The Institute for Advanced Study is pleased to announce that seven graduate students from the University of Minnesota have been selected to participate in the Summer 2025 MnDRIVE Human in the Data Fellowship.

Fellows will receive $7,000 each to fund research on the humanistic implications of data and its use in one of the five MnDRIVE areas of concentration: robotics, global food, environment, brain conditions, or cancer clinical trials. Funded by MnDRIVE—Minnesota’s Discovery, Research, and InnoVation Economy—and administered in partnership by the Institute for Advanced Study, Research Computing, and Liberal Arts Technologies and Innovation Services (LATIS) at the University of Minnesota, this unique fellowship supports interdisciplinary engagement, collaborations, research, and scholarship that does not fit within standard graduate programs. 

MnDRIVE is a partnership between the University of Minnesota and the State of Minnesota that aligns areas of research strength with the state’s key and emerging industries to address grand challenges. Each Human in the Data Fellow’s work will relate to one of five MnDRIVE areas of concentration: robotics, global food, environment, brain conditions, or cancer clinical trials.

Over the course of the summer, fellows will convene in a bi-weekly, cross-disciplinary working group with mentors to build community and share feedback and support as their projects develop. Fellows will be introduced to and gain access to the computational resources of Research Computing, including consultations with staff from the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, the University of Minnesota Informatics Institute, and U-Spatial. 

We look forward to working with this exciting cohort over the summer!

Summer 2025 Fellows

Shaiq Ali

“An Atlas of Histories: An Archive of the 1896-1919 Epidemics in North India”
Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, College of Liberal Arts
MnDRIVE Thematic Area: Environment

The proposed project will create an archival data set that documents the epidemic-struck colonial era North India, reeling from the deadly plague and then flu epidemics between 1896–1919 that hit the subcontinent. The aim of the project is to reconstruct the cityscape of the 1896–1919 epidemics through different data sets from the archives, expanding into materials such as vernacular newspaper reports, rumor tracts, diaries and letters, and even fictional accounts or memoirs. Weaving this with British era reports and official records, the project aims to create a comprehensive archive that visualizes the data and maps the extent and complexities of the devastation caused, both in terms of loss in human lives as well as destruction to the ecological systems. The archive, in form of data presentations, will visualize the impact of the epidemic ruination and reflect on the relationship between the human and the complex environmental networks in place.

Aja Bond

“Visualizing Disaster: Japanese Museological Strategies for Communicating Nuclear Contamination and the Utility of Extended Reality Technologies”
Department of Art, College of Liberal Arts
MnDRIVE Thematic Area: Environment

Scientific data about the grave and urgent issue of nuclear contamination and its impacts is complex and difficult to interpret. The public is reliant on translation into accessible language and data visualization if they are to gain a meaningful understanding and make informed choices about how to respond. Many sites in the United States are currently engaged in public exhibits of information about the contamination of the area. Using methods from Art History, Visual Culture, and Museological Studies, this research will examine and contrast the strategies currently employed by various public-facing organizations making data on nuclear contamination legible. The results of this study will make recommendations, models, and push for more effective communication. There is a potential for more narrative, emotional, and embodied interpretations using technology and techniques such as drawing in extended reality (XR), which may be able to address gaps. There is an explicit need for advancement in this area—arguably, every place known to be contaminated must communicate that information publicly and clearly. 

Mykelin Higham

“Mapping the Castle onto the Gothic Novel: Topic Modeling and Critical Consensus”
Department of English, College of Liberal Arts
MnDRIVE Thematic Area: Environment

The gothic castle conceals ghosts, ancient crimes, and, according to its critics, anxieties about patriarchal and aristocratic pasts haunting the present. Through its plot, the gothic novel brings ghosts and crimes to the surface. Does it also surface the anxieties identified by critical consensus? This project investigates the capacity of topic modeling to engage with the richness of textual environments such as the Gothic castle by analyzing topic clusters in four eighteenth-century Gothic novels. Building on the work of digital humanities scholars who have developed processes for applying topic modeling algorithms to literary texts, this project bridges algorithmic and interpretive methods to assess whether topic clusters reflect scholarly understandings of the castle’s environmental and thematic significance. Situating the Gothic castle as architectural, environmental, and metaphorical, the project reframes the genre’s ecological concerns and explores the limitations and possibilities of data-driven literary analysis.

Mohammadreza Izadi Hemmatabadi

“Community-Building Performance as a Strategy for Preserving Pistachio Farming in Iran”
Department of Theatre Arts & Dance, College of Liberal Arts
MnDRIVE Thematic Area: Environment, Global Food

This project explores how performance art and community ritual can address ecological and economic challenges in Iran’s pistachio industry. Drawing on field data—including oral histories, surveys, and satellite imagery—it investigates the consequences of fragmented land ownership and pesticide overuse. By translating this data into participatory performances and creative workshops in Hemmatabad (Zarand) and data-based installations at the University of Minnesota, the project cultivates a collective environmental consciousness rooted in Iranian agricultural traditions. It reimagines land not as a private asset but as a shared ecological responsibility, offering performance-based interventions that merge scientific data with cultural memory. This work contributes to global food and environmental discourse by advocating for collaborative, data-informed, and culturally grounded solutions to sustainability.

Daorsa Kamberi

“The Cost of Misrepresented Data: How Tariff Justifications Impact Global Food Security”
Department of Philosophy, College of Liberal Arts
MnDRIVE Thematic Area: Global Food

This project investigates how the strategic misrepresentation of economic data in trade policy decisions impacts global food security. While governments often justify tariffs under shifting narratives—ranging from national security to domestic economic protection—this research demonstrates how such framing can distort the reality of trade statistics. Using data from international trade databases, agricultural agencies, and media sources, the study will analyze how manipulated narratives shape public perception, drive policy, and destabilize agricultural markets. Through case study comparison, supply chain impact modeling, and ethical analysis, the project will explore the consequences of data misuse for farmers, consumers, and international relations. Ultimately, the research aims to expose systemic vulnerabilities in global food supply chains and advocate for greater transparency and ethical standards in economic policymaking.

Malay Kotal

“The Story Map of Migrants Placemaking on the Move: The Emergent Foodscape of Bengali Working-class Migrants in the State of Kerala, India”
Department of Geography, Environment, & Society, College of Liberal Arts
MnDRIVE Thematic Area: Global Food

This research explores how Bengali working-class migrants from West Bengal to Kerala engage in placemaking on the move through the emergent foodscape they create. Challenging static notions of migration and settlement, the project investigates how food—deeply embedded in culture, politics, and materiality—serves as both a symbol and a medium for creating familiarity, social interaction, and belonging amid constant mobility. Through ethnographic fieldwork in Perumbavoor, Kerala, including interviews, audio-visual documentation, and participant observation, the study examines migrant-run eateries as dynamic spaces of cultural expression and community formation. By using ArcGIS StoryMaps, the project will produce an interactive, publicly accessible story map that visualizes migrant placemaking through food, offering new insights into how labor migrants transform urban landscapes and assert their right to the city.

Xiaohuan Zeng

“Equitable EV Infrastructure: Mapping Accessibility and Social Justice in Minnesota's Electric Vehicle Charging Network”
Department of Geography, Environment & Society, College of Liberal Arts
MnDRIVE Thematic Areas: Environment and Robotics

This project will explore how fairly Minnesota’s electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) are distributed across different communities. It will use mapping and data analysis to show who currently has access and who is being left out, based on income, location, and other social factors. The project will draw on public feedback gathered by MnDOT through its EV planning efforts, highlighting concerns about cost, infrastructure gaps, and how people view EVs. Using this information, the project will develop new site planning strategies to ensure future EVCS locations better serve rural and underserved communities. By combining data with humanistic inquiry, the project will help shape a cleaner and more inclusive transportation future for Minnesota.