The Dean Hank Dobin Prize in Community-Engaged Independent Work is awarded to students whose outstanding thesis best engages a community audience, whether through extensive research, policy recommendations, or new information and analysis. The prize is named after former Dean Dobin, who was instrumental to the creation of the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship during his time at Princeton. Prizes are awarded on Class Day in May of each year.
The short reports below from the prize winners contain the most important conclusions of students’ research written in the style of an executive summary or policy brief. Students describe the relevance of their work for a particular community or organization, implications of their research for current policies and practices or recommendations for strategic change.
2024
First Prize (tie)
Amy Aririguzoh (Anthropology), Multigenerational Poisoning: Apprehending Lead Exposure in East Trenton, New Jersey
Paige Silverstein (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Lead Isotopic Fingerprinting: Exploring Applications to Tap Water Lead Contamination in Trenton, New Jersey
Second Prize
Cristina Maldacena (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Pairing Solar Photovoltaics and Agriculture: Recommendations to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on the Dual-Use Solar Pilot Program
Third Prize
Robert Britt (Spanish and Portuguese), Investigating Health Access, Experience, and Outcome of Latin American Immigrants in Trenton, New Jersey through an Intersectional Lens
2023
First Prize
Chloe Fox-Gitomer (Anthropology), Sharps Containers are Red, Tourniquets are Blue: Harm Reduction’s Abridged History and an Ethnography of Contemporary Programs
Second Prize
Gillian Hilscher (Molecular Biology), Gender-Affirming Medical Care: Longitudinal Effects on DNA Methylation and Psychological Well-Being in Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth
Third Prize
Nannette Beckley (School of Public and International Affairs), Community Violence and Postpartum Depression: Associations and Potential Intervention Strategies