Kahn Student Fellows 2024–25

Chlo Gold ’25

Botanical humanities student-designed interdepartmental major; Spanish minor

Chlo will investigate queer relationships within the plant kingdom, by specifically examining the effusive queerness of lichens—a rich site of queer platonics and partnership. They will ask questions such as: what does queer botany teach us about language and nomenclature? What can queer botany teach us to celebrate within our human ecologies?

Avery Maltz AC ’25

Biology major; Studio art minor

Avery will weave together the threads of art, science, and environmental stewardship by discovering pigments and dyes in acorns, cones, lichen, and bark. He will ask questions such as: How might botanical illustration be enhanced by illustrating a plant in paint made by its own pigments?

Eva Bruce ’25

Anthropology and government double major

Eva will analyze how communities adapt definitions, perceptions and valuations of plant life in response to shifting global and local environments. She will ask questions such as: How do our definitions of “meaningful” plant encounters change as our environments are urbanized? How do relationships with plants influence identity and place formation in a changing world?

Julia Beyer ’26

Latin American studies and environmental science and policy double major

Julia will study the role of coloniality in representations and descriptions of plants—and how that may contribute to characterizing our relationship to nature as exploitative. She will also investigate the ways the botanical world is represented in literature—from Hawthorne’s representations of the forest as a place of solace free from the spectating eyes of society, to Zora Neale Hurston’s usage of pollination and vegetal imagery to represent her character’s sexual awakening and coming of age.

Kate Flöer ’26

Biological sciences major; Data science minor

Kate will be researching the use of artificial intelligence in neglected tropical disease (NTD) elimination. Her goal is to create a new framework integrating AI that can inform the World Health Organization’s 2021–2030 NTDs roadmap.

Regina Hu ’26

Philosophy major

Regina will be researching the ethics concerning AI generated art pieces, through questions such as: What are humans looking for when we are looking at arts? Should the creation of AI be considered artistic property? Since AI still needs humans to input instructions and basic ideas for creating works, is the artwork created original? And, moreover, who is the owner of the created pieces?

Boushilah Mata ’25

Architecture major; Landscape studies minor

Mata will explore the intersection of technology and architecture, through questions such as: Can we effectively integrate AI in building practices without compromising people’s privacy or employment opportunities in the general public? How can we use AI in creating structures that can provide shelter and essential services in the aftermath of a disaster?

Claire Sullivan ’25

Study of women and gender major; Archaeology minor; Book studies concentrator

Claire will examine the biases that AI engines might be developing based on the content that they are learning on, including racist and sexist views of the world. In particular, she will research the weaponization of AI within online gendered discourse, including in incel and other misogynistic and disillusioned groups.