February 2023 Odyssey Grant Recipients

Jennifer Dearolf

Exploring the Belize Coral Reef

In May, Dr. Dearolf and students from her Marine Biology class, along with Dr. Vidal-Torreira, Associate Professor of Spanish, will visit Ambergris Caye, an island off the cost of Belize, where they will explore the coral reef and study its organisms while learning from marine biology professionals, assessing the success of conservation efforts, and collecting data for a research project.

Chloe Stevenson ‘25

Culturally Immersive Shadowing Experience in Spain

Supervised by Jennifer Dearolf

Chloe will join a pre-med clinical shadowing program in Spain for three weeks this summer where she will have the opportunity to experience different medical and cultural settings while practicing her Spanish language skills.

Keeley Ausburn ‘24

Professional Field Experience: Arkansas 6th District Court

Supervised by Kimberly Maslin

Through this summer experience, Keeley will assist judges with research and writing projects and observe a range of court proceedings which she expects will grow her understanding of judicial decision-making and of non-litigation careers in the judiciary.

Cameron Deal ‘24

Professional Field Experience: Sports Management

Supervised by Buck Buchanan

Cameron will spend the summer working with the Hendrix College and Mayflower High School football teams and coaching staff to better understand the day-to-day operations of careers in sports management.

Cade England ’24 & Alex Price ‘24

Professional Field Experience: Costa Rica Conservation

Supervised by Maureen McClung

Cade and Alex will spend the summer working at the Children’s Eternal Rainforest in Costa Rica where they will conduct research and participate in service work with a special focus on the amphibian population in the area while gaining a better understanding of the working life of conservation biologists as they prepare to choose their own careers in conservation.

Kobi Greer ‘24

Photography Summer Session at Penland School of Crafts: Wet-Plate Collodion

Supervised by Maxine Payne

Kobi will participate in a wet-plate collodion summer session which will expand her skills in photography and prepare her for her senior year capstone as an Art major and for post-graduate opportunities.

Yaritza Hernandez ‘24

Official Hendrix Internship: Advanced Allergy and Asthma Clinic

Supervised by Jennifer Dearolf

Yaritza expects to increase her understanding of medical terminology, etiquette, and protocols while shadowing a specialist doctor in this summer internship at a small clinic.

Hannah Wheeler ‘25

Official Hendrix Internship: The Funk Heritage Center

Supervised by Anne Goldberg

Through this summer internship, Hannah will have the opportunity to document historical artifacts in writing and photography in and to record this documentation in a standard museum software program, skills that will contribute to her development as a museum professional.

Lauren Seckington ‘23

The Parliament of the World’s Religions

Supervised by Emmy Corey

In August, Lauren will attend the 2023 Parliament of World’s Religions after which she will prepare a journalistic paper and photo essay capturing her experience and learnings, including exploration of religious studies and interfaith work careers.

Daniel Edquist-Whelan

Model United Nations 2023

Dr. Edquist-Whelan and 23 students will prepare for and attend the American Model UN (AMUN) conference in the Fall where the College will field teams to represent two countries, an experience which develops students’ skills in research, policy-oriented writing, public speaking, caucusing and negotiating, and other professional competencies.

Eliana Oden ‘25

Physics of Volleyball

Supervised by Todd Tinsley

Eliana will spend the summer studying the trajectories of volleyballs, specifically with serving, using 2-dimensional data from video cameras to reconstruct 3-dimensional information about the flight of the ball.

John Schaller ‘25

Replication of G-quadruplex DNA by Translesion Polymerases

Supervised by Julie Gunderson

John will participate in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program where he will work on a biomedical research project exploring DNA replication under the guidance of Dr. Eoff and in collaboration with other students.

Shamindri Tennakoon

Undergraduate Research in Paleobiology: Fossil Mollusks Across Time and Space

Over the summer, Dr. Tennakoon and two students will conduct paleobiological research to better understand the evolutionary history of fossil mollusks and will visit the Florida Museum of Natural History where the students will have the chance to gain experience in curatorial methods, expand their dataset, and begin making professional connections.