Barrett Small Network Hero

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Explore the various projects below categorized under the general theme of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Be sure to return to the Barrett College Fellows Program main page and explore projects under the other 11 themes as well. You might be surprised at what you find and maybe you will discover the perfect research project for what you hope to study!

Please do not contact the research centers or faculty listed below directly (a formal application process is a required step to joining these research opportunities).

For questions about the Barrett College Fellows Program or specific research projects, please contact Dr. Sarah Graff at: BarrettCollegeFellows@exchange.asu.edu.

Back to Barrett College Fellows main page

Research projects

Project # 4

Center name: Relationships & Technology Lab
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Liesel Sharabi

Project description

The Relationships & Technology Lab in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication is seeking undergraduate research associates (RAs) for the 2025-2026 academic year. The lab conducts social scientific research at the intersection of interpersonal relationships and communication technologies. RAs will study modern romance in the context of dating apps, AI, and VR. RAs typically help with tasks such as lab management, participant recruitment, data collection and analysis, and/or research summaries. RAs are also expected to attend weekly lab meetings.

Special skills needed

N/A

Majors

This opportunity is most appropriate for students in the social sciences (e.g., Communication, Psychology, Sociology, Human Development & Family Studies).

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 6

Center name:
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Dave Keating

Project description

This work involves a series of projects that research how people are influenced--or not--by seeing the same or very similar persuasive messages over time. For example, one specific project will test how young adults respond to repeatedly viewing TikTok videos about health or environmental topics, such as vaping or water conservation. The goal of this work is to understand how and why people's beliefs and behaviors are influenced over time.

I am looking for two students to join the research team who are interested in persuasive messages, the influence of social media content, and/or health and environmental topics. I view this as a collaboration--I have some ideas that we are going to test, but there is a lot of room for these two students to help design the specific nature of the studies, including (but not limited to) what topics we focus on, how we design the messages that people will see, and how to best reach people to participate in the research.

Special skills needed

- Quantitative Reasoning (this does *not* mean stats! but these projects are quantitative social science ones, including behavioral experiments)
- Strong/Clear Writing (my hope is that the students will be co-authors on any published work affiliated with the projects, and this will require them to write up some portions of the papers that report on the research)

Majors

- anything affiliated with social and behavioral sciences
- journalism and mass communication
- communication

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 7

Center name: Center for Biology and Society
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Jane Maienschein

Project description

The Embryo Project involves carrying out research and learning to write for a general audience, producing a cluster of articles that are reviewed and (if accepted) published in the Embryo Project Encylopedia. Research participation begins with the Embryo Project Writing Seminar, which is a structured class as a writers workshop that meets Wednesdays 3:15-5:30. We can accept up to 10 students for the course total, including graduate students and undergraduates, and we typically have 1-3 as Barrett College Fellows in fall and spring.

Special skills needed

Interest in writing about scientific ideas for a general public, willingness to learn with and from others in a writers workshop, and interest in the broad field of embryos, development, reproduction, abortion, eugenics, and related topics, and the historical and social context.

Majors

Life sciences, health sciences, communication, journalism, history, philosophy, law, policy, and many others.

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 9

Center name: Sleep, Gut Microbiome, Nutrition, and Maternal Child Health Research Program
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Megan Petrov

Project description

The Snuggle Bug / Acurrucadito study investigated the roles of sleep and gut microbiome development on rapid weight gain among infants. We followed mother-infant dyads six times over the baby's first year of life measuring sleep via ankle actigraphy, the gut microbiome via fecal samples, feeding practices and dietary intake, physical growth, and numerous other health factors. By the fellowship start, the study will be complete but there is a high likelihood of new similar studies that may be launched in Fall 2025 and there will be opportunities to manage the study data and contribute to analysis and scientific writing for presentations at conferences. We are seeking two students interested in contributing to data management, analysis, writing, and potentially for publications. We are also seeking students interested in supporting the development of new study protocols as we seek to recruit new mother-infant dyads for other studies.

Special skills needed

Student applicants should have an interest in physical activity/exercise and health promotion. Students will have the opportunity to gain skills related to the design and implementation of a behavioral clinical trial, including recruitment and retention; data collection, entry and management; and intervention delivery.

Majors

Nursing, nutrition, psychology, microbiology, family and human development, community health, Biochemistry, biological sciences, biomedical sciences

Years

3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 10

Center name: Physical Activity and Health Lab, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Preve…
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Rodney Joseph

Project description

Smart Walk is research study funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH/NHLBI). The study aims to to examine if a culturally tailored, smartphone-delivered physical activity intervention, entitled Smart Walk, is more effective for increasing physical activity and improving health outcomes among Black women than the commercially available Fitbit program. A total of 240 participants will be recruited and enrolled in the 12-month study. Results will provide meaningful information on the effectiveness of the Fitbit physical activity program and our Smart Walk physical activity program for increasing physical activity and improving health outcomes among Black women.

Special skills needed

Student applicants should have an interest in physical activity/exercise and health promotion. Students will have the opportunity to gain skills related to the design and implementation of a behavioral clinical trial, including recruitment and retention; data collection, entry and management; and intervention delivery.

Majors

Community Health, Integrative Health, Nursing, Clinical Exercise Science, Applied Health Sciences, Applied Nutrition and Health, Health Education and Health Promotion, Health Sciences, Kinesiology, Population Health, Public Health

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 11

Center name: Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Deirdre Pfeiffer

Project description

Understanding and responding to fair housing issues facing Arizona Hispanic and other underserved households may help to improve their housing security, particularly through access to affordable homeownership and rentals. This research will examine two pathways of discrimination in Arizona housing markets in collaboration with the Southwest Fair Housing Council (SWFHC). Subproject 1c.1 will examine the pathway of coded language for Fair Housing Act (FHA) protected groups in grounds for opposition in public decisions about proposed housing projects and policies diversifying types and costs. Subproject 1c.2 will examine the pathway of home sale transactions. This research will contribute to scholarly conversations about the drivers of housing discrimination and inform new strategic initiatives to dismantle pathways to discrimination in Arizona (e.g., stakeholder convenings to discuss policy changes and SWFHC grant writing and strategic planning).

Special skills needed

Passion for social justice issues, interest in learning more about how housing is related to social justice, self-directed, strong communication skills, reliable, adeptness at Excel, interest in qualitative research methods (understanding the world through textual data collected from people, media, and public meetings)

Majors

Any social science major

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Law, Justice, and Public Service

Project # 12

Center name: Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Deirdre Pfeiffer

Project description

Land availability presents a major challenge to solving interrelated crises of housing availability, affordability and security in Arizona’s increasingly land locked and built out urban areas. This research will draw on data from local regulations and stakeholder interviews (subject matter experts and neighborhood residents) and use content and thematic analysis to explore the potential for adapting garages and driveways to support new housing in socioeconomically diverse single-family home communities in the Phoenix metro area.

Special skills needed

Passion for issues related to social justice and the interconnection between well-being and the urban built environment (buildings, infrastructure systems, green/natural/open spaces), interest in learning more about how housing is related to social justice and wellbeing, self-directed, strong communication skills, reliable, adeptness at Excel, interest in qualitative research methods (understanding the world through textual data collected from people and regulations)

Majors

Any social science major

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 13

Center name:
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Sian Mughan

Project description

This overall objective of this project is to investigate how the retail sale of marijuana effects economic development in Arizona communities. In April 2019 the Arizona Department of Health and Human Services (ADHS) held a lottery to distribute 13 licenses for adult use (recreational henceforth) licenses. In the initial phase of this project we will use statistical techniques to analyze large, administrative datasets to compare economic development outcomes (house prices, retail sales, foot traffic, etc.) in areas surrounding a dispensary to outcomes in areas surrounding addresses that applied for but did not receive a dispensary license. Later phases of the project might involve field work (interviewing local policy makers for example), extending the quasi-experimental approach to other geographic areas and grant development.

Special skills needed

Experience collecting and recording data; programming skills in R, Python, and/or Stata; interest in public affairs/public policy; ability to work independently; strong critical thinking and analysis skills

Majors

Public Affairs/Public Policy, Economics, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Statistics

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 14

Center name: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Aaron Guest

Project description

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is one of 120 Lifelong Learning Institutes in the United States. Housed in the ASU Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, OLLI at ASU engages in research pertaining to lifelong learning, adult education, and community building. We take pride in that our work is both research-inspired and research-inspiring. The incumbent for this position would assist in the OLLI Lifelong Needs Assessment and Moonshot Project.

Special skills needed

1. Attention to Detail: Ensuring accuracy in coding, data input, and interpretation.
2. Strong Written and Oral Communication: Articulating findings, synthesizing literature, and collaborating with team members.
3. Critical Thinking: Identifying patterns, drawing inferences, and addressing gaps in data or literature.
4. Time Management: Handling multiple tasks and meeting deadlines.
5. Collaboration: Working effectively in a team environment.
6. Flexibility: Adapting to evolving project needs and feedback.
7. Familiarity with literature reviews, data analysis, and surveys is beneficial.

Majors

Open to all majors, with an emphasis on Business, Social Sciences, and Health Programs

Years

2nd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Business and Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Health and Wellness, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 17

Center name:
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Heather Ross

Project description

Up to one-quarter of clients in emergency and transitional shelters are older adults, and homeless services agencies are increasingly focusing shelter services for this highly vulnerable population. Unhoused older adults have a disproportionately high rate of dementia compared to their housed counterparts, and dementia is associated with longer duration of homelessness. Our previous research, including universal screening of older adult clients for dementia and mild cognitive impairment at a large urban emergency homeless shelter, demonstrated high rates of positive screens >90% using a traditional screening threshold and >70% positivity using a conservative screening threshold with ongoing work to determine the true rate of dementia in the population. Moreover, we have found that both congregate and non-congregate shelter settings may exert different stresses on older adult clients with impacts on cognitive performance. Therefore, the caregiving needs of older adults in different shelter settings may vary.

Although staff in emergency and transitional homeless shelter settings often serve in case management roles for shelter clients, they may not be considered as caregivers. However, many unhoused older adults have more extensive support needs than their younger counterparts. Moreover, given the long duration of stay in emergency and transitional shelter settings for older adult clients, often spanning several months, client-facing staff become de facto caregivers for older adults with dementia in shelter.

At present, little to nothing is known about the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of shelter staff and case managers about their de facto role as caregivers of clients with dementia in different shelter settings. Therefore, we propose a multi-method study to 1) build on existing findings regarding the impact of shelter environments on cognitive performance, and 2) understand knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of shelter staff regarding their role as caregiver for shelter clients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment.

3 undergraduate students will be on this project team and involved in all aspects of the work, which will ideally begin in Spring 2025. Student stipends are available.

Special skills needed

Required: Willingness to conduct research in homeless shelter settings. Desired: Survey administration. Participant observation. Interview research. Qualitative data analysis.

Majors

Nursing. Social work. Community health. Aging. Psychology. Public Health. Neuroscience. Population Health. Biology. Biomedical Sciences. Community Advocacy and Social Policy. Anthropology. Sociology.

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 18

Center name:
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Sangmi Lee

Project description

Assessments profoundly affect how students study and learn. As opposed to traditional assessments such as closed-book exams, learner-centered assessments respect the diverse talents of the learners, encourage meta-cognition, self-reflection, and self-regulation, situate assessment tasks in authentic, real-world contexts, and/or provide a learning environment through social negotiation and collaboration. Such learner-centered assessments better promote learning and provide lifelong benefits to the learners. This project aims to design innovative learner-centered assessments and test their efficacy through randomized controlled trial (RCT) experiments in ASU classes. Interested honors students may assist with any aspect of the project, such as reviewing the literature and designing innovative assessment methods, designing the experiments, managing the in-class experiments, conducting surveys and interviews, analyzing quantitative and/or qualitative data, and writing up the results. This project may become an honors thesis.

Special skills needed

Strong interest in education research, adept thinker and problem-solver, detailed oriented, organized, professional communication

Majors

Psychology, education, social sciences, biology or math majors who are interested in education research

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 19

Center name: Social Network Among Caregivers
Campus/Location: Downtown, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Aaron Guest

Project description

The SNAC Lab has two active projects, with additional ones under development; you will contribute as a productive and active team member. The first aims to understand caregivers' weekly activities, who they spend time with, and where to design more effective programs and support. The second project seeks to understand the social network composition of unpaid caregivers of individuals living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related dementia and evaluate how these networks support the well-being and resilience of the caregivers. You will be able to develop skills and expertise in social network analysis, geospatial analysis, and mixed methods research, including quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.

You will be responsible for assisting in data analysis, cleaning, and preparing manuscripts and presentations.

Special skills needed

Students should be self-motivated and self-driven. They should be able to commit to a set number of hours per week, be familiar with journal articles, and identify research. They should be familiar with Google Office (sheets, documents), Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Powerpoint), and Adobe.

Familiarity with Qualitative and Quantitative Research a plus, but not necessary.

Majors

Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Medical Sciences, Computer Sciences, etc.

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 20

Center name: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (West Valley)
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Sangmi Lee

Project description

This proposed research is about Korean ethnic return migrant students (KERMS), diasporic descendants who were born or raised abroad and have “returned” to their ancestral homeland of South Korea for their higher education. The goal of this research is to demonstrate that even among educational migrants who share the same ancestry and heritage culture with native-born students, various forms of inequality and exclusion persist in higher education that can differentially affect their sense of belonging and limit their educational success and employment opportunities. I am seeking one or two students who are interested in the topics of global education, migration, and immigrant descendants and qualitative, ethnographic research methods. Students will assist with collecting online data and sources (e.g., survey results, medial and institutional reports, etc.), finding relevant literature, and producing summaries on the collected materials.

Special skills needed

Analytical writing skills, some knowledge about research process would be good, but not required (I will advise and train students).

Majors

Education, Humanities, "Journalism, Communication and Mass Media", Social and Behavioral Sciences

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media

Project # 22

Center name:
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person, West, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Kendall Funk

Project description

Students will assist Dr. Funk in a research project examining the ways that political candidates present themselves on the ballot in Brazilian elections. In Brazil, candidates can list their name on the ballot however they choose. While many candidates use a version of their first and last names, others choose to use only their first name or a nickname. Some candidates use names that are meant to grab voters’ attention, like “Batman” or “The Good Bin Laden.” Other candidates mention their occupation or include a professional title like Doctor, Professor, Sergeant, or Reverend. Through their names, candidates can strategically stand out from the crowd or convey additional information about themselves to voters, such as their social identities, qualifications, or other characteristics. This project analyzes how candidates choose to present their names on the ballot, whether candidate names vary across offices and levels of government, and whether different types of candidates present their names in different ways by looking at candidate identities including gender, race, age, education, and marital status, and important intersections of these identities. The project also seeks to understand why and how candidates choose their “ballot name” and the broader consequences of these naming choices.

Special skills needed

- Ability to work independently
- Strong interest in research
- Previous coursework related to the project
- Interest in one or more of these subject areas: political science, social and behavioral sciences, linguistics, Brazilian or Latin American studies, sociology, communication
- Read and synthesize academic literature
- Portuguese and/or Spanish language skills are desired, but not required
- Quantitative data skills are useful, but not required
- Qualitative research skills are useful, but not required

Majors

Political Science, Social Justice and Human Rights, Sociology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Communication, Linguistics/Languages, Related Fields

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 23

Center name: Center for the Study of Guns in Society
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Jennifer Carlson

Project description

Led by Jennifer Carlson (director, ASU Center for the Study of Guns in Society) and funded by the Russell Sage Foundation, “The American Gun Experience” project involves mixed methods data collection (surveys, in-depth interviews) on American attitudes on and experiences with guns. Today, millions of Americans own and carry guns largely for self-defense, while US gun violence remains at stark levels. These dynamics speak to the urgency of understanding the complex and contradictory ways that people actually encounter guns, gun violence, gun law, and gun politics in US society—what we can holistically conceptualize as the American gun experience. The goal of the project is to use social science methods to rigorously capture the rich nuances of the American gun experience in order to understand how Americans experience the contradictory significance of guns in their lives and how this reflects and reinforces distinctly American axes of inequality; how Americans in the “messy middle” navigate guns as a personal, social and political issue; how gun attitudes and engagement impact other life decisions; and how and why Americans’ attitudes and engagement with guns changes over time. Students can expect to participate in data collection (including conducting in-depth interviews), data management, and analysis as well as preliminary dissemination of results.

Special skills needed

Familiarity with social science methods (especially in-depth interviews) and/or willingness to learn; strong communication skills, especially writing and editing; strong time management skills; open-mindedness/curiosity to better understand the impact and import of guns in American society.

Majors

All Social Sciences Majors, Pre-Law, Public Administration

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 27

Center name: Dr. T's Research Lab
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Gunes Murat Tezcur

Project description

Dr. Güneş Murat Tezcür is Professor and the Director of the School of Politics and Global Studies. He studies comparative politics and explores political violence and politics of identity with a focus on Iranian, Kurdish, Turkish, and most recently, American human geography. His scholarship has appeared in many leading scholarly journals and his recent book "Liminal Minorities: Religion and Mass Violence in Muslim Societies" was published by Cornell University Press in 2024. He is currently pursuıng a comparative research project that explores how past atrocities are remembered (or forgotten) through public memorials, symbols, and narratives.

How are sites of atrocities transformed into places of remembrance as opposed to entertainment, consumption, or habitation? How do memorials, monuments, and museums shape the politics of reconciliation? How do marginalized communities create memorials and spaces that challenge hegemonic discourses and perceptions in such sites? Alternatively, how are collective memories of violence being silenced and prevented from transmission across generations? The project has a deliberately comparative edge and aims to document memorials as well as voids locally (Native American landscape in Arizona), nationally {Black landscapes in the United States), and cross-nationally (minorities in the Middle East). Barrett Fellows will think about politics of remembrance and forgetfulness with a focus on the experience of marginalized communities are encouraged to develop honor theses based on this project. Participation in this project may require travel within Arizona.

Special skills needed

Curiosity about the role violence plays in human affairs, the legacies of past atrocities on contemporary issues, the ways in which collective memories and public memorials are constructed, contested, and how marginalized groups express themselves, challenge hegemonic discourses and representations, and articulate alternative histories and remembrances.

Majors

Political Science, Global Studies, History, Art, Anthropology

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Humanities, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 28

Center name: Children's Equity Project
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Shantel Meek

Project description

The Children’s Equity Project is led in partnership with researchers and advocates at several universities and organizations across the United States. Our work focuses on closing opportunity gaps and advancing equity in all of the systems that impact the lives of children and families so that all children, particularly those from historically and contemporary marginalized communities, can thrive.

The CEP works at the intersection of research, practice, and policy. We engage in rigorous original research, partner with policy makers at every level of government to support data and research informed policy changes that will advance opportunity for children from historically marginalized communities; and engage with communities to deliver training, technical assistance, and professional development. We are informed by families' voices through our family advisory committee, lived experiences, data, and research, and have deep expertise in child development, policy, and systems.

Special skills needed

No pre skills required, just dedication and interest in our mission

Majors

Policy, education, sociology, family development, early childhood education, etc

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Humanities, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Sustainability

Project # 29

Center name: Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Campus/Location: Downtown, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Jennifer Selin

Project description

Approximately 81 percent of federal laws include provisions that require partnerships between federal agencies and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments (SLTGs). These partnerships serve as critical conduits for administering a wide array of federal policies in diverse contexts.

Students will work with Professors Jennifer L. Selin (faculty lead) and Pamela J. Clouser McCann (USC Sol Price School of Public Policy) on a project commissioned by the Administrative Conference of the United States (an independent agency within the federal government) to explore the federal laws and policies that govern federal agency partnerships with SLTGs and the practical considerations that policymakers consider in structuring, implementing, and maintaining such partnerships. The project includes a variety of research methods, including analysis of statutory frameworks; a survey of federal and state administrators; interviews and closed forums with government officials; and targeted case studies. From this research, the authors will propose broadly applicable recommendations for action by federal agencies and, if necessary, recommend potential reforms for the President or Congress to consider. More information on the project can be found here:

https://www.acus.gov/projects/federal-agency-collaboration-state-local-tribal-and-territorial-governments

Special skills needed

Well-developed critical thinking and analytical skills; comfortable communicating with professionals from a variety of fields, including government officials; attention to detail; willingness to engage with historical, legal, and government documents; interest in public policy, law, public administration, political science, or related fields.

Majors

Including but not limited to American Studies; Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership; Community Advocacy and Social Policy; Economics; Political Science; Prelaw; Public Service and Public Policy; Social and Behavioral Sciences

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 30

Center name: Center for Indian Education
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Tempe
Faculty lead: Judy Kertész

Project description

The Indigenous ASU project explores and honors the rich history and enduring contributions of Indigenous faculty, students, and staff at Arizona State University. Through archival research, storytelling, and public engagement, the project seeks to preserve and amplify the legacies of Indigenous communities that have shaped ASU’s culture, academic mission, and identity.

At its core, Indigenous ASU emphasizes public history, focusing on uncovering and sharing stories that often go untold. Students will conduct in-depth archival research, examining historical documents, photographs, and records to uncover key milestones in ASU’s Indigenous history. This work will be complemented by oral history interviews with Indigenous individuals connected to ASU, capturing their personal experiences, challenges, and triumphs. Together, these efforts will contribute to a living archive, ensuring the preservation of these vital narratives for future generations.

The project also includes designing interactive exhibits that showcase important moments in ASU’s Indigenous history, such as the development of academic programs and cultural initiatives. Additionally, a digital archive will host multimedia resources, creating an accessible platform for educators, researchers, and the broader public.

With a cohort size of up to 10 students, the project offers a collaborative environment where participants develop practical skills in archival research, oral history, digital storytelling, and public engagement. Indigenous ASU reflects ASU’s commitment to inclusivity, innovation, and public service, ensuring Indigenous voices remain central to its mission.

Special skills needed

Students participating in the Indigenous ASU project will have the opportunity to develop a range of valuable skills while contributing to this meaningful initiative. Key skills include conducting archival research to locate, analyze, and catalog historical documents and primary sources that uncover significant moments in ASU’s Indigenous history. Participants will also gain experience in oral history, learning how to conduct respectful and ethical interviews while using recording and transcription tools to preserve personal narratives.

In addition, students will explore the art of digital storytelling by creating multimedia content and designing engaging online platforms that bring these stories to life. They will also apply principles of exhibit design, working collaboratively to develop interactive displays that effectively communicate Indigenous contributions and experiences.

A commitment to cultural sensitivity is essential, as participants will represent Indigenous voices with respect and inclusivity. Collaboration will be at the heart of the project, with students honing their ability to manage time, contribute to team efforts, and communicate effectively to meet project goals.

No prior experience is required—just an interest in Indigenous history and public history. Training and mentorship will be provided to help students build these skills and make a lasting impact through their work on the project.

Majors

History, American Indian Studies, American Studies, English Literature, Sociology, Anthropology, and any relevant humanities and social science majors.

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 31

Center name:
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Itty Abraham

Project description

The artist Richard Serra is said to have coined the aphorism, “if the product is free, you are the product.” Although he was referring to broadcast television in the 1970s, the idea captures very well the logic underwriting our current online condition. The phrase draws attention to the ubiquity of seemingly free digital technologies in our daily lives and how they are shaping us in ways both good and bad. Yet, even as our technological lives are being transformed at breakneck speed, our political thinking seems trapped in an analog era, especially with respect to legal protections. Without going into the reasons why our rights and entitlements have not kept up with the online-offline worlds we now inhabit, it seems obvious we need a much greater degree of public awareness and transparency to protect us from the harmful effects of existing and emerging digital technologies, not least AI. With this background in mind, I am looking for two Barrett students interested in helping draft a digital bill of rights for Arizona residents and citizens.

Special skills needed

Some background in political theory, online technology, current affairs would be helpful. Ability to read and synthesize official documents. Interest in global affairs. Willingness to learn through debate and discussion

Majors

Political Science, Innovation in Society, Public Policy, Social Transformations, Justice, Rights

Years

3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 35

Center name: School of Sustainability
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Stylianos Syropoulos

Project description

Sustainability––especially climate justice––requires a form of altruistic prosociality that extends beyond immediate, visible beneficiaries to encompass distant, often-anonymous multitudes, and even the as-yet-unrealized future generations. These are precisely the kinds of beneficiaries that people typically struggle to prioritize, as their needs and presence feel abstract and disconnected from everyday life. This challenge underscores the importance of understanding how individuals and groups can develop a broader moral circle that includes these hard-to-care-for entities to promote sustainability for all.

This project will investigate how exceptionally altruistic populations, including effective altruists (EAs), who strategically maximize welfare gains through their charitable contributions (N = 119), and extraordinary altruists (XAs), who have made life-saving organ donations to strangers (N = 65), compared to demographically similar general population controls (N = 176) differ in several psychological dimensions relevant to sustainability. These include: moral expansiveness toward nature, responsibility to future generations, impartial intergenerational beneficence, and the ability to perceive non-human animals as sentient beings. Additional exploratory analyses will explore the cognitive (e.g., reasoning abilities), affective (e.g.,
empathy levels), and moral (e.g., utilitarian beliefs and moral values) foundations that might explain why exceptionally altruistic individuals are more likely to exhibit sustainability-focused attitudes.

Special skills needed

Data Analysis Experience in any of the following software: Jamovi, R, SPSS, SAS

Majors

Sustainability, Psychology

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 36

Center name: MSD, Space Architecture & Extreme Environments (SAEE)
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Elena Rocchi

Project description

Barrett Honors students will participate in SAEE Barrett Research programs, including:
1) Working in the labs of the Interplanetary Initiative, The Next Lab, and the Luminosity Lab, contributing to cutting-edge science, with one student per lab.
2) Engaging in supply chain management within the Business program to contribute to designing the first Starbucks in space, with one student.
3) Participating in the SAEE Barrett Global Flex program in Rome, one of the space capitals of the world, providing an ideal environment for this program and open to all.
The faculty lead is Elena Rocchi, working in collaboration with the different lab directors, program heads, and faculty abroad. By the time of application, new opportunities in labs and cities may arise, so students are encouraged to schedule a meeting with me, as the leading faculty member, to discuss available placements and opportunities in more detail.

Special skills needed

Self-Time Management; Design Capacity and Interest in Making Things; Collaboration and Teamwork; Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving; Adaptability and Flexibility; Attention to Detail; Interpersonal and Cross-Cultural Communication; Initiative and Drive; Technical Competency; Global Perspective

Majors

Architecture,
Industrial Design,
Graphic Design (for virtual simulations/technologies),
Computer Science (for virtual simulations/technologies),
Design, Arts,
Mechanical Engineering,
Civil Engineering,
Urban Planning,
Business Administration (Supply Chain Management),
Environmental Design,
Aerospace Engineering,
Biomedical Engineering (for health-related research in space),
Materials Science,
Sustainability Studies,
International Studies (for global perspectives),
Electrical Engineering (for wearable technology design),
Physics (for space science and research applications)

Years

2nd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, Education, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 37

Center name: Consortium for science, policy & outcomes
Campus/Location: Fully remote
Faculty lead: Robert Cook-Deegan

Project description

I support three students on the pangenome project, and one student (plus a former student who graduated) on the BRAINshare project.

Special skills needed

Writing and organization skills.

Majors

Any

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Health and Wellness, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 38

Center name: Simon A Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Fabio Milner

Project description

It has been established that phone dating app users tend to engage in riskier behavior for STI transmission than non-users. We want to begin by describing the age-sex structure of the sexually active population and use mathematical modeling to study the connection between dating apps use and increased STI incidence.

Special skills needed

Calculus 1 (differentiation) and some experience computing is desirable (MATLAB and/or Python).

Majors

All

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 43

Center name:
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Mengya Xia

Project description

Our work focuses on understanding ways to promote individual positive development and optimal well-being in the family context, interpersonal settings, and broader ecological systems from the person-centered and transactional dynamic approaches, with an emphasis on fostering adolescent relationship health, social-emotional development, competence and character strengths, and flourishing as a whole.
Specifically, we are running a research study about adolescent (age 12-17) social connection and well-being. This project is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and led by Dr. Mengya Xia. We aim to disentangle the multi-faceted constructs of social connection and well-being, as well as their associations, using multiple assessments across contexts. The ultimate goal of our research is to inform prevention/intervention to promote child and adolescent health and well-being in real life. For more information about our projects, please visit https://mengyaxia.wixsite.com/dreamslab/research. We are willing to accept 2-3 students for this project!

Special skills needed

-Detail-oriented and organized 
-Interpersonal and communication skills
-Experience in computer skills, including data analysis softwares (R, SPSS, etc.)
-Experience working with adolescents and parents in school settings 

Majors

-Psychology (specifically developmental, social, and positive)
-Education
-Social and Behavioral Sciences

Years

3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 44

Center name: Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, The Center for Innovation in He…
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Abigail Gómez Morales

Project description

The project consists of a 7-week skill-building intervention for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) who live alone delivered via Zoom. Participants learn about ADRD, the importance of family and friends, communication techniques, relaxation techniques, and self-care, among other topics. Dr. Gómez-Morales leads the project, and we are willing to accept a student.

Special skills needed

Data management (REDCap and SPSS), communication skills for screenings, and other interviews.
Extra skills but not mandatory- being Spanish knowledgeable- able to speak and write

Majors

Nursing and health care related majors

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 46

Center name: Center for Digital Antiquity
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Chris Nicholson

Project description

The student working on this project will work with the Center Director and Lead Software Engineer on making software and coding enhancements to the tDAR repository (https://core.tdar.org/). We are seeking one student for the project.

Special skills needed

Computer programming. Java, Javascript, HTML, Ruby, Solr

Majors

Computer Science

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 51

Center name: Center for Global Health
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Amber Wutich

Project description

AW4A’s goal is to advance water security in Arizona’s most water-insecure households. Our international, interdisciplinary team works under the leadership of MacArthur Fellow, Dr. Amber Wutich. Based on the premise that it is impossible to create meaningful environmental justice impacts in communities without establishing trust and committing to long-haul connections with those communities, we are building a multi-stakeholder network facilitated through a partnership between Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the University of Arizona (U of A) to engage and co-develop projects with water-insecure communities across the state.

At the AW4A network, we expect to create in-person and virtual spaces that allow stakeholders who are experiencing water insecurity to learn from each other, build leadership and advocacy capacity, and enhance existing opportunities for collaboration. Fully integrated into the AW4A team, the Barrett College Fellow will take a leading role in building this collaborative network, developing and implementing the effective relationship building and communication strategies that are vital to its success. This involves hosting workshops and webinars, as well as maintaining newsletters, blogs, graphic creations, and other media tasks to keep our partners and community engaged with our work.

Special skills needed

We are seeking a dynamic student invested in learning how to create and maintain relationships with multiple stakeholders involved in socio-environmental issues (i.e., water security in low-income communities) across Arizona. Skills that are valued are:
Strong written and verbal communication skills that enhance the quality of team and project outputs.
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills to deal with unexpected situations.
A desire to work on complex problems as part of an interdisciplinary team.
Curiosity and learning mindset about stakeholder engagement and community-based research.
Minimum basic understanding of Spanish.
Ability to work with Canva or other graphic design software.
Ability to work with Mailchimp or other newsletter design and distribution software.

Majors

Business, management, marketing, and related support services,
Marketing/marketing management,
Multi-/interdisciplinary studies,
Journalism,
Environmental studies,
Communication sciences and disorders,
Anthropology,
Global Health,
Liberal arts and sciences/liberal studies,
Graphic design,
Digital communication and media/multimedia,
Environmental design/architecture,
Geography,
Environmental/environmental health engineering

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Law, Justice, and Public Service, Art, Architecture, and Design, Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 53

Center name: Communication and Learning Lab
Campus/Location: West
Faculty lead: Jessica Kosie

Project description

Over the first years of life infants learn an incredible amount of new information, but they don’t face this challenge alone. The majority of infants’ development happens during everyday interactions with caregivers, and caregivers’ behavior has a primary influence on infants’ attention and learning. The Communication and Learning Lab, led by Dr. Jessica Kosie, uses a variety of methods, including daylong audio recordings, videorecorded caregiver-infant interactions, parental surveys, neuroscientific methods, and ecologically-informed experiments to characterize infants’ everyday learning environment and examine links to learning outcomes. We are additionally interested in understanding variation in everyday input across families, in different activities contexts (like playtime and mealtime), and across diverse communities (e.g., bilingual or multilingual language learning environments). Barret Fellows will be involved in all aspects of our lab’s research. This includes: participant recruitment, data collection, video coding and audio transcription, data analysis, and communicating the results of our research. Our ideal candidate is interested in early learning and development, excited about being involved in research, able to work independently, and communicates well. We welcome students of all backgrounds, and no prior research experience is required. The lab is located on the West Valley Campus, and all students are expected to work in the lab for approximately six hours a week.

Special skills needed

N/A

Majors

We are open to any students with an interest in infant and child development.

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 54

Center name: Imaging Informatics Research (JLiang Lab)
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Jianming Liang

Project description

This is a set of projects aiming to develop novel methods and systems in artificial intelligence (AI), artificial general intelligence (AGI), and deep learning (DL) towards multimodal medical foundation models for medicine, imaging, and clinical reports (based on ChatGPT/GPT-4, Gemini/Bard, and LLaMA) to support clinical decision-making and facilitate precision medicine. While my lab is working on the brain, heart, lung, skin, eye, and abdomen diseases across modalities (images, lab tests, reports, videos, and audio) you may choose to focus on one particular condition at one specific modality based on your interest. My lab has the infrastructure to accommodate multiple students in this research direction.

Special skills needed

Skills required:
1) Strong programming skills in Python -- you have taken courses in computer science and programming, and have experience in using GitHub;
2) Good understanding of machine (deep) learning -- you have taken courses in machine learning, and gained experience in training AI models;
3) Determination to pursue majors in computer science, computer engineering, data science and analytics, robotics and autonomous systems, software engineering, biomedical informatics, and biomedical engineering;
4) Deep commitment to conducting rigorous experiments to establish state-of-the-art baselines, and
5) Strong desire to publish a paper at a top conference and turn it into a journal article in your first year with my lab.

Majors

Biomedical Informatics and Data Science;
Computer Science;
Computer Engineering;
Robotics and Autonomous Systems;
Data Science, Analytics, and Engineering;
Software Engineering; and
Biomedical Engineering

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 55

Center name: SILC
Campus/Location: Fully remote
Faculty lead: Olga Kellert

Project description

Faculty Lead: SILC
Student Capacity: Up to 5 students
Understanding how opinions are expressed and identifying the words or phrases that convey positivity or negativity is a crucial step in building software capable of automatically predicting sentiment. Such tools are invaluable in industries and decision-making processes, allowing companies and policymakers to respond effectively to public opinions and needs.This project focuses on uncovering linguistic markers of positive and negative opinions. For instance:
• “I don’t like vaccinations” expresses a negative opinion.
• “It’s very important to be vaccinated” conveys a positive opinion.
The aim is to identify single words (e.g., “like,” “important”) or longer phrases (e.g., “very important”) that indicate sentiment. By participating, students will contribute to the foundational work required for sentiment classification software.
Students will analyze a set of text samples, marking words and phrases as positive or negative. This work is not only vital for developing automated sentiment analysis tools but also offers students hands-on experience with linguistic data and insights into computational text analysis.

Special skills needed

Proficiency in English

Majors

Languages, social sciences, computer science

Years

2nd Year Students, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 58

Center name: Simon A Levin Mathematical Computational and Modeling Sciences Center
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Fabio Milner

Project description

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are very common, particularly among 18-to-24-year-olds. It has been observed that they are more common among dating app users than among non-users. If we want to study a possible causal relation or correlation between STI incidence and use of dating apps, we must first know the structure of the sexually active population, hopefully by age and sex. We also need to know the rate at which the various groups considered in the structure acquire new individuals (onset or restart of sexual activity) and the rate at which they lose them (cessation of sexual activity). Building a model for this population will be the first step in the project. The next step will be to build a model for the transmission of STIs across the groups in the sexually active population. This will involve the collection and preparation of data, parameter fitting, research question(s) formulation, experimental design to answer the question(s), and analysis of scenarios. This exciting project will be hands-on, not lecture style. Participants will be responsible for conducting literature reviews, selecting and summarizing articles, discussing and carrying out model formulation, formulating research question(s) and analyzing results that help answer them.

Special skills needed

Quantitative and analytical thinking, Understanding the meaning of and using derivatives and differentiation (calculus 1)

Majors

All

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 59

Center name: Center for Global Health
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Amber Wutich

Project description

Global Health & Water (2-3) Mentor: Dr. Amber Wutich Global Health & Menstruation (2-3) Mentor: Dr. Alexandra Brewis Global Health & Sociolinguistics (1-2) Mentor: Dr. Cindi Sturtz Sreetharan Global Health & Education (1-2) Mentor: Dr. Alissa Ruth Arctic Multi-level Governance (1-2) Shauna BurnSilver

Special skills needed

Research coding, adobe suite, Microsoft suite, google suite

Majors

Global Health, Anthropology, Health Care, Community Engagement, Social Science majors, Health majors in general

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 62

Center name:
Campus/Location: Downtown, Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Megan Pontes

Project description

In a previous study Cultivating a Culture of Generosity: The Impacts on Resourcing Congregations in the United States, I examined how intentionally fostering a culture of generosity in Christian congregations impacts those organizations' abilities to resource themselves financially and with volunteers.

Supported in part through a grant from the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, this new study serves as a continuation of that work. While the previous study centered on the perspectives of faith leaders and their reflections and observations of the organization's culture, this study seeks to gather a more holistic picture through multiple perspectives of those in and around the church. One of the participants in the previous study pastors and is seeking to foster a culture of generosity in two very different congregations. This research entails comparative case studies of two organizations who share the same pastor and yet are demonstrating generosity in different ways. What implications might this have for our understanding of places of worship, culture, and the role of leadership in fostering generosity? Through site visits, semi-structured interviews with elders and members at each church (including the pastor and potentially members of the community), and document analysis, this study will deepen knowledge of how faith leaders cultivate generosity, the impacts on the ability of places of worship to resource themselves, and the impacts of faith and giving in and outside of a church.

Data collection will occur during the summer of 2025. Student(s) assisting with this research would assist in data analysis of the interviews and document analysis (i.e., coding, themes, etc.) and participate in discussions on the strengths and limitations of the study as well as implications for pastoral leaders and religious organizations and future research opportunities.

Special skills needed

Detail oriented, communication skills, curiosity, reflexivity, research skills such as coding welcomed but not required.

Majors

Nonprofit Leadership and Management, Religious Studies, Psychology, Organizational Leadership, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 63

Center name: Sweety Center for Environmental Biotechnology
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz

Project description

We are looking for a student with the ability to work with geospatial information. The student will work with geolocation information of palms and trees in permanent plots in a peatland in the Peruvian Amazon, collected from RTK (Real-time kinematic positioning) GNSS receivers (Emlid REACH 3 and REACH 2+). The positioning data will be used as a method of validation of a previous survey carried out by drones. The person in charge is expected to be able to learn post-processing of field information, and subsequently generate some classification models related to other biological and environmental variables.

Special skills needed

- Have taken courses related to remote sensing, GIS, and knowing how projections work.
- Knowledge of GPS principles.
- Knowledge of a GIS environment (ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap, QGIS).
- Have taken courses in statistics and data analysis involving classification methods. Know the principles of how to train and validate a model.
- Be proficient in Python or R, or some programming language with which they can generate replicable classification models.

Majors

Nonprofit Leadership and Management, Religious Studies, Psychology, Organizational Leadership, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 64

Center name: Center for Science and the Imagination
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Ed Finn

Project description

The Center for Science and the Imagination is building a community climate futures project with the town of Guadalupe. Students joining this project will participate in a collaborative research program working with elders and high school students in the Guadalupe community to imagine resilient, positive futures in the face of climate change and other challenges. Activities will include designing and implementing monthly activities for community members to imagine hopeful futures and connect community heritage and history to aspirational goals for the future. Some examples of previous workshop themes include quilting and fabric arts, visual arts, cooking, music. This work draws on methodologies from the fields of design research (such as co-design and speculative design), foresight and futures (including trend analysis and worldbuilding), and the humanities (speculative fiction and personal narratives). Students will support the project through ideation and implementation, community engagement, data analysis, and sharing of research findings with the Guadalupe community and other audiences.

Special skills needed

Required: Collaboration, communication, creativity, reliability, and a sense of adventure
Interest in community-based work, futures foresight

Majors

All majors are encouraged to apply

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Education, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 68

Center name: Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Campus/Location: Downtown, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Rachel Gur-Arie

Project description

Our lab aims to provide a more ethics-forward, in-depth understanding of public health, ethics, and healthcare. We focus on investigating the influence of religion and spirituality on vaccine hesitancy and the tension that may exist for religious healthcare workers in the United States. We also draw attention to the health equity and ethical concerns that the intersection of genomic medicine and infectious disease research raises in federally qualified health centers, which provide primary care to under-resourced patients in medically underserved communities in the U.S. Through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, our lab has worked closely with diverse communities and healthcare providers, to gain insightful knowledge on how to develop more ethical practices.

Special skills needed

Skill in effective communication, both verbal and written. Knowledge of modern research methods, data collection, and analyses. Proficient in critical thinking, time management, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.

Majors

No specific major is required.

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 70

Center name: Active Schools & Communities Lab
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Allison Poulos

Project description

Join Dr. Poulos in the College of Health Solutions and an interdisciplinary research team to support our local communities to make the streets safer for walking, riding, and rolling. On this project, you would assist with data collection including conducting surveys and environmental assessments of street and neighborhood conditions, tallying pedestrian and vehicular traffic counts, data management, and dissemination of results. Our project will measure changes in behavior and attitudes after the installation of protected bike lanes, and provide a great opportunity for hands-on, community-based research with community partners in government and non-profit spaces.

Special skills needed

Interest in health, sustainability, safety, design; Interest in community-based work; Preferred availability on Wednesdays or Thursdays

Majors

Health Education, Health Promotion, Public Health, Population Health, Kinesiology, Health Sciences, Engineering, Architecture, Design, Sustainability, Psychology, Education

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Engineering, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 71

Center name: Active Schools & Communities Lab
Campus/Location: Downtown, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Allison Poulos

Project description

Join Dr. Allison Poulos in the College of Health Solutions and an interdisciplinary student and faculty group working on a joint project with the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to promote children's health in schools. Our team works with ADHS and ADE to administer a statewide survey to schools in Arizona to understand which schools have supportive wellness and physical activity policies and practices, and which schools need more assistance. Our Barrett Fellows assist with data management, data analysis, and dissemination of results. The goal of our project is to translate evidence from our survey directly to school administrators, champions, and policymakers to support children's health.

Special skills needed

Interest in learning about OR experience working with large amounts of data; Preferred availability on Thursdays

Majors

Public Health, Health Sciences, Population Health, Education, Social Work, Public Service, Communication, Family and Social Dynamics

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 72

Center name: Active Schools & Communities Lab
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Allison Poulos

Project description

Interested in helping schools make informed decisions to support physical activity when it's hot? Join our study to learn about the strategies used and challenges schools face; and collect data to identify thermal exposure among children playing in different schoolyard environments. This project will include collecting some primary data at schools in the Phoenix region and working with existing data. Our team collaborates and supports other labs at ASU including Dr. Vanos' Human Biometeorology Lab and Dr. Middel's SHaDE lab.

Special skills needed

Interest in learning about OR experience with data collection (observations, interviews, environmental sensoring); Data entry; Data analysis; Creating reports/presentations; Preferred availability on Wednesdays

Majors

Health Education, Health Promotion, Public Health, Population Health, Kinesiology, Health Sciences, Engineering, Architecture, Design, Sustainability, Psychology, Education

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Education, Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 73

Center name: Participatory Governance Initiative
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Daniel Schugurensky

Project description

This project consists of an analysis of youth participation in institutional spaces in the Phoenix metropolitan area with a focus on three case studies: school participatory budgeting, youth advisory council (municipal level) and student government at the college level. For each case study, the project will start with three questions: a) who participate; b) how do they participate; and c) what for?
Different levels and types of participation will be examined, considering key demographic variables of participants.
The study will also include process and impact evaluation.

Special skills needed

Ability to collect, analyze and interpret data,
Ability to conduct interviews and focus groups,
Familiarity with youth engagement, especially youth advisory councils (municipal level) and student government (college level).

Majors

Public service, Public policy, Political science, Education, Justice studies

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 74

Center name: ASU Social Media Observatory
Campus/Location: Fully remote
Faculty lead: Bryan Henderson

Project description

This research seeks to identify trends in how students make sense of science-related information (e.g., climate change; COVID vaccinations) through social media, and then informed by these trends, design classroom interventions to support students in more critically evaluating the different ways science information is spread throughout digital social networks like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.

My research team has been developing classroom activities for middle school students designed to help them think more critically about the science-related information they encounter on social media. For example, we have been developing classroom activities where students have to make sense of conflicting evidence about climate change being shared by two different hypothetical accounts on social media. These activities are being delivered to students through a classroom technology I created called Braincandy.

I would gladly welcome 1-3 Barrett College Fellows that are interested in helping further the development of these social media classroom activities and assist with pilot testing them at local schools.

Special skills needed

While all necessary skills can be trained during the research itself, some experience with digital content creation (e.g., graphic design; presentation creation; image editing) is desirable. A genuine interest in education and/or science-related issues is also a plus.

Majors

This research is at the intersection of science/technology, psychology/sociology, and education. Hence, this opportunity is relevant to many different academic majors. We seek students concerned with social media misinformation and interested in helping address the issue through the development of classroom materials that support more critical sensemaking of information shared on social media networks.

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Education, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 78

Center name: SILC
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Olga Kellert

Project description

This project examines how social backgrounds influence the understanding of COVID-19 information disseminated by high-impact news outlets in Peru and Ecuador. Using data collected from indigenous and non-indigenous communities, the study employs interdisciplinary methods, including statistical analyses, to evaluate belief states and their alignment with news content (Reference Corpus).

Honor students will analyze the dataset (provided in Excel) to determine whether knowledge about virus treatment varies by cultural, linguistic, age, or gender differences. They will also contextualize their findings within broader social and cultural research frameworks. This project offers students a practical, hands-on experience in quantitative analysis while emphasizing the integration of cultural contexts into data interpretation.

Special skills needed

Familiarity with quantitative data analysis techniques and tools (e.g., Excel, R, or Python). Basic understanding of research methods, particularly in social sciences. Cultural sensitivity and interest in working with diverse populations and data. Understand Spanish or use Google Translate.

Majors

Social and Behavioral sciences, Data analytics/Statistics

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 79

Center name: School of Complex Adaptive Systems
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Enrico Borriello

Project description

A key focus of complexity studies is understanding how interactions within dynamic networks give rise to emergent complexity and behaviors. By joining this project, the student will have the opportunity to explore the fundamental principles of network theory, including key concepts and quantitative metrics for analyzing network properties at both global and local scales. They will apply mathematical models and computational tools to investigate the structure and dynamics of complex systems across a variety of real-world domains, ranging from biological to social and technological networks.

Specifically, the student will gain the tools to identify network motifs associated with the directional transfer of information and uncover how these motifs relate to overall network functionality and behavior. This project provides a data-driven approach to tackling complexity science problems, integrating analytical methodologies with Python-based computational tools.

Special skills needed

Basic understanding of calculus, probability and statistics, and Python.

Majors

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 81

Center name: Center for Indian Education
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Brooke Curleyhair

Project description

This project focuses on the development of a culturally relevant and responsive educational (CRRE) curriculum for grades 6-12 that examines the history of American Indian boarding schools in the Southwest U.S. The curriculum will address the legacies of colonialism and assimilation policies, as well as the intergenerational trauma caused by boarding school systems, which have disrupted cultural continuity and created barriers to educational success for Indigenous youth. The goal is to reconnect students with Indigenous histories specific to the Southwest, challenging dominant narratives in mainstream education.

The curriculum will integrate primary sources, including Indigenous voices, and encourage critical engagement with issues such as sovereignty, power dynamics, and the consequences of education policies. It is designed to help Indigenous students feel pride and belonging, while offering all students the opportunity to explore historical injustices and their ongoing impact.

The faculty lead is Dr. Jessica Solyom, Associate Director for the Center for Indian Education, along with CIE Policy Analyst, Brooke Curleyhair. Together, they will guide the development and implementation of this curriculum, ensuring it meets state-mandated educational standards while fostering critical inquiry and action-oriented lessons.

Special skills needed

- Strong research and critical thinking skills
- Interest in Indigenous education, history, or policy
- Ability to analyze and synthesize primary sources
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Familiarity with culturally responsive pedagogy (preferred but not required)
- Basic curriculum development skills or interest in curriculum design
- Knowledge of or willingness to learn about American Indian boarding schools and their impact

Majors

Education, History, Indigenous Studies, Public Policy, Sociology, Humanities, Anthropology, Social Work, Journalism

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 83

Center name: Global Center for Applied Health Research
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Flavio Marsiglia

Project description

Directed by Dr. Flavio Marsiglia, the Research Communication and Dissemination Assistant will support the Global Center by enhancing its research dissemination and public health education strategy through social media content strategy, marketing materials and reports. Ideal for a student interested in public health education, health communication, social media marketing and/or public relations.

Special skills needed

Public health communication, social media, graphic design, report writing, journalism

Majors

Graphic design, journalism, communications, public health

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 84

Center name: Global Center for Applied Health Research
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Stephen Kulis

Project description

Led by Dr. Stephen Kulis, the Parenting in 2 Worlds (P2W) project addresses health disparities in urban American Indian/Alaska Native families. The research aims to identify if positive changes in parenting lead to improved youth health, providing crucial insights for community prevention interventions in urban AI communities. The student assistant will assist in data analysis, literature reviews, and researching relevant areas of the project to increase dissemination and research impact.

Special skills needed

Detail-oriented, excellent communication skills, ability to work in a team environment, entry-level data entry skills, literature review or literature research , academic writing, meeting minutes , editing and graphic design.

Majors

Social work, Public Health, Global health, American Indian Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Public Policy. We are open to other majors as well.

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 87

Center name: Views of Aging, Health, & Well-Being Lab
Campus/Location: Downtown, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Hannah Giasson

Project description

Dr. Giasson’s lab examines the social and environmental contexts that shape views of aging and the impact of such views on people’s health and well-being. Students in the lab will have opportunities to collaborate on research projects investigating the emergence of attitudes and beliefs about aging and evaluating the cognitive, behavioral, social, emotional, and physiological implications of age stereotypes. Projects in the lab also explore potential ways to improve views of aging across the life span.

Special skills needed

Strong verbal & written communication, well-organized, willingness to learn & adapt, experience with data analysis especially welcomed

Majors

Psychology, Nursing, Community Health, Integrative Health, Social Work, Biological Sciences, Communications/Journalism, Pre-Medicine, Sociology, Health & Wellness, Public Health, Health Sciences & Medical Studies, Human Development

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 89

Center name: Global Center for Applied Health Research
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Sun Lee

Project description

The Keeping it REAL (KiR) project aims to reduce substance use among adolescents in Mexico and address related negative outcomes such as violence. Under the supervision of Dr. Sun Lee, the research assistant will support the project by conducting literature reviews, assisting with data cleaning, and contributing to dissemination efforts to maximize research impact. This position provides an opportunity for students interested in prevention science, public health, and community-based interventions to support efforts in promoting adolescent well-being.

Special skills needed

Detail-oriented, excellent communication skills, ability to work in a team environment, entry-level data entry skills, literature review or literature research, academic writing, meeting minutes and editing.

Majors

Social work, Public Health, Global health, Psychology, Sociology, Public Policy. We are open to other majors as well.

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 90

Center name:
Campus/Location: Fully remote
Faculty lead: Chelsea Reynolds

Project description

We seek two Barrett College Fellows to conduct humanistic and/or social science research focused on representations of marginalized communities and media subcultures. The fellows will advance critical media studies questions about the intersections of mass communication, race, gender, sexuality, disability, and social class.

As part of the Cronkite School’s new Center for Culture & Inclusion in Media (CCIM), the Barrett fellows will gain hands-on experience developing literature reviews, framing research questions, and empirically analyzing media texts for their political and social constructions of difference. Fellows should be familiar with qualitative research methods.

There are multiple papers currently in development: 1) a content analysis of newspaper coverage of Drag Queen Story Hour bans; 2) a grounded theory of Latinx mental health influencer content, 3) an exploratory study of LGBTQ+ gun rights discourse online; and 4) a lyrical analysis of masculinity in the Drake vs. Kendrick rap battles.

Projects will vary based on grant funding and journal calls for papers. Barrett fellows will work remotely to assist the director, affiliate faculty members, and doctoral research assistants.

The faculty mentor is the CCIM Director, Chelsea Reynolds, Ph.D. Reach out with any questions: chelsea.j.reynolds@asu.edu.

Special skills needed

- Comfortable working with and writing about subcultures and marginalized communities.
- Must show sensitivity toward difficult topics, such as race, gender, sexuality, ability status, and social class.
- Experience as a student journalist and/or experience working with qualitative data.
- Strong writer.
- Confident working remotely as part of a virtual team.

Majors

Journalism and Mass Communication; Mass Communication and Media Studies; Social and Cultural Analysis; Communication; Sociology; Gender Women & Sexuality Studies; African and African American Studies; American Indian Studies

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 91

Center name:
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Tracy Perkins

Project description

Environmental Justice Wikipedia Project: Conduct background research to identify strong source material for new articles about US environmental justice activists on Wikipedia. Student will be trained in finding and evaluating source material. Depending on student interest and ability, student may edit existing Wikipedia articles on environmental justice activists.

Environmental Justice Oral History collection: Edit transcripts of oral history interviews with environmental justice activists to prepare them for public release. Student will be trained in the editing process.

Perkins is faculty lead for all of the above. Depending on student interests and project needs, students could be assigned to either of these projects.

Special skills needed

Detail oriented
Responsible and reliable

All project skills can be taught, but familiarity with social movements, environmental justice, library sciences, racism and other forms of social inequality, oral history, literature reviews, Wikipedia and/or archiving is a plus.

Majors

Most humanities and social science degrees will be appropriate. Particularly useful degrees include: Justice Studies, Transborder Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian Pacific American Studies, African and African American Studies, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Sociology, History and American Studies.

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students, 2nd Year Students, First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 93

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking 3-4 interns to curate regionally-relevant, engaging, and educational Wikipedia articles to add to our offline digital libraries that are used around the globe. Wikipedia for Schools (WFS) is a curated selection of ~7,000 articles from the full Wikipedia article catalog that are meant to be school-friendly and support existing curriculum. The SolarSPELL initiative includes WFS as a collection of our offline, digital libraries, which are localized for the community using them. As such, further review of WFS is necessary to assess what new articles to include and what articles to (perhaps) weed out in order to be as relevant as possible to our in-country library users around the world. This project would require research into relevant supporting materials for curricula where SolarSPELL currently has libraries, including countries in the Pacific Islands, East Africa, and Southern Africa. Students proficient in Arabic may also work on the Arabic WFS for our Northeast Syria library.

Special skills needed

- Ability to conduct research
- Thrive in a team environment and work well with others
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 94

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking students to curate regionally-relevant, open access, educational content for our Middle East library collection that is currently used in the Autonomous Region of North and East Syria (AANES). Proficiency in Arabic, Kurdish, OR Syriac is required. The Arabic collection on our digital library currently includes over 1500 resources. Students in this role will oversee the expansion and further development of the Arabic collection for use in North and East Syria and beyond. This is the first library to curate local content in three languages: Arabic, Kurdish, and Syriac. More information about our partnership with AANES can be found here: https://solarspell.org/rebuilding-education-during-conflict.

Special skills needed

- Arabic, Kurdish, or Syriac proficiency
- Thrive in a team environment and work well with others
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 95

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Tempe, Fully remote, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking enthusiastic interns with a passion for French, education, and community development to help curate culturally relevant, open-access educational content for our newest French language library, set to empower communities in West Africa. Students will work closely with the SolarSPELL team to prioritize content needs and address feedback. This opportunity allows for in-depth research on the cultural, linguistic, and educational contexts of West African / Sub-Saharan African countries, with a preliminary focus on Senegal, Cameroon, and/or Benin.

Special skills needed

- Strong written and verbal communication skills in both French and English.
- Thrive in a team environment and work well with others
- Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
- Experience with online research, document curation, or working with open access resources.
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 97

Center name: OASIS Learning Futures Collaborative; Mary Lou Fulton College
Campus/Location: Tempe
Faculty lead: Erin Rotheram-Fuller

Project description

We can support up to four students for this project where we are using drama during story time to increase communication, engagement and literacy skills for preschool aged children who are minimally verbal.

Special skills needed

Good organizational skills, enjoy watching and playing with young children, interest in understanding disabilities and early education engagement strategies, and attention to detail!

Majors

This would be ideal for students in the social sciences and education majors. We have several parts of the project that students can take part in, from play-based assessments in schools, to online coding of classroom videos. There is also an opportunity to build and use databases, and assist in analyses for those who are interested (but not required!). This is also an ideal match for students from any field who are interested in learning more about children with disabilities.

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences, Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Health and Wellness, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 99

Center name: SolarSPELL
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Tempe, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Laura Hosman

Project description

SolarSPELL is seeking a music production intern to assist in the editing and production of songs that reflect the mission and values of our global educational initiative. The final product(s) will be used in various media and outreach initiatives, enhancing our organization's branding and storytelling efforts. This role offers the unique opportunity to apply music editing skills in a meaningful way, contributing to an organization that aims to improve access to education in resource-constrained regions to children around the world.

Special skills needed

- Experience in music production, including audio editing, mixing, and mastering
- Proficiency in music production software
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to work independently while meeting deadlines
- Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world

Majors

All majors

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 111

Center name: Thinking Across Languages and Contexts (TALC) Lab
Campus/Location: West, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Alex Carstensen

Project description

Do speakers of different languages think about the world in qualitatively different ways, or do they just talk about it differently? How do children learn to understand abstract ideas, like similarity or time, and how do their day-to-day experiences with language and culture shape their cognitive development?

This research investigates similarities and differences in cognition between kids and adults from different contexts, as a function of the language(s) they speak and the cultures they have experience with. Our studies involve interactive puzzle games like guessing how to make a music box play or identifying a hidden picture, and open-ended play, like drawing pictures on a tablet. We use responses in these games to infer the structure of our participants’ concepts, and identify influences from language, culture, and other experiences.

Fellows will be instrumental in recruiting participants and collecting data from speakers of their language, including English! Data collection will occur on campus in our lab testing space and off campus at schools, museums, and other organizations like the Desert Botanical Garden. The ideal candidate is motivated, organized, excellent at working independently, and passionate about science and research in general.

Special skills needed

- We are currently seeking applicants who are fluent speakers of English, Spanish, Korean, Hindi, Telugu, and Gujarati, but bilinguals in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and other languages are also encouraged to apply.
- Multilingual and multicultural students are particularly encouraged to apply, especially those with Asian or Indigenous American heritage (in any part of the Americas: north, central, and south).
- Fellows wanting to work with kids should have extensive experience with young children, ages 3-8 years, though this may be in formal (e.g., daycare, summer camp) or informal (family) settings.
- Experience with R, javascript, php, and other programming languages is a bonus.
- Applicants must be available to run studies and participate in lab activities at least 10 hours per week.

Majors

Psychology, linguistics, education, data science, sociology, anthropology, interdisciplinary studies

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Education, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 112

Center name: School of Politics and Global Studies
Campus/Location: Unknown
Faculty lead: Iris Acquarone

Project description

Political backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives poses a significant challenge to social progress and democratic stability. This project investigates the dynamics of backlash across Western democracies, focusing on Western Europe and the Americas, including the U.S. and Latin America. It examines how sociodemographic, cultural, and economic factors—along with the extent of inclusivity—shape responses to progressive DEI measures and potentially trigger backlash.

Drawing on a combination of observational data and original survey experiments, this research explores these patterns and evaluates interventions aimed at reducing backlash and depolarizing attitudes toward DEI agendas. The findings will provide insights into how different contexts and policies influence inclusivity’s acceptance or rejection.

I am seeking 3-4 undergraduate research assistants (RAs) to contribute to data collection, literature reviews, and analysis. This opportunity offers hands-on experience in political science research methods, data analysis, and experimental design while engaging with critical issues at the intersection of identity, inclusion, and political behavior.

Special skills needed

1. Interest in Political Science and Social Issues: Curiosity about diversity, equity, inclusion, and political behavior.
2. Willingness to Learn Research Methods: Openness to developing skills in literature reviews, data collection, and analysis.
3. Basic Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with or interest in learning tools like Excel, R, or Stata for data management and analysis.
4. Strong Communication Skills: Ability to write clearly and collaborate effectively; enthusiasm for improving these skills through mentorship.
5. Attention to Detail: A keen eye for accuracy and consistency, with guidance and support provided.
6. Motivation and Curiosity: Eagerness to engage in research tasks and explore new ideas, regardless of prior experience.
7. Flexibility and Teamwork: Willingness to work collaboratively and adapt to different tasks as needed.

Majors

Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Economics, Public Policy, Data Science, Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, International Relations, Anthropology, Communications, Statistics, Social Work, Computer Science.

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 116

Center name: Dr. Danbi Seo's research project
Campus/Location: Downtown, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Danbi Seo

Project description

Capacity building is widely regarded as essential for strengthening nonprofit organizations. Strong capacity helps nonprofits to achieve their missions, adapt to external challenges, and increase long-term sustainability. Researchers and policymakers frequently advocate for capacity-building initiatives, yet the concept remains a broad and often ambiguous buzzword. Despite its prominence in nonprofit management discourse, little is known about how nonprofit practitioners themselves interpret and implement capacity-building efforts in practice.

This research projects attempts to bridge this gap by examining how nonprofit managers and practitioners define, experience, and prioritize capacity building within their organizations. To understand the diverse ways capacity building is understood and operationalized, the research team will conduct interviews and focus groups with nonprofit professionals across various domains. Barrett fellows will be responsible for helping data collection and analysis in this process. The findings are expected to offer valuable insights for scholars, funders, and policymakers aiming to support meaningful capacity-building efforts tailored to the realities of nonprofit organizations.

Special skills needed

-Analytical thinking and ability to synthesize information from multiple sources
-Experience and/or interest in qualitative research methods (e.g., interviews, focus groups)
-Familiarity with nonprofit management, capacity building, or organizational studies would be a plus.
-Attention to details; time management skills; strong ethical standards to handle confidential research data

Majors

Nonprofit management, public affairs, business management, or social science broadly

Years

2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Business and Entrepreneurship, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 117

Center name: Sustainable Critical Minerals and Communities
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Datu Buyung Agusdinata

Project description

Deep-sea mining (DSM) refers to activities to extract minerals such as nickel, copper, cobalt, and rare earths from the ocean floor up to 6000 m in depth. It has emerged as a contentious frontier in resource extraction that promises access to valuable critical minerals while raising significant environmental, social, and ethical concerns. The project aims to gauge public perception of DSM, particularly in regions directly linked to its operations. The project will use a socio-ecological, and technological systems (SETS) framework and employ Q-methodology, a qualitative-quantitative approach that reveals the subjective viewpoints of participants. In collaboration with the Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), the study will focus on countries in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, regions where DSM activity and its potential impacts are particularly relevant. The Q-methodology will involve engaging diverse stakeholders to identify shared and contrasting perspectives that provide nuanced insights into public attitudes.

Special skills needed

Statistical and data analysis, system thinking, psychology and human behavior

Majors

Psychology, Sociology, Sustainability, Statistics

Years

3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 118

Center name: School of Transborder Studies
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person, Tempe
Faculty lead: Irasema Coronado

Project description

The Minority Women in Arizona Politics project aims to amplify the voices and experiences of women from minority backgrounds engaged in both formal and informal political arenas across Arizona. This initiative focuses on capturing diverse perspectives from urban centers and rural areas alike, shedding light on their roles, challenges, and contributions to Arizona’s political landscape.

Students participating in the project will play an integral role in data collection and analysis. To ensure ethical research practices, all students will complete Institutional Review Board (IRB) training. They will then administer questionnaires to participants using various methods, including in-person, virtual, online, and phone interviews. This flexible approach allows for broad participation and ensures the inclusion of voices from geographically and socially diverse communities.

In addition to conducting interviews, students will contribute to a comprehensive literature review on minority women in politics, providing critical context for the project findings. This research aims to explore systemic barriers, highlight achievements, and identify pathways for increased representation and participation of minority women in Arizona’s political processes.

By combining academic research with community engagement, the project aspires to create a deeper understanding of the political dynamics influencing minority women in Arizona, ultimately informing strategies for more equitable political representation.

Special skills needed

Research Skills

Majors

Any major in social sciences and humanities

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online, Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work)

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 120

Center name: Water Equity Lab
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Maura Allaire

Project description

The Water Equity Lab within the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (SGSUP) is launching a multidisciplinary study of how climate and governance shape access to adequate water and wastewater services. Little is known about the social dimensions of onsite infrastructure or how climate change will impact such systems. Regional modeling will examine the effectiveness of state, county, and local policies; findings can identify practices that enable resilience of wastewater systems under more frequent and extreme precipitation events.

Special skills needed

Strong analysis skills, including statistical modeling and/or spatial analysis. Interest in water infrastructure and/or environmental policy.

Majors

Sustainability, Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Economics, Business Management, Computer Science

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Data Analytics and Mathematics, Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability

Project # 123

Center name: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts…
Campus/Location: West, Fully remote
Faculty lead: Tricia Redeker Hepner

Project description

This project engages ethnographic methods (interviewing, focus groups, observant participation) and policy-related research to document the intersection and impact of policies and practices governing gender and immigration in the US and abroad.

Special skills needed

Knowledge/grasp/appreciation of relevant conceptual literature in the social sciences and/or humanities regarding gender/gender identity/sexuality, and immigration/refugee status. Excellent oral communication and writing skills. Experience conducting, transcribing, and analyzing interviews a plus. Experience/interest in policy and legislative research also a plus.

Majors

Anthropology, Communication, Sociology, Journalism, Justice Studies, Social Justice and Human Rights, Transborder Studies, Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies and related fields

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Law, Justice, and Public Service, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 126

Center name: 24h Behaviors Laboratory
Campus/Location: Downtown
Faculty lead: Matthew Buman

Project description

The 24h Behaviors Laboratory currently has two NIH-clinical trials, StandUPTV Habits and Stand & Move at Work.

StandUPTV Habits is a smartphone app intervention focused on reducing total sedentary screen time in adults and understanding its relationship with chronic disease risk.

Stand & Move at Work is a worksite intervention testing the impact of sit-stand workstations to improve cardiometabolic health, decrease sitting and increase light-intensity physical activity in the workplace.

Students will support participant recruitment, and data collection, set up wearable devices, and provide suppThe 24-Hour Behaviors Laboratory is currently conducting two NIH clinical trials: StandUPTV Habits and Stand & Move at Work.

StandUPTV Habits is a smartphone app intervention aimed at reducing overall sedentary screen time in adults while examining its relationship with chronic disease risk.

Stand & Move at Work is a worksite intervention that tests the impact of sit-stand workstations on improving cardiometabolic health. This study focuses on decreasing sitting time and increasing light-intensity physical activity in the workplace.

Students involved in these projects will assist with participant recruitment, data collection, the setup of wearable devices, and providing support to participants.

Special skills needed

Prior research experience is not required for students; however, they should possess excellent attention to detail, be self-motivated, work effectively both independently and as part of a team, demonstrate outstanding communication skills, and maintain participant confidentiality at all times.

Majors

Students looking to obtain clinical research experience are encouraged to apply.

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students, 4th Year Students- Seniors

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Health and Wellness, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 127

Center name: Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies
Campus/Location: Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Keith Brown

Project description

The Melikian Center is part of the Content Advisory Group for the USS Phoenix Cold War monument and memorial, under design for the Steele Indian School park in Phoenix. Providing research, writing and other logistic support, this project seeks students with interests in Cold War history, non-profit organization, city administration, education or art and design. The project would include liaising with designers, educators, historians and technical writers to curate historical content for panels that will provide context for visitors to a new monument centered on the remains of the USS Phoenix, an attack submarine that was in service during the Cold War. For more see https://www.ussphoenixmonument.org/

Special skills needed

Interest in historical interpretation, Writing and research skills, Interest in working collaboratively, User-centered design, Interest in military history, and or memorialization

Majors

American Studies, Applied Military and Veteran Studies, Architectural Studies, Business (Tourism), Communication, English, Global Studies, History, International Relations, Military Studies, Public Policy (Parks and Recreation Management), Urban Planning, User Experience

Years

ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work) 3rd Year Students 4th Year Students- Seniors 2nd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 128

Center name: Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies
Campus/Location: Tempe, Downtown
Faculty lead: Keith Brown

Project description

This new oral history project will document the history of the State Partnership Program (SPP), a National Guard-led program which has linked Arizona to Kazakhstan since 1993. The Arizona and Kazakhstan partnership is one of the original 13 partnerships of the program, which now includes over 100 countries. The concept for this project emerged during an Arizona delegation visit to Kazakhstan in Fall 2024, and has the support of leadership of AZ National Guard. ASU has provided cultural training and support for the Program since 2018, and this research project builds in that relationship. The goal is to produce both scholarly and public-facing products (including for example interviews and transcripts, storymaps, podcasts and blog articles, as well as a potential short book). This would be suitable for development into a Barrett honors project, and be of interest to students with interests in civil-military relations, citizen diplomacy, Central Asian politics and culture and oral history.

Special skills needed

Interest in oral history, Interview design and implementation skills, Project management, Experience with digital media recording, editing

Majors

American Studies, Russian, Applied Military and Veteran Studies, International Relations, Global Studies, History, Education, English, Communication

Years

First Year Students (new to ASU Fall 2025), 2nd Year Students, 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Education, Humanities, Journalism, Communication, and Mass Media, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Project # 129

Center name: CACTUS Music Lab
Campus/Location: Tempe, Flexible to remote and/or in-person
Faculty lead: Lindsey Reymore

Project description

The qualities and characteristics of sounds—what sounds sound like—are fundamental to musical experience. These attributes constitute timbre, sometimes also referred to as “tone color.” The aim of the current project is to better understand cognitive representations of musical timbre through a study of timbre description run in parallel across multiple languages and locations using a single, unified protocol. Identification of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural consistencies and inconsistencies will provide insight into which dimensions of timbral meaning may be physiologically based, and which may be more strongly influenced by learning.

Faculty lead: Dr. Lindsey Reymore
Accepting 1 student

Special skills needed

relevant skills: data analysis, coding in R, familiarity in running/analyzing behavioral studies, fluency in a language other than English or study of one or more languages, interest or experience in music

*I don't expect students to have all these skills, just listing what is relevant!

Majors

psychology, music, linguistics, any languages (eg French, Spanish, etc)

Years

4th Year Students- Seniors, ASU Online Barrett Honors Students (fully remote work), 3rd Year Students

Themes

Cross-listed with the following themes:

Art, Architecture, and Design, Social and Behavioral Sciences