Student Innovation Program Kicks Off at GRI Open House

GRI’s Student Innovation program brings together students and faculty from across disciplines and the broader William & Mary campus in support of student-led research ideas and projects, in a format that allows us to practice one of GRI’s longstanding core values: that good ideas can come from anywhere, including an undergrad. For the 25-26 academic year, we have revamped Student Innovation to include more structured touchpoints that we believe will elevate and enhance student-led research outcomes. The first of these touchpoints occurred at GRI’s annual Open House event on Friday, October 3, where, for the first time, prospective Student Innovation teams pitched research proposals for a chance to participate in our program. 

We asked students to ensure their project proposals were broadly aligned with William & Mary’s strategic research priorities as articulated in Vision 2026: Data & AI, Democracy & Leadership, and/or the Environment & Sustainability. First, Mareanne Zaiber ‘26 presented a proposal on: “The Petro-Intelligence Project: AI, Oil, and the Future of Migrant Labor in the Middle East.” She is working with Associate Professor of Anthropology Dr. Andrea Wright to explore what impact increased integration of AI may have on migrant labor in gulf states. 

Next, Mona Garimella ‘27, Zahra Rahimi ‘28, Tajalla Moslih ‘26 presented on “Promises and Pathways: Examining Inequality Among Afghan Migrants to the United States Due to Challenges in the Special Immigrant Visa Program.” They are researching under the direction of AidData’s Dr. Nara Sritharan and Bryan Burgess to understand how legal pathways affect the integration experiences of Afghan migrants following the 2021 evacuation. 

Finally, Will Barmby ‘28 and Mike Markarian ‘28 pitched a research project on “AI, Work, and Democracy: Exploring Links Between Automation and Civic Participation.” Their project asks if adoption of AI technologies is changing how people allocate their time and whether individuals in occupations more exposed to AI are freed up to devote more time to civic and social activities.

 

Following the three presentations, each team received expert feedback and thoughtful questions from three discussants: Davison Douglas Professor of Law Margaret Hu, GRI Director of Forums & Research Initiatives Dr. Ryan Musto, and GRI Senior Research Scientist and Global Scholars Program Professor Eric Brown.

Following the Open House lightning pitch proposals, GRI will host research skills workshops in the Fall semester targeted at developing the skills our student researchers need in order to tackle their research questions. They will then be asked to deliver a longer, formal, written proposal for their projects in December, for a chance to compete at GRI’s annual Charter Day event in February where student innovation teams present to an audience of distinguished alumni and external guests. Following that benchmark, student teams will choose from a menu of options on how to continue their research and bring it to the next level: this could be through a Summer Fellows experience where a faculty mentor takes the students abroad to conduct research internationally, it could be a funded research position here in Williamsburg over the summer, it could be a connection to a relevant campus partner like the Entrepreneurship Hub and expert guidance from that unit’s team on how to scale their research and outputs.