Coates Library Names 2025 "Research Thing" Prize Winners

Throughout their time at Trinity University, students do many “research things.” They write papers for their classes, draft their findings from labs on campus, create poster presentations, and even pursue their own topics of interest through independent studies.

Each spring, Trinity’s Coates Library’s “Research Thing” Prize invites students to look back on the research they’ve done and expand its reach beyond an assignment marked complete. The competition embraces a broad array of student work, from creative expression to traditional research outputs, recognizing the thought and energy required by many different types of research projects that result in the creation of many types of things. Students of all majors are encouraged to submit as many “things” as they like from any discipline. Grand prize winners each receive a $500 prize. This competition creates a platform to celebrate students as burgeoning leaders in their fields of interest.

After reviewing an impressive variety of submissions, the selection committee has announced the winners for 2025.

Grand Prize Winners:

Alyssa LaGrone ’26 - Sexual Dysfunction or Systemic Discrimination? The Role of Androcentricism and Phallocentrism in the Conceptualization, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Female Sexual Dysfunction

Jasmin A. Sudds ’26 - Balancing Noise and Nurture: Stress and Mental Health in Captive Squirrel Monkeys at the San Antonio Zoo

Honorable Mentions:

Parras Dumlao ’27 - A Polarizing Saint: Mohawk Resistance to the Iconography of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Caia Marcee ’27 - Subcontracted Detention Centers: Potential Oversights in Migrant Detention Regulation and Human Rights Enforcement

Read more, including the students’ works, at the Research Thing Showcase on the Coates Library website.

Congratulations to this year’s winners!