Aisthesis      Volume 9,  201844

Author Biographies

Sarah Aldridge is a senior at Appalachian State 
University, where she is a Wilson Scholar and a 
student in the Honors College. She is majoring in 
political science with minors in sociology and global 
studies. After graduation, Sarah plans to work in the 
field of education policy before returning to school 
for her Master of Public Policy. Despite changing 
her major from elementary education soon after 
realizing her passion for policy research, Sarah still 
aspires to improve the educational experiences of 
marginalized students through research. In her free 
time, she enjoys reading and visiting art galleries.  

Brett Collar is a junior at Purdue University, 
majoring in biomedical engineering with a minor in 
electrical engineering. He works as an undergraduate 
research assistant at the Regenstrief Center for 
Healthcare Engineering, focusing on predictive 
modeling in healthcare. This summer, he will be 
joining the Center for Implantable Devices at Purdue 
as an undergraduate researcher, where he will begin 
exploring novel glaucoma treatments. Brett hopes 
to eventually pursue a master’s degree in biomedical 
engineering to further his knowledge and expertise 
in prosthetics and orthotics.

Mohamed Elzarka  is a Master of Public Health 
candidate at the University of Cincinnati and a recent 
graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where he 
received degrees in neuroscience and liberal arts 
as part of the University Honors Program. He is 
currently conducting research on holistic models 
of psychosocial care in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and 
Herzegovina, with support from the Fulbright U.S. 
Student Program. 

Eva Lin Fahey is a senior B.F.A. studio arts 
major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s 
Commonwealth Honors College. Primarily working 
in water-based media, she creates abstracted 
compositions exploring the interconnections 
between family, cultural hybridity, and identity. 

Adopted from China, Eva currently makes work 
that investigates her connections to American and 
Chinese culture.  Her work revolves around the 
ideas of attachment and detachment, connection 
and divide.  Although deeply rooted in personal 
experience, her art also invites viewers to relate the 
work to their own experiences. Through this link of 
empathy, she hopes to create artwork where people 
consider the complexity of the individual and begin 
to think deeper about how we become and continue 
to become the people we are today. 

Sophia Fortmeyer graduated with honors from 
the University of Kansas in 2017, receiving degrees 
in global/international studies and French. Her 
research focuses on the socio-politics of natural 
resource extraction, specifically in sub-Saharan 
Africa. Her career aspirations lie in the fields of 
sustainable development and human rights. She 
currently teaches English in the south of France.

Olivia Fuson is a sophomore from Portland, Oregon, 
pursuing a double-major in history and Spanish and 
a minor in women’s and gender studies at Creighton 
University. Inspired by her passion for justice and 
equality, Olivia strives to integrate marginalized 
perspectives into her historical research and hopes 
to one day incorporate these perspectives into 
her career as a physician. Outside of class, Olivia 
conducts functional genetics research, volunteers in 
the pediatric ward at a local hospital, and works as a 
medical scribe. She also enjoys ice cream, reading, 
trying new restaurants, and spending time with 
family and friends. 

Mark Laaninen is a sophomore at the SUNY New 
Paltz, double majoring in music and history and 
minoring in linguistics. His focus is on the history 
of working class and marginalized communities, 
especially those of Medieval Europe. In his free time, 
he enjoys hiking, reading, cooking, and playing his 
guitar. This is his first publication.



Author Biographies

Aisthesis      Volume 9,  201845

Dana Macfarlane is a senior honors student,  
graduating from Temple University with a B.A. in 
biological anthropology. Dana has a strong interest 
in how the environment interacts with the human 
body, including research that investigates the impact 
of water quality on body decomposition. Amongst 
other things, Dana enjoys teaching and talking about 
science with all ages.

Taylour Marks is a sophomore honors student at the 
University of Florida, majoring in telecommunication 
with a specialization in news.  She is currently a staff 
photographer for the Independent Florida Alligator 
and has received photo features in the Tampa Bay 
Times as well as BBC World News.  Following her time 
at the University of Florida, Taylour intends to pursue 
a career as an anchor or political correspondent for a 
major broadcasting network. 

Julia Miller is a third-year honors student at the 
University of Wisconsin Madison, pursuing a 
major in neurobiology and a minor in sculpture. 
Her studies reflect a passion for navigating and 
interpreting the unknown; both pursuits require 
the unconventional solution to a given dilemma 
and support a future career in surgery. She hopes 
to utilize her distinctive vision and skills in artistic 
engineering and spatial visualization to work with 
victims of physical trauma in a reconstructive 
capacity. In pursuing this goal, Julia splits her time 
between art and pre-medicine commitments, 
while working as a CNA and volunteering both 
as an organic chemistry tutor and inpatient unit 
host at the University Hospital. In college, she has 
also advanced her interest in reinvention through 
immersion in different cultures and communities. 
She hopes that her volunteer excursions abroad will 
further expand her understanding of the world and 
its inhabitants, allowing for more comprehensive and 
compassionate care of patients and their families. 

David Mudd is a student at the University of 
Portland, where he studies English literature and 
political science. His primary areas of interest are 
American literature, history, and politics, especially 
the way each informs the other and can shape our 
understanding of the modern world; occasionally he 
also goes backpacking. After graduating, he intends 

to do volunteer work with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps 
before going to law school, and hopes to use those 
skills to make a tangible difference in the lives of 
others.

Ashley Murr is a senior in civil engineering from 
the University of Minnesota Duluth. Aligning with 
her interest in sustainability, her research broadly 
examines sustainable infrastructure. She hopes that 
with some creativity and clever engineering, small 
changes in a variety of fields will help create more 
sustainable and resilient societies.

Originally from Warroad, Minnesota, Jackson 
Nash is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota 
Duluth. He is a member of the University Honors 
Program, pursuing a degree in chemical engineering. 
As an avid outdoorsman, he enjoys the beauty and 
resources Duluth and Lake Superior have to offer. 
In hopes of contributing to the preservation of the 
environment, he plans to continue pursuing research 
on solar cell technology. Motivated by solving 
problems and engineering projects, Jackson is an 
active member of Tau Beta Pi, Omega Chi Epsilon, 
and AICHE. 

Bridget O’Hara is a junior at Temple University, 
studying media studies and production with minors 
in environmental studies and anthropology. An 
aspiring documentary filmmaker, Bridget hopes to 
combine her passions of media and social justice 
to create films that help the greater good.  Bridget 
created this documentary in conjunction with the 
rest of City Sound Productions: Matt Ward, Hoa 
Ivy Nguyen, Chris Lumsden, and Kelsi Smith. The 
team spent a semester researching the effects of 
music education to create  Encore: Music Education 
for Social Change, a film intended to highlight the 
benefits that art education has on students.

Constance Roberts is a junior at the University of 
Massachusetts Amherst’s Commonwealth Honors 
College. She is pursuing dual-degrees in art history 
and German and Scandinavian studies while 
minoring in Mandarin. Her senior thesis will examine 
Miss Cranston’s Tea Rooms in Glasgow, focusing on 
the Willow Street Tea Rooms. Her interests include 
photography and learning about other cultures. On 



Author Biographies

Aisthesis      Volume 9,  201846

the weekends, she volunteers as an ESL conversation 
partner through Amherst’s local library.

Anna Tyrina is a third-year student at the University 
of Maine in Orono, majoring in chemistry with a 
pre-medical concentration. Her studies focus on 
developing an understanding of how proteins interact 
with gold thiolates, which are used as drugs for the 
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. After graduation, 
Anna plans to attend medical school and pursue 
a career as a pediatrician. Anna has also recently 
self-published her first poetry collection and plans 
to publish her second this summer. Anna spends 
her free time reading, learning new languages, and 
researching topics of interest.