Senior Integrated Project

Shell Yes! Student’s Technology Helps Nature Center Track Turtles

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Kalamazoo College student Joe Caton ’26 has turned his lifelong interest in radio technology into an innovative conservation project at Sarett Nature Center in Benton Harbor, Michigan. For his Senior Integrated Project (SIP), Caton built a low-cost telecommunications system to help the center monitor its population of Eastern box turtles.

Sarett is home to several types of turtles, and some, including the Eastern box turtle, are listed as threatened species in the state thanks to humans changing their habitats and predators threatening their safety.

 Eastern box turtles play subtle but significant roles in their ecosystems. As omnivores, they help control insect populations and disperse seeds from berries and other wild plants. Their presence affects the food web as both consumers and prey, and their nesting habits intersect with larger environmental issues. At Sarett, turtles have contributed to booming raccoon populations, which can overconsume eggs and disrupt long-term turtle survival.

Sarett staff and volunteers have long tracked the reptiles using older analog equipment that emits radio pings, requiring searchers to walk toward the sound to locate individuals.

Caton, who is a computer science major with a telecommunications background, saw an opportunity to modernize the process and make it more accessible for conservation groups with limited resources.

“Once I found out Sarett was still tracking these turtles, I reached out to see if I could help,” he said. “The receiver technology was the area with the least work being done, so that’s where I focused.”

Caton sourced a software-defined radio device called a Hack RF, which can detect signals across a wide frequency range. He paired it with a screen for visualizing the turtle transmitters’ radio signals and built a homemade antenna using PVC pipe and a metal tape measure. When he and Sarett staff tested the system in the field, they were able to match pings to specific turtles based on recorded frequencies.

The equipment offers Sarett a flexible, open-source alternative to commercial radio trackers, which are costly and difficult to replace or replicate. Caton’s prototype can be produced at a fraction of the cost by printing circuit boards from existing online plans, making the approach scalable for other nature centers, research projects or youth-education programs.

Although Caton’s role focused on technology, he says his work has changed how he thinks about conservation.

“I hadn’t given a lot of thought to how computer science could be used this way,” he said. “Now I realize you don’t just have to use tools that already exist, you can make them yourself and tailor them to the work.”

Caton grew up in Three Rivers, Michigan, and first attended Glen Oaks Community College in nearby Centreville. He originally planned to pursue another degree path, but when Glen Oaks launched a computer science and cybersecurity program in 2020, he became one of its first computer science students. After completing his associate degree, Caton worked for a few years before deciding he wanted to finish a bachelor’s degree.

He had always been intrigued by K.

“When I was younger, I just wanted to go to K because everyone I knew was going to Western (Michigan University) and I wanted to be different,” Caton said with a laugh. “But as I got older and actually started reading about it and hearing graduates’ stories, it sounded like a place I would actually want to go.”

On a whim, he applied to K, assuming it would be too expensive. But the opposite proved to be true.

“I got this financial aid package in the mail that made it not only an option, but the cheapest option,” he said. “That pretty much answered the question for me.”

As a non-traditional transfer student at age 40, Caton expected to feel out of place at K. Instead, he again was surprised.

“The only person who ever brought up my age was me,” he said. “Once I stopped mentioning it, nobody else did either. Nobody looked at me funny or treated me differently. That made it a lot easier to just be a student.”

He quickly connected with computer science faculty including Professor Pam Cutter and Associate Professor Sandino Vargas-Pérez. Their accessibility and encouragement built his confidence to take on projects like the one at Sarett. Caton has also worked on campus in Media Services while balancing coursework and his home life.

Eventually, his SIP provided opportunities that Caton didn’t expect. He has been networking with professionals at the intersection of ecology and technology, and he plans to continue refining his prototype with Sarett. Using a Raspberry Pi—which is a low-cost, credit-card-sized computer—he hopes to combine radio tracking with image-recognition software being developed by WMU students to identify turtles by their unique shell patterns.

Caton’s SIP is complete, but the project continues and so does his enthusiasm.

“If you assume something like the conservation of Eastern box turtles doesn’t matter just because you don’t see the connection right away, you’re going to miss something important,” he said. “We don’t always know what role a species plays until it’s gone. That’s why this work matters.”

Q&A with Sarett Nature Center
Executive Director Nate Fuller

Sarett Nature Center—less than an hour from Kalamazoo College between Benton Harbor and Coloma—is a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to providing quality environmental education to the community. It has more than 1,000 acres along the Paw Paw River and is home to several state and federally endangered animals in addition to a rich variety of flora and fauna, representing much of what can be found in southwest Michigan. Children are free and admission is $3 for adults who want to hike the trails and visit the welcome center, which has animal displays and feeding stations that are enjoyable for all ages.

Executive Director Nate Fuller answered some questions for us about the nature center, the importance of eastern box turtles and Joe Caton’s contributions to their conservation efforts.

Question: Why are eastern box turtles important within their ecosystems?

Answer: Eastern box turtles are important because they act as seed dispersers, regulate prey populations, and serve as an indicator species for environmental health. Their role in dispersing seeds helps maintain plant diversity, while their omnivorous diet helps control insect and other small prey populations. Because they are so sensitive to changes in their environment, their presence or absence can signal the overall health of their woodland, wetland and field habitats.

Q: How threatened are these turtles?

A: Eastern box turtle populations are declining at all levels—nationally, regionally and locally. They can be found across much of the eastern United States, but they have some level of protected status in nearly half of the states where they’re found. In Michigan, the eastern box turtle was recently moved from “special concern” to “threatened” status due to their increased decline.

Eastern box turtles seem to be doing much better at Sarett Nature Center than anywhere else that they’re studied. By studying Sarett’s population, officials hope to better understand what the turtles need to thrive.
A homemade antenna that Kalamazoo College student Joe Caton designed to help Sarett Nature Center track turtles
Caton built a homemade antenna using PVC pipe and a metal tape measure.
Software equipment says Hack RF One, Great Scott Gadgets
Caton sourced a software-defined radio device called a Hack RF (above), which can detect signals across a wide frequency range, and paired it with a screen for visualizing the turtle transmitters’ radio signals (below).
Telecommunications device helps track turtles on a screen
Joe at Sarett
Fuller had this to say of Caton’s work: “Joe’s work has the potential not just to make the research being done on Sarett’s box turtle population more effective and efficient, but it could also be a game changer for conservation efforts for all projects using telemetry.”

Q: Why is it important for Sarett to protect them?

A: Box turtles seem to be doing much better at Sarett Nature Center than anywhere else that they’re studied. By studying Sarett’s population, we hope to better understand what they need to be successful. Also, Sarett’s population is large enough that we have an opportunity to study their behaviors in a way that just isn’t possible at sites with smaller populations.

Q: What hands-on work is being undertaken at Sarett to help these turtles?

A: Work started a few years ago when Sarett hired John Rutger and his turtle dogs to help us find turtles. The idea was to demonstrate how working dogs help with conservation. We had no idea how many turtles he would find! The dogs found more than 60 turtles in four days at the nature center, and we had an inkling we were onto something special. Over the years since, we’ve documented more with few repeats while drawing attention from conservation professionals and researchers.

Maarten Vonhof at Western Michigan University is overseeing multiple research projects that are looking at genetics, shell patterns, habitat use, range sizes, nest-site selection, scent communication, disease and social behaviors. Watervliet High School Robotics Club members are working on micro-GPS trackers to add to turtles that already have transmitter beacons on them to better understand their daily movements. Sarett staff and volunteers are working on invasive plant species control to improve nesting and foraging habitats. And we are making plans for students, staff and volunteers to help identify, mark and monitor box turtle nests this upcoming spring.

Visitors to the nature center have been helpful in documenting box turtles. We also worked with WMU to set up an app for anyone who finds a box turtle to add them to our project. They can use their phone to take its picture and upload it to our database so we can build up our image catalogue and track locations of individuals.

Q: Has Sarett reached any important milestones in protecting the turtles?

A: We have hit some impressive milestones regarding the numbers of individuals we’ve identified at Sarett Nature Center. After four years of one-week surveys, we identified more than 300 individuals. After four weeks of intensive surveys in 2025, we were able to add more than 250 individuals to our inventory! We are still working on the data, but it looks like we have 600 individuals catalogued, which is many times more than any other single location documented anywhere.

The bloodwork collected this summer marks the largest genetic assessment of a box turtle population ever. The scent data collected is also the largest ever and will be the most comprehensive study ever done looking at box turtle communication via scent.

Q: How would you rate Joe Caton’s work and the importance of it in Sarett’s efforts?

A: Joe’s work has the potential not just to make the research being done on Sarett’s box turtle population more effective and efficient, but it could also be a game changer for conservation efforts for all projects using telemetry.

The costs of tracking are not just in designing the equipment used. A bigger expense comes from the time it takes humans to use the equipment, everything from training on how to use it to time in the field spent tracking down the animals. With more than 70 transmitters, it’s easier and more efficient to find transmitters in the field, and it will save us thousands of dollars. If you project that out to others using this technology, it could be a huge benefit for wildlife conservation.

Food Justice Research Bears Fruit at Sustainability Symposium

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It’s easy to think of issues that revolve around plant and animal life, greenhouse gas emissions and clean drinking water when it comes to studying sustainability and environmentalism. But what about food justice?

The food justice movement examines disparities in food access and health outcomes while seeking ways to provide all with nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food. At the same time, it promotes sustainable food systems that prioritize local and ethical production, reducing reliance on industrial agriculture and its associated environmental costs including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and land degradation.

Enter Tali Deaner ’25. With her Senior Integrated Project (SIP) addressing food justice, she was among 12 Kalamazoo College students who recently presented their research at the 2025 sustainability SIP symposium, sponsored by the Larry J. Bell ’80 Environmental Stewardship Center and K’s environmental studies concentration.

SIPs at K are capstone experiences, a lot like a senior thesis. Students are free to design their own project within their personal and professional interests in partnership with an advisor, and they’re always presented within a department symposium that aligns with a student’s major or chosen subject matter.

In Deaner’s case, she first highlighted her work through the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. However, students like her also find opportunities to present in additional specialty symposiums, if they so choose, leading to Deaner’s participation in the sustainability seminar.

“We have a lot of people who care about sustainability at K, but they don’t always know what to do about that,” Deaner said. “This symposium helped me talk to new people and they seemed to react well to my research. I’m glad I had the opportunity to do it.”

Deaner first got interested in food justice at K while working as a Civic Engagement Scholar for Club Grub through the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement. Founded in 2009, Club Grub is an afterschool program at Kalamazoo Public Schools’ Woodward Elementary that explores healthful eating and gardening. Woodward and K students share experiences and ideas about what they eat and where their food comes from. Each week they make a snack or meal together, often inspiring the K and Woodward students to try a new food for the first time.

In her research, though, Deaner examines food justice from a historical perspective by looking at issues such as real estate redlining, food access and food apartheid, which have contributed to food injustice up to the present day. She hopes an examination of the past could help the city gain a better understanding of what Kalamazoo can do in partnership with local organizations going forward, so residents can have equitable access to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food.

“My message to the city of Kalamazoo would be to listen to the people who are already doing the work,” she said. “Organizations like the foodbank Loaves and Fishes, Chartwells—which is the Kalamazoo Public Schools food provider—and the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Food Hub are doing some great things. But there’s a job for everyone. We need the involvement of people who pass out food at food banks, the fundraisers for local organizations, and the people at the Western Michigan University medical school, who map food access for the sake of pediatrics.”

Deaner’s project is one example of how the sustainability seminars are growing while including projects from various disciplines and continuing to build momentum through students and their advisors. This year alone, for example, Brooke Dolhay ’25 conducted research in the Philippines examining coral reefs there and why so many of them are dying; Lucas Priemer ’25 measured the circumference of specific trees at the Lillian Anderson Arboretum to estimate how much carbon they capture, showing the value of a forest in sustainability; and Westin Grinwis ’25 integrated traditional ecological practices into outdoor orientation programs such as K’s LandSea.

“I couldn’t have been prouder of this year’s presenters,” said Binney Girdler, a professor of biology and the director of K’s environmental studies program. “They worked really hard on their posters and narratives, and it showed. They knew their projects backwards and forwards; not one used or needed notes to give their presentation. After the event, I heard from several College and community members about how professional and engaging the students were. We had great turnout from younger students, friends, family, faculty, staff and community members. The fact that the event had such positive vibes when the subjects covered included so many dire problems humanity faces is entirely due to the passion and caliber of our sustainability minded students.”

Tali Deaner presents her food justice research at the 2025 Sustainability SIP Symposium
Tali Deaner ’25 was among 12 Kalamazoo College students who recently presented their research at the 2025 sustainability SIP symposium, sponsored by the Larry J. Bell ’80 Environmental Stewardship Center and K’s environmental studies concentration.
Student presents his sustainability Senior Integrated Project
Noah Pyle ’25 presents his research at the sustainability symposium.
Student presenting her sustainability poster
Ivy Walker ’25 presented her SIP on how the survival of Earth relies on a holistic approach to preserving and restoring nature’s most delicate and crucial biological systems.
Professor of Biology Binney Girdler addresses SIP projects including one on food justice
Professor of Biology and Director of Environmental Studies Binney Girdler addresses attendees of the 2025 sustainability SIP symposium.

City Events, Off-Campus Studio Draw Art Students Downtown

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A visit to the off-campus community studio and several Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs) painted a picture of life at Kalamazoo College during the city’s Art Hop festivities in May. During the monthly celebration that draws crowds to downtown Kalamazoo, the Park Trades Center, 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave., was the ultimate place for the local arts community to be. 

Located only about a mile from campus, the Park Trades Center has been leasing space to artists and artisans for more than 30 years. A former manufacturing facility, this 105-year-old building has 95 studio spaces, including space used by Kalamazoo College since about 2010. Art students from K gather there throughout their senior year beginning with their SIP-preparation class in fall. That continues in winter as they work independently, and in spring when advisors meet with students. Every so often, the facility hosts Art Hop, giving students a spotlight within the city. 

Josie Checkett ’25 was among the seniors who exhibited her work and benefited from the Park Trades Center this year. Her SIP, titled Shooting the Moon and Other Failures, represented her journey with growing up and the big changes that took place when she left behind her teenage years to become a young adult.  

“When I became a senior and got studio space in the Park Trades Center to start working on my SIP, going there almost every day to work shifted my mindset from being an art student to being an artist,” Checkett said. “You get exposed to more opportunities to show work, you meet other people who work or have studios in the building, and you’re not beholden to the hours and resources of the Light Fine Arts building. If you do it right, it’s almost like doing a residency.” 

The main area of K’s community studio at the Park Trades Center is used as a classroom and a critique and exhibition space, with the rest split into individual spaces for each studio art major or SIP student to work. In a typical year, about 12 to 15 students conduct studio SIPs in the department, Professor of Art Sarah Lindley said. 

“Students have 24-hour access throughout the year, and many use the studio throughout the long winter break, which provides continuity in addition to an accessible workspace,” Lindley said. “The space is managed by a post-baccalaureate fellow, who is a working artist and also has a studio in the space. The fellow serves as a liaison between on- and off-campus resources, a mentor for students, a safety monitor for tool use, an exhibition coordinator and a helper with other essential programming in the department.” 

Jacob Converse is the current post-baccalaureate fellow and he relishes his studio manager title. He said students and faculty are lucky to share the Park Trades Center with many working artists and people in trades of several varieties. The professionals include glass blowers, furniture and cabinetry makers, book binders, papermakers, barbers and photographers. It even has a wallpaper-printing studio. 

“Art Hops are an exciting event with many Park Trades Center members opening their doors to the public to explore, shop and meet others interested in the arts,” Converse said. “It’s a hallmark experience for our students who gain vital exhibition experience along with the benefits of sharing ideas and receiving constructive feedback for future endeavors.” 

Art Hop is an important part of the student experience for all levels of students. The studio hosts art hop exhibitions for seniors in fall and winter, which highlight the different stages of SIP development, and the spring features the department show. There were even a few non-art majors included this year because the students enjoyed their art classes and were proud of what they created. 

“I know many of the students who attended this year’s Art Hop enjoyed meeting some local alumni, and many of the recently declared art majors are looking forward to working here, as they appreciated this exciting introduction to the studio space and its multifunctionality,” Converse said. 

Art Hop displays at the Park Trades Center studio
Kalamazoo College art students gather at the Park Trades Center throughout their senior year beginning with their SIP-preparation class in fall. That continues in winter as they work independently, and in spring when advisors meet with students. Every so often, the facility also hosts Art Hop, giving students a spotlight within the city.
Josie Checkett with artwork from her Senior Integrated Project
Josie Checkett ’25 was among the seniors who exhibited her work at and benefited from the Park Trades Center this year.
Art Hop displays at the Park Trades Center studio
The annual student show at the Park Trades Center remains a highlight of the academic year for Kalamazoo College art students with many venturing off campus to share their work and participate in the local arts community.  

Lindley said the Gilmore Foundation supported the Park Trades Center for several years, and there have been numerous community collaborations there over the years, including partnerships with the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement along with some student-run community projects. The pandemic changed that somewhat. But the annual student show remains a highlight, with many students venturing off campus to share their work and participate in the local arts community.  

Checkett says she hopes that students will continue to push their arts horizons there. 

“It’s easy, especially when you live on campus, to forget we are living within an entire community, and one that has a very active art scene at that,” Checkett said. “Both showing work at Art Hop and attending other parts of the event gets students out into that community. When you’re an art student and your studio time, your critiques, most of the other art you see on a daily basis is all made by your direct peers, it’s good to broaden that scope. The Park Trades Center provides a valuable experience.” 

Student, Faculty Research Partners Earn National Recognition

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Maxwell Rhames ’25 and Daniela Arias-Rotondo, Kalamazoo College’s Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Endowed Chair in Natural Science, are receiving national recognition for their three years of work together that culminated in Rhames’ Senior Integrated Project (SIP).

Arias-Rotondo’s synthetic inorganic chemistry lab works to find ways of converting light into energy. In Rhames’ SIP, that meant examining what alternative metals could possibly be used to make things like solar panels less expensive, one day assisting a global shift toward renewable energy.

“When you have some sort of inorganic complex that absorbs light, that light can get transformed into chemical energy in the form of electricity,” Rhames said. “A common example is with solar panels, but the metals that they use in them are rare, and as a result, incredibly expensive. We were looking at taking some cheaper metals that you could find anywhere in a much more sustainable way and asking whether they can work.”

For their efforts, the two have received an honorable mention in the 2024 Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award for Undergraduate Research, which recognizes research that students and faculty perform in tandem. The award, given through the American Chemical Society, has three divisions between national labs, research universities and institutions that primarily consist of undergraduates. Rhames and Arias-Rotondo were honored in the primarily-undergraduates category, which covers scientists from hundreds of schools across the country.

“The traditional photoactive metals are iridium and ruthenium, and we’re looking at manganese, which is the third-most abundant transition metal on Earth,” Rhames said. “In the state we use it in, it’s stable and nontoxic, so it’s a great alternative. We’re looking at how we can bridge the gap between saying, ‘this could be really cool,’ and actually getting it to where we could apply it in some of these areas.”

Arias-Rotondo said she and Rhames use spectroscopy to understand what kind of light the compounds they create absorb and what happens after they absorb it.

Student and professor with national Undergraduate Research Award
Maxwell Rhames ’25 and Daniela Arias-Rotondo, Kalamazoo College’s Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Endowed Chair in Natural Science, have received national recognition with an honorable mention in the 2024 Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award for Undergraduate Research, which recognizes research that students and faculty perform in tandem.

“One of the problems that we’re finding is that once our compounds absorb light and get to what we call an excited state, that excited state doesn’t last long enough yet for them to be useful,” she said. “But Max’s work has been instrumental because he was the first one in the group to make these kinds of compounds. Now that we’ve been able to understand their properties and investigate some of them, other students in our lab can understand how to make them better. We are making a name for ourselves by laying the groundwork for making these compounds.”

Rhames has discussed his SIP at the Inter-American Photochemical Society and American Chemical Society conferences, where his fellow scientists were enthused about his work on a national scale.

“That’s been the coolest thing, because when you put something out there, you don’t know what people are going to think of it,” he said. “And generally, their reactions have been super rewarding. I enjoy doing the work myself, but it’s even cooler to know that other people find it equally exciting. It’s an added bonus.”

Rhames won’t be the first or the last in his family to graduate from K when he walks the stage at Commencement in June. Both of his parents, Frank ’92 and Jody ’92, are alumni, and his sister, Claire ’27, is a current student. However, he’s clearly found his own path having performed research in Arias-Rotondo’s lab ever since his first year on campus. In addition, he will start a Ph.D. program at the University of Delaware in fall, and he hopes to one day serve as a faculty member at an institution like K.

“K is small, so you get to make a lot of good connections with your professors,” Rhames said. “I was three or four weeks into my first term as a college student, and all of a sudden, I’m in a lab doing the work with the research. There are no post-docs or graduate students. It is just the undergraduates and the faculty doing all of the work. That would’ve been a lot harder to do had I not gone to K.”

2025 Sustainability Symposium to Welcome Local Activist

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A local activist known for constructing the first legally built tiny house in the county will be a keynote speaker for the 2025 Sustainability Senior Integrated Project (SIP) Symposium at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. 

Ben Brown will address the symposium in a lecture titled Rumors of Hope. A writer and international speaker, he will discuss his years of public engagement through social justice movements, urban farming, food sovereignty, energy sovereignty and economics.   

Brown, who grew up on a family farm in Southwest Michigan, is also an expert in the affordable-housing movement and is a founding member of the Kalamazoo Electric Vehicle Association (KEVA). He continues to be involved in environmental and conservation work and is credited with helping to preserve several cultural resources.  

In 2017, Brown provided WMUK Radio with a video tour around his tiny house, which measures less than 270 square feet. Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity assisted in the house’s construction.  

The SIP Symposium will feature student presentations representing a variety of academic departments at K and include research on topics such as food access, marine eco-systems, sustainability transitions for public transportation in Kalamazoo, sheep grazing and soil health, carbon sequestration and more. K recently featured one of the SIPs, a project on coral reefs in the Philippines by Brooke Dolhay ’25, on its website.  

Local food from Of the Land will be provided at the free event sponsored by the Larry J. Bell ’80 Environmental Stewardship Center and the environmental studies concentration. For more information, please contact Sara Stockwood, the director for the Environmental Stewardship Center and Lillian Anderson Arboretum, at Sara.Stockwood@kzoo.edu. 

Image says Keynote Speaker Ben Brown, Rumors of Hope: You in the Community, April 23, 6:30 p.m., 2025 Sustainability SIP Symposium
Writer and international speaker Ben Brown will discuss his years of public engagement through social justice movements, urban farming, food sovereignty, energy sovereignty and economics at the 2025 Sustainability SIP Symposium at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.

Student’s Concert to Debut ‘Lavender Bushes’

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Join vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter Isabella Pellegrom ’25 when she shares new music from her upcoming second album, tentatively titled Lavender Bushes. The event—at 7 p.m. Friday, April 18, in Recital Hall at Light Fine Arts—will serve as her Senior Integrated Project concert performance. 

Pellegrom released her first album, Nomadic Tendencies, in 2022. She said she decided to produce a second album for her SIP with inspiration from her brother, Jory, who she says is a fabulous guitarist and songwriter himself. 

“I have distinct memories of sitting beside him as he played and wrote,” Pellegrom said. “There are three songs on the album—For a Cent, Oil Spills and Lines in Between—that were originally written by him. As he never had a chance to produce them himself, I wanted to take his songs and make them my own, whether that be in the arrangement for the studio version or getting to collaborate with him on finalizing lyrics. The album was then filled up with songs that I wrote throughout my years at Kalamazoo College.” 

Pellegrom notes that some of the songs, such as the title track and In My Back Pocket, have been stashed away for an album since her first year at K, meaning they’re more polished. Others—such as Rainbows, So Sweet, Ocean Tides and Better Left Unknown—she fell in love with because they had a certain lyric or feel while going with the healing, introspective nature of the new album. 

Pellegrom is a biochemistry and music double major and a member of the Chemistry Club at K. She’s also been a President’s Student Ambassador, representing the College at formal events for community leaders, alumni and donors as an extension of the president’s office. Plus, she has participated in inorganic chemistry research and completed a summer clinical research program at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern. 

As a musician, Pellegrom is a member of the Academy Street Winds, the Kalamazoo Jazz Band, the College Singers and the Limelights a cappella group. However, the songs on her SIP album are special, she said, because they are a representation of the creative growth she has experienced over the past four years. 

“I wrote them during experiences of joy, sadness, confusion and clarity; all the while discovering more about who I am and who I want to be,” Pellegrom said. “Since writing my last album, I have continued to feel grounded in songwriting and I’ve found inspiration in nature.

“The biggest difference from the last album is that this one feels even more rooted in my personal emotions and events. I want to keep finding my voice through my lyrics and my sound through how I am feeling. This album is an exploration of the beauties found within the world. Even more, to me this album represents healing in its many forms and the ways in which I heal. I find healing through joyous moments with friends, through love felt in relationships, through support during moments of hardship and most of all through music. I hope that these songs are in any way healing for those who listen as well.” 

"Lavender Bushes" songwriter Isabella Pellegrom playing a guitar and signing with a microphone in front of her
Isabella Pellegrom ’25 sang music from “Nomadic Tendencies” during Founders Day in 2023.

Lavender Bushes Demos

Get a taste of what Pellegrom will perform
at 7 p.m. Friday, April 18:

Concert poster says "Lavender Bushes," Isabella Pellegrom, 7 p.m. April 18
Pellegrom’s second album, tentatively titled “Lavender Bushes,” will be available this summer.

SIP Search Spurs Scuba Skills, Sea Life Science in Philippines

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Three scuba divers including Brooke Dolhay after a dive in the Philippines
Brooke Dolhay ’25 (center) was accepted into a summer program at the Institute for Marine Research (IMR), where she performed her Senior Integrated Project while scuba diving and researching corals off the small island Negros Oriental in the Philippines.
A view of the coral reef and sea life in the Philippines
Dolhay had daily scenes like this to look forward to after taking a week to receive advanced certification in scuba diving.
Equipment prepared for scuba diving in the Philippines
Dolhay’s work is helping IMR research how it can help coral reef, which are dying as a result of warming waters caused by climate change.

Growing up in Chicago, Brooke Dolhay ’25 enjoyed reading about the world’s oceans, but her Midwest location never allowed her to take much of a deep dive into them. 

That continued into college as she followed her parents, Amy ’95 and Kevin Dolhay ’94, to Kalamazoo College. From a distance perspective, the move got her only marginally closer to making waves along saltwater shores in her chosen field of biochemistry. Then a whale of an opportunity came along for her Senior Integrated Project (SIP). 

Influenced by her study abroad experience in Oaxaca, Mexico, Dolhay decided to investigate programs overseas.  

“I saw the SIP as an opportunity to do exactly what I wanted to do and create my own experience, so I started randomly Googling phrases like ‘diving internships,’ and I came across the Institute for Marine Research (IMR), which is in the Philippines,” Dolhay said. 

She decided to apply to the institute and was accepted into IMR’s summer program, conducting research into the coral reef there and why so many of them are dying. The only issue she needed to resolve in advance was funding an experience in the Philippines, which she discussed with her SIP advisor, Regina Stevens-Truss, a professor of chemistry and department co-chair. 

“She said the college actually has a lot of different ways to fund a SIP experience, so I emailed a bunch of people about it,” Dolhay said. “I talked to the Center for Career and Professional Development. They had an unpaid internship stipend, so I applied to tha.t. The Center for International Programs has a list of grants on its website for SIP-related funding, so I also applied for the Hough Grant through the Hough Foundation. That helped me, too, and the experience ended up being fully funded, which was awesome.” 

A waterfall surrounded by trees and rocks in the Philippines
Dolhay had days off from her research to visit waterfalls, hike on a mountain and explore rain forest.
A street view of Negros Oriental in the Philippines
Negros Oriental’s remote location, where cars are uncommon, required her and some of her fellow diving researchers to ride around on a moped with the nearest town being about 40 minutes away.
A view of Negros Oriental
Negros Oriental is known for its natural beauty along with Apo Island Marine Sanctuary, the Manjuyod White Sandbar and Mount Talinis, a dormant volcano with old-growth forests and five lakes in the vicinity.

With financing concerns behind her, accepting the one-month opportunity was a no-brainer. 

“I was excited because I also traveled to Europe with family, but I’d never been as far away from home as the Philippines,” Dolhay said. “I really loved my study abroad experience, too, so I knew I could travel alone, and I thought ‘why not?’” 

IMR is located on the small island of Negros Oriental, which required her to take flights from Chicago to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to the Philippines capital of Manila, and Manila to Negros Oriental. The remote location, where cars are uncommon, forced her to ride around on a moped with the nearest town with a mall being about 40 minutes away. 

Once settled, though, Dolhay found her first order of business was to prepare for her research by earning an advanced certification in scuba diving. For her first six days, she completed two dives in the morning and two in the afternoon in a physically demanding process. 

Then came her research. Going in, she knew that algae and corals have a symbiotic relationship. Typically, algae provide corals with food and photosynthesis, and the corals give algae access to sunlight and a protected environment. Climate change, however, is warming ocean waters. That causes corals to bleach and then expel algae. The processes are killing off some varieties of fish and are affecting humans, too, as island communities have less fish to eat and less protection from disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis. 

Armed with this knowledge, it was Dolhay’s job to operate a variety of underwater cameras while scuba diving before using software to collect data and analyze the pictures. 

Brooke Dolhay examining the ocean floor while scuba diving in the Philippines
Most of the methodologies Dolhay and her fellow researchers used while scuba diving involved varieties of cameras including a GoPro to examine the ocean floor.
An underwater view off Negros Oriental in the Philippines
Climate change is warming ocean waters and causing corals to bleach and then expel algae. The processes are killing off some varieties of fish and affecting humans, too, as island communities have less fish to eat and less protection from disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis. 
Dolhay swimming in the Philippines
Dolhay received advanced certification in scuba diving during her time in the Philippines.

“We were looking at the corals, the fish and also the ocean floor,” Dolhay said. “Nearly all of IMR’s methodologies involved a kind of camera. For the fish, we had a long metal bar that had two cameras on either side of it. For the ocean floor, we had a GoPro we used along a transect line where we would take pictures about every meter or so. For the corals, we would swim along a transect line and look for different obstructions.” 

IMR will continue the research that she helped start for a few more months yet. But within the data, a variety of scientists like Dolhay are finding reason for hope. 

“There are labs at different universities that are trying to genetically modify corals so they can grow in the increasing water temperatures,” she said. “IMR also is growing baby corals under water in a coral nursery and using the larvae to try to respawn areas that haven’t been doing well. There’s a lot of cool science going on between genetic modification and artificial development with scientists dropping cages like the ones fishermen use to replant corals using zip ties. A lot of the fish are attracted to that because it works like a real reef.” 

The opportunity in the Philippines, Dolhay said, clearly wouldn’t have been available to her had she decided to attend a school other than K. 

“I’ve talked with friends who have gone places like the University of Tampa and the University of Illinois,” she said. “They don’t have this kind of experience at all. They might work in a lab with a professor, but I don’t hear of them speaking about outside opportunities where they can get involved and be supported by the college at the same time. I really love that I could do that.” 

Coral reef are key to protecting beneficial algae and fish in the Philippines while also protecting island communities during hurricanes and tsunamis.
Dolhay performing research while scuba diving in the Philippines
Dolhay expects the experience she had in the Philippines to be beneficial as she applies for master’s programs in environmental science at institutions such as DePaul University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Illinois Chicago.
Dolhay swims while scuba diving
Dolhay said some scuba diving scientists are introducing artificial coral reefs in ocean environments by dropping cages, like the ones fishermen use, to replant corals using zip ties.

And now, she expects the experience will be beneficial as she applies for master’s programs in environmental science at institutions such as DePaul University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Illinois Chicago. 

“I’m really interested in decarbonization and the chemical side of being a biochemistry major because the CO2 that we emit is directly affecting the oceans and the way that the corals grow,” she said. “I’m also looking into ocean acidification and how we can try to mitigate that because it just keeps happening as a result of our carbon emissions. In the meantime, I’m trying to find ways to educate others on the importance of being aware of your carbon footprint and doing the little things throughout the day that can help the planet.” 

Writing Stuff Provides the Right Stuff for Student to Discover, Learn

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If you’ve ever believed that you’re just not good at science, math, English or whatever your least favorite subject might be, Senchen Subba ’25 and his Senior Integrated Project (SIP) might convince you otherwise. 

Subba, a business and computer science double major from Nepal, is the creator of The Senchy Review, a blog with a series of self-contained essays in global politics, psychology, technology and personal development. The essays allow him to analyze complex subjects through clear and engaging ideas, providing an approach that he says mirrors the exploratory nature of real-world learning. It also invites others to engage with his ideas. 

Subba calls it a kind of Bildungsroman experience, like where a literary character comes of age through formative years or an education.  

“I thought if I could combine my writing with building a website for my SIP, that would be very cool,” he said. “I feel it’s the best way for me to encapsulate my experience in college. If I took a history class, for example, it would be difficult for me to write an entire SIP on what I learned. But I could have an entire SIP on different tidbits of topics and each topic could be self-contained.” 

Portrait of The Senchy Review blog author Senchen Subba writing
Senchen Subba ’25, a business and computer science double major from Nepal, is the creator of The Senchy Review, a blog that allows him to write a series of self-contained essays in global politics, psychology, technology and personal development.

The variety of the essays reflect Subba’s natural inclination to write, be curious and explore. While he appreciates everything he learns in a familiar subject like computer science, even that once was an experiment with something new. 

“When I came here, I wasn’t thinking about taking computer science,” Subba said. “I thought I would try one class and continue if I enjoyed it. But then I found out that computer science just makes sense. If you want to build a website, there are certain pieces of it that fit together like a recipe. I enjoy how logical it is. And if I make an app, I can publish it. If I make a website, I can share it.” 

Yet if you scan his list of essays, you will find titles that share ideas regarding the pleasures of trial and error, how to make reading a habit, the complexities of addiction, the ins and outs of corporate finance, strategies for weightlifting, finding satisfaction in life, and the essence of public speaking. 

“As a thinker, I’ve learned that I don’t know many of these concepts I write about as well as I thought,” Subba said. “Writing leaves no room for my confusion to hide. It has made me realize how much I appreciate clear, concise and engaging writing, and how challenging it is to accomplish. The ones that stand out to me right now are the writings regarding corporate finance and gym lifts—corporate finance because it was technical, fun and challenging to break down ideas down into fundamentals, and weightlifting because I’ve recently gotten into it more, so my writing has helped clarify my training philosophy.” 

If he finds the subject interesting, he will consider writing about it regardless of what it is. Such topics make it evident just how much Subba loves to write and the freedom of the liberal arts, making K a perfect fit for him.  

“If you want to be really good at just one topic, you can study just one subject,” Subba said. “But I think for myself, it’s helpful to have a wide breadth of knowledge. That doesn’t mean you can’t be really good at one thing. But I’ve noticed that the people who are really good at, let’s say, programming, they have other interests outside of that one field. I would say the liberal arts have helped me a lot. I’m sure it provides a lot of benefits to other people, too.” 

He even dabbles with a podcast through the opportunities he has at K. It shares interviews with K students, faculty and staff regarding their areas of expertise. His latest interview was with Wen Chao Chen Professor of East Asian Social Studies Dennis Frost. 

“I find that If I want to do something at K, the resources or the help I need to do it will come out if I just ask about it or talk to enough people,” he said. 

Subba said he has been visiting Kalamazoo since he was a child because his uncle, Mahendra Lawoti, is a political science professor at Western Michigan University. 

“I still remember coming here and driving around Kalamazoo with him,” Subba said. “He would point toward K’s campus and say, ‘There’s a really nice college over here, too.’ I forgot about that for three or four years until I was applying for colleges, and I got in at K.” 

Since then, he has had great experiences with friends and faculty, while staff assistance has come from places as far ranging as K Dining and the Center for International Programs, which provides support and programming for international students like him. In fact, he’s grateful for every friend and family member he’s had in his life. 

Come graduation in June, he hopes he can start building a career—and perhaps a business of his own—that helps people through an online platform like The Senchy Review. 

“I want my career to be built on the idea that a person can enjoy what they’re doing while also enriching people’s lives,” Subba said. “I feel there are certain businesses that do well financially but aren’t the most helpful. I’d rather think that if I give people enough good value, earnings will come automatically and be more of a metric of success.” 

Teamwork Measures the Benefit of a Forest Through the Trees

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Four students from two academic departments have combined forces this year to measure how Kalamazoo College’s Lillian Anderson Arboretum benefits the local fight against climate change.

Lucas Priemer ’25, a biology and Spanish double major from Berkley, Michigan, is working on a Senior Integrated Project (SIP) that measures the circumference of specific trees at the arboretum to estimate how much carbon they capture and how that compares with measurements taken in previous SIPs that have been repeated about every five years. 

Priemer also works at the arboretum and loves spending time there, making this project an ideal fit for him. 

“The best thing about the arboretum is that it’s an escape from just being here on campus,” Priemer said. “Some people get a little cooped up, especially in the winter here, so it’s nice to get outside. I think getting outside and exploring nature is one of the best things that we can do to alleviate stress, especially in a big academic environment.” 

The project he’s working on is sometimes referred to at K as “the tree-hugger SIP” because students put their arms around trees and use a tape measure at a standard height to gather their data. Using that information in a standard formula allows students like Priemer to calculate a tree’s above-ground biomass. A carbon conversion factor, based on a tree’s species and wood density, then estimates the amount of carbon it stores—or sequesters—preventing the greenhouse gas from polluting the environment. 

Using a mapping app, Priemer locates the focal trees in each of the plots he’s analyzing. Within 20 meters, he measures all trees larger than 30 centimeters. Within 10 meters, he measures trees between 10 and 30 centimeters. Within 5 meters, he measures trees between 2.5 and 10 centimeters. 

“We haven’t made a ton of conclusions yet because we’re still working on the statistical analysis,” Priemer said. “But we’re hoping to find an increase in the carbon sequestration over the past years’ SIPs as the trees grow. I think the state of the arboretum is pretty good, so hopefully, we’ll see some good results.” 

Lucas Priemer poses among trees at the Lillian Anderson Arboretum
Lucas Priemer ’25 is working on a Senior Integrated Project that uses tree measurements at the Lillian Anderson Arboretum to help determine how much carbon trees there are sequestering in the local fight against climate change.

His efforts are receiving assistance from Juniper Pasternak ’27, Judah Karesh ’25 and Teddy Jacobson ’27, who were in the fall 2024 computing for the environment and social justice course led by Sandino Vargas Perez, an associate professor of computer science. The class studies concepts and techniques from computer science to address and understand problems in environmental science. It explores topics such as how computational intelligence is applied to environmental data; current solutions to create, collect, store, process, model and distribute data and information; and the environmental impacts of computers such as electronic waste. 

Together, the team of three completed their final project for the course by building a web-based app for their client, Biology Professor Binney Girdler, which helps Priemer record his data and analyze it, note tree varieties and health, and preserve the information for future biology students who repeat the SIP. 

“There were other choices for final projects, but this one seemed like we would be creating something that would be consistently used, something that would have long-term benefits, and help out the biology department,” Pasternak said. “We also knew we would indirectly help fight climate change by helping ecologists and biologists track what our trees are doing and learning more about carbon sequestration.” 

The project was especially challenging in the beginning, Jacobson said, considering that the team was starting from scratch. 

“You just have to start from nothing and go,” Jacobson said. “It all started with us designing the database. We used a whiteboard to plan the rough ideas of what we thought we would need. Then, through our conversations with Dr. Girdler, we figured out exactly what was required. From there, we set up an agile development system and our project management. We’d then meet up weekly as a group to discuss what we’ve done, where we need to continue and try our best.” 

The final product made the whole project worthwhile. Karesh felt communication was key to producing excellent work that they could confidently present to Girdler. 

“The three of us had worked together before, but honestly, I think we did a better job with this one because our communication was so good,” Karesh said. “A lot of the challenge was trying to keep the scope limited. I’m happy that we worked on something that’s actually being used, and it’s going to be around for a while.” 

Priemer said he’s grateful for the assistance from the computer science students and they will be thanked in his SIP, which will have strong benefits for fighting climate change on and off campus. 

“I want the arboretum to be protected and safe moving forward,” Priemer said. “There are green spaces around that aren’t exactly protected, so doing research like this provides evidence for why we should keep it and other green spaces in Kalamazoo.” 

Senior’s Film Speaks Volumes for Potawatomi Language Revival

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Connable Recital Hall filled for I AM POTAWATOMI
Connable Recital Hall was filled for the premiere of a documentary titled “BODEWADMI NDAW” (“I AM POTAWATOMI) by Davis Henderson ’25.
A panel discusses I AM POTAWATOMI at its premiere
Henderson (from left), Annalee Bennett, Frank Barker and Holly Trevan attend the premiere of “BODEWADMI NDAW.”
Two people holding flowers at the I AM POTAWATOMI premiere
Holly Trevan (Henderson’s mom) joined him at the premiere of “BODEWADMI NDAW.”

Davis Henderson ’25 is in a race against time. Few of his fellow Potawatomi in southwest Michigan’s Gun Lake region can speak their native language, Bodwéwadmimwen, and it’s possible some of it already has been lost to history.

Yet Henderson would do anything in his power to help save that language and culture for future generations, especially as his people, also known as the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish band of Potawatomi, have done so much to support him.

When mentioning the Gun Lake tribe, “a lot of people think about the casino, but across the street from it is our government center,” he said. “That’s where we have our courts, our police officers, and it’s where we educate our people. They’re responsible for why I’m here right now. I couldn’t attend Kalamazoo College without their support.”

Protecting his heritage means so much to Henderson, in fact, that he has dedicated his Senior Integrated Project (SIP) to it. The SIP is a senior’s capstone project, showcasing the critical thinking, communication and creative skills students develop at K.

The documentary Henderson created for his, titled BODEWADMI NDAW or I AM POTAWATOMI, is the latest in a string of successes that Henderson, a theatre major, has experienced in his film and media studies concentration. Last year he was part of a group of K students that made Motherboard Loves You, which earned the Best Amateur Picture award in the Kazoo 48 film festival. He also spotlighted K’s TV-production class in a Homecoming film festival last fall with ARTX-200, named for the course taught by media producer and studio instructor Jaakan Page-Wood, who served as a consultant for BODEWADMI NDAW.

The title, in capital letters, reflects a declaration of pride that Henderson and others involved with the film feel for their heritage.

“We’ve got a new generation of people who want to revitalize the language and fight for ourselves, and that’s a lot of what the documentary is about,” Henderson said. “We have the facilities, we have the motivation, we have the drive, and we have the assets to revitalize it properly and get the information about our efforts out there.”

Camera films a pow wow
“BODEWADMI NDAW” includes interviews, festivals, gatherings and meetings with people from around Michigan and throughout the Midwest.
Three people filming BODEWADMI NDAW
Henderson (middle) films parts of “BODEWADMI NDAW” from his mom’s canoe during a canoe launch. He was joined by his mom, Holly Trevan (left), and Alicia Sommers, who was paddling.
Filming BODEWADMI NDAW
The documentary’s viewers see a canoe launch, pow-wows, interviews, language conferences and more.
Title screen from BODEWADMI NDAW
The documentary “BODEWADMI NDAW,” about the efforts of the Be-Nash-She-Wish band of Potawatomi to revive their language, is now available on YouTube. It will also be available at the Tubefactory Art Space in Indianapolis beginning March 7.

The history behind the language’s decline began when Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish signed the Treaty of Chicago in 1821. Many native Americans of the time were moved west, but Henderson’s tribe made a choice to go north. Their ancestral land covered several local areas—including a territory of land that Kalamazoo College now sits on—before they were pushed toward Bradley, and eventually to Wayland.

Some of Henderson’s ancestors, including his great-grandfather, then were forced to attend boarding schools, where staffers enacted beatings. Henderson said he didn’t grow up learning the language as a result. He can speak pieces of it by saying thank you, hello and goodbye. He also can introduce himself, but that’s where the language largely has been left until now, despite his tribe’s recent ambitions to revive it for their children and grandchildren.

One of Henderson’s interviewees even described learning the language because he loves it, not because it’s fun or easy.

“The people learning how to speak the language describe an ache that comes with it because they want to learn it so badly,” Henderson said. “In fact, I was originally going to call this documentary The Ache. But I’ve found that where there was pain, there’s also been a lot of hope. Growing up in our culture, we’re always being hopeful, moving forward with good intent. That’s what we always strive for, and I hope the documentary captures that.”

The documentary begins with the tribe’s construction of a canoe on Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish land for the first time in a few hundred years, by Henderson’s estimation.

“I hope that the moment emphasizes the fact that we’re trying our hardest to rediscover our culture,” Henderson said. “Much of our culture is lost. There are so many words and practices that just don’t exist anymore because we don’t remember them. We don’t have a written language. It’s oral history, so if we’re not listening to the people who knew it before, it disappears.”

The film continues with interviews, festivals, gatherings and meetings with people around Michigan and throughout the Midwest. Viewers see the crafted canoe’s launch, pow-wows, interviews, language conferences and more as tribal citizens attempt to learn Bodwéwadmimwen through conversations and tools such as sign language for a deeper understanding of who they are.

Henderson is grateful to the people who contributed to the documentary and made it possible—such as interviewees Rhonda Purcell-Corkins, Annalee Bennett, Malcolm McDonald, Frank Barker, Iola Goldie Trevan-Nicholas and Holly Trevan—along with the governing bodies of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish and Pokagon bands of Potawatomi. He’s also grateful to Page-Wood and Visiting Instructor Danny Kim for teaching Henderson almost all of his documentary skills.

The documentary premiered at a gathering February 19 at K and is available on YouTube. It can also be seen in the Tube Factory Artspace in Indianapolis starting March 7.

“This has been a long process, and I’ve surrounded myself with a lot of people who I didn’t realize cared so much,” Henderson said. “It’s been a fascinating and beautiful experience. I hope I can follow up on this project in the future. Maybe 10 years or so won’t allow for much of a difference, but I want to check back in because right now we’re just starting to lift off. I want to see what it’s like and think ‘Hey, we’re cruising.’ Hopefully, we’re cruising.”