OUR Student Staff: Research Ambassadors

Swaranya (Sway) Sarkar

Swaranya (Sway) Sarkar is a third-year student at Oberlin College studying neuroscience, global health, and philosophy. She conducts computational neuroscience research at Oberlin and spent her first summer at Yale School of Medicine engaged in translational work on memory consolidation and loss of consciousness during seizures. Passionate about bridging science and storytelling, Sway teaches JoyCo, an ExCo that explores happiness through reflective conversation and interdisciplinary curiosity. She is also a STRONG and Bonner Scholar, News Editor for The Oberlin Review, and the creator of In Their Words, a memory preservation project rooted in care, culture, and community. Her work lives at the intersection of brain science, ethics, and public health, always grounded in a deep belief in service. As a Research Ambassador, she’s excited to help students find joyful, meaningful entry points into research—and to make the journey feel a little more welcoming for everyone!

Meet with Sway

Sammi Quinn 

Sammi Quinn (she/her) is a fourth-year Psychology and Communication Studies major with a Global Health minor and a Business integrative concentration. Her research interests include cognitive impairment, dementia, memory, and healthcare services for older adults. She works part-time at Kendal at Oberlin as a Dementia Specialist/Life Enrichment Assistant. Her real-world experience working with affected populations has inspired her ongoing Psychology Honors research regarding dementia stigma in young adults, sponsored by Psychology Professor Clinton Merck. She spent this summer interning with the University of Pennsylvania Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. With mentorship and PI guidance, she investigated technological advancements in cognitive testing and their application in hospital environments, observed clinical practice within the memory center, and received a comprehensive education in biomedical research related to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. 

She is involved in many aging advocacy and research groups and organizations, including the Gerontological Society of America, Changemakers in Aging, and LIFE, a Dementia Friendly Organization. She enjoys working with and supporting fellow students in her work as a course writing associate, and she is excited to become more involved in Oberlin's Office of Undergraduate Research. Her path to research began with hands-on experience and a passion for the work. She is excited to empower students to realize their potential as young researchers, even if that is not a path they have been guided toward or expected to pursue. She wholeheartedly believes that anyone can be involved in research and that every person has a unique and important perspective to contribute to science and beyond.

Meet with Sammi

Olivia Hood

Olivia Hood (she/her) is a fourth-year student majoring in Art History with a minor in Hispanic Studies. Her undergraduate research experience began in Winter Term 2025, working as a research assistant with documentarian Brian Becker for one of his future documentaries. During Summer 2025, she participated in the Oberlin Undergraduate Research Institute. Her OSRI project examined Afro-Brazilian representation in Brazilian cinema in the latter half of the twentieth century, filtered specifically through the lens of the filmography of director Carlos Diegues. While abroad in Havana, Cuba in the spring of 2026, Olivia engaged in an art historical research project on Cuban performance artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons while also pursuing preliminary forays into ethnographic study through connecting with practitioners of the Afro-Cuban religion of Santería and Palo Mayombe. 

In Summer 2026, Olivia worked with Professor Michael Figueroa at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a summer research intensive. Building upon her OSRI project’s centering of Afro-Brazilian representation, Olivia’s work with Prof. Figueroa examined the role of embodiment, spirituality, authenticity, and performance in the sartorial practices of Afro-Brazilian Carnival group Ilê Aiyê. Olivia is currently continuing her summer research as an Art History honors thesis with her mentor Prof. Matt Rarey. Outside of her research, Olivia is a serious artist, animator, and illustrator of ten years as well as a dedicated cinephile. As a Research Ambassador, Olivia aims to encourage more humanities students to pursue research and to uplift underrepresented groups and subject matter in research.

Meet with Olivia

Kylie Thompson

Kylie Thompson (she/her) is a third-year student double-majoring in Biology and Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Sociology. At Oberlin, she currently leads an IRB-approved musculoskeletal ultrasound study investigating patellar and Achilles tendon characteristics in collegiate athletes and their relationship to injury risk. Through this project, she has gained experience in study design, participant recruitment, data collection, statistical analysis, and scientific presentation.

Beyond Oberlin, Kylie conducts research in Dr. Coller's laboratory at UCLA, where she studies the role of autophagy in wound healing and tumor development. Her work has focused on mouse models, genotyping, cell culture, western blotting, and immunology techniques, with findings suggesting that dendritic cells lacking autophagy may enhance T-cell activation in tumor microenvironments. 

Outside of research, Kylie is a member of the Oberlin Women's Lacrosse Team, serves as a Chemistry Teaching Assistant and Athletic Training Aide, and is involved in leadership roles with Morgan's Message and One Love. In her free time, she enjoys playing pickleball, hiking, and reading. As a Research Ambassador, she hopes to help students discover research opportunities early in their college careers and build the confidence to pursue projects that align with their academic and professional goals!

Meet with Kylie