What do a cookbook, microlending and a sci-fi novella have in common? They’re all creative takes on the honors thesis.
While many Honors College theses take shape in a laboratory, a library or in the community, Fiona Dunlop’s came together in her kitchen. For Dylan McDowell, ’14, it was at Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. And for Cassidy Ochoa, ’25, the year 2575.
Unlike students in a graduate program, undergraduates in the Honors College can look outside their major to write their thesis. Creative topics and unconventional pathways that develop students’ critical thinking, project management and communication skills are encouraged. And the resulting theses can be as valuable as they are unique.
Cooking up her thesis
Fiona Dunlop has always enjoyed cooking, especially baking. Some friends jokingly suggested she write a cookbook for her thesis, an idea she didn’t take seriously. But then she came across a proposal for an honors course on the writing of cookbooks and their cultural importance.
Fiona had found her thesis.
Still in progress, Fiona’s cookbook features recipes that have some connection to her life, like the gluten-free carrot cake she has made for her mom’s birthday every year since she was 14. She spent last summer picking out and testing recipes, some made from memory and existing ones she’s long wanted to put her own spin on. Along the way, Fiona learned a few things.
“I'm actually really bad at eyeballing measurements,” she says, “which is unfortunate, because it was something I used to pride myself on.”
She also learned she needed to explain recipes better. Friends told her, “You assume I know the steps, and I don't.” So she had to simplify or add context to instructions, revisions that were put to the test over the winter break — with her mom, who, Fiona says, “hates following recipes about baking.”
Should her recipes survive the mom test, Fiona expects to wrap up her cookbook over winter and spring terms. She also plans to write a related essay on an issue like eating disorders or personal life stories. A psychology major with plans to be a therapist, Fiona believes her thesis will demonstrate her writing skills and ability to manage a project in a short time frame, which will look good on her graduate school applications.
Connecting conservation to microfinance
Dylan McDowell, who earned honors degrees in fisheries and wildlife sciences and education, found his thesis while studying abroad in Tanzania, exploring the human dimensions of conservation at Tarangire National Park.
The park is on land that was once locally owned. International tourism brought money to the economy, but Dylan wanted to see if and how the benefits were reaching the people who had been displaced.
To find out, he spent a week near the park, and through a local translator, examined three small businesses. Right by the park entrance, a group of women sold beaded jewelry, and about a mile away, another business sold woven rugs. The third business, which sold honey and other goods, was further away and less dependent on tourists.
With support from the Tanzanian government, each business had received microloans and training on the basics of running a business, and participants then shared what they had learned with others in their community.
Dylan talked with about 50 people, including government and park officials. His hypothesis — that microfinancing and teaching business basics had made a positive, sustainable impact on the community — was proven true. The women selling jewelry saw immediate results because they had direct access to tourists, but the other two benefitted as well, he says.
For Dylan, who through his majors was well-versed in the wildlife and education aspects of conservation, the thesis helped him develop skills in business and finance that he would not have otherwise. “It helped me think very differently about the dollars and cents of conservation,” he says, “to see how a very small amount of money can make such a big difference.”
Dylan is now CEO of the nonprofit National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. And the lessons learned from his thesis back in 2012 still shape his work today.
Making weather in the very distant future
Climate science major and writing minor Cassidy Ochoa had entered the Honors College wanting to combine science and art. Her thesis explores how cyclone frequency and intensity might be affected by climate interventions like giant orbital sunshades. And through a PRAx Art + Science fellowship, she added another dimension: a science fiction novella.
Set in 2575, “Weathermakers” tells the story of a character simply known as “the pilot,” who is racing ahead of a cyclone on a mission to reshape the weather in a world where water is a precious commodity. The story includes flashbacks, a little poetry and what Cassidy calls “pseudo code” the pilot uses to communicate with his glitching weather- making machine via a neurological link in the back of his head.
Cassidy had never written anything longer than a 10- to 12-page short story, and when she started “Weathermakers,” she didn’t know how it would end. She also ran the pseudo code past a few beta readers to ensure it made sense and was still readable. The novella took several months to write, and Cassidy went through several revisions, “but at some point, you need to just push it out,” she says.
Now pursuing a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences at the University at Albany in New York, Cassidy says she discovered science communication — making complex concepts accessible to the general public — as a potential career field through her thesis.
"What connects us all is stories," she says. "You have to communicate to do good science."
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