Saul Bautista
Nicole Nemeth is a first-generation sophomore at Eastern Washington University, pursuing a major in nursing and a minor in psychology. She was accepted as a McNair Scholar in winter of 2023 and is working towards a specialization in nurse anesthesia. For her 2024 McNair Summer Research Internship, Nicole will conduct her own investigation. Outside of her academic pursuits, Nicole finds joy in drawing and writing, and would like to publish her own books in the future.
2023 EWU Faculty Research Mentor: Dr. Ann C. Le Bar
Research Title: Forgotten Radiation Victims: Braceros and Other Farm Workers
Vignette: The year was 1964 and a young woman named Maria Nicasio arrived in Prosser, Washington hoping to start a new life with her parents and siblings. The weather was nice and there were plenty of opportunities for work. She got a job as a farm worker in the asparagus crops in nearby Benton City. While Maria and her family worked by the Yakima River, they also drank from and bathed in it and ate the raw asparagus and other crops they were harvesting.She did not know it at the time but living and working as agricultural laborers just miles from the plutonium production facility at Hanford would have severe health consequences for herself and her family.
2022 EWU Faculty Research Mentor: Dr. Joseph Lenti
Research Title: El Indio Desplasado: The Systematic Displacement of Native People in Honduran History
Abstract: This research project assesses the problematic way in which the public education system of Honduras has historically depicted Indigenous peoples of the nation. Most importantly, it demonstrates that the Honduran government, through public education textbooks, has actively perpetuated the idea that native peoples are gone – that they are but another page in the books of history. The goal of this investigation is to understand how this form of misinformation has succeeded to influence generations of Hondurans and caused them to largely believe that indigenous people are not active participants in that society today.
This research project contends that an intentional and active campaign to minimize the historical significance of indigenous peoples in Honduras has popularly minimized the importance of the local tribes in the national history. Moreover, this research highlights how the historical minimizing of the indigenous presence in Honduras contributes to contemporary discrimination and repression toward native people.
This research project uses public education textbooks produced by the Ministry of Education. Additionally, this study incorporates into its analysis oral interviews with educators and scholars including an anthropologist who has worked and interacted with local tribes in Honduras. And lastly, secondary sources are reviewed to bolster this project’s conclusions.