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.”

Charlie Desnoyers ’26

Major: Chemisty

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.” 

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.”

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.” 

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.”