First CCE research fellows named

First CCE research fellows named

BY JESSICA JOHNS POOL
Special to the Rice News

The Center for Civic Engagement at Rice University has chosen its first class of research fellows. Each fellow will receive $4,000 to conduct research that is faculty-supervised and conducted in collaboration with a Houston-based community partner.

”All of these students were chosen because their project would produce research of substantial benefit to the Houston community,” said Stephanie Post, executive director of the center. ”It’s our goal to help Rice students develop into more holistic adults as well as promote undergraduate research.”

The inaugural class of fellows includes a variety of experience in research, ages, majors and community benefactors:

Robert Dahnke will work with the Houston Police Department to analyze the impact of red light cameras in the City of Houston. Dahnke is a Martel College junior majoring in political science. His faculty adviser is Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science.

Linh Dan Do will partner with Page Southerland Page and the Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy to gather community feedback and then design a public park at the Willow Waterhole Detention Basin in southwest Houston. Do is a Martel senior majoring in art history and architecture. She is supervised by Dawn Finley, assistant professor of architecture.

Kimberly Jones will study the correlation between socioeconomic status and the likelihood of flood damage through the Texas Medical Center. Jones in a junior majoring in civil and environmental engineering and resides at Baker College. Her adviser is Philip Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering.

Kirsten Jones, a sophomore from Sid Richardson College majoring in anthropology, will examine how free Internet access impacts residents of Pecan Park, a low-income neighborhood in East Houston. Her community partner is Technology for All and she will be advised by Chris Kelty, assistant professor of anthropology. Internet access will be provided by the TFA-Rice Wireless Mesh Development.

Alley Lyles will study both residents’ and developers’ perspectives of gentrification in Houston’s Second Ward neighborhood. Her research will be conducted in partnership with El Centro De Corazon and her adviser is Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology. Lyles is a Martel College junior majoring in sociology.

Susan Wu will investigate the reluctance of private physicians to switch from paper to electronic medical records with her community partner, Dr. Marc Silverstein. She will be supervised by Chris Bronk, a fellow at Rice’s James a. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. Wu is a freshman from Jones College and is majoring in economics.

The CCE program is designed to engage undergraduate students in the community as well as learn sound research and design skills that will solve real-world problems. To learn more, visit <www.cce.rice.edu> or call Post at 713-348-4327.