ECONOMICS, SPANISH - Adrianna Vaca-Navarro has spent her life fighting against a system that was built against people like her. Now, she is a law student working to help others in need. Vaca-Navarro graduated in 2021. Now, she's a law student at the University of California, Berkeley. She is working to leverage her identity to help communities in need, aiming to fill the gaps within the legal system that she is studying.

SPANISH – Cissy Jones, BA ’02 (business administration, Spanish), is an award-winning voice actor and a fierce advocate of protection for voice actors in the wake of generative AI. In March 2024, she became the CEO of ETHOVOX, a company she co-founded to develop an ethical AI voiceover dataset that collaborates with artists and ensures fair compensation.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCE - Using functional MRI brain imaging, or fMRI, University of Oregon researchers have unraveled some of the neural circuitry behind basic human actions. Their insights, described in a paper published in the journal eNeuro, can be used to improve the design of brain-computer interface technologies, including brain-controlled prosthetic arms that aim to restore movement in people who have lost it.

GEOGRAPHY, INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES - Oregon’s historical markers, those roadside signs commemorating the state's past, give a version of history that University of Oregon researchers say is skewed. But a team of students is working to address the histories that highway markers omit through an online interactive map.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - Nicholas Burns (class of 2025), isn’t afraid to stop and smell the roses. Burns is dedicated to finding and applying strategies to create new pollinator habitats and combat their decline. He studies the fitness of flowering plant species in response to neighboring competition and pollination alongside mentor and professor Lauren Hallett at the University of Oregon Hallett Lab.

DATA SCIENCE - In Applied Data Science for Social Justice, a new course developed by Associate Professor Rori Rohlfs in the School of Computer and Data Sciences, students partnered with the Eugene-based CAHOOTS program to help its organizers sift through data they’ve collected from thousands of dispatch calls to glean insights on how they can improve their services. CAHOOTS works to help people with mental health struggles.

THEATRE ARTS – Olga Sanchez has dedicated her career to creating, directing and teaching theatre that amplifies underrepresented voices. After 20 years working in theatre, she wanted to share her work in an academic setting. She found her place in the doctoral program in University of Oregon's Theatre Arts department and is now a professor at Middlebury College.

PSYCHOLOGY - Since earning his PhD from the Department of Psychology in 1996 under the joint supervision of professors emeriti Douglas Hintzman and Michael Posner, Daniel Levitin has become one of the most prominent figures in cognitive science. Levitin visited the Eugene campus to donate his papers to the UO Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives, Levitin delivered a guest lecture about his new book to students in a course on cognitive psychology taught by Nicole Dudukovic, director of the UO’s Neuroscience Program.

GLOBAL STUDIES - It’s a big world, and decisions that happen in one region often ripple out to others. The School of Global Studies and Languages provides students with an internal atlas that helps them understand the forces and decisions that have human impact.