A group of 45 first-year students participated this summer in the 2019 Richter Scholar program conducting collaborative research with faculty from diverse disciplines, including art, biology, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, religion, communication, and finance.
Through this signature Lake Forest College program, a select group of first-year students annually spend four to 10 weeks collaborating with faculty on original research—an unusual opportunity for undergraduates at most colleges and universities.
This summer, Enrique Salonga ’22 worked closely with Assistant Professor of Finance Dimitra Papadovasilaki researching how emotional intelligence affects financial risk-taking.
“There is not much research done in this area, so this research project is very important because understanding our emotions and how we react under different situations can, to a certain degree, alleviate the existence of financial crises,” Papadovasilaki said.
Having the opportunity to collaborate on this important research and learn how to use financial data was a pivotal moment for Salonga.
“I got this whole, new experience working one-on-one with a professor, which is a completely different type of learning,” he said. “Having this research opportunity early on is a good résumé builder. It’s going to open doors for me for future internships and jobs.”
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nilam Shah values the time she spends each summer working with Richter Scholars. “Our program helps students understand the entire research process, from how we come up with a study idea, to how to use the instruments in the lab, to the final steps of researching and presenting your work,” Shah said. “I enjoy seeing how the students apply everything they learned in understanding how research works to help them figure out where they want to go with their careers and what they want to focus on.”
See the projects our scholars are working on
2019 Richter Scholars
Audrey Bailey
Allison Akins
Nnena Aseh
Arthur Brown
Lazarus Brown
Marissa Burch
Alexandria Cantey
Sadiq Dabire
Jessica Day
Sydni Foley
Renee Gordon
Eleanor Hansen
Cassidy Herberth
Danielle Herreweyers
Kealey Humphrey
Adriana Jovsic
Bilal Khan
Barry Khim
Esther Kim
Josephine Klein
Nathaniel Kregar
Alexandra Kulesza
Sabet Manarelli
Emily McCusker
Kylie Morgan
Desire Nalukwago
Mathieu Norcross
Emma Overton
Rachel Peterson
Alec Pittman
Whitley Pleas
Nhu Quach
Elizabeth Ramirez
Emma Remish
Christian Reyes
Hira Sadiq
Enrique Salonga
McKinley Scheppler
Eleanor Sokol
Samantha Stubbs
Nelle Tseitlin
Yeshi Tshering
Ilteris Turan
Desire Nalukwago Uwera
Ensar Uzicanin
Graeme Witte