Collaborations Worth Celebrating

What was it about this topic that really piqued your interest?
“I’ve always loved looking at all the layers that go into historical dressing and costuming, from the socks to the final dress on top. The corset was such a huge part of getting dressed for years, and has such a vital part in achieving the silhouettes that were fashionable during different time periods. One of my favorite times to look at is the turn of the 19th century and the Edwardian era, where this corset pattern is from. It’s modeled after one from 1895, in a popular style at the time. Most women [back] then would wear this in simple fabrics that were easily washable, but I’ve modified it a lot for my own interests stylistically with the colors, fabric choices, and lace.”

What was your favorite part of your research experience and being able to work so closely with your professors?
“My favorite part was looking at tons of old advertisements from the 1890s and seeing what styles were popular, how women were advertised, and the diversity of shapes offered. Working closely with the [costume] shop was great for me to be able to learn the intricacies of making such a complex garment. There were a lot of challenges and difficult learning curves, which I wouldn’t have been able to learn nearly as well without the help of Tilly and Emily. I’m also grateful for the support of Chris Aiken, who kept me on track, and Emily Norton [director and lecturer of practice at the Design Thinking Initiative] in the concentration for the opportunity to do something I’ve been dreaming of for so long.”

Is there something you learned during your work that you’re especially excited to share?
“I’m so excited to share the process with people! It was so much learning and so much of it looked really ugly for a long time, so seeing it all laid out is super interesting to me. I also think it gives people who have never sewn before a look into the steps it takes to get to a finished garment.”

What was it about this topic that really piqued your interest?
“This topic drew my interest because much of the prior literature on this topic is collected on infants or older children, rather than children in our age range.

Additionally, in the fNIRS field as a whole, there isn’t a lot of consensus on the best preprocessing steps or motion correction algorithms to use, so I saw this project as an exciting opportunity to contribute to the existing body of research.”

What was your favorite part of your research experience and being able to work so closely with your professors?
“One of my favorite parts of my research was conducting data collection with the four- and five-year-olds. There really never is a dull moment when you have a kiddo in the lab, and it’s very cool to see the motion artifacts emerge in real time as they move during a task.”

What was it about this topic that really piqued your interest?
“The ecology and iron chemistry we’re looking at is super funky, and really interesting. It lets us combine our individual interests in chemistry, biology, ecology, and geology together to connect ocean chemistry, nutrient availability, and organism evolution into one big story.”

What was your favorite part of your research experience, and being able to work so closely with your professors?
“A highlight had to have been the field work. Getting to spend a week in Death Valley was really cool. Working so closely with our professor [Esther Cloudman Dunn Professor of Geosciences Sara Pruss] offered a really great perspective on what research after undergrad could look like. We’ve really appreciated the balance between guided research and figuring out our work independently.”

Is there something you learned during your work that you’re especially excited to share during Collaborations?
“We found a new, potentially unidentified fossil that we’ve been working toward identifying. We have lots of really cool photos, and we’re planning to bring a rock with the fossil in it from Nevada to show to people!”

What was it about this topic that really piqued your interest?
“I had never worked with ancient coins or engaged with numismatics in any way until Professor Rebecca Worsham offered me the opportunity, but I soon learned I enjoy it immensely. As an archives concentrator, cataloguing and accessioning is something I enjoy doing, so that was definitely part of it. Usually when someone thinks about ancient Mediterranean history, they think of something big like the Colosseum, but so much history is stored in the minute details of the tiniest coins. So, what I love and enjoy most about working with the Shields coins is that there is so much to learn from the smallest bits of material history, and I think everyone should know about this!”

What was your favorite part of your research experience, and being able to work so closely with your professors?
“My favorite part has been spending my Tuesday afternoons in Professor Worsham’s office examining and measuring the coins one by one. There are some funky-looking coins in the collection, but Professor Worsham has been an incredible resource in helping me identify them.”

Is there something you learned during your work that you’re especially excited to share during Collaborations?
“I recently named the collection after Professor Emily Shields, a classics professor at Smith who worked with the coins in the 1920s through 1940s. I have loved learning about her and her impact on the classics department and coin collection in the last few weeks; it’s made me feel more connected to Smith and the department! I am so excited to share and highlight her contributions to the community as part of my poster session. She was a natural choice for naming the collection, given her involvement and expertise in this area.”