Elyssa Collins hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains after a SWOT lake validation field campaign. (Submitted photo)

Today, Collins works with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at the University of Maryland. She combines computer models with huge volumes of satellite data to better understand the world’s water resources.

When she entered Carolina as an undergraduate, Collins first thought she might follow a pre-med path, but the Earth itself proved more compelling. “I love seeing different components of the environment,” she said. “I wanted to have a better scientific understanding of the Earth’s processes, so I decided to pursue a degree in geology.”

During those years, Collins competed in women’s freestyle skiing as a member of the Carolina ski and snowboard team. She also joined a few research teams as an undergraduate researcher. While she enjoyed working on a study reconstructing sea surface temperatures from millions of years ago by studying seashell fossils, she realized she was drawn to the bigger picture — a much bigger picture.

Collins in the French Pyrenees, before going to a SWOT team meeting in Arachon, France. (Submitted photo)

“I became more interested in remote sensing, which means satellite data,” she said. She sought out Carolina researchers leading projects using geographic information systems (GIS) data and worked on a study using satellite data to examine vegetation greening and browning in West Africa and another one that aimed to better understand global ozone levels.

UNC-Chapel Hill’s robust opportunities for undergraduate research helped her thrive in her journey. “I found professors who were doing research that I was interested in, and then I sent them an email asking if they were looking for undergraduates to help with research projects.”

Choosing geological sciences as a major required her to attend a summer “geology field camp.” She and a fellow student spent five weeks traveling around the American Southwest, making geological maps for assigned locations, and camping every night. “Every day, we would wake up at 5:30 in the morning, hike for 12 hours, all off trail, mapping out the location geologically,” she said. “Then we would come back to camp, do our homework, and repeat it the next day.”

Collins has a knack for spreadsheet applications and computer programming languages.

“I realized my brain is more suited for data analysis,” she said. “When it’s an application that I’m actually interested in learning a lot more about, then I’m willing to put in the effort to try to understand how it works.”

After she earned her bachelor’s degree in geological sciences, Collins applied to a doctoral program at NC State University, where she was introduced to hydrology. “They were trying to understand how various future climate scenarios would impact how human populations might redistribute due to climate’s impacts,” she said. “I started working on that project, and my role was to understand current and future flood risk.”

And that project led her back to Chapel Hill, when, as a postdoctoral researcher, she joined Tamlin Pavelsky’s lab in the department of earth, marine and environmental sciences, working on using surface water and ocean topography (SWOT) satellite data and its application to rivers and lakes.

Though she is on staff at the University of Maryland, Collins has returned to Durham, where she works remotely and can, once again, experience a river system from much closer than an orbiting satellite does.

“I love fresh water; I love going to the Eno and swimming. Any time I can get into a freshwater lake or river, I’m happy.”

By Claire Cusick (M.A. ’21)

The post Going with the flow appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

As a student at Carolina in the 1990s, Jim Mahaney ’97 was the first undergraduate student to work in the machine shop in Sitterson Hall. He now teaches students like junior Lilly Gann (right) and senior Sofia Morais (left) in COMP 290 in the same spot. (Photo by Jeyhoun Allebaugh/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Jim Mahaney ’97 grew up solving problems with his hands. Rather than turning to a mechanic or plumber to solve a household problem, he learned to fix it himself.

That same mentality inspired Mahaney, director of research and engineering in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ computer science department, to launch COMP 290: Introduction to Applied Engineering.

The course takes place at the Experimental Engineering Lab in Sitterson Hall and provides students with basic metalworking and fabrication skills. With Mahaney’s guidance, they learn how to operate metal lathes, milling machines and welding equipment among other tools. The metal parts they create are then used for research projects across campus. Mahaney teaches six sections of the course with two students in each class.

Junior Lilly Gann is a part of the first applied sciences major graduating class. The major launched in 2024 with tracks in materials engineering and environmental engineering. (Photo by Jeyhoun Allebaugh/UNC-Chapel Hill)

This semester, students are collaborating with the College’s Earth, marine and environmental sciences department to understand how icebergs melt. EMES researchers plan to place a 300-pound block of ice in a wave tank to simulate an iceberg in the ocean and have turned to the EEL to help build the parts.

Junior Lilly Gann, a Chancellor’s Science Scholar majoring in applied sciences, is assisting on the project. As a part of the EEL, she’s worked on developing a remote-operated vehicle that can collect data on icebergs. Through Mahaney’s course, she’s helping build the data collection material herself.

“Right now, we’re building the parts that will hold the ice,” when it’s lowered into the tank, said Gann. “I learned how to solder and make a circuit, which we attached probes to. Those will eventually be in the ice recording temperature.”

Other departments that collaborate with the EEL include applied mathematics; physical therapy; exercise and sport science; and religious studies.

Although housed within the computer science department, the course draws on the strengths of several disciplines. This semester, students represent 13 different majors.

Senior Sofia Morais, a biomedical engineering major, has been a part of the EEL since her sophomore year and is taking COMP 290 this semester. As a junior, she participated in machine shop tutorials Mahaney hosted on Fridays, learning how to use the milling machine and lathe. Demonstrating an understanding of both tools has proven useful. Last summer, Morais interned as a product engineer at REVIAN, a company that creates red-light hair therapy caps.

Sofia Morais practices welding during class. Welding, Morais said, has the steepest learning curve out of the tools in the shop. Students like herself have spent time welding lines on a sheet of metal, building up to more advanced projects over time. (Photo by Jeyhoun Allebaugh/UNC-Chapel Hill)

“We’d get a hundred samples from our manufacturer, and I’d have to make sure they were built correctly,” said Morais. “I’d like to continue working with medical devices on the manufacturing operation side, which this class is really handy for, because it’s all about fabrication and common tools that are used in a manufacturing site.”

By Kate Slate, University Communications and Marketing

The post These students solve research problems with their hands appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

I am writing to share the news that Noreen McDonald will be finishing her term as senior associate dean for social sciences and global programs in the College of Arts and Sciences on June 30, 2027, and that we are seeking nominations for her successor.

I am grateful for Noreen’s strategic leadership in support of the division of social sciences and global programs and the entire College since she started in this role on Jan. 1, 2023. During her tenure, she worked with departments to grow divisional faculty and majors by 15% and built global partnerships that support student exchange and faculty research collaboration.

In addition, she strengthened connections between ROTC and the social science departments and has worked with Beth Mayer-Davis, dean of The Graduate School, to develop Carolina’s Senior Service College Fellowship for the Department of War. Noreen also worked closely with faculty and staff to launch the Program for International Scholarship, Innovation, Teaching and Engagement, or INSITE.

I am now seeking nominations for the next senior associate dean for social sciences and global programs, whose term will begin on July 1, 2027. The ideal candidate should have experience chairing a department, directing a program or administering other relevant operations involving social sciences and global programs. The successful candidate will share a broad and inclusive view of the social sciences as well as an appreciation of the full breadth of the College.

Please send nominations, including self-nominations, with a supporting paragraph to Will Black by Nov. 20. Details on the selection process can be found on the College website. I also welcome any input you have about the position and the selection process. Feel free to reach out to Will to schedule a meeting with me.

Sincerely,

Jim

James W.C. White
Craver Family Dean
College of Arts and Sciences

The post Seeking nominations for Senior Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

The series, entitled “America 250 at Carolina,” was held from Oct. 14-23. Multiple units and departments in the College and across UNC-Chapel Hill sponsored and hosted the events that drew audiences seeking to understand more about the founding of our nation.

Chancellor Lee Roberts helped kick off the series, speaking before remarks by two-time Carolina graduate Pamela Brewington Cashwell, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

“In 1789, North Carolina’s General Assembly ratified the U.S. Constitution, and three weeks later, created this University, and very much saw those actions as linked,” Roberts said. “They believed that by creating the University, the state would be fulfilling in part an obligation to the new republic by creating the citizens who would lead the state and the country forward. So, it’s fitting that we play a significant role in these 250 celebrations.”

Take a look at some of the scenes from the week.

(photo by Quierra Luck)

Cashwell (far right) discussed the many ways that North Carolina has celebrated the anniversary during a talk in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room in Wilson Library. Pictured in this panel discussion with Cashwell are, from left, Biff Hollingsworth, collecting and public programming archivist at the Southern Historical Collection; Antwain K. Hunter, an assistant professor of history; and Darin Waters, deputy secretary for the Office of Archives and History.

(photo by Melanie Busbee)

Former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey gave a poetry reading and participated in a panel discussion moderated by Michael A. Betts II ’11, High Point University assistant professor of media production, and Miguel La Serna, chair of Carolina’s history department.

(photo by Jon Gardiner)

Daveed Diggs (left), best known for originating the dual roles of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton,” took part in a conversation at PlayMakers Repertory Company. A Tony, Grammy and Lucille Lortel Award-winning actor, writer, producer and musician, Diggs discussed American history and the cultural and historical significance of Hamilton. Before the panel discussion on Oct. 20, Mandy Cooper, UNC-Chapel Hill teaching assistant professor of history, spoke on “Hamilton in Historical Context.” Diggs is pictured with Kathyrn Hunter-Williams, chair of Carolina’s dramatic art department, in the Paul Green Theatre.

(photo by Melanie Busbee)

Audience members were treated to a performance of “The Mending Sampler: A Sacred Nine Project,” inspired by the book “The Sewing Girl’s Tale: Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America” by Carolina history professor John Wood Sweet. The performance was directed by C. Leonard Raybon, associate professor and chair of the department of music at Tulane University, and featured Carolina undergraduate and alumna performers.

(photo by Huth Photo)

Kathleen DuVal, the Carl W. Ernst Distinguished Professor of History, signed copies of her Pulitzer-Prize winning book, “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America.” On Oct. 22, DuVal gave a talk, hosted by University Libraries. Guests at the event were also able to view the exhibit, “Witnesses to the Revolution: North Carolina and the War for Independence” in Wilson Library, produced in partnership with the North Carolina Museum of History.

(photo by Quierra Luck)

Danita Mason-Hogans, a participant in the Southern Oral History Program and a community scholar-in-residence at the National Humanities Center, spoke on “The Role of Oral History and Community Memory in Interpreting Early American History and Its Long Afterlives” in an event at the Love House at the Center for the Study of the American South.

Learn more about the jam-packed schedule of events: https://history.unc.edu/america-250-at-carolina/.

By College of Arts and Sciences

The post History came to life in “America 250 at Carolina” appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

Submitted photo/Adobe Stock

Let Me Explain is a series in which we ask a College of Arts and Sciences faculty member to shed light on an intriguing, timely or often misunderstood topic related to their research. Election Day is Nov. 3. With early voting well underway, we asked Jason Roberts, a professor of political science, about what happens behind the scenes of an election.

Q: You have a special interest in congressional elections, which are often a key focus of midterm election cycles. Why is it important to vote in midterm elections?

A: Midterm elections are very important. They decide who represents voters in the U.S. House of Representatives, sometimes in the U.S. Senate, and many state and local positions as well. In North Carolina, both chambers of the General Assembly are on the ballot in midterm years. For voters who want to have a say in who represents them, voting in a midterm is essential.

Q: What are the most common barriers that prevent eligible voters from casting their vote? Can you recommend any resources to help overcome them?

A: Some common barriers are failing to register, not re-registering after a voter moves, and lack of knowledge about when and where to vote. By far the best resource is the local board of elections office. Each North Carolina county has one. Those sites will tell you when and where you can vote and will show you a sample ballot that reflects the choices you can make at the polls.

Q: Electoral processes are mostly determined by the states. Are there any unique aspects of North Carolina’s system that you particularly like?

A: North Carolina has 17 days of early voting, which is very long, comparatively speaking. This means that voters here have plenty of opportunities to vote at various hours and on almost any day of the week.

Q: What are some lesser-known things election administrators do behind the scenes to prepare for an election?

A: There is a myth that election administrators only work one day a year, and it could not be more false. Preparing for an election is an enormous undertaking. Most election office employees work 60 to 70 hours a week this time of year. Running a polling place is a lot like opening a “pop-up” business complete with employees, signage, hardware, IT needs, parking and other logistical components. Everything has to be right on opening day. There are no do-overs in elections!

Q: You’ve published a book about ballot design. What is one way ballot design could impact voter behavior in a midterm election?

A: Ballot design does matter a lot. It is very common for voters not to complete their ballot. Often, voters will mark the first part of the ballot and then “roll off” and leave races and questions at the end of the ballot blank. So, those races often get fewer votes overall, and the voters who stick it out to the end can play a larger role in those races.

Q: If you had 30 seconds to address the most common misconception(s) about the election process, what would you say?

A: The most common misconception is that there is widespread cheating or voter fraud. This is simply not true! Mistakes do get made in elections, but true instances of fraud are exceptionally rare and never rise to the level that would affect the outcome of an election.

Learn more about Roberts’ research.

Check out some helpful resources from the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Interview by Calley Jones, College of Arts and Sciences

The post Let Me Explain: How elections work appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

More than 1,000 Tar Heels have studied abroad in Montpellier, France, over the program’s 50-year partnership with the University of Montpellier Paul Valéry. (Submitted photo)

When Julia McDermott ’81 returned to Montpellier, France, in 2015, it felt like coming home. She’d arrived to visit her daughter, Annette McDermott ’17, who was studying abroad in the southern city just as her mother had more than 30 years earlier.

“When she chose to participate in the same program I had loved so much, it was incredibly meaningful to me,” McDermott said. “I felt as though something that had been such an important part of my life was becoming part of hers, too.”

When McDermott navigated France, she used pay phones, paper maps and the kindness of strangers; her daughter had a smart phone. But the heart of their experiences was the same: a city with medieval roots that today thrums with the energy of 70,000 students. “Even though technology has changed a lot, the wonders and treasures of France remain — and so do the history, architecture, food, culture, customs and language,” she reflected.

Generations of Carolina students have posed for photos in Montpellier’s Place de la Comédie, including Julia McDermott ’81, who was a student in the program’s fourth cohort when she studied abroad from 1979-80. (Submitted photo)

McDermott was a student in the program’s fourth cohort when she studied abroad from 1979-80. The connection between UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Montpellier Paul Valéry is Carolina’s longest-running study abroad partnership, and more than 1,000 Tar Heels have participated. Established in 1976, the program celebrates its 50th anniversary this academic year.

On Oct. 29, the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ Romance studies department and the Study Abroad Office are hosting an alumni roundtable and reception to celebrate the half-century of cross-institutional exchange. “One of the greatest benefits of such an enduring partnership is the depth of trust, institutional knowledge and personal relationships that have developed over the decades,” said Rachael Mathis, the Study Abroad Office’s program director for UNC in Montpellier.

The goals of the program include helping students hone their linguistic, academic, cultural and personal competencies. “Students not only gain confidence in their linguistic abilities, but become overall more academically confident,” said Dorothea Heitsch, director of undergraduate studies and undergraduate adviser for French and francophone studies at the College. Heitsch credits UNC in Montpellier’s resident director, Carol Huber, as well as UMPV instructors and host families, for the program’s success.

Huber, who has held the post for 25 years, loves the moment students realize how much they can learn from other cultures. “This moment is most often accompanied by such enthusiasm and eagerness to learn more, to understand better, to experience another way of life. It literally gives me goosebumps,” she said.

McDermott felt that thrill and enthusiasm for immersing herself in French culture for the first time in 1979. “When I went to Montpellier, I had no idea that the experience would still be influencing my life more than 45 years later,” she reflected. After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in economics and French, she later wrote “Make That Deux,” a novel loosely based on her experience in Montpellier.

Its main character, Jenny Miles, is fictional but a lot like McDermott at that age. “By the end of her time in France, she has developed a confidence that she can make her own way in the adult world. That emotional journey is very much something I drew from my own experience,” McDermott said.

The year Rebecca Earley ’08, left, spent in Montpellier inspired her to move to Paris, where she’s lived for more than a decade. Carol Huber has been the program’s resident director for 25 years. (Submitted photo)

“I look back on my year in France as a major life event that helped me develop confidence in myself and in my ability to tackle any future endeavors that might seem daunting at first,” she reflected. “That confidence has carried into other areas of my life, including writing.” McDermott has since published four other books; her latest, the mystery-thriller “The Barbie Killer,” was released earlier this year.

The sense of self-confidence gained during the UNC in Montpellier experience isn’t unique to McDermott. Gabrielle Walton ’23, a Carolina Covenant scholar and an Eleanor Barnes study abroad scholar, spent the spring semester of her junior year in Montpellier.

Despite taking extra precautions, she got COVID-19 right before her departure and flew to France later than her classmates. Upon arrival, she immediately had to navigate the French healthcare system to document her vaccine status.

It was a daunting task for a college student in a new country. While she and Huber worked through the process, restrictions limited where Walton could go. She learned to navigate the city on her own, plan travel and handle a doctor’s visit entirely in French.

“I was pushed out of every routine I knew and came out the other side with a new understanding of my own strength,” Walton said. “I created new opportunities for myself, and that led to wonderful memories. The most important thing that I learned about myself was that I am resilient and have the tools within me to make my own happiness and achieve my dreams.”

Walton carried that self-efficacy forward. Upon returning to Carolina, she saw a need for more student attention to interpersonal violence and led efforts resulting in a donation to the Orange County Rape Crisis Center and the installation of a quilt art piece that still hangs in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union.

“The sense of courage came from my experience in Montpellier where I thought to myself, ‘Stop asking for permission. Stop waiting!’” Walton said.

She put that persistence and resourcefulness to work at her first job as a lobbyist at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and she says that all of these qualities have helped her get to where she is today: a master’s degree candidate and fellow studying urban planning at New York University.

“Studying abroad in Montpellier was a dream come true. Throughout my time abroad, I remember telling myself, ‘Remember this. You are here. This is real life. Take it all in,’” Walton reflected. Because she received a study abroad scholarship, her family had the financial breathing room to afford to visit. Having her own family over to dinner at her host family’s house was her favorite memory from the whole semester. She was able to present her growth by acting as translator and introducing her parents and siblings to the local seafood and typical appetizers that her host mom had prepared. “It truly felt like I had two families.”

Gabrielle Walton ’23, right, cherishes the memory of her family’s visit. After a semester in France, she was able to translate well between her parents, siblings Alexander and Rachel, and her host family. (Submitted photo)

Walton said her generation feels a lot of pressure to study the sciences, and receiving the scholarship felt like an endorsement to be curious about the humanities. “Knowing what makes us human, that was why I studied French and psychology, to understand how we think, how we feel in so many different ways,” Walton said. “It was really affirming to receive the scholarship, both for me as a Covenant scholar, but also for me as a person with the types of questions that I had. Our experience as humans means something, and it’s something we carry forward.”

Exploring and redefining what it means to be a human and a leader in the age of AI is the central tenet of the latest entrepreneurial endeavor of Rebecca Earley ’08, who studied in Montpellier for the 2005-06 academic year. Earley, an executive Master of Business Administration candidate at Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires, has lived and worked in Paris for more than a decade. The decision to live in France was sparked during her time studying in Montpellier.

When she arrived in Paris for work a few years after studying abroad, she didn’t experience the culture shock many of her American colleagues felt because she’d had a year of living in Montpellier previously.

“Montpellier, for me, was one of the best years of my life,” Earley said. Studying abroad was her first time leaving the country. “When I think back, the mood board is pure joy, sunshine and blue skies — just constant learning, making mistakes, laughing about them and trying things again.”

By Kate Lord, University Communications and Marketing

The post UNC in Montpellier celebrates 50 years in France appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

’Tis the season for horror movies and novels.

Students explore these scares through intense discussions about human behavior, media history, real-world events and the genre’s origins in associate professor Tyler Curtain’s ENG 148: Horror course.

During a recent class in Greenlaw Hall, students passionately discussed two 1980s vampire movies, “Fright Night” and “The Lost Boys.” Some debated the lead characters’ vampire-hunting abilities, while others saw certain supernatural beings as commentary on 1980s cultural conventions. After connecting the films’ popularity to past generations’ videotape culture in a short lecture — and discovering that several students didn’t know what a VHS player was — Curtain was delighted with where the conversations took his class.

“It’s exciting because they’ll start off the class discussions with an understanding of the plot, characters and basic narrative beats,” Curtain said, “but with a little push from myself or other students, they develop the tools to unpack the deeper meaning behind these stories.”

Curtain’s students say his approach to teaching has influenced them. This is especially true for senior Faris Akel, who took Curtain’s horror course as a sophomore.

“With Dr. Curtain, you get his opinion of a movie or book, but then you also have a platform for students with different life experiences to give their opinions and cast it in a different light,” said Akel, a biology and English and comparative literature double major in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences.

Akel also credits Curtain’s horror course with helping him develop his social life outside of class.

“I was really freaked out by horror movies before taking the class,” he said. “Now the horror genre is my absolute favorite, and I was able to make friends through a shared love of scary movies.”

Curtain has taught horror at Carolina for 25 years, but his love of the genre took time to develop.

“I grew up in a very strict household that didn’t allow watching horror,” Curtain said. “It was just one of those things we were quite sheltered from.”

However, at age 13, Curtain caught the 1979 TV adaptation of Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot” on CBS, and it left a profound impact on him.

“It terrified me,” Curtain said. “I can still feel the terror of sitting there watching it on television, and I don’t know how I got away with seeing it. My parents must not have been paying attention.”

By Josh McCormack, University Communications and Marketing

The post Horror class produces delightful dialogue appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

Joan Lee poses with one of her health humanities research posters in the HHIVE Lab in Greenlaw Hall. (photo by Mason Mines)

Before discovering the HHIVE Lab during her sophomore year, Joan Lee had never considered framing her pre-health curriculum through her love of literature. But after taking classes such as “Introduction to Health Humanities” and “Medicine, Literature and Culture,” Lee added a major in English — with a concentration in science, medicine and literature and a minor in creative writing — to her neuroscience major. She hopes to pursue a career as a novelist and a physician. 

The HHIVE Lab, based in the English and comparative literature department, stands for Health and Humanities: an Interdisciplinary Venue for Exploration. 

“One thing I like about HHIVE is what I describe as free-range grazing,” said Lee. “As undergraduate researchers, we’re still fenced in and supported, but we are allowed to explore our own interests and figure things out.” 

Lee’s adviser, Kym Weed — co-director of the HHIVE Lab — encouraged her to apply for a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship through the Office for Undergraduate Research this past summer. In her SURF project, “The Role of Transformative Work in Mental Health Depictions of Superhumans,” the Carolina junior explored the role of transformative literature in telling stories of post-traumatic stress disorders in superhumans.  

Fan fiction is a type of creative or “transformative” work that expands on existing fiction by adding, altering or otherwise transforming the original intent of the source material into something new. In her research, Lee focused on fan fiction around My Hero Academia, a Japanese manga series, in which the protagonist journeys to become a superhero. 

Lee noted that in the superhero genre, stories often explore what it means to be a hero before the villain is defeated by the end of the story. “But those stories don’t get into what happens after that villain is defeated and what the mental effects of that are on the superhero,” said Lee. “Transformative work allows ideas, characters and events to coexist with each other — such as disability and superpowers, high-stake action plots and realistic depictions of mental health.” 

Her project resulted in the paper, “Dialectic Opportunity: The Role of Transformative Work Within Mental Health Narratives,” which examines counternarratives focused on post-traumatic stress disorder.  

“My research found that transformative work fights against dominant narratives both inside and outside of the mental health community, allowing diverse recovery stories to be told in spaces where they would be otherwise excluded,” she said. 

Lee learned to juggle voluminous primary sources and strengthen her ability to utilize secondary sources as part of the project. “I’m grateful that my adviser was very hands-off because that pushed me,” she said. “Being able to lean into my own personal choices and learn where I want to take the research and what strings I want to follow was very helpful.” 

Lee said that receiving the research fellowship validated the importance of humanities research. “Health humanities focuses on how the stories we tell shape our lived experience,” she said. “And the stories we tell about mental health directly impact the recovery process.” 

In addition to exploring her diverse academic interests, Lee has pursued a variety of extracurricular activities at Carolina. A dancer since she was young, Lee is a member of UKDT, the K-pop dance team. She is an editor of the Health Humanities Journal and part of the Carolina Gaming Club. She is also working on a young adult literary novel. 

Lee hopes to attend medical school after she graduates, and for now, she is enjoying diving deeper into health humanities. “I know that med school will be able to teach me the technical and STEM-related aspects of being a doctor,” she said. “It is also important to me and the health care provider I want to be one day to go into medical school with a strong base in the humanities.” 

By Michele Lynn

The post The power of story appeared first on College of Arts and Sciences.

Every seat in Room G200 of the Genome Sciences Building was filled as Carolina students watched simulated race cars they had programmed tear around a virtual track on the big screen. Nobody in the room was steering. The code was.

This was Formula 110, an autonomous simulation racing showcase, featuring student coursework. Most of the drivers behind the race cars were students in COMP 110, Introduction to Programming. Many had never written a line of code before this semester. Professor of the Practice Kris Jordan and Teaching Assistant Professor Isabella “Izzi” Hinks both serve as instructors for COMP 110 and, for one night, stepped into the role of race director, designing and hosting an event that put classroom learning to the test.

“A few weeks ago, some of these students were learning what a variable is,” said Jordan. “Tonight, they watched their programmed controllers race at full speed in front of a few hundred people.”

From first lessons to the finish line

The assignment sounds simple. A simulated car reports what its sensors detect about the track ahead. The student’s program decides what to do next: speed up, brake, or turn.

Getting it right is another matter.

“Go too fast, and the car slides wide in the corners. Play it safe, and the field leaves you behind. That tradeoff is the heart of the assignment,” Hinks said. “Students see right away that there is no single correct answer. They test, they crash, and they rethink their logic and try again.”

The top cars competed in three tournaments: first-time programmers, non-majors, and computer science majors. With each tight turn and late pass, the crowd grew louder.

(Photo Jeyhoun Allebaugh/UNC-Chapel Hill)

(Photo Jeyhoun Allebaugh/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Nicky Nicholson and Levi Boykin, first-year students majoring in neuroscience and mathematics, took the first-time programmer brackets. Drawing on their experience in simulation racing and mathematical expertise, the team credited their combined knowledge and skills as essential to their success.

“Cumulatively, between the two of us, we spent easily over 50 hours tinkering with the code, trying to shave off that 0.01 seconds per lap,” Nicholson said. “We came to COMP 110 to complete a prerequisite, however it has undoubtedly been quite the entertaining experience.”

In the end, the win was made possible by a change to the car’s steering logic. The car made slightly tighter turns than some AI felt safe completing, which allowed the team to cross the finish line 0.181 seconds ahead of second place.

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Magnus Egerstedt presents a seminar during Formula 110

A lesson from Professor Egerstedt

The evening’s special guest knows the subject well. As a roboticist, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Magnus Egerstedt came to the event excited to teach.

Egerstedt gave a short lesson on robotics, AI, and self-driving cars, tying the action on screen to the engineering behind real autonomous vehicles. He featured videos of his own research, including a self-driving Porsche crashing on repeat. He highlighted that the core challenge in real-world autonomous vehicles is the very same one that the students wrestled with: taking in information about the world and deciding how the machine should respond.

“No matter what it says on my business card, the title I am the most proud of is Professor,” Egerstedt said after the event. “It was an absolute blast to see the cars in action and to cheer on the teams!”

Looking ahead

The audience also got a look at where a path through computer science can lead. Seniors in Jordan’s COMP 590, Honors AI Engineering, demonstrated controllers they had coded themselves after working with AI to rapidly explore different approaches to training cars from a top-down perspective.

Some relied on reinforcement learning, a technique in which software improves through repeated trial and error. This technique turned out to be good at finding more speed, the students said, but only when the changes came in small steps.

Others built a hybrid. Their controllers calculated a risk score for the track ahead and used it to decide when to push for speed and when to play it safe. Then the students adjusted the settings, ran the car, and made further adjustments.

Event organizers Kris Jordan (far left), Izzi Hinks (second from right), and Magnus Egerstedt (far right) present trophies to the winners at Formula 110

“Reinforcement learning is really good at optimizing, but it only gets you there a little at a time,” said Annelise Bowers, a senior majoring in computer science. “So we went with a hybrid. The car gives itself a risk score, and that decides whether it goes for speed or backs off. After that it was a lot of tweaking.”

The gap between the two groups is about three years of coursework. Jordan wants COMP 110 students to see that the gap can be crossed and be encouraged to make the effort.

“The seniors on that stage started their computer science journeys in COMP 110,” he said. “I want every student in this room to see students just like themselves growing and succeeding in an intellectually exciting field, especially in the age of generative AI engineering.”

Formula 110 will be a new tradition in COMP 110, which also celebrates the end of each semester with a mini-hackathon, Hack 110.

“Our goal is to teach students how to build code that matters. Events like Formula 110 and Hack 110 give them a reason to apply what they learn in the classroom and care about their code beyond the grade,” Hinks shared.

As AI tools make basic coding skills more accessible, courses like COMP 110 are evolving to provide students with new opportunities to put those skills to work. Formula 110 is just one example of this, finding new and unexpected ways to apply computational thinking.

By the Department of Computer Science

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Fan Yao uses his knowledge of statistics to drive technological advancements that serve people and society. (Submitted photo)

When Fan Yao was a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia, he had the opportunity to intern with Meta.

Yao’s thesis research revolved around the responsible design of online platforms, including recommendation algorithms like the ones that provide endless streams of social media content based on your scrolling habits.

During his internship, Yao co-designed a mechanism that, in a long-term experiment on Instagram Reels, measurably improved user engagement and the diversity of content users consumed. Recommendation systems often prioritize short-term relevance and engagement, which can incentivize creators to produce content for users who are already well-served on the platform. The mechanism designed by Yao and his collaborators directed more attention toward underserved users, improving engagement while encouraging a more diverse content ecosystem.

This was precisely the sort of goal Yao imagined when he chose to double major in mathematics and philosophy at Peking University in China.

“I don’t see the advancement of technology as a purely technical issue,” Yao said. “The advancement of technology should always serve people and society.”

Now an assistant professor of statistics and operations research in the College of Arts and Sciences, Yao continues to explore how humans and AI can work together effectively. One of his current projects builds on his Ph.D. research into recommendation systems.

A central challenge with predicting how people might interact with recommended content is that mathematical models must simplify human behavior. Real decisions are varied, context-dependent and not always rational.

“To represent human decisions mathematically, we have to make simplifying assumptions,” Yao said. “But people do not always behave rationally or consistently, so our models need to account for uncertainty and complex variations.”

Yao models decisions in a way that incorporates probability instead of assuming that certain scenarios always lead to certain outcomes. Across thousands of AI-assisted simulations, the model’s predictions were broadly consistent with known patterns of human behavior.

These large-scale simulations also help researchers and practitioners screen designs before controlled testing with real users. Many companies are reluctant to deploy untested algorithms to get feedback because they carry the risk of harming user experience or decreasing revenue. If the likely outcomes of an algorithm can be modeled using statistical methods, companies may view them as less risky.

Yao is also working to enhance the creativity of large language models — like those that power ChatGPT and Claude — enabling them to generate a broader range of useful responses. As models learn from user feedback, Yao aims to preserve the diversity and novelty of their outputs without diminishing their ability to respond effectively to users.

Yao believes enhanced creativity could improve how LLMs help users expand their skillset, for instance. He plans to include more students in the development and evaluation of new methods and prototypes, encouraging them to use the models to learn a new skill and provide feedback on the experience.

Working with students is one of Yao’s favorite things about Carolina.

“I’m amazed by their genuine intellectual curiosity,” he said. “Some of them have contributed very interesting ideas to our research projects. There’s a very vibrant culture here.”

Yao also admires the freedom academia provides to develop new technologies while exploring deeper questions about human nature and how to best serve society. He is grateful that UNC-Chapel Hill’s strong interdisciplinary focus aligns so well with his particular passions.

“The longer I work in this field, the more interested I become in the relationship between humans and technology,” he said. “I feel like these are the kinds of studies we desperately need at this moment.”

Learn more about Yao’s research.

Read more profiles from the Fall 2026 issue of the Carolina Arts & Sciences magazine.

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