Lehigh undergraduate students Korey Finn and Emma Stevenson will share the Libraries Student Research Prize for 2018. Sponsored by Library and Technology Services (LTS) and the Friends of the Libraries, the Prize recognizes excellence in undergraduate scholarship and the use of library and research resources.
Korey Finn: The Informal Economy in Peru: A Blueprint for Systemic Reform
Korey Finn ’18, will complete a dual degree in electrical engineering and finance through the integrated business and engineering (IBE) program, with a minor in Mandarin Chinese. Finn completed this paper as part of Economics 362, the Martindale Research Seminar under Professor Todd Watkins. Prize reviewers felt Finn’s paper was an ambitious, methodical examination of the informal sector in Peru. Professor Watkins notes that by definition there is not much written about it in Peru despite it being a large proportion of the economy. “Korey unravels the complexity and finds her way through the dense fog involved in the sector to highlight a number of key insights about what drives it and about policy implications.”
Finn is fluid in Spanish and enjoys learning languages. She is a member of the Pi Beta Phi fraternity for women for which she has served as vice president of fraternity development and new member coordinator. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society as well. As a member of the Dreyfus Investment Portfolio, she developed a passion for finance and following the markets. Upon graduation she will pursue a career in investment banking at the Royal Bank of Canada in NYC in their mergers and acquisitions group.
Emma Stevenson: 2003-2008 Oil Price Shock: Changing Effects of Oil Shocks on the Economy
Emma Stevenson, ’18, will complete a dual degree with a joint major in international relations and economics and global studies. Stevenson's paper, part of Professor Henri Barkey’s Politics of Oil course, focuses on the 2003-2008 oil price shock driven by East Asian economic growth. Prize reviewers commented on the paper’s originality, her synthesis of diverse resources, and the clarity of argument. Professor Barkey observes, “Her observation about the declining relationship between oil prices and GDP growth is an important finding. Oil markets are not what they used to be -- energy efficiency and new technologies have altered some of these basic relationships. Her paper is a concise and well thought out articulation of these developments.”
Stevenson has been involved in several clubs and organizations on campus and has held leadership positions. She has work experience teaching at a charter school in Rochester, New York, working with an NGO in Prague, and researching educational equity at Lehigh University through the Mountaintop Program.
Prize Details
Both Stevenson and Finn will receive a $500 check and a certificate of recognition, and their papers will become part of the Lehigh Libraries digital archive, Lehigh Preserve (http://preserve.lehigh.edu/library-research-prize/). Awards will be presented at the 2018 Symposium on Teaching and Learning at Lehigh University.
The Prize is sponsored by Library and Technology Services and the Friends of the University Libraries. The selection process is rigorous and involves two phases of review. First, a team of research librarians reviews the pool of applicants and selects papers to go to a faculty review group. In the second phase, a faculty review group selects the winner(s) from the finalist pool. This year, librarians narrowed the submissions from a pool of over forty-five applications to a small pool of finalists. Faculty reviewers selected four research papers from these very strong finalist papers.
Photo by Allen Kingsbury, Library and Technology Services.