Four Bearcats Receive Carson or Colloquium Research Grants

May 18, 2020

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Four Willamette University student-athletes are among this year's recipients of the Carson Grant or the Colloquium Grant. The student-athletes receiving the Carson Grant are Robbie Daugherty (So., Reno, NV/Damonte Ranch HS), Sarah Dean (Jr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) and Surya Lee (So., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS). Jordan Edner (Fy., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS) has received a Colloquium Grant. Daugherty competes for the men's swimming team, while Lee and Edner are on the women's swimming team, and Dean is a member of the women's tennis team.

Both types of grants are awarded by Willamette to undergraduate students. The Carson Grants are worth up to $3,000 each and are earned by current sophomores and juniors to use on scholarly, creative, or professional research projects during the summer. The Colloquium Grants are similar but are worth up to $3,500 and go to current first-year students for projects related to their College Colloquium.

Dean will use her Carson Grant to research the non-traditional political participation of college students in Argentina. She will conduct a series of interviews to gather information about the students and their involvement in politics.

"I am so honored to receive the Carson Grant," Dean said. "Last fall, I was abroad in Argentina and I remember thinking in December, what do I need to do to come back? My plan was to use this grant to go back to Argentina this summer to conduct research. Since I cannot travel at the moment, I hope to be able to go back whenever it is safe to travel again."

Her research project will include 12 men and women, including some people she met while she was studying abroad. Dean's advisor for the project is Peter Wogan from the Anthropology Department.

"My dogs and mon will also be providing moral support through the process," Dean noted.

According to Dean, the Carson Grant is an exceptional way to encourage a wide range of research by Willamette students.

"The Carson is so unique because everyone is doing such interesting, different topics," she said. "I look forward to seeing everyone's project in the fall."

Daugherty will be conducting research on "Creating Change: Writing and Illustrating a Children's picture book on climate change." He will be completing the project in two parts. First, he will "research the impact that anthropogenic climate change has had on U.S. National Parks." Second, he will include his findings and other research into a children's book about the adverse effects of climate change. Daugherty will write and illustrate the book

"Getting this grant means a lot to me and my own future goals," Daugherty commented. "I have always been interested in climate change and especially its impact on such sensitive ecosystems as U.S. National Parks. Overall, this grant will allow me to continue the love that I have for both science and art in a way that will hopefully end with a meaningful and impactful way of relating such complex and heavy issues to children."

Although Daugherty will be doing most of the research himself, his advisor will be Jeanne Clark in the Rhetoric Department. Daugherty anticipates that he will also be helped by several other professors at Willamette.

"I am humbled to have been chosen to complete the Colloquium Grant last year, as well as having the opportunity to complete a Carson Grant this year. For this, I would like to thank the numerous professors who have expressed interest every time I discuss the project with them. I would also like to thank the wonderful donors who financially make these grants possible."

Lee will be using her Carson Grant to research how each gender feels about responsibility for the environment. She will be focussing on college students in the Pacific Northwest.

"I will be interviewing and surveying students in the Northwest Conference about their personal feelings of responsibility to care for the environment and see if there is a difference between how each gender views climate change as an issue," Lee said.

According to Lee, she looks forward to gaining experience in conducting research, especially on a topic that is important to her. Lee's advisor on the project will be Mindy Butterworth in the Environmental Science Department.

Edner will be researching the relationship between spending time in nature and forming an environmental ethic. She is sponsored by Gaetano DeLeonibus in the French and Francophone Studies Department.

"To me, the grant is a way to expand my learning beyond the classroom and have the opportunity to explore something I am really interested in," Edner said.

Limitations brought on by COVID-19 have led Edner to change the method of her research.

"I was supposed to go on a backpacking trip and interview different people about how hiking has influenced their view on the environment, but with the current COVID-19 pandemic, interviewing people on the trail is no longer feasible. So I am switching the interview portion to a podcast and going to interview different environmental educators, ethicists, historians, and activists about their experiences and ideas on spending time in nature and caring for the environment. I will still be going on a backpacking trip to explore this idea more for myself and will be journaling about my experience. This is all based on the idea Rousseau had that one way to make people more ethical is to have them spend time in nature and connect with nature specifically through walking.

"I am really excited to see what I can learn this summer," Edner said. "And I am so thankful to be a Colloquium Grant recipient."