Camila Castaneda ’27

Double Major: Biochemistry and Theology
Faculty Mentor: Terence McDonnell

Camila participated in a Social Concerns Summer Fellowship and worked with CrossOver Ministries, a healthcare clinic for medicaid and uninsured patients in Richmond, VA. She assisted with various clinic needs, both physical and administrative, as well as translated for a number of Hispanic patients. Her research question looked at the efficiency and sustainability of interpretations services for non English speaking patients. 

Erin Kong ’28

Double Major: Neuroscience and Behavior and Anthropology
Faculty Mentor: Marie Donahue

Erin participated in NDBridge and worked with a clinic and school run by the Capuchin sisters in Sanya Juu, Tanzania where she helped provide healthcare and education to children, the elderly, and people experiencing poverty. Erin’s research question focused on structural and cultural systems in rural Tanzania, and how they inform patterns of disease and local health outcomes.

Kyle Lauckner ’28

Major: Political Science, Minors: Economics and The Hesburgh Program in Public Service
Faculty Mentor: Annie Coleman

Kyle participated in NDBridge and worked with Earthlinks, a non profit organization in Denver, CO that assists people experiencing homelessness and economic poverty. His question focused on the impact Earthlinks has had in Denver in terms of nutrition access, housing initiatives and interactive workshops, and how those results could inform the work of other non profits working with the poor and unhoused.

Joan Reimer ’27

Major: Applied Computational Mathematics and Statistics, Supplementary Major: Education, School, and Society, Minor: Theology
Faculty Mentor: Margie Pfeil

Joan participated in a Social Concerns Summer Fellowship worked with the Abbey of Regina Laudis, a community of Benedictine nuns in Bethlehem, CT who are dedicated to work and prayer. While there, Joan helped cultivate various farms, supported the hospitality work of the sisters, and facilitated land experiences for guests. Joan’s research question examined the work and practices of the Rule of Saint Benedict, which she believes provides a framework for living a just life. 

Maya Tello ’28

Double Major: Program of Liberal Studies and Design Minor: Hesburgh Program in Public Service 
Faculty Mentor: Sam Sokolsky-Tifft

Maya participated in NDBridge and worked with Dismas Farm, a working farm in Oakham, MA that provides services to returning citizens who are unhoused. The farm helps residents learn critical vocational skills to reintegrate positively and meaningfully with society. Residents and staff work together to tend the farm and grow food for the local CSA and food pantries. Maya’s question involved reentry programs such as Dismas House and how they might be used in the U.S. justice system to promote long-term rehabilitation, recovery, and reintegration. 

David Yawman ’27

Major: Mechanical Engineering, Minor: Poverty Studies Minor
Faculty Mentor: Robert Nerenberg

David participated in a Social Concerns Summer Fellowship and worked in Paimol Uganda with Battery Operated System for Community Outreach (BOSCO), an organization under the trusteeship of the Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu that works to provide technology services, entrepreneurial training, and community development to support education and economic empowerment. David’s question looked at the benefits of the widespread adoption of biogas in northern Uganda, as well as the technical and economic barriers.

Brett Foster ’25 (fall)

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, Minor: Foundations of Business

During his time in San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, Peru through the Social Concerns Summer Fellowship program at the Institute for Social Concerns, Brett worked with children with disabilities and their families. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Brett was able to focus his research on addressing the neurological basis of the movement disabilities he encountered in Peru. In the summer of 2025, he worked with Burke Neurological Institute, an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medicine, and studied the neural circuits that are implicated in movement. Through this work, he was able to play a role in identifying the interactions of different brain regions that initiate complex movement. Ultimately, this work can be used to develop therapies for neurological disorders that hinder motion. This contributes to the common good and continues Brett’s mission of treating disabilities by addressing the biological underpinnings of movement disorders. His experiences have helped him discover the direction he wants to take his professional career. From this experience emerged the product “Glutamatergic Pedunculopontine Nucleus (PPN) Projections as Mediators of Locomotion.”

“My project contributes to the common good and continues my mission of treating disabilities by addressing the biological underpinnings of movement disorders. Experiences like this and my summer completing biomedical research are what drives me towards a future as a physician equipped with the skills and knowledge to treat children facing disabilities while providing the support families might not find otherwise.”

Ty Harrington ’26

Major: Program of Liberal Studies, Glynn Family Honors Program

With the funding he received from the Research for Common Good Award, Ty continued his investigation into the relationship between religion and ecology that he first asked as part of my Social Concerns Summer Fellowship at Summer Fellow at Govardhan Ecovillage in Mumbai India. 

His research goal was, and remains, to portray a model of God and the natural world according to which the natural world bears supreme religious significance to Christian believers. He was able to spend part of the 2025 summer at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, and the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in Abiquiu, New Mexico.  While there he examined the Catholic Benedictine model of environmental care and how it might construct a philosophical-theological model of divine immanence. His research over both summers culminates with his senior thesis. 

“While Benedictine monasteries are best known for their motto ora et labora, or ‘prayer and work,’ what living at a Benedictine monastery reveals is that those two activities, while rightfully distinct, are by no means toward disparate ends. All human actions, whether prayer or work, are, according to St. Benedict, considered in the context of the spiritual life, and are thereby endowed with sacred significance.”

Sydney Park ’27

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, Minor: Peace Studies

Through NDBridge, Sydney worked with Alliance for Positive Change, a non-profit organization in New York City that provides healthcare to underserved individuals. Her research focused on how stigma and inequitable policies in higher healthcare spaces affect NYC’s low-income patient advocacy—and specifically contribute to increased rates of undiagnosed HIV/Hep-C—in the community. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Sydney was able to conduct additional research on a question of the common good in the summer of 2025. Under the guidance of Laura Miller-Graff, she worked with the Building Resilience After Violence Exposure (BRAVE) lab, which examines the developmental effects of exposure to violence and trauma in childhood. With this research, she is producing a report detailing the significance of external stressors on children and how factors such as war and famine affect childhood development.

“What drew me to this lab is the fact that its research informs it to develop empirically validated treatment practices that can be implemented in a community setting with underprivileged families, allowing for an opportunity to directly better my immediate community.”

Caroline Petrikas ’27

Major: Political Science, Minor: Foundations of Business and Constitutional Law, Glynn Family Honors Program

As part of the 2024 NDBridge cohort, Caroline worked with Forum Connemara in Letterfrack, Ireland, to help facilitate the integration of Ukrainian refugees into Irish society. Observing how vulnerable populations can be silenced sparked her broader interest in invisibility and accountability. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Caroline developed a question about invisibility within transnational justice and international law. In the summer of 2025, she traveled to The Hague, The Netherlands, and investigated these questions vis-à-vis the International Criminal Court (ICC). By connecting her work in Ireland with this broader examination of justice, she attempted to better understand how invisibility operates across borders and scales. She concluded her research by producing a paper “Justice or Jargon: The ICC’s Struggle for International Legitimacy.”

“Although the ICC has made some progress in the quest for global justice, in the modern day, its authority is rapidly dwindling. Today, the ICC is little more than a symbol of justice. But tomorrow, even that might be a stretch. If the Court does not reform and strengthen the Rome Statute’s enforcement mechanisms, it will forfeit its remaining credibility and relevance.”

Jenifer Solano ’27

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, Minor: Chemistry

Through Jenifer’s 2024 NDBridge experience working with returning citizens in Columbus, Ohio, her research question focused on the pervasive issue of food insecurity among incarcerated individuals and its detrimental effects on their health and well-being. That experience expanded her understanding of what healing requires and deepened her commitment to medicine as a vehicle for justice. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Jenifer was able to pursue a new question rooted in equity and care. In the summer of 2025, she focused on how trauma-responsive, bilingual social-work interventions impact socioemotional resilience and family stability in immigrant households. Because of these two experiences, she feels better prepared for a future career as a healthcare professional. Based on her research, she is developing a Google Site that not only shares trauma-informed, culturally responsive resources for families and service providers but also includes an overview of her research and the key insights that shaped her work.

“The site highlights the origins of the project—from my time at ARCH to my interviews with social workers—and presents findings in a visually accessible format that centers community voices. Through research, education, and outreach, I plan to continue to walk alongside the communities I hope to serve in my future career as a healthcare professional—grounding each step in trust, responsiveness, and care.”

Gaaya Binoj ’27

Major: Physics in Medicine

As a physics in medicine major, an aspiring doctor and lifelong avid chess player, Gaaya Binoj spent her summer researching the barriers to competing in chess competitions. Gaaya argues that chess is a valuable extracurricular activity for young people that can improve their social and academic skills. She grew up attending chess competitions and wanted to better understand the barriers that can keep people from engaging in an enriching activity. Gaaya gathered data from the US Chess Federation and interviews with tournament directors. She examined geographic barriers by assessing where chess tournaments were held and average commute.

In the process of conducting the research, Gaaya learned that many tournament directors are dealing with burnout and a need for more support. If there are fewer tournament directors then fewer people will have a chance to compete. Gaaya argues that the US Chess Federation needs to do more to encourage community participation and support the tournaments so that chess can be a more affordable activity for more youth.

“Chess at its simplest only requires a chess set, chess clock, and two players. Yet, this analysis reveals that access to rated chess in the United States is more complicated than it seems. With future research and strategies to address the barriers found, chess can be a great educational tool for all students, fostering critical thinking, determination, and community.”

Charlie Desnoyers ’26

As a chemistry student, Charlie is interested in the implementation of harm-reduction-based drug checking tools as ways for people who use drugs to safely and effectively check what substance they are taking. Scalable drug checking devices can not only be used to save someone from a potential fentanyl overdose by easily detecting this harmful and potent substance; they can also prevent the wrongful arrest and sentencing of an innocent person when a forensic drug test comes up as a false positive.

His related research focuses on developing technologies to analyze vaccines, including looking at expired or falsified vaccines, and understanding how these vaccines work to develop better ones. This research was inspired by reports of expiring vaccines and the need to develop rigorous yet accessible testing for impurities. This is one small piece of research in a much larger issue of falsified pharmaceuticals.

“By getting a robust understanding of the issue, both scientifically and from first-hand experiences, I am able to finetune my approach to the project. Through the fellowship, I have been able to work with local pharmacists and practitioners not only in rural, low-resource areas in the United States but also internationally.” 

Gabriella Doe ‘27

Major: Architecture

As an architecture major, Gabriella has pursued projects aimed at answering the question of how to provide housing with dignity to migrating people. This past summer, her research took her to Panama where she studied the resilience of indigenous people’s housing to climate change. She confronted the challenge of who gets to preserve indigenous architecture especially as tourists influence how indigenous architecture is seen by the outside world.

Gabriella argues that indigenous people, such as the Embera that she worked with, should control what counts as their architectural heritage. In her research, Gabriella experienced how local materials support environmentally conscious construction and incorporate cultural symbols.

“The influence of tourism and recent effects of climate change throughout Panamá have created a complex situation surrounding the maintenance of artistic and architectural traditions in Emberá communities. Although Indigenous tourism appears to uplift artistic and architectural traditions in such communities, it comes at the cost of tension surrounding how to convey—and which aspect—of their identity when communities inherently have layers of identity that have been added over time.”

Luke Donoghue ’27

Major: Global Affairs and Chinese

As a global affairs major, Luke realized the power of the media in shaping how people view reality during an immersive language learning program in Beijing. That realization sparked the idea for his research looking into how media framing of China has changed over the past few decades. To conduct this research, Luke scraped data from hundreds of news articles from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post featuring the US-China relationship.

He found that media coverage has become increasingly more negative over time across both liberal and conservative outlets. This can lead to people having a myopic view of China and its people. Luke argues that more people need to know about how the media’s portrayal of US-China relations can lead people to having a biased view.

“As partisan divisions grow sharper, media outlets are incentivized to frame stories in ways that reinforce existing biases and emotional reactions, rather than adhering to nuances. This is particularly evident in coverage of foreign affairs, where complex dynamics are often reduced to simple narratives of good versus evil. American citizens have legitimate reasons to be wary of China, and media outlets are incentivized to amplify that negativity. It is such widespread sensationalism that makes this research important to the lives of every American; regardless of age, geographic region, or political identity, we all consume media.”

Solbee Kang ’27

Major: Electrical Engineering

As an electrical engineering student, Solbee researches wireless communications at Notre Dame’s Wireless Institute. She has recently focused specifically on the implications of satellite internet services like Starlink. While satellite internet is advertised to enhance connectivity for rural and marginalized communities without access to broadband internet, it still fails to meet the minimum standards for reliable internet set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In addition, the cheapest initial setup costs easily exceed a couple hundred dollars, with recurring fees of $120+ that further burden low-income users, making it out of reach and unsustainable for the communities it advertises to and intends to serve. 

Solbee’s research critically assesses the reliability of satellite internet and its potential to address digital equity. She also examines the ethical and safety concerns of privatizing internet access, as seen in situations like the war in Ukraine, where a single entity can control connectivity. In addition, there are concerns with satellite internet causing potential interference issues with airline tracking systems or GPS technology in vehicles. And at the same time, at the Wireless Institute, she explore the benefits and innovation that the new technology and investment can bring with satellite. By exploring both the potential and the concerns of satellite internet as well as potential safe and affordable alternatives, such as community broadband initiatives, her work aims to ensure that technological advancements serve marginalized communities effectively.

“By combining my academic work in wireless communications with a commitment to social justice, I hope to contribute to a global understanding of spectrum sovereignty and broadband equity that supports Indigenous communities.”

Makeda Grimaud ’27

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior

As a neuroscience and behavior major and aspiring dentist, Makeda hopes to be able to provide dental care to people who might not otherwise receive it. Makeda traveled to Senegal and DC to compare how each place provides affordable and accessible dental care. She collected data by observing dentists at Polyclinique and Dentaire Kerjea in Dakar, Senegal, as well as conducting interviews with dentists. She also used comparative analysis with data she collected from DC.

Makeda found three barriers to providing affordable and accessible dental care. The barriers to accessing dental care include: lack of education, lack of providers, and lack of financial resources to afford dental care. Makeda hopes to use this information in her future career as a dentist to provide more effective dental care to people living on the margins of society. 

“Not only is oral health directly related to overall health, but it also impacts dignity and quality of life. Without proper dental care, individuals face real risks to both their health and their daily wellbeing. Making dental care accessible to all would be a significant step toward a more just system.”

Kylan Hinegardner ’26

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior

As a neuroscience and behavior major, Kylan spent eight weeks in the summer of 2025 with Native tribes in Washington State and the Midwest, as well as with the Māori people of New Zealand, conducting interviews with medical providers at clinics that specialize in Indigenous health care about what they’ve seen in their patient population regarding substance use and abuse in order to understand why Native American populations have disproportionately high rates of substance use and abuse as compared to other ethnic groups in the United States.

As a tribal member of the Pokagon Bank of Potawatomi in the Michiana region, Kylan is particularly interested in what social, economic, and political factors are at play in causing these higher rates of use and abuse among communities like hers.

“Throughout my life, I have seen both alcohol and substance abuse affect many Native people, from family members, to family-friends, to people I never met but whose stories managed to reach me. . . . I realized that, through the opportunities this fellowship offers, I could begin to help find a solution to this problem myself through focused research on the root causes and strategies to address them.” 

Jonathan Mendez ’26

Major: Psychology and Spanish

As a psychology and Spanish double major, Jonathan, a senior from Miami, has a keen interest in the psychology field and working with Spanish-speaking families. These interests led him to work on the Happy Families/Familias Felicias Project with the Family Studies lab this past summer. The lab has developed an intervention to help English-speaking families resolve conflict. Jonathan worked to translate that intervention so that it can be used with Spanish-speaking families.

This effort required learning about why conflict exists for Hispanic families in the United States – with an emphasis on gender and its influence – and how to tailor the intervention so that it could meet their needs. This research is still ongoing as Jonathan works with families and he hopes that the intervention will lead to more effective conflict resolution within Hispanic families. 

“Mental health is a significant issue in the United States, making this intervention very useful and timely. In 2024, 43% of adults said they felt more anxious than they felt in 2023 (American Psychiatric Association, 2024). Importantly, it is designed to be administered by community members, without the need for advanced degrees or extensive training. This allows the program to be more accessible to people, as these community partners have missions that align with the Happy Families program.”

Gray Nocjar ’27

Major: Electrical Engineering

As an electrical engineering major, Gray has conducted two case studies on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focused on renewables in rural areas, the WindAid Institute and EcoSwell. Located in Trujillo and Lobitos, Peru, respectively, they face a restrictive economic and political environment yet still provide solar and wind energy to local communities in their country.

The goal of his research is to learn how such organizations that produce clean energy for disadvantaged communities succeed in their industry, despite a host of barriers that arise. Renewable energy lags behind fossil fuels in usage, accessibility, and—in some cases within these communities—social acceptance. One’s income level, distance from major cities, and knowledge of the renewable industry can also affect one’s ability to engage with these technologies. Even greater challenges present in nations that lack clear-cut national energy policies, a robust distribution network, or reliable electric grids. Based on his findings, he is developing a playbook for any group—but particularly NGOs—to overcome barriers to producing clean energy in under-resourced areas.

“I decided to research how companies can overcome hurdles to joining or thriving in the renewable energy industry because I believe we need more hands involved in reforming the current system—and a plan to do so. As an electrical engineer, I hope to one day join a renewable energy company or NGO to find my place in this work directly.”