Campus News
Social Sciences Division honors student awardees at annual luncheon
26 students were recognized with awards from the Social Sciences Division and Division of Undergraduate Education.
The Division of Social Sciences’ annual student awards luncheon was held on June 6 at the Cowell Ranch Historic Hay Barn. Students, staff, and faculty gathered alongside Social Sciences Dean Katharyne Mitchell, who presented awards to 26 students. These awards honor undergraduate and graduate students who have demonstrated academic or research excellence or made other key contributions to the campus and to society.
“It is an honor to recognize our students who are finding their strengths, and often making a difference in their communities along the way,” Mitchell said. “Each award is funded by donors who believe in the potential of these students and the importance of removing financial barriers for students to achieve their goals inside the classroom and beyond.”
Learn more about each of the 2025 student awardees.
Social Sciences Division Awards
Keeley Coastal Scholars Award
- Arianna Agostini, coastal science and policy
Project title: Bridging Knowledge and Practice: Integrating Scientific and Local Perspectives to Enhance Nature-Based Disaster Resilience in Caribbean Coastal Communities - Amina Shenasa, ecology and evolutionary biology
Project title: Non-consumptive effects of sunflower stars on urchin grazing behaviors under ocean warming - Ser Han Andrew Lee, anthropology
Project title: The Sands that Bind: Livelihoods, geomorphology, political economy, and the making of a region
Daniel Briggs Memorial Award
- Zoe Bever, earth and planetary science
Project title: Filling in the Gaps of the Carbon and Gas Budget: assessing Lateral fluxes of Nitrous Oxide and Methane in Elkhorn Slough - Leah Van Dyke, earth and planetary science
Project title: Microbial Communities Driving Carbon Sequestration in Coastal Estuarine Wetlands
Milam-McGinty-Kaun Award for Teaching Excellence
- Monica Shandal, economics
Benjamin Quaye Memorial Award for Social Justice
- Jasmine Rocha Serrano, legal studies and psychology
Walsh Family Scholarship
- Luis Garcia, Latin American and Latino studies
- Allison Duran, Latin American and Latino studies
- Daniela Carlos, Latin American and Latino studies
Weiss Family Scholarship
- Jamie Dy, sociology
- Saúl Ordaz, sociology
Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship
- Jasmine Rocha Serrano, legal studies and psychology
- Julian Crown
- Saúl Ordaz, sociology, Spanish studies, and education, democracy, and justice
- Annika Wiederin, psychology
Division of Undergraduate Education Awards
Social Sciences students are also eligible to receive awards for their faculty-mentored senior research or capstone project from the Division of Undergraduate Education. Each year, up to 10 Deans’ awards are provided to outstanding undergraduates, of which three are selected also to receive the Chancellor’s Award.
2025 Chancellor’s Award and Deans’ Undergraduate Award for Undergraduate Research
- Blanca Fuster Tarrago, politics
Project title: Reducing Provincial Disparities in Infant Mortality: A Difference-in-Differences Assessment of Plan Nacer’s Effectiveness - Elyse Venerable, anthropology
Project title: Investigating the origins of the Oyo Empire war ponies in 17th century Nigeri causing strontium isotope analysis - John Bentley, politics
Project title: The Dark Side of Development: The Acceleration of Genocide in Emerging Economies
2025 Deans’ Award for Undergraduate Research
- Christopher Mathura, environmental studies
Project title: One Guyana?: Evaluating Potential Symptoms of the Resource Curse and the Promises of Sustainable Development - Natalie DeLucchi, politics
Project title: Fascist Social Policy: The Expansion of Social Insurance under Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany - Audrey Yu, psychology
Project title: Language Effects on Parent-child Conversations About Human Traits - Vivian Zalunardo, politics
Project title: Addressing “Glazed Separateness”: Invisibility, Domesticity, and Resistance of Black Women in the Works of Toni Morrison - Matthew Dollman, politics
Project title: Cuba’s Welfare Regime: Authoritarian, Universal, and Strained - Sophia Spry, politics
Project title: AI Driven Welfare Reform: Predictive Risk Models in New Zealand, Chile, and the US - Chelsey Tien, psychology
Project title: Caregiver’s use of praise during a collaborative problem-solving task involving causal reasoning
Want to support these award endowments and further their impact? Explore giving opportunities in the Social Sciences Division.