Claire Burns ’23
Claire Burns (she/her) is a fourth year Mathematics and English major. She became involved with Vivero while looking for a way to merge her academic interests and get involved with research at Grinnell. It quickly became her favorite job she’s ever had, and gave her the idea to pursue the world of digital scholarship and library science in grad school. Her favorite academic interests are digital scholarship (of course) and American literature, and in particular Asian American literature. She is also passionate about sharing with current Grinnellians the rich history of our school’s multicultural student life, something she learned a lot about during her first year as a Vivero fellow.
This year, Claire will be continuing her work on the Multicultural Alumni Archive project, as well as working on a new project with the DAR. She will be staffing drop-in peer mentor hours on Wednesday and Sunday evenings.
Ekta Shaikh ’24
Ekta is currently a 2.5 year student at Grinnell with a double major in Anthropology and Gender, Women and Sexuality studies. Her current project is Mapping Islamophobia with Professor Elfenbein. She’s interested in post-colonial, South Asian, and religious studies.
Current Peer Mentoring Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 7-9pm
Lilith Orion Hafner ’23
Lilith Orion Hafner is an artist and digital creator. She is currently engaged in the creation of AI driven performance art, maintaining and enhancing the Julia programming language, and helping support the digital scholarship of her peers and professors.
Lilith joined the Vivero program as a fellow in Spring 2023 and is currently working with Professor Makeba Lavan to develop digital curricula to support an understanding of portrayals of miscegenation in historical and contemporary media as a part of the miscegenation nation short course.
Lilith attended The Children’s School of Oak Park from kindergarten to fifth grade and is currently a fourth year at Grinnell, majoring in New Frontiers of Art. Throughout her education she has been supported by a large collection of highly impactful teachers and professors including Alison Hafner, Nadine Brockman, Sidney Seagull, Josh Phipps, and Celeste Miller.
Feven Adane Getachew ’24
Major: Biological chemisty and Sociology
I’m interested in pharmaceutical chemistry and medical sociology. While I am fascinated by the science of drug synthesis, I want to understand how socio-political and economic structures affect access and availability of quality of these drugs. I want to be a Vivero fellow because it gives me the opportunity to learn and practice how to use digital tools and connect with professors to assist in interesting research projects.
Hyein Cho ’23
Hyein is a fourth year majoring in Sociology and Economics. In her free time, she like to cook, read, carve spoons (or more like spatulas), crochet, and spend time with friends. She is an incoming Vivero fellow and her drop-in peer mentoring hours are Monday and Tuesday 7-9pm. Aside from being a vivello, she also works at DASIL and is a research assistant for Professor McGavock.
Lena Wiebe ’25
Lena Wiebe (she/her) is a second year intended Sociology and English major. She’s especially interested in issues relating to surveillance and the prison-industrial complex, food justice, and storytelling. In her free time, you might find her reading, painting badly, or taking her roommate’s gummy vitamins.
Lena originally became involved with Vivero in the hope that digital methods could help her learn about new ways to produce and share social and humanistic knowledge. This year, she’s excited to be beginning her work on the Anatolia College Digital Narrative Project with Karen Edwards. She will be staffing drop-in peer mentor hours on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
Mitsuru Watanabe ’24
Mitsuru Watanabe is a third-year physics major from Tokyo, Japan. As a Vivero fellow, he’s been involved with website/domain-related projects. He is skillful in WordPress but currently studying Omeka for the Books of Hours project. In his free time, he loves dripping coffee with his own Aero Press and playing music on his Yamaha speaker.
Sarah Oide ’23
Sarah Oide is a fourth-year student with a major in Psychology and a concentration in Digital Studies. She is interested in how we can leverage technology to impact the ways people learn and engage with new ideas and is excited to continue to explore these ideas through Vivero. In her free time, she enjoys trying out new recipes and playing online word games. This year, Sarah is working with Professor Lacson on the Omaha Digital Project, and she will additionally be at drop-in peer mentoring hours on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Saury Khanal ’25
Hey, I am Sauryanshu Chettri (Khanal). You can call me Saury, originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. I am currently a sophomore, intending to major in Computer Science and Economics, with a minor in Statistics. I am a person with quite diverse interests. First and foremost, as a CompSci major, I obviously love technology and am passionate about programming, Software Engineering, machine learning, and such stuff. I eventually hope to enter the tech field someday. In addition, I am a huge history nut; I especially love learning about post-WW2 content. I also love getting updated on the news around the world. Sometimes, I game as well! So if you just see me around campus, or are up to a (not so quick) game of Arma 3, hit me up!
Tanmaie Kailash ’24
Tanmaie is a third year student at Grinnell, who is a computer Computer Science major and a Linguistics concentrator. A second-year Vivero fellow, She joined the program to learn more about Digital Humanities. During this year, she will continue assisting Professor Karla Erickson from the Grinnell Sociology department in her project, titled “Messy Humans: A Sociology of Human/Machine Relations”. She will also be at the drop-in peer mentoring hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Fall 2022 Fellows
Ellen Hengesbach ’24
Ellen (she/her) is a third-year political science major and intended American studies concentrator from Chicago. She is excited to explore and build new skills in the world of digital humanities. Outside of classes, you can find her listening to political podcasts or spending time with friends. As a Vivero fellow, she will be working with Professor Tisha Turk on the project “Conventions of Academic Writing Across the Liberal Arts Curriculum.”
Mikey O’Connor ’24
My name is Mikey O’Connor (He/him) and I am a Third year at Grinnell College. My majors are Computer Science and Spanish. I am originally from Naperville, IL (Suburb of Chicago) and I am excited to be a Vivero Fellow! The classes I am taking are CSC-262 Computer Vision, CSC-301 Analysis of Algorithms, SPN 343 Art of the Language and HUM-295 Social Change in Middle Eastern Cinema. In addition to Vivero, I mentor for various CS Classes, and do various other hobbies like video games and playing the euphonium.
Nandika Jhunjhunwala ’24
Hey Everyone! My name is Nandika. I am a junior from India and a Computer Science and Economics double major. I love everything stem, and I think digital humanities are a cool intersection of technology with essential and impactful research. Outside class, I love hanging out with my friends, stargazing, and binging Netflix. I also love food and coffee with a passion. Say hi if you see me around!
