level. Broadly, my group studies how undergraduate students learn and make connections, and how instructors can help students during this critical time.

Project Description

We are looking for undergraduate researchers to join an exciting opportunity that will help shape the future of undergraduate biology education. Potential research projects may include synthesizing data from peer-reviewed biology education resources, evaluating survey data about the institutional support for developing education resources, and examining perceptions of skill development in gateway STEM laboratory courses.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Specific tasks may include doing quantitative and qualitative data analysis, extracting information from open educational resources using a variety of tools including machine-learning programs, writing surveys, reading and summarizing literature, and writing up findings. Because this work involves human subjects, all members of the lab take a brief online course on ethical and responsible conduct related to human subjects research before they are permitted to work with data.

Required Skills and Coursework

The most important skills for this project include an interest in participating in an education research community, teamwork skills, attention to detail, statistical analysis, and data organization.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Helpful skills include a familiarity and interest in teaching and learning, basic statistics, R/Python coding, experience with machine learning, and/or qualitative analysis.

Personal Introduction

My background is in systems neuroscience, and I'm broadly interested in social behavior and communication. My lab uses mice to study the neural circuits that regulate vocal communication, and how mouse vocalizations influence social interactions.

Project Description

Nexus Scholars can work on various ongoing projects in the lab, including: (1) the effects of social isolation on the brain and on social behavior, (2) the neural circuits that allow mice to vocalize appropriately according to social context, and (3) the role of mouse vocalizations in mate choice and mating success. We are an inclusive and collaborative group, and we love working with undergraduates!

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Students will learn how to acquire and analyze mouse behavioral data, as well as how to process brain tissue sections and image them on a confocal microscope to visualize recently active neurons, virally-labeled neurons, etc.

Required Skills and Coursework

No specific skills are required - we will teach students what they need to know. A strong interest in neuroscience is a plus.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Introductory coursework in biology, animal behavior, and/or neuroscience is helpful but not required.

Personal Introduction

As people and machines read/listen to sentences, I study how they understand the information incrementally as it unfolds. What features do they pay attention to and how do they use those features to predict/understand what's being communicated?

Project Description

My lab is developing a number of tools for use by sign language learners and sign language researchers. We are looking for two Nexus Scholars to work with us over the summer: one person (the developer) to help develop user interfaces for the tools and one person (the signer) to help collect and annotate sign language videos to expand the capabilities of those tools.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

The developer would build web and application interfaces for Python scripts. The signer would annotate publicly available American Sign Language (ASL) videos. They would also create ASL videos to augment those publicly available. Both students would work together with others in my lab to computationally and statistically analyze the data. We would train them to conduct the desired analyses.

Required Skills and Coursework

The developer would need proficiency in Python as well as experience with web and application development. The signer would need ASL proficiency at or above an ASL 2202 level.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

ASL proficiency would be desirable but not required for the developer. LING 1101 and any more specialized LING coursework would be helpful but not required for both students.

Personal Introduction

I work on technologies of listening and how they have influenced our life and environment over the past 200 years.

Project Description

The Nexus Scholars will participate in a research project on the history of sound measurement in the U.S. This is part of a larger interdisciplinary project on sound, which I aim to develop into a book manuscript, public exhibit, and multimedia website with both intellectual and public impact.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

1. Collect and organize historical documents about noise and noise management in selected archives and databases. 2. Attend scheduled workshops, read assigned literature, participate in discussions, and report on your progress. 3. Transcribe and translate selected documents.

Required Skills and Coursework

1. You are probably already self-driven and passionate about research if you are interested in the program. Another key to success will be time management. 2. Teamwork and discipline. 3. Basic experience in using digital archives and databases.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Reading skills beyond English and Chinese would be great.

Personal Introduction

I work on developing more accurate and scalable computational methods that utilize massive genomic datasets to gain new insights into fundamental evolutionary processes.

Project Description

Recent research topics in the lab include understanding demographic history, natural selection, complex traits, and gene conversion. The actual project next summer would depend on the student's interest and our lab's bandwidth for mentoring someone on a specific topic. Some of the past work of Nexus Scholars have been preprinted and submitted to journals, and can be found here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.15.670378v1.abstract (first author); https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.07.680347v1 (second author).

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Writing code for analyzing large simulated or real data, modeling specific processes, using HPC, literature reading, and possibly statistical/mathematical derivation.

Required Skills and Coursework

Proficient in at least one scripting/programming language (e.g. Python, C++). Familiarity with probability theory and linear algebra. Interest in genetics. Appetite for self-study and persistence when facing obstacles.

Personal Introduction

My lab and I use genetic, molecular, and evolutionary methods to understand how eggs begin to develop once fertilized and (separately) how male proteins that accompany sperm trigger changes in females. Most of our experiments are done with fruit flies, but the results are relevant to fertility in all animals, including people, because the processes we study (and many of the molecules) are conserved.

Project Description

We have several project options that can be tailored to our Nexus Scholars' interests and background. Examples are: using CRISPR to construct a mutation in fruit fly genes that are important in their reproduction, using fluorescence or confocal microscopy to determine how such a mutation affects egg and embryo development, testing mutations in male fruit fly proteins for their effects on sperm or on reproduction, generating fruit fly (or mosquito) proteins to study their molecular function and using protein-structure prediction programs to determine potential interactions among those proteins, and analyzing the evolutionary changes in the sequences of some of these genes. We can offer projects that give students experience with genetics, molecular biology, or evolutionary analyses - and a project on our egg/embryo studies or in our male-protein studies.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

It depends on the project, but tasks could include performing fruit fly crosses and testing reproductive phenotypes of mutant flies, examining fly eggs or fly tissues by microscopy, carrying out DNA manipulations to generate plasmids for CRISPR, using molecular biology methods and/or AlphaFold to examine fly proteins, and doing sequence analysis using online tools. Students would also read some relevant scientific papers, attend lab meetings (and present at one at the end of the summer), and interact with others in the lab.

Required Skills and Coursework

Most important: enthusiasm about science, curiosity, and dedication. Being organized and able to work with others are also essential. Some biology background is necessary. At minimum, BioMG1350 and BioMG1500 (and BioEE 1780, for students who want an evolutionary biology project).

Helpful Skills and Coursework

If a student has laboratory experience beyond BioG 1500, or with fruit flies (Drosophila), that'd be great but it is not necessary. We can teach them the techniques that they need. Further biology coursework, such as genetics or molecular biology, would be great (but that would only be expected for students in their latter years at Cornell).

Personal Introduction

Our lab uses field- and lab-work to compare trait morphology and function among species to better understand how biodiversity develops, how biodiversity evolves, and why it matters.

Project Description

Students will collaborate on an existing effort in the lab to perform the most comprehensive macroevolutionary study of anuran skin form and function to date, testing fundamental questions about skin evolution and assessing variation in species vulnerability to dry climates. Detailed analysis of skin features and properties across frogs will reveal previously unappreciated morphological and physiological diversity.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

2

Specific tasks associated with the project work

dissection, histology , microscopy, data collection and analysis

Required Skills and Coursework

no required skills or coursework

Personal Introduction

Social/personality psychologist using a variety of approaches (cognitive, behavioral, neural, physiological) to understand how people make sense of and navigate their social worlds.

Project Description

Common objects automatically trigger univalent evaluations -- chocolate triggers positive but not negative and garbage triggers negative but not positive. But what are the evaluations that are triggered by another person, given that a person (even the most loved) isn't perfect. Specific persons trigger bivalent evaluations -- positive and negative. We are interested in whether social groups also trigger bivalent evaluations and the consequences of these evaluations for perception, memory, and behavior.

Summer Student Research Assistant Level

3

Specific tasks associated with the project work

Students will help in all aspects of the research process, including conducting a literature review, designing the study, developing stimuli, programming cognitive tasks and surveys, writing a preregistration, and analyzing data.

Required Skills and Coursework

Genuine interest in research in social/personality psychology; relevant coursework; comfortable with Excel.

Helpful Skills and Coursework

Completion of research methods and statistics coursework is desired but not required; experience with using R and SPSS.