Student research opportunities

2. Community Resilience and Neighborhood Asset Mapping

Faculty advisors

Clark Miller, Senior Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Scientists and Scholars, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Carissa Fowler, City of Tempe

Joantha Guthrie, City of Tempe

Research project overview

The City of Tempe’s Sustainability & Resilience Division and ASU’s Center for Energy & Society are seeking a passionate and community-focused research fellow to support the development and implementation of a Community Asset Mapping and Engagement Program. This role will help advance local resilience by supporting neighborhood-based mapping workshops, strengthening relationships between residents and resilience hubs, and enhancing everyday hub programming that supports long-term community well-being. The student will research and help design the Tempe Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Program and gain hands-on experience in asset-based community development, stakeholder engagement, and program coordination. This is an ideal opportunity for students interested in community development, civic engagement, and emergency preparedness. This opportunity will be co-mentored by ASU faculty and City of Tempe staff.

Any pre-requisites needed? No

Research available for stipend? ($1,200/semester): No

Research available for course credit? (2 credits/semester): Yes

Research opportunity available to ASU Online students? No

3. Urban Solar Innovation in Arizona

Faculty advisor

Clark Miller, Senior Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Scientists and Scholars, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Danae Hernandez-Cortes, Assistant Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Jennifer Richter, Associate Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Research project overview

This project explores how we can deploy more solar energy within the boundaries of urban areas, with the goal of expanding the benefits of solar innovation to a much wider array of communities. We are looking for 1-2 students who can use large-scale data analysis to help us explore a citywide dataset of solar potential opportunities within the metro Phoenix region. Please indicate your past experience using large quantitative datasets.

Any pre-requisites needed? Experience with quantitative data analysis is preferred.

Research available for stipend? ($1,200/semester): Yes

Research available for course credit? (2 credits/semester): Yes

Research opportunity available to ASU Online students? Yes

4. Restoring Science and Technology Excellence

Faculty advisor

Bob Cook-Deegan, Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Arthur Daemmrich, Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Mahmud Farooque, Clinical Professor, Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes

Research project overview

Current federal policy weakens support for science and technology by cutting budgets, canceling grants and contracts, and laying off technical workers. The US system for research and development has long been in need of reform, but current policy is not informed by long-standing debates about reform. ASU’s DC-based Consortium on Science, Policy and Outcomes (CSPO) is joining networks of scholars and others who are hoping to build an improved system to support science and technology once the current destruction plays its course. We invite an intern to help gather historical materials and help build a network that can be ready when the rebuilding begins, on the assumption that 8 decades of bipartisan consensus will be restored. The student will pull together historical and current information on science and technology advice to the federal government, efforts toward deliberative democracy to inform science policy, programs for studying Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of science and technology, and related topics, and become part of a network of scholars and researchers hoping to inform future science policy once the storm clears.

Any pre-requisites needed? Interest and background in science policy is preferred.

Research available for stipend? ($1,200/semester): Yes

Research available for course credit? (2 credits/semester): Yes

Research opportunity available to ASU Online students? Yes

5. The World’s Fair: The Future is Already Here (or at least it is in Osaka in 2025)

Faculty advisor

Jamey Wetmore, Associate Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Toby Shulruff, Graduate Research Associate, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Research project overview

The Eiffel Tower, the Seattle Space Needle, moving walkways, Ferris Wheels, IMAX, zippers, and Elmer’s Glue…what connects them all? The World’s Fair! Not just a thing of the past, World’s Fairs still happen and one is underway through October 13. Your role will be to help find out what is happening at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Over 150 countries from the smallest to the most powerful are presenting their visions of the future, and inviting the tens of millions of visitors to “co-create our future society” with sustainability as a priority. You will do online research (in English and another language if you speak it) exploring visitor uploaded videos of their experiences of the Expo, and the many visions of the future presented there.

Any pre-requisites needed? No

Research available for stipend? ($1,200/semester): No

Research available for course credit? (2 credits/semester): Yes

Research opportunity available to ASU Online students? Yes

6. Regulating Innovative Digital Health Technologies

Faculty advisor

Beza Merid, Assistant Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Research project overview

This project explores how community-engaged health technology assessments can be used to govern innovative digital health technologies. Students participating in this work will be asked to contribute to ongoing research on the development of a racial equity impact assessment. Students will learn about the relationship between innovation and governance, what constitutes “safe use” of innovative digital health technologies, and where the regulation of innovative digital health technologies can fall short. Outputs for this project will include literature reviews and annotated bibliographies, contribution to a growing catalogue of benefits and risks associated with the use of these technologies, and the opportunity to collaborate on public-facing writing exploring these issues.

Any pre-requisites needed? No

Research available for stipend? ($1,200/semester): Yes

Research available for course credit? (2 credits/semester): Yes

Research opportunity available to ASU Online students? Yes

7. TierrArte: Intergenerational, Arts-Based, Power Building in the Sunbelt

Faculty advisor

Lekelia Jenkins, Associate Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Research project overview

In Phoenix and the surrounding region, there is a pattern of environmental disparities referred to as “Sunbelt apartheid”—a history of institutional disinvestment, discriminatory zoning practices, and industrial environmental degradation in South and West Phoenix leading to the spatial segregation of Latine and Black communities. These historical disruptions and displacements have created ongoing environmental and health disparities, resulting from heat islands, climate change, water scarcity, etc. This project aims to further the TierrArte (or eARTh) workshop series— a community-centered project from AZ(LAND) that integrates place-based education, sensory arts-based methods, and storytelling, along with environmental and archival data. Specifically, the SURF student will work with community partners, AZ(LAND) and Rising Youth Theatre to help execute and evaluate the first workshop “Spatial Expansion in the Sunbelt.” This workshop will provide an introductory overview of historical Indigenous origins and movement rooted in the Southwest to the annexation of South Phoenix and the process of land and infrastructure expansion. The SURF student will: 1) contribute to this effort by researching and compiling supporting information through the Community-Driven Archives Initiative, 2) help refine, implement, and analyze the qualitative evaluation instrument, 3) if they so choose, help in creating the theatrical element of the workshop.

Any pre-requisites needed? ASU Online students must be able to participate in the in-person workshop planned for September.

Research available for stipend? ($1,200/semester): No

Research available for course credit? (2 credits/semester): Yes

Research opportunity available to ASU Online students? Yes

8. Tracking the Rise of Biofoundries

Faculty advisor

Emma Frow, Associate Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Research project overview

This research opportunity is part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation to explore the development of ‘biofoundries’ or biofabrication facilities. This relatively new type of research facility brings together high-throughput automation, AI, biological materials, and people in ways designed to contribute productively to the growth of a ‘bio-based economy’. The hope is that these facilities will churn out a host of new, valuable and potentially world-saving bioproducts (think cultured meats, biofuels, Covid vaccines, spider silk). There is currently a lot of excitement and investment pouring into these facilities. The SURF Fellows involved in this project will assist with conducting a landscape analysis of US-based biofoundries. This will involve collecting, curating and summarizing news articles, press releases and academic articles about US biofoundries. SURF Fellows will use this information to construct timelines for existing biofoundries, and to generate maps of people, projects, funding sources and partners associated with these different facilities.

Any pre-requisites needed? Applicants should have taken one or more university-level courses in molecular biology or related fields and be willing to work systematically through policy and scientific jargon.

Research available for stipend? ($1,200/semester): Yes

Research available for course credit? (2 credits/semester): Yes

Research opportunity available to ASU Online students? Yes