This story originally appeared on Chapman’s Happenings blog. Read it in full here.

A sophomore in the Chapman University Honors Program has won a top award for research examining the environmental and socioeconomic factors in rural India that contribute to life-threatening intestinal disease in children under five.

Sohini Mukherjee ’16, a double major in English and psychology, won first place for her project, titled Study of Socioeconomic, Sanitation and Hygiene Factors as Determinants of Recurrent Diarrhea in Children Aged Five and Under, at the Western Regional Honors Conference held in Denver, Colo., this month.

Mukherjee traveled to India to work with researchers at DNGM Research Foundation to help evaluate data they collected in a rural village located in the region of West Bengal.

A delegation of 16 honors students attended the April 11-13 conference, accompanied by Julye Bidmead, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the University Honors Program, and Sue Johnson, the program’s coordinator.

Other presentations by Schmid College students included:

  • Biological science major Timothy Lee ’14 and history major Abby Kim ’15, Societal Self Image In South Korean Media and Societal Health.
  • Biological science major Timothy Lee ’14, Analysis of Moral Dilemmas in Vocational Choice.
  • Environmental science major Danielle Platt ’17 presented two papers, Sustainable Solutions and their Potential Economic Growth, and Investments in Agricultural Education and its Implications in Poverty Reductions in the Developing World.
  • Computer science and creative writing major Joseph Dye ’15, Transhumanism: Why the Negativity?
  • Business administration major Cristiana Wilcoxon ’14, Joseph Dye ’15 and biological science major Seth Yund ’15, Restructuring Sapere Aude.