Current Burch Fellows

Anna Baechtold

Class of 2024
Hometown: Asheville, NC
Majors: Art History and Public Policy

This summer, Anna will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark and Yancey County, North Carolina. After researching food policy in the United Kingdom, she has gained an interest in understanding issues of food waste and food insecurity. Her project will include collaborations with local growers in each location to learn organic growing techniques and cultivate food that will be donated to those who are food insecure in North Carolina. She will conduct independent policy research on food insecurity and interview-based research with local perspectives from growers in each location.

Cate Schultz

Class of 2024
Hometown: Bethesda, MD
Major: Human Development & Family Science and Psychology, conflict management minor

Cate will travel to the UK to collaborate with the PEDAL Institute’s lab at the University of Cambridge where she will research the intersection of children’s play and health. She will also independently explore the play strategies used in various pediatric care settings across the UK and Denmark, expanding upon her volunteering with Wonder Connection at UNC Children’s Hospital. Cate hopes to learn about effective play techniques at European children’s hospitals and bring her unique background of play research and teaching from Chapel Hill overseas. Her goal is to scaffold hospitalized children’s development with play as an outlet for expression, coping, and joy.

Sheena Meng

Class of 2024
Hometown: Bridgewater, NJ
Majors: Information Science and Comparative Literature

For her Burch Fellowship, she will be a visiting researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Under the supervision of Dr. Liu, she plans to analyze the ideologically-informed nature of information infrastructure. She will also interview scholars, artists, and other critical voices to explore how they assess and protest flawed digital infrastructure.

Madi Marks

Class of 2024
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Major: Music Education

An idea fueled by her time studying abroad on the Burch Seminar on Musical Perspectives in London and Florence, Madi will travel to Florence, Italy and San Marino for 7 weeks to study how music is taught in Italy versus in the US. As a future teacher, Madi values a multicultural perspective on music-making. With this passion for teaching, she will work at the Il Trillo International School of Music and Istituto Musicale Sammarinese to teach lessons, lead rehearsals, and participate in ensembles. To conclude her trip, she will conduct a concert with the students she has been teaching throughout her time in Italy.

Annabel Steiner

Class of 2024
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Major: Environmental Studies and Geography, statistics and analytics minor

This summer, Annabel will travel to London, UK to spend 2 and a half months working at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. At LSHTM, she will study ways to better improve equity in research mentorship in low and middle income countries. Annabel will conduct research on mentorship and gather expert submissions from an open call study. The project will result in the publication of a practical guide focused on equity in research mentorship.

 

Meet previous Burch Fellows