Josephine Benson was selected as the 2014 SHD Essay Contest winner for her essay titled "New Worlds, New Germs: The Role of European Expansion in the Development of Germ Theory." Josephine is a rising sophomore at Brown University. She intends to concentrate in Science and Society, focusing on both geochemistry and science policy and communications. At Brown, she writes for SciToons, a project that produces short educational animations for high school students and the medical school alumni magazine--Brown Medicine Magazine. Over the summer 2014, Josephine is working at the National Youth Science Camp as the office manager and for SmarterSchools LLC, a educational non-profit focused on improving STEM and project-based learning in Ohio schools. Her essay, entitled "New World, New Germs: The Role of European Expansion in the Development of Germ Theory," was written for the class "On the Dawn of Modernity," which was taught by Professor Onésimo Almeida. She hopes to continue studying the historical development of the sciences and apply it to current-day policy. Congratulations to the winner and thanks to all the students who entered the contest.
ELIGIBILITY: A post-secondary (college or university) student from any part of the world who will not have received a doctoral degree before May 15, 2015 is eligible to enter the contest.
THE ESSAY: The essay (research paper) shall be original and unpublished, in the English language and of no more than 6,000 words, including footnotes or endnotes. Papers previously submitted for class assignments are encouraged. A reasonable amount of illustrative and tabular material will be welcome. The essay must be typed using a standard font (Times, Palatino, Century), double-spaced and printed on one side of the paper. Do not place the author's name on the pages of text. Include a cover page that lists the name, mailing address and e-mail address of the student, the college or university, and the student's current status, i.e., sophomore, junior, 1st year MA, etc.
Awards Available: 1