Interdisciplinary Investigations

Max Wilson ’27, business analytics, first explored the NFL Top 100 voting methodology in a first-year foundation seminar. The NFL Top 100 is an annual ranking of the best players, according to the athletes themselves. With support from Sam Gutekunst, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Data Science, and Professor of Practice Joe Wilck, analytics & operations management, Wilson has created “data vignettes” to analyze what NFL players most value when ranking each other. Early findings indicate that factors like public perception and player legacy play key roles in elevating quarterbacks and wide receivers as the most prominent positions in the Top 100. In September, Wilson met with NFL professionals to share his findings. Wilson hopes to gain access to more refined data to continue his research.

For Madeline Lehker ’26, biomedical engineering, the “wall sit” is more than an exercise — it’s a way to study muscle fatigue. Working in Bucknell’s Mechanics and Modeling of Orthopaedic Tissues Laboratory with Professor Benjamin Wheatley, mechanical engineering, Lehker spent the summer examining the relationship between knee wobble and hip fatigue. Using sensors, she tracked muscle signals and movements to measure wobble, aiming to correlate these findings to hip fatigue levels. “Hopefully, in the future, these measurements can then be correlated to a patient’s level of hip fatigue,” says Lehker. “I’ve learned a lot about picking the exact muscle location and then writing the protocols for how you are going to put the sensors on people.”

For Athaliah Elvis ’26, English — creative writing and political science, it was her critical Black studies minor that provided the perfect framework to explore her interests in creative writing, history and literature. With her adviser, Professor Meenakshi Ponnuswami, English, Elvis studied how historical movements have influenced Black women writers. Her work involves analyzing literature, art and films by Black creators, as well as a meticulous examination of the historical contexts in which those works were produced. Elvis also composed her own creative work in response to what she reads and watches, thereby putting her creative practice in conversation with the artists she studies. Her research revealed how inextricable and foundational Black culture is to American life and the English language.

“It’s been very enlightening,” she says.