About the Awards
Named in honor of the longtime head of the Science Library, this award recognizes outstanding papers or projects by Oberlin College students in any subject that demonstrate excellent research using library resources. Up to two awards, in the amount of $500 each, may be given annually. The four criteria considered are: creativity in the use of research tools, thoroughness in the research process, accuracy and attention to detail, and the use of a broad range of research tools.
Committee Members
Elizabeth Sullivan, Head of Research and Instruction, Chair
Kathy Abromeit, Head, Conservatory Library
Alonso Avila, Outreach and Student Success Librarian
Gina Pérez, Professor of Comparative American Studies
Ann Sherif, Professor of Japanese, East Asian Studies
Nomination Process
Nominations for the awards will be made by Oberlin College faculty. Any student project completed for academic credit, with the exception of honors projects, is eligible to be nominated. We cannot recognize projects for which students received remuneration.
Submissions from 2021
Mitochondrial Dysfunction’s Role in the Pathogenesis of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Proposed Pathway, Vaughan Schwob
Submissions from 2019
Lynching in Sandusky: An American Story (podcast), Emma Bredthauer, Claire Stevenson, and Bethany Gen
Essays on Oberlin History (series), Nathan Carpenter
Written in the Margins (exhibit), Katherine Maleckar
Childless, You Are Nothing: The Dilemma of IVF in Developing Countries, Alli Roshni
Austro-Marxism: Finding Socialism in Modernity, Jerry Shang
Submissions from 2018
Research Games in Structural Biology, Nic Vigilante
Submissions from 2017
Cats, Dogs, and Idle Fools: Education in Early America, Brooke Oertel
Submissions from 2016
Music of the "Ringing Isle": The Culture of Bell-Ringing and Its Musical Evocations in England, c. 1660-1700, Nicholas Capozzoli
Eradicating the Logs, Brambles, and Boulders of Misunderstanding: Creating Social Change Through Oratory in Early America, Naomi Roswell
Submissions from 2015
The Not-So-Anonymous Nutmegger, Jacob Baron
Intraspecific Signaling as an Adaptive Force in the Evolution of Blue-Green Eggs in Robins: A Review of Recent Work, Hazel Galloway
Submissions from 2014
Firth, Hall, Pond & (their many) Co(mpanies), Rebecca Achtenberg
Gibreel's Inadvertent Consersations: "extending his internal repertory", Zachary (Zakk) Bluford
Submissions from 2013
Bone Throwing, Bible Toting, Alexandra (Alex) Howard
Gay and Lesbian Literature of the 20th Century: Selections from the Gene Woodling Collection, Lauren Vandermortel and Alicia Gaber
Submissions from 2012
Die Jüdische Toynbee-Halle in Wien: Leon Kellner’s Quasi-Colonialist Bildungsinstitution, 1900-1904, Anna Band
Submissions from 2011
Controversies in '-omics' Diagnostics Development, Benjamin Jakubowski
Scorti-Libellus: Publication as Prostitution in Sulpician Elegy, Thomas Vozar
Submissions from 2010
Presentation in the Temple, Mara Spece
Noting Images: Understanding the Illustrated Manuscripts of Mendelssohn's Schilflied and Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis, Daniel Walden
Submissions from 2009
Where will it END? Or, A Guide to Extended Techniques for the Violoncello, Dylan Messina
A Review of the Life History and Ecology of the Eastern Newt (Notopthalmus viridescens), Stephen Williams
Submissions from 2008
The Constitutional Significance of Presidential Signing Statements, Brian Holbrook
Light's Fellowship with Twilight: The Religious Thought of John Henry Barrows and the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, Allison Takahashi
Submissions from 2006
Untold, Savored, Gold: Poems, Claire Cheney
Understanding What We Cannot See: An Investigation of Research on Signals and Ultraviolet Plumage Reflectance, Peter Nowogrodzki
Submissions from 2005
Avian Chimeras for Studying Craniofacial Development, Katherine Au
How to Swing a Mouse: Intersections of Female and Feline in Medieval Europe (Part I), Yi Hong Sim
Submissions from 2004
The Pulverized Poetic: A Literary Exploration of Spices in Colonial America, Caitlin Cardina
Geographical Illustrations: The Popular Atlas and the Internationalization of Walt Whitman, Joel Heller
Submissions from 2003
New Weapons in an Ancient War: Fighting Malaria with Recent Research on the Anopheles Vector and the Plasmodium Parasite, Shama Cash-Goldwasser
Watering with Words: Children and Nature in Puritan Educational Literature, Shoshana Friedman
The Unz Initiatives and the Dangers of Direct Democracy, Lauren Stensland
Submissions from 2002
All Was Confusion: The Civil War in New Mexico Territory, Michael Block
Modestly Appropriating Conventions: Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley and the Literary Sphere of Early America, Marian Schlotterbeck
Submissions from 2001
Deconstructing Autism: A Sociological Perspective on a Puzzling DisorderDeconstructing Autism: A Sociological Perspective on a Puzzling Disorder, Elizabeth Weinstein
