Fellows from HBCUs spent the summer at Harvard honing their research skills
By Laurie Rodriguez | November 3, 2025
This past August, the second cohort of the Du Bois Scholars Program completed their research internships at the Harvard College Summer Undergraduate Research Village (HSURV). The fellows conducted research on topics ranging from the impact public policies have on children’s mental health in the U.S. public school system to understanding how Listeria monocytogenes – a foodborne bacterial pathogen – spread to other organs and survive outside of cells in the bloodstream.
Launched in 2024, the Du Bois Scholars Program seeks to honor and uplift academic excellence through research-based collaboration with Harvard and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The fellows worked closely with faculty mentors to conduct research on a pre-selected area of study, which culminated in written abstracts and final presentations of their work to peers, mentors, and family members.
Named after W.E.B. Du Bois, the Du Bois Scholars Program launched in 2024 as part of the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (H&LS) Initiative’s ongoing commitment to advance the recommendations in the Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery. Currently, the program helps implement one of the H&LS Initiative’s three strategic priorities – deepening partnerships with HBCUs. This priority allows for continued intellectual exchange between both Harvard and HBCUs.
“The Du Bois Scholars Program enables students to engage in exciting and cutting edge research here on campus.” said Evelynn Hammonds, an advisor of the H&LS Initiative and the Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and Professor of African and African American Studies. “The fellows’ contributions and their interactions with their Harvard mentors and peers propels the research in new and interesting ways that enrich Harvard’s core mission of teaching, learning, and research.”
“Fostering the next generation of top tier researchers”
As a fellow in the second cohort of the program, Misbahou Jalloh, a junior at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, spent the summer at the Center for Astrophysics, identifying and characterizing planets beyond our solar system (known as exoplanets) with faculty mentor Jason Eastman, senior research scientist in the Harvard College Observatory and a lecturer on astronomy.
Jalloh has explored the range of planetary properties in his study of planets – such as planets with the hottest and coldest temperatures, largest and smallest sizes, fastest orbits, and more. His work with exoplanets helps expand the understanding of planetary diversity, planetary behavior, and the conditions that allow life to exist.
“By modeling extreme exoplanets and analyzing transit data, I’ve contributed to the broader scientific effort to locate potentially habitable worlds and explore the limits of what’s possible in the universe,” explained Jalloh. “This work helps reframe how we see Earth, reminding us of its rarity and the importance of protecting it.”
Jason Eastman, Jalloh’s faculty mentor, said it had been a privilege to mentor two Du Bois Fellows this summer and see them develop confidence and skills while engaging with real-world research.
“Guiding them through complex projects has been both challenging and rewarding, and I’ve been continually impressed by their curiosity, creativity, and resilience,” said Eastman. “I’m proud to be part of the Du Bois Scholars Program, which is serving a vital role in fostering the next generation of top tier researchers.”
The fellows’ contributions and their interactions with their Harvard mentors and peers propels the research in new and interesting ways that enrich Harvard’s core mission of teaching, learning, and research.
Evelynn Hammonds
Payton Garcia, a junior at Howard University and also a member of the second cohort of the Du Bois Scholars Program, conducted research on Markets and Organizations at Harvard Business School. Garcia’s faculty mentor, Paul Gompers, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, worked with him as he explored how other countries view the failure and success of entrepreneurship in their respective societies.
Garcia’s research as a Du Bois Fellow intersects with his undergraduate thesis on studying entrepreneurs from different countries. Through his research, Garcia is able to understand how entrepreneurs make decisions to migrate to other countries during certain phases of their careers.
“The Du Bois Scholars [program] was truly a life-changing experience for me, I cannot summarize how much it has made an impact on my life, the joy of scholarship, and the bond of brotherhood and sisterhood I took on with the diaspora of HBCU students I met during my time,” Garcia said. “For just a single summer, I truly felt like I was free. I could ask any question, had every need of my intellectual mind met, and there was never an answer that started with no.”
Faculty mentor Bianca J. Baldridge, Associate Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, participated in a similar research program when she was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, which she said served as “a catalyst” for her research career.
“I enjoyed every moment of my experience working with these students,” Baldridge said. “I consider myself lucky to have contributed to their journey.”