Each summer, University students fan out across the globe, diving deep into research that will ultimately become the foundation for their senior theses. This year, several seniors received grants to fund their projects, which took them from Middletown to Texas, Guyana, Mexico City, and beyond. The Argus spoke with a few of them about their work, what inspired them, and what comes next.
Catherine Auerbach ’26 in Guyana
Catherine Auerbach ’26, who is double-majoring in earth and environmental sciences and environmental studies, is bridging the gap between the disciplines in her thesis.
“For my thesis, I’m using survey data from two different indigenous villages in Guyana to investigate what species of plants people use for traditional medicine,” she said. “In comparing data from villages in two different regions, I hope to learn more about how local culture and biodiversity shape medicine as an ecosystem service, while also looking into how social demographics like gender and occupation interact with individuals’ levels of traditional medicinal knowledge.”
Her inspiration stemmed from a class she took last semester, “Medicine and Healing in the Black Atlantic” (AFAM 299).
“We read a paper about an ethnobotanical/horticultural study in a Caribbean village,” she said. “This paper, combined with my plans to travel to Guyana over the summer with my lab, inspired my research design and thesis topic.”
Auerbach received the Bailey College of Environment (COE) Summer Grant, which allowed her to split her summer between working on campus in Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Anthony Cummings’ lab and conducting fieldwork in Guyana.
“For six weeks from June to July, I was working on campus, spending my days in the lab and working on both thesis-related research and projects supporting the lab’s wider research scope,” Auerbach said. “Much of this time was spent reviewing past ethnobotanical studies and developing surveys that I would use during our 10-day trip to Guyana in late July [using Qualtrics]. While in Guyana, we traveled all over the country, from Georgetown to Mabaruma in the north, all the way down to the Rupununi savannas in the south.”
With the help of several village residents who administered the surveys, Auerbach completed 65 interviews across the two villages of study.
“It was an incredible experience, and I learned so much about traditional medicinal knowledge and local ways of life across the region,” she said. “I’m very grateful to my mentor and everyone we interviewed for their generous support towards this project.”
Now on to the data.
“My main focus right now is cleaning, sorting, and analyzing the survey data,” she said. “As someone with very little data analysis experience, I’m expecting this to be quite the learning curve, but I’m so excited to see the results.”
Kaya Waltzer ’26 in Mexico City
For Kaya Waltzer ’26, an urban studies University major, this summer was about exploring how history and urban planning intersect in Mexico City.
“I’m writing about the urban planning of Mexico City,” Waltzer said. “I’ve always been interested in how urban planning principles are shared and have spread across the world, and when I studied abroad in Madrid, I [learned] about how this occurred through colonialism. Within Latin America, I chose Mexico City as a subject because I was interested in Tenochtitlan, the highly advanced Aztec city on a lake that existed before the Spanish conquered Mexico, and how this city changed through its Spanish redesign.”
Mexico City’s present-day challenges also shaped her research.
“[Mexico City] also has a lot of environmental issues with both flooding and droughts, a lot of which is related to its urban planning,” she said.
Waltzer was a Davenport Grant recipient, which enabled her to spend three weeks in Mexico City this August.
“I interviewed architects, urban planners, anthropologists, biologists, and professors, all while exploring and getting to know the city better,” she said.
She will spend her senior year bringing together these insights to understand how Mexico City’s history informs its infrastructure and environmental challenges.
Rachel Masterson ’26 in Texas
Rachel Masterson ’26, an environmental studies and psychology double major, also used the COE grant to explore an aspect of the environment in which she’s particularly interested.
“[My] thesis is on the past, present, and future of culturally important springs,” Masterson said. “[It’s about] how the current administration’s proposed roll back of the Endangered Species Act will affect the longevity of these springs, how springs have changed over time—especially through the last five years of drought—and repeat photography of the springs.”
Like Auerbach and Waltzer, Masterson traveled using the grant, but she did so within the United States.
“I went to Texas in August and visited many different springs and wells throughout San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels, and Wimberley, Texas. We conducted interviews and repeat photography. We discovered the importance of the Endangered Species Act and how the drought is impacting spring flow and cultural importance.”
This summer research will continue into the school year as well.
“I’m still going to conduct more interviews. I need to transcribe and analyze the interviews that are already done, [and] read more spring literature and legislation. I’m planning on going back to Texas during Fall Break to keep on researching.”
Lyah Muktavaram can be reached at lmuktavaram@wesleyan.edu.
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