Professor Matthew Birkhold has won a 2020 Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award. Congratulations!

He was nominated for the award by Dieter Cunz award-winning senior Elena Akers, with whom he worked for two years, first advising an independent study on Central European politics and then as her honors thesis adviser.

Prof. Birkold is also happily advising two additional theses: one on the cultural history of sturgeon in the Danube and another on lesbian fiction in Wilhelmine Germany. He loves helping undergraduates identify research questions that inspire them - no matter how practical or whimsical - and working with them to look for the answers, whether it leads to terrifying Twitter accounts or fish museums in Austria. 

The Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award is offered by the Office of Student Academic Success - Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry, to honor individuals who have demonstrated success in mentoring undergraduates in their research and/or creative inquiry endeavors.