Sahana Senthilkumar, a freshman student from the School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, is set to participate in the 2023 Aresty Summer Science Program in the ECE department. Pursuing a double major in Biomathematics and Computer Science, Sahana has been selected to undertake an exciting research project that aims to investigate the propagation of emotions in fish schools.
Under the guidance of Assistant Professor Daniel Burbano, Sahana will conduct research for ten weeks, from late May until early August, to conduct hypothesis-driven experiments using zebrafish as an animal model. The study has the potential to make a groundbreaking contribution to our understanding of how emotions spread in both animal and human societies. Specifically, Sahana’s research will focus on the propagation mechanism in fish schools, drawing comparisons to other network systems, such as social networks (how news or viral videos propagate in a population) and power grids (how instabilities propagate in a power grid, causing blackouts).
The 2023 Aresty Summer Science Program provides an excellent opportunity for Sahana to develop her research skills, expand her knowledge, and make valuable contributions to the scientific community. We are excited to see the results of her summer research.