Our department has been able to fund undergraduate student research experiences through the Pitt Day of Giving. Funds raised in 2021 have been used to involve students in data collection and visualization projects. Here are some recent testimonials from undergraduate researchers:
“I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Ferrara and Dr. Walsh this past year on a project dealing with race related crimes prior to 1930. My responsibilities included searching through old newspapers to extract relevant data that would later be used to analyze the economic impacts of race related crimes. As an economics student, this was the first time helping out with research that I had a genuine interest in, and the experience I gained allowed me to pursue my own research project this past summer. I did not realize, until doing this project, the time and effort that goes into the data collection process of research. Since I hope to pursue a PhD, understanding this process in research was extremely helpful.” (Mallika Matharu, Economics and Statistics, December 2021)
“Doing research allowed me to become more connected to the department, to the field, and to my interests. I met many great people who have been encouraging and informative in helping me prepare for my future. I learned so much about data collection and interpretation, the resources that are available, and the processes researchers use. Most of all, I confirmed that graduate economics programs will be a good fit for me, and I now have more confidence as I pursue my academic goals. I’m sure that anyone even remotely interested in graduate school in economics could benefit from participating in undergraduate research.” (Lauren Wilmoth, Chemistry and Mathematics-Economics, December 2021)
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I had to participate in economic research for our department. During my work, I worked alongside two students of our department - a doctoral and fellow undergraduate - to better understand race-related crimes in the South during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We undertook novel data collection using newspaper articles to find trends across these crimes. I enjoyed looking under the hood of economic research and it gave me a greater appreciation for our field. It gave me a clearer picture of how research goes from extraction to analysis, and then to fresh insights in the field. I hope more students in the department are able to participate as well since this was important in helping me clarify my future trajectory.” (Gabe Garcia, Economics, December 2021)
We also have a testimonial from an assistant professor whose research benefited from working with undergraduate students:
“I am grateful for the opportunity to hire three undergraduate research assistants thanks to the generous support from the 2021 Pitt Day of Giving and the Berkman Fund. The students helped to collect novel data on racial violence from digitized newspapers in the early 20th century, and on women’s participation in 19th century temperance movement organizations. This work has provided the students with an opportunity to get actively involved in the research process, and to acquire new skills in data science and data management, such as optical character recognition or coding in Python. The students were highly motivated, quickly acquired new skills, and one of them is currently applying for PhD programs in economics at top U.S. schools.” (Andy Ferrara, Assistant Professor of Economics, December 2021)