Paul Garrett Fellowship

Associate Professor of Chemistry and Paul Garrett Fellow Dalia Biswas joined Whitman College in 2011 after earning her doctorate in iInorganic Chemistry from the University of Montana and completing postdoctoral research in bioinorganic chemistry at Montana State University. 

Originally from Bangladesh, where she completed her Bachelor of Science at Jahangirnagar University, Biswas brings a global perspective and deep curiosity to her work. Her current research in data and computational chemistry explores the active sites of molybdenum enzymes that play key roles in the Earth’s nitrogen, carbon and oxygen cycles—work that could advance sustainable energy and catalyst design. 

A member of the National Science Foundation Data Chemist Network, Biswas is also dedicated to enhancing the chemistry curriculum at Whitman, having led the development of the Wilke Family Computational Lab, which provides cutting-edge resources for students across the sciences, and the Digital Imaging and Vision Applications in Science program, which introduces science-minded students to computational problem-solving skills early in their college careers.

Associate Professor of Art and Paul Garrett Fellow Maria Lux is a research-driven artist who makes installation-based works centering on the way animals are used to generate human knowledge and understanding. Originally from the Midwest, Lux earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and Studio Art from Iowa State University and her Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Sculpture from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Lux has shown work throughout the United States, including solo exhibitions at Antenna in New Orleans and Upfor Gallery in Portland, Oregon. She is a recipient of a McMillen Foundation fellowship, and recent residencies include Stove Works in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Cow House Studios in Ireland; and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia. 

As a cross-disciplinary artist, Lux also regularly presents her work at academic conferences around the world—from Finland and the UK to Kentucky and Texas. She is a member of the artist-run gallery Carnation Contemporary, based in Portland, Oregon.

Associate Professor of Psychology and Paul Garrett Fellow Erin Pahlke studies how children and adolescents develop their understanding of race, gender and social identity, exploring how these beliefs shape learning and behavior. 

After earning her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wellesley College, Pahlke taught fourth grade through Teach for America in Washington, D.C.—an experience that inspired her to pursue graduate study in Educational and Developmental Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her Master of Arts and doctorate. 

Pahlke’s research has examined topics such as children’s views of U.S. presidential elections, the effects of teaching about sexism, and the impact of single-sex schooling and diverse educational experiences on student outcomes. At Whitman, she works closely with students to investigate the intersections of development, education and social context, helping them connect research to real-world issues in schools and communities.

Assistant Professor of Politics and Paul Garrett Fellow Andrea Sempértegui is a scholar of Indigenous politics, environmental justice and feminist movements in Latin America. A former member of the Quito-based collective Comunálisis, she examines how Indigenous women and communities confront extractive industries and assert decolonial visions of territory and sovereignty. 

Her research and writing—published in journals such as Politics and Gender, Society & Natural Resources, and Studies in Social Justice, as well as in venues like The New York Review of Books and Verso—bridge academic and activist perspectives. Sempértegui is currently completing her book, “Today, I Dreamt What Will Happen Tomorrow: Indigenous Women, Extractive Capital and Forest Politics in Ecuador” (University of Florida Press), which centers on the Mujeres Amazónicas, a collective of Indigenous women resisting oil and mining projects in the Ecuadorian Amazon. 

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, a Master of Arts in Political Theory from Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, and her doctorate in Sociology from Justus Liebig University Giessen.

Professor of Art History and Visual Culture Studies and Paul Garrett Fellow Lisa Uddin is a scholar of visual culture, architecture and race in the United States, examining how visual and built environments have shaped racial, migrant and settler colonial ways of being. Her work moves across art and architectural history, visual culture studies, Black studies, and environmental studies. 

Uddin is the author of “Zoo Renewal: White Flight and the Animal Ghetto” (University of Minnesota Press, 2015), which explores how zoo architecture and urban renewal intersected with racial and spatial politics in postwar America. She also co-edited “Black One Shot,” a widely acclaimed online series on Black visual and expressive culture. Her current book project investigates Black visual archives of Western U.S. settlement, tracing how Blackness reimagines settler colonial landscapes. 

Uddin earned her Bachelor of Arts in North American Studies from McGill University, a Master of Arts in Media Studies from Concordia University, and a Master of Arts and doctorate in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester.