Previous Glauber Student Fellows
2023-24
Madison Korol is a junior from Pittsburgh, PA majoring in Kinesiology & Health Sciences and minoring in Mathematics and Psychology. The nutritional epidemiology field encompasses an intersection of her studies, which sparked a strong interest in Professor Conrad's research. She worked with Professor Conrad during the Spring 2023 semester conducting research on the sustainability of popular diets. During her Fellowship, she will be focusing on the Mediterranean diet's health, environmental, and economic outcomes. On campus, Madison is passionate about her involvement across several organizations including Reveille Acapella, Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women, and Campus Recreation where she works as a group Barre instructor.
Chloe DiStaso, a rising junior from Fairfax VA, is double majoring in Integrative Conservation and Environmental Science & Policy on the science track. During the Spring 2023 semester, she worked as a research assistant for the PERL Research Lab on campus, conducting research on ecotherapy in the school environment. This research has helped spark her interest in the relationship between environmental science and mental and physical wellbeing. During her Fellowship, she will be focusing on the relationships between diet quality and environmental sustainability and affordability. On campus, Chloe is able to continue her passion for dance through William and Mary’s Syndicate Hip Hop Dance Team. Chloe is also involved in the Jewish campus organization, Hillel, as well as the Citizens’ Climate Lobby environmental group on campus. Through this group, she helps to educate the student body on environmental issues and policy. Additionally, Chloe enjoys her weekly involvement in William and Mary’s knitting club.
Mayra Blanco is a rising senior from Alexandria, VA, majoring in Psychological Sciences and minoring in Kinesiology and Health Sciences. She is very excited to work under Professor Konefal this summer and learn more about activism and human rights in Guatemala during the 1960s-90s. Professor Konefal's book about the history of Maya resistance and state repression inspired her to look deeper into indigenous rights at a global scale and throughout history. She grew up in a predominantly Quechua-speaking family (indigenous language) and learned a myriad of Andean traditions and cultural products such as folkloric Bolivian dances and music. Growing up she overheard many conversations about political movements in Bolivia regarding indigenous rights and grew curious about the political atmosphere in Bolivia during Evo Morales's presidency and how it impacted indigenous people's occupations in that time period. With her academic background, she looks forward to applying psychology and health sciences to activism in indigenous communities impacted by political movements and the understanding of generational trauma in indigenous families and communities. She is elated to embark on this new journey in her academic trajectory at William & Mary and to enhance her knowledge on political activism and human rights in indigenous populations across the Americas specifically in its application to occupational therapy, which is the field she will be entering in the near future. Mayra is involved in Griffin School Partnership in the Literacy Lab, Best Buddies, W&M Campus Buddies, Latin American Student Union, W&M Remote Area Medical, Conversations to Remember Non-Profit Corp., W&M Mosaic House, Zodiacs Dance Crew, W&M First Generation and Low Income (FGLI), and a member of the PLUS cohort of 2020 (WMSURE), Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, and La Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha Inc. at W&M.
Laina Lomont is a rising senior from Washington, D.C., pursuing a double major in history and government. Last summer, Laina interned with the Comisión Provincial por la Memoria in Argentina, where she used declassified archives and interviews to build profiles of people who were ‘disappeared’ throughout the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. Laina will deepen her understanding of human rights and transitional justice issues this summer while conducting research about Catholic student organizing in Guatemala during the 1960s and the revolutionary group, Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres. At William & Mary, Laina is a research assistant for the Geospatial Evaluation and Observation Lab (geoLab) and serves as the Managing Editor of The Monitor, W&M’s Journal of International Studies. She is also involved in Chi Omega Sorority, Campus Buddies, and Birding Club.
2020-21
Jada Copeland, a junior from Virginia Beach, is majoring in psychology and minoring in sociology. She has been pursuing her research interests on implicit and explicit biases towards minority groups and interracial couples. As a Glauber fellow, Jada plans to implement new research on the topic she is most passionate about: perceptions of interracial marriage. She hopes to further her understanding of the role implicit bias plays on the perceptions of individuals who confront injustices and discrimination towards interracial couples. She intends to provide more information on this untouched subject and to show that more work is needed to find new methods of reducing bias and discrimination. On campus, Jada is the president of the Syndicate Dance team, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and works for the External Relations department of Swem Library.
Cayla Harrison, a sophomore from Arlington VA, is passionate about Middle East history, European history, and Evolutionary Psychology. She is particularly interested in how these areas of study intersect to inform modern conflicts, criminality, and law. In 2019, Cayla was given a research opportunity as a William and Mary Scholar summer research grant recipient. Through this program, she conducted research entitled Maternal Mortality In U.S. Prison Systems, under the direction of Prof. Iyabo Obasanjo. Now, as a Glauber Fellow, Cayla will be translating and transcribing seventeenth-century Spanish Inquisition documents alongside Professor Homza and Lauren Fanning. Through examining legal records about Olague, Cayla hopes to explore how the complicated dynamics of family, gender, and secular, inquisitorial, and episcopal courts interacted in the Basque witch-hunt of 1608-1612.
Ogechukwu Okoli, a sophomore double majoring in Kinesiology & Health Sciences and Psychological Sciences on the pre-med track. On campus, she is involved in multiple student-run organizations including Merrimac Mentors, Lafayette Kids, Minorities in Medicine, and Ebony Expressions Gospel Choir, of which she is the treasurer. During her freshman year, Oge conducted a project with her freshman hall, analyzing students’ willingness to confront sexist attitudes from their peers about women’s sports teams. Oge was initially drawn to this work not only because of the service she has done but also because these issues have personal relevance, since she too is a member of a few of these groups. As a Glauber Fellow, she will be working with Professor Dickter researching circumstances and factors that affect the confrontation of prejudicial remarks against marginalized groups.
2019-20
Ally Brown | Senior; Government and Environmental Science and Policy Double Major; Vienna, VA
Ally has always been passionate about environmental issues, and her experience in the Government department has allowed her to engage in research connecting that passion with her interest in political behavior. Her experience as an intern at the Environmental Protection Agency gave her the opportunity to interact with local communities facing economic and environmental downturn, and her work there peaked her interest in the connection between local economic conditions and pro-environmental behavior. As a Glauber Fellow, Ally will be looking to formally investigate that connection. She will be researching the relationship between the United States shale oil boom in 2010 and recent changes in public opinion regarding climate change. Through this research, she hopes to explore how economic shifts affect the extent to which individuals acknowledge the existence of climate change, especially in localities that experience the consequences of natural resource extraction firsthand.
Gustavo Espinosa | Junior; Sociology with concentration in globalization, philosophy minor; Miami, FL
Gustavo is a junior majoring in sociology with a concentration in globalization. He is also planning to minor in philosophy or data science. He has a passion for pursuing research projects that combine his intellectual interests with his experience living in Latin America, the Middle East, and the U.S. He has conducted independent research on outdoor education in U.S. public high schools, the popular party game Cards Against Humanity, cross-dressing in Afghanistan, and memes in the Turkish diaspora. As a Glauber Fellow, he plans to explore a topic and country near and dear to his heart: online activism in Venezuela. He hopes to use mixed methods to better understand the role the internet and social media play in disseminating information, mobilizing protest efforts and coordinating participatory forms of democracy in the face of state censorship, propaganda, corruption, and violent repression. On campus, Gustavo advises his peers on scholarships/fellowships in the Charles Center, and he leads outdoor trips for the Tribe Adventure Program. Gustavo is also involved in the Latin American Student Union and the social fraternity, Delta Chi.
Jasmine Geonzon | Junior; Sociology and American Studies Double Major; Virginia Beach, VA
Geonzon will be conducting research on citizen and non-expert journalism. Her research will look at the events that prompt the rise of citizen journalists to publish their lived experiences, how established news sources interact with or rely on these novice reporters as a source for breaking news, and what value citizen journalists add for social movement organizers who are actively planning their next steps. By looking at whether these stories can be vetted at paces fast enough to keep up with developing stories, this could open a larger dialogue about establishing trustworthiness and authority in reporting. Geonzon will also study how this type of journalism affects the greater ecosystem of the journalism industry.
Liz Miller | Junior; International Relations, History Major; Winchester, VA
Liz Miller is a rising junior double majoring in International Relations and History. She is particularly interested in Eastern Europe. On campus, she is the Vice President of Unicef at W&M and the Secretary of W&M Amnesty International. As a Glauber Fellow, she is continuing work with Faculty Fellow Maliniak researching former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, analyzing the content and topics of his speeches and writings from the beginning of his presidency to the present.
2018-19
Mbiye Naomi Kasonga | Marketing and Self-Design (Innovation & Design) major; Newport News, VA 
Naomi Kasonga is a senior double majoring in Marketing and a self-designed major in New Media and Cultural studies. She has always had a passion for digital culture, and it was this passion that led her to create a self-designed major in order to study the topic more formally. She is currently serving as the Station Manager for WMTV, the student-run television station at The College. She is also a communications associate in Agency 1693, the student-run marketing agency at the Mason School of Business.
Over the course of this fellowship, she will be researching topics dealing with machine vision, and more specifically locative media and QR codes. She hopes to contribute to the current body of work about common uses of locative media, and the ways that machine vision can allow us to peer into narratives that can&'t be seen with the naked eye. She is interested in these tools as a site for storytelling, and want to explore questions of ownership and authorship of these stories.
Talia Wiener | Junior; Interdisciplinary Studies major; Charlottesville, VA 
Talia Wiener is a junior majoring in Storytelling and New Media. She has a strong interest in journalism and spent the past summer interning at National Public Radio in Washington, D.C. On campus, she is Online Editor for The Flat Hat. Talia took part in the Sharp Seminar during the 2017-2018 academic year and traveled to Alaska to report on native language revitalization efforts. Talia is particularly interested in the intersection of activism and social media. As a Glauber fellow, she is researching the use of Instagram by youth environmental activists. She hopes to discover the extent to which the photo-sharing app is helping these activists and in what areas it is hurting them.
Jehan Narielvala | Sophomore; Government, Film & Media Studies major; Toana, VA
Jehan Narielvala is a sophomore at the College of William & Mary. He plans on acquiring a double major in Government and Film & Media Studies. Over the summer, he has been working closely with Professor Maliniak on research dealing with the geopolitics behind coal plants. He is also conducting individual research exploring the effects of gender on tenure decisions in the top 50 political science and economics departments.
Aria Troupe: Junior; International Relations major; Rifle, CO
With her interest in geospatial analysis and social and environmental justice, Aria is looking forward to learning more about why coal plants are where they are and the effects they have on communities. Her previous research experience has focused on International Development with SPAID and MANOS, student-led research groups that use community-based research methods with the intent to build collective capacity for sustainable development projects. She has also worked with the Center for African Development on a spatial inequality project. Through these projects, she has gained a greater understanding of the intersection of government, economy, and sociology that has developed her interest in analyzing spatial inequality. On campus, she also works as a Site Coordinator for Branch Out Alternative Breaks in the Office of Community Engagement and is on the Executive Committee for Phi Mu Women's Fraternity.
