At Cornell, students seeking to make a meaningful impact can find opportunities year-round and across the globe.

This semester, the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement awarded Community-Engaged Student Grants to 37 undergraduates for collaborations with community partners in Ithaca and beyond. The $1,000 grant supports undergraduate students participating in Cornell-facilitated community-engaged learning — such as courses, mentored internships or team-based research — over their winter or spring breaks.

Among the awardees is Maya Murry ’25. The computer science major in Cornell Engineering branched out from the Cornell Winter Program in Cambodia – Heritage, History and Identity (ANTHR 3590/6590) with her own project with the Center for Khmer Studies. She conducted interviews with communities dedicated to preserving Khmer heritage in the aftermath of the Cambodian genocide for her documentary “Our Ancestors Are Still Singing,” advocating for the protection of Indigenous knowledge systems and cultural identity.

Logan Bonn ’25, a global development major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, also used his winter break to conduct independent research, working closely with local nongovernmental organizations in Samochima, a village in northwest Botswana. Through a community workshop and interviews, he gathered insights on improving the alignment of international aid with the lived realities of local populations adapting to climate change — relying heavily on agriculture and Indigenous knowledge. He hopes his findings will inform more effective advocacy efforts.

Closer to home, Owen Karmel ’27 contributed to the advancement of geroscience through his work with the Longevity Biotech Alliance, a group of scientists and investors dedicated to translating discoveries in the biology of human aging into clinical applications. Over winter break, the physics major in the College of Arts and Sciences created a report evaluating 44 biotech companies the alliance hopes to engage in a pitch competition later this year. He plans to help out at the event after pursuing geroscience research himself over the summer.

In addition to independent projects, several Cornell courses and projects regularly provide structured opportunities for students to collaborate with local and global partners on pressing challenges.

This year, the grant supported multiple students involved in the following programs and initiatives: 

• Development In Action
• Cornell AguaClara
• Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Teams (SMART)
• Cornell Spring Break Program in London – Global Health and Environmental Justice