WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College student-athletes are presenting today at the annual Ruhlman Conference on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at Wellesley College.

The conference is made possible by the generosity of Barbara Peterson Ruhlman '54. In 1997, Lee Cuba, Professor of Sociology and former Dean of the College, worked with Barbara Ruhlman to develop the plan for the Ruhlman Conference.

The conference is intended to foster collaboration among students and faculty across the disciplines and to enhance the intellectual life of the College. The event will provide an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and friends to come together in celebration of student achievement.

The Ruhlman Conference celebrates intellectual life by sponsoring a communal, public event where students will have an opportunity to present their work to a wide audience. By providing an opportunity for public presentation of what is often a private, isolated activity; the conference will demonstrate that research can be part of the ongoing conversation in a community of scholars.

This year's conference program is exclusively digital. Click here to view the 2026 Ruhlman Conference schedule.

See below for a list of student-athlete presenters:

• Bronnie Bailey '26 (crew), Science & Technology, Investigating the Marine Carbon Cycle Using Gases and Mass Spectrometry
• Kaurvaki Bajpai '27 (golf), Social Science, Sign Language: Attention and Space
• Hannah Bates '26 (crew), Social Science, Online and Outdoors
• Diana Borrison '26 (softball), Social Science, Stories from the Environment
• Emily Brydges '26 (cross country/track & field), Social Science, Social Policy and Inequality: Gender, Education, and Health
• Sophie Buttorff '28 (tennis), Science & Technology, Brain Function and Decision Making
• Alex Butulis '27 (field hockey), Humanities, TSSL Language Research Fellowships
• Stacy Chen '28 (basketball), Social Sciences, Money, Politics, and Democracy: Investigating Campaign Contributions & Ballot Initiatives
• Kenya Francis '26 (track & field), Humanities, Culture and Identity
• Lilian Gregorich '28 (crew), Social Science, Research on the Future of Nuclear Order
• Aliki Hollister '26 (crew), Science & Technology, Characterizing the Lifespan of C. elegans in GLT-1 Knockouts
• Reika Ishibe '26 (soccer), Science & Technology, Turning Your World Upside Down: Stranger Things of Insects Lives and Evolution
• Sara Maeve Klingensmith '26 (track & field), Science & Technology, Antimicrobial Peptides and Ion Channels: An Elmore/Darling Lab Collaboration
• Dova Koretsky '26 (track & field), Science & Technology, Teaching to Learn: STEM Education Initiatives
• Kaija Kunze-Hoeg '26 (volleyball), Social Science, Foreign Aid and Foreign Trade
• Tracey Liu '26 (swimming & diving), Social Science, Imagination, Fantasy, and Neuropsychological Diagnosis
• Chiara Lundin '26 (softball), Science & Technology, Biochemistry in Practice: Senior Experiences in Research at MIT
• Elise Lanahan '26 (cross country/track & field), Science & Technology, Investigating the Marine Carbon Cycle Using Gases and Mass Spectrometry
• Riley McNair '26 (soccer), Humanities, Media and Technique
• Ceci Miller '26 (field hockey), Social Sciences, Enhancing Youth Wellbeing in the Digital Age
• Chelsea Park '27 (swimming & diving), Science & Technology, Cognition, Behavior, and Health of Populations 
• Anna Blake Patrick '26 (lacrosse), Humanities, Media and Technique
• Claire Peng '26 (cross country/track & field), Science & Technology, Manipulating Synthesis and Properties of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Zeolites
• Sofia Pietrus '27 (lacrosse), Science & Technology, Manipulating Synthesis and Properties of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Zeolites
• Julia Reich '26 (swimming & diving), Science & Technology, Decibels and Darkness: Analyzing Light and Noise Pollution at Wellesley College
• Mia Saracino '27 (crew), Science & Technology, How to Train Your Peptide: Designing AMPs to Fight Microbes
• Gaby Steele '28, Science & Technology, Investigating the Marine Carbon Cycle Using Gases and Mass Spectrometry
• Marina West '26 (crew), Science & Technology, Antimicrobial Peptides and Ion Channels: An Elmore/Darling Lab Collaboration
• Samantha Whitson '28 (crew), Humanities, Campus-Wide Exploration of the Ethics of Emerging Technologies
• Jolyn Zheng '29 (swimming & diving), Science & Technology, The Art & Science of Data Visualization: Research Insights, Practical Tools
• Sissi Zou '28 (fencing), Social Sciences, Money, Politics, and Democracy: Investigating Campaign Contributions & Ballot Initiative