While pursuing her degree in electrical and computer engineering at Duke, Cassidee Kido participated on three Bass Connections teams that helped fuel her passion for energy and the environment. Now a project manager at Energy Solutions, she reflects on the ways her project teams honed her skills and inspired her current work.

In 2022-2023, a Bass Connections team is working to address the shortages of labor, funds and infrastructure in neurosurgical settings around the world. Using the World Health Organization’s health system building blocks - from research and technology to service delivery - team members are assessing the big-picture challenges facing these countries’ overloaded neurosurgeons.

As a junior undergraduate, Kaylin Tsukayama - like many college students - wasn’t sure what direction she wanted to take in her career. She was a neuroscience major and had already spent nearly three years studying the subject and working in labs; yet, she was starting to question whether she wanted to continue in a natural science field.

Engineering professors, Sophia Santillan and Rebecca Simmons, have been crucial role models for Sydney Hunt as a Black and Hispanic woman in STEM. From the start of her first year, she spent time during office hours and lunches having conversations with them about diversity and retention in STEM fields.

In 2013, the first Bass Connections research teams embarked on ambitious projects to tackle real-world challenges ranging from gender inequality in STEM education to children’s mental health to climate policy in the U.S. to rural poverty. Since then, the program has supported nearly 500 interdisciplinary teams and brought together more than 4,000 faculty, students and staff to conduct cutting-edge research spanning dozens of disciplinary fields and world regions.

A 2022-2023 Bass Connections team is digging into the richness of dirt and fungi to inform the development of a unique art project called “Soil and Spirit.”

While stepping into a new era with the Duke Climate Commitment, Duke also looks back on a long state history of environmental justice advocacy and the injustices that necessitate it.

The 2021-2022 school year marked a series of welcome returns for the 1,200 students, faculty, staff and community partners who participated in Bass Connections. Our 61 year-long project teams resumed their in-person work on campus, many teams participated in their first fieldwork since 2019 and we were once again able gather together in Penn Pavilion to celebrate the year through our annual Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase.

These 10 seniors are among the nearly 600 Duke undergraduates who participate in Bass Connections each year. For some students, taking part in collaborative, interdisciplinary research confirmed and deepened their interests; for others, the experience opened up entirely new paths. Many students found ways to take their research further through honors theses and other opportunities.

Read about DFE's activities and accomplishments over the past academic year.

View a recap of DFE's activities in the 2019-2020 academic year.

Fuqua's Career Management Center holds alumni career workshops online and in person. Past workshops have covered such topics as career progression, job trends, networking through LinkedIn, and more. Check out our upcoming schedule and recordings here.

DID YOU KNOW: The Executive Education program gives alums the opportunity to TEACH professional development courses (in person and online) in addition to just taking them? If you have expertise or skills in a particular field that you would like to share with other alumni, now is your chance!

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