Now in their 19th year, the Library Research Awards recognize and reward Loyola Marymount University students whose research makes expert and creative use of the services, resources, and collections of the William H. Hannon Library to produce a scholarly or creative work. Each entry includes the research project or paper, an essay explaining how the student conducted their research and used library resources, a bibliography, and a letter of nomination from the faculty member who assigned the initial paper or project.
The Library Research Awards are generously supported by professors Loretta and Richard Morris. Awards are given to undergraduate and graduate students, in both individual and group categories. Read more about this year’s winners below.
Undergraduate Library Research Awards
Grand Prize
For the 2025 Undergraduate Library Research award, a grand prize of $1,000 was awarded to Mariana Barrios for her project, “Forgotten Soldiers: Native Americans and the Vietnam War.” Barrios is a senior history and political science major who produced this work for the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) under the direction of Professor Nicolas Rosenthal.
The selection committee was deeply impressed by the breadth of research and wide range of primary source material, including LMU library primary source database collections and special collections such as the South Dakota Oral History Center, the Doris Duke Collection at the University of Florida, and the St. Louis Community College Archives. The faculty sponsor highlighted Barrios’s ability to exceed the requirements of the assignment and project learning goals, read broadly in the scholarship, and identify a lack of work on Native Americans in Vietnam, which she used this project to address. Barrios’s reflective essay described how studying the resources inspired and shaped the research, extended the scope of research to external archives and special collections, and incorporated use of appropriate library databases for primary and secondary sources, including sources that ranged beyond the historical to encompass psychology and health sciences.
Honorable Mentions
Laura Haushalter, a junior history and environmental studies major, won honorable mention and was awarded $500 for her work, “Man-Dig Those Crazy Los Angeles Freeways: The Changing Image of Southern California Freeways in The Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection.” It was produced for an honors summer and semester research fellowship under the direction of Professor Amy Woodson-Boulton. The selection committee was impressed by Haushalter’s ability to develop techniques for dating postcards by noticing smaller details and distinguishing between primary and secondary resources. Her project included original thinking and critical analysis of primary sources, viewing Los Angeles’s famous freeways in a new light. She utilized a variety of formats, including books, articles, archival collections, and relevant websites, consistently following the Chicago Style Guide. The letter of recommendation highlighted her self-directed and independent work.
Sabriya Ann Seid, a senior biology and studio arts major, won honorable mention and was awarded $500 for her work, “WebMD: Diagnosing Ascot Hills Park’s Biodiversity Using Environmental DNA (eDNA) from Spiderwebs.” Nominated by Professor Demian Willette, this work was produced for BIOL 518 “Applied Ecology Research.” The selection committee was impressed by Seid’s essay, which detailed her four years of research at LMU, starting with a librarian workshop in her first year and lab work in her second year that informed her senior capstone project. She effectively utilized search filters, Boolean operators, targeted keyword phrases, and prioritized peer-reviewed journals, cross-checking bibliographies for further research. The faculty sponsor praised her competence and initiative, noting the high impact of her research. The letter of recommendation also highlighted her impressive scholarly output, including grant-funded projects.
The undergraduate award review committee included Christopher Cappelli, Alexander Justice, Jennifer Owens-Jofre, Marisa Ramirez, and Rachel Wen-Paloutzian.
Graduate Library Research Awards
Grand Prize
For the 2025 Graduate Library Research Award, a grand prize of $1,000 was awarded to Stormie D. Sutton for her project, entitled “The Evolution of Working Women’s Needs: The Impact of Capitalism, Sexism, and the Feminization of Teaching on Four Generations of California Female Educators.” She was nominated by Professor Rebecca Stephenson and produced the work for EDLA 7953 “Doctoral Seminar.”
The selection committee praised Sutton’s dissertation for its compelling argument, strong reflection, and sophisticated analysis. Her methodological approach, using a critical narrative and social reproduction theory, showed intellectual depth. As a remote doctoral candidate, Sutton made excellent use of the library’s digital resources, targeting databases like ERIC, JSTOR, and Project MUSE, and using Google Scholar’s library links to access pay-walled articles. Her bibliography management was impressive, with over 150 references organized through Zotero, demonstrating thoughtful engagement with the literature.
Group Grand Prize
Maria Elizarraras Santos, Melissa Garcia, Miguel Morales, Michael Raymundo, and Fatima Suarez Chocoteco won the group award and were awarded $1500 (to be divided among them) for their project “Bridging the Divide: Examining Support Systems and Barriers Affecting Undocumented Students’ Post-Secondary Success.” Produced for EDTL 6620 “Transformative Education,” and nominated by Professor Ignacio Higareda, this work was noted for its thorough use of library resources and strategic research approach. The team used databases like JSTOR, ProQuest, and ERIC, and pulled in context from government and non-profit sources. Their targeted keyword searches and use of library research guides demonstrated sophistication. They creatively combined library research with original interviews and surveys to address the limited literature on undocumented students’ voices. The project tackled a timely and politically charged topic with academic rigor and real-world relevance, validated by a supporting faculty letter highlighting the urgency and significance of their work.
Honorable Mentions
Edgard Asensio won honorable mention and was awarded $500 for his project “The Financial Impact of Real Estate 1031 Exchange: An Equilibrium Based Analysis.” Asensio was nominated by Professor Madhu Viswanathan and produced the work for a course on “Data Driven Business Transformation.” The selection committee praised Asensio’s rigorous analysis of tax-deferred real estate exchanges. His extensive consultations with a librarian, both in person and via Zoom, helped to refine his research strategy and introduced crucial financial databases like NCREIF, FRED, and Bloomberg. The committee was impressed by Asensio’s application of regression discontinuity design, demonstrating sophisticated methodological thinking. His comprehensive literature review identified gaps in current knowledge, and detailed case studies brought theoretical concepts into practical focus.
Eryn Reyes Leong won honorable mention and was awarded $500 for her project “Evolving Ontology and The Case Against Predictive Algorithms in the U.S. Justice System.” Leong was nominated by Professor Jonathan Rothchild and produced the work for THST 6062 “Issues in Moral Theology Today.” The selection committee praised Leong’s project for bridging theological ethics and justice system challenges in a fresh and insightful way. Leong built her search strategy using the library’s catalog, methodically using specialized databases like EBSCO, ProQuest, JSTOR E-books, and the ATLA Religion Database. The project demonstrated solid engagement with theological sources, using the case study to keep the discussion grounded. The committee noted the work’s meaningful contribution to emerging “algor-ethics” discussions and practical insights for addressing algorithmic justice concerns.
The graduate award review committee included Cynthia Becht, Ingrid Greene, Judy Park, Shalini Ramachandran, and José Rincón.
Apply for Next Year’s Awards
Congratulations to our 2025 winners! The awards committees chose these entries because they demonstrated advanced information literacy practices, creative use of library collections and services, and clear evidence of significant learning. These works will be available in our Digital Commons. Remember, Lions: any work completed in spring 2025 is eligible for the 2026 award. So mark your calendars for next year.