Westmont Magazine Summer Program Awakens a Passion for Research
“My experience with summer research changed my life,” says John Corbett ’22. “I discovered that I love chemical re- search and want to pursue it in graduate school.” He worked with chemistry professor Brandon Haines and spent hours coding on a supercomputer that uses an equation to measure the energy of organic products. He has developed a passion for using chemical research to build more durable and cheaper medical diagnostic tools, like MRI machines, for low-income communities. As an intern at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, he regularly witnesses this need.
Corbett was one of many Westmont students who participated in summer research in 2021. They worked closely with professors on projects ranging from examining the oppression of the Uyghur people in China and measuring flammable traits in plants to studying insulin in mice. Students formed lifelong relationships with professors and gained invaluable hands-on experience.
Jenna Peterson ’22 worked with psychology professor Carmel Saad to investigate the relationship between racial issues at the county level and the political platforms of county officials in the San Joaquin Valley. She compared the interview data of people of color to the campaign statements of elected county supervisors. “Learning about the racial issues there was powerful and humbling,” she says. Jenna will present her research to the CEOs of the United Way in the San Joaquin Valley to help them advocate more effectively for people of color.
Summer research deepened Chloe White’s appreciation for the hard work of doing history well. “It made me love history even more because I made connections from material people had never studied in this particular way,” she says. “It felt creative, genuine and original.” The junior did investigative work for history professor Chandra Mallampalli, searching for leaked documents from the Chinese government describing Uyghur internment camps. “I got to see stuff I wasn’t supposed to see,” she says. She also scanned through hundreds of newspaper articles from post-World War II Britain for another history professor, Alister Chapman. “My professors have invested in me in incredible ways,” she says. White wants to go to graduate school and continue doing historical research.
Daniel Jang ’23 worked with sociology professor Blake Kent on a study examining the immediate effects of church attendance on emotional wellbeing. Jang says the process felt “less like professor and student and more like a collaborative project.” Kent told his quantitative methods class he was looking for a summer research assistant. Jang volunteered. “I’m proud of how Daniel took the initiative to pursue something that’s challenging and unfamiliar to learn and then grow and move forward,” Kent says.
Summer research inspired chemistry professor Kristi Cantrell ’00 to go to graduate school, earn her doctorate and eventually teach alongside the professors she had worked with during her time at Westmont. Now she gives her own students these same opportunities. This summer, Cantrell studied the structure and function of insulin in mice with Ethan Walker ’22. She loves watching students enjoy the process of discovery and forming meaningful relationships with them over home-cooked meals. Her former students now work in a variety of fields as podia- trists, pharmacists, clinical lab scientists, doctors, etc. “It’s a gift to keep in touch with many of them and see where God is using their gifts and talents,” she says.
Biology professor Laura Schultheis ’06 and her students, Laura Dagg ’22 and Isabelle Hugoniot ’23, joined with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden to analyze what traits make plants flammable. They collaborated with UC Santa Barbara to create a standardized database accessible to people interested in landscaping with fire-resistant plants. Days spent at the Botanic Garden allowed the students to interact with visitors and share their research with the Santa Barbara community. The director of the garden asked the group to display their results. “It was encouraging to hear other people get excited about our work,” Schultheis says. “So often research gets published in scientific journals and doesn’t get disseminated to the general public. It was a unique part of this summer.”
Adam Goodworth seeks to help students integrate their studies and their faith. The kinesiology professor worked with Mercy Milliken ’23 and Jared Lush ’23 to create a machine assessing balance. Goodworth incorporated spiritual and professional development by meeting periodically with other professors and students to discuss topics such as applying to graduate school and how the Beatitudes relate to research. He enjoys interacting with students outside of the classroom. “When you’re in the lab, you’re not handing out a grade,” he says. “You’re just trying to get things done.” The students took a lead role in designing specific aspects of the machine, ordering the parts, and putting it together. Goodworth says the students’ eyes lit up as they turned on the machine for the first time.
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