Office of Research & Economic Development

Stories of support, collaboration, research and community engagement

yellow background, faculty headshot of Michelle Sahli smiling in a red shirt with a black blazer in the Atrium of the library.

Epidemiologist Michelle Sahli: Research as Craft 

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Michelle W. Sahli, PhD in Epidemiology with a background in teaching, research, combines a broad history of experiences with a passion for her craft to inspire her students and push them to make a difference in the world. What do we know about Michelle Sahli? Dr. Sahli is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department

Borders and Crossings: First-Year Experience Classes Prompt Big Questions

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In January 2020, the Mellon Foundation made a $600,000 award to University of Michigan – Flint professors Daniel Birchok and Jacob Lederman, just before the emergence of the COVID pandemic. The project, entitled ‘Borders and Crossings:  Exploring Global Questions at the University of Michigan-Flint,’ began with the premise that community-engaged humanities courses needed to be

Shirl Donaldson sits behind a UM-Flint College of Innovation & Technology table loaded with T-shirts with a red Dodge Challenger GT behind her.

Donk Racing and STEM Equity – CIT Professor researches Informal Learning pathways

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Shirl Donaldson is an assistant professor of project management, STEM education and entrepreneurship in the University of Michigan-Flint’s College of Innovation and Technology. She is researching Donk car racing and whether it can help change the way minoritized kids think about STEM subjects in relation to themselves.  “When it comes to racing, tons of money

Promise Scholars Graphic with a Grad cap over the P - Maize background

Promise Scholar Program gets meta with UROP and SURE

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The University of Michigan – Flint’s Promise Scholar Program is a grant-funded project that has a long history of helping students achieve success. Students whose high school GPA falls below UM-Flint admission requirements can enter the program and be a part of a tight group of around 30 students who get a bunch of extra

Culinski poses on campus for a professional headshot. She is seated, in a sharp suit, and has shoulder length blonde hair surrounding a genuine smile.

Student Research Spotlight: Taylor Culinski

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Most students use their first year in college to take care of the basics, like exploring student clubs or learning how to find their way around campus. For Taylor Culinski, a junior psychology major from Swartz Creek, Michigan, her first year was the perfect time to begin conducting research alongside her professors. And it was

Matthew Thelen in the lab wearing a labcoat with a Student spotlight graphic indicating he studies in the College of Arts & Sciences

Student Research Spotlight: Matthew Thelen

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Matthew Thelen likes to get right to the root of a problem. And as a molecular biology major, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Why deal with things on the surface when the truth lies beneath? It’s that curiosity to reveal the origin of an issue that has led the junior from Metamora to pursue

Nathaniel Cordova poses in a blue chair with the UM-Flint Rec center behind him out the window. He has a black button up shirt on and is dapper in appearance.

Student Research Spotlight: Nathaniel Cordova

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Nathaniel Cordova is a full-time undergraduate student at the University of Michigan-Flint slated to graduate with a Bachelor’s in Psychology in December 2022. Shortly after he transferred from Youngstown State University in Ohio, he asked psychology professor Thomas Wrobel what he should do to better prepare for a PhD or Master’s program. Wrobel told him