University of California - Santa Barbara

06/05/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/05/2025 15:09

Library’s annual research award honors undergraduate projects in sciences, humanities and arts

Image
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Winner of the Humanities & Fine Arts category Cece Chao, a senior majoring in history
Campus + Community
June 5, 2025

Library's annual research award honors undergraduate projects in sciences, humanities and arts

Keith Hamm

Now in its seventh year, UC Santa Barbara's Library Award for Undergraduate Research (LAUR) highlights emerging scholarship from a range of academic disciplines. It also hands out cash prizes to the students who best demonstrate an expertise of library collections, services and related resources.

Judged by a panel of UCSB librarians and faculty from across campus, each winner's project included a bibliography demonstrating the range and depth of their research materials, plus a reflective essay describing their process. Judges evaluated search strategies and sources, and how students persevered through research obstacles and demonstrated growth and sophistication in their knowledge of library resources.

"We received an impressive number of submissions, especially in the Humanities & Fine Arts category," said Heather Nisen, librarian and LAUR program lead. "The judges shared that it was difficult to choose winners because the quality of student research and use of library materials was so remarkable."

"As always," Nisen added, "these emerging scholars will be invited to upload their award-winning works into eScholarship, UC's institutional open access repository, where they can be discovered by a wider population."

Image
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Environmental studies senior Schuyler Capita, May 2025

Science & Engineering

Environmental studies senior Schuyler Capita finished first in the sciences and engineering category with her research paper, "Charting The Winds of Fate - Exploring the Role of Wind Stress as a Driver of Coastal Sage Scrub Plant Community Assemblage." This year's runner-up, sophomore biopsychology major Jasmine Ispasoiu, wrote "The Effects of Discussing Race on Racial Bias and Health Attitudes."

Image
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Sophomore biopsychology major Jasmine Ispasoiu

Social Sciences

In the social sciences category, the judges determined that two seniors had produced equally outstanding submissions filled with high-quality research and use of library resources. Environmental studies major Isabel Chang produced the paper, "'And Then I Got Angry': Why Black Feminist Thought is Critical to Movements for Environmental Justice." Joseph Ekpo, who is double majoring in political science and psychological and brain sciences, authored "Evaluating Racial Match and Concordance in ASD Interventions: Preliminary Findings from a Multidisciplinary Scoping Review."

Image
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Senior environmental studies major Isabel Chang
Image
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Senior Joseph Ekpo, majoring in political science and psychological and brain sciences

Humanities & Fine Arts

For humanities and fine arts, Cece Chao, a senior majoring in history, won first place for "I Look in People's Windows: Exploring Women's Experiences in Victorian Consumer Culture," as junior art major Blake Allen finished second with "Beauty from Within: Mickalene Thomas' Self-Love of Black Femininity."

Each winner was awarded $750 while second-place finishers took home $500. This year's LAUR was made possible with generous support from education professor emerita Jenny Cook-Gumperz.

Image
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Junior art major Blake Allen
Tags
Awards

Share this article

Download Printable PDF

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

Related Stories

Image
Photo Credit
Courtesy

June 5, 2025

Nik Belle builds community, creativity and code at UCSB

Image
Photo Credit
Matt Perko

June 2, 2025

UC Santa Barbara commencement events to celebrate 7,460 graduates for 2024-2025

Image
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Zero Waste Committee Co-Chair Matthew Schoen, May 2025

May 28, 2025

Zero Waste Committee launches shoe-recycling drive, June 2-13

Image
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky, December 2024

May 27, 2025

Hamed-Troyansky's "Empire of Refugees" wins multiple book prizes

University of California - Santa Barbara published this content on June 05, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 05, 2025 at 21:09 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io