A photo of student ben mayes at Shalom Farms. He stands in front of tall green plants and is holding a farm implement. He is smiling gently at the camera.
A photo of student ben mayes at Shalom Farms. He stands in front of tall green plants and is holding a farm implement. He is smiling gently at the camera.

Productive summers

By Matthew Dewald | Photographs by Jamie Betts
November 6, 2024
A photo of student Ava Scott, doing research in UR’s Ancient Worlds gallery. She has an old book in front of her, and a laptop next to her.

With the Richmond Guarantee, summers at Richmond are for research and learning. Through the program, every undergraduate student is eligible to receive a fellowship of up to $5,000 for an unpaid or underpaid summer internship or faculty-mentored research project. Many travel far; others stay near Richmond, like these students.

Among the tomato plants: Ben Mayes, ’26, at Shalom Farms. Reading: Ava Scott, ’26, researching in UR’s Ancient Worlds gallery. On the walkway: Makayla Hamlin, ’27, interning at the Hopewell Riverwalk on the Appomattox River.

“I’m looking to go into environmental law, and I feel like this has definitely given me ideas to take forward.”

— Ben Mayes, ’26
A photo of student Makayla Hamlin, standing on a wooden boardwalk at eh Hopewell Riverwalk. She is leaning over the railing looking at the river. There are thick green trees in the background.
A photo of student Chase Hartley, at a dragon boat race during an internship with Sports Backers. He is kneeling on a dock tlaking with rowers in a dragon boat on the James river.
A photo of student Maya Basnyat, interning with Southside ReLeaf. She is weaing a black t-shirt and taking a photo of a tree with her phone.
At the boat dock: Chase Hartley, ’26, at a dragon boat race during an internship with Sports Backers. Taking a photo: Maya Basnyat, ’27, interning with Southside ReLeaf. In white coats, from front: Leanna Morris, ’27, Sanskriti Basnyat, ’26, and Luis Montano, ’25, in biology professor Colleen Carpenter-Swanson’s lab.
A photo of students Leanna Morris, Sanskriti Basnyat, and Luis Montano, in biology professor Colleen Carpenter-Swanson’s lab. They are all wearing white lab coats, and two of them are looking into microscopes.