Current Fellows
The Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry at the Science History Institute is pleased to announce our 2022–2023 class of fellows.
Hailing from a diverse list of local, national, and international institutions, our incoming fellows will use our collections to study a wide range of topics in the history and social studies of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
In addition to our postdoctoral, dissertation, distinguished, and short-term research fellows, this year’s class also includes a cohort of two-year curatorial fellows, the first of its kind at the Institute. Scholars from this new fellowship program will assist with ongoing projects as staff members, expanding and exploring interpretive programs for our library and museum.
Fellows, 1987 to Present
The Beckman Center has hosted over 350 scholars from around the world. See a list of our fellows, along with their research topics and affiliation at the time of their stay.
Curatorial Fellows
Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Armel Cornu
Price Postdoctoral Fellow
Uppsala University
The Transmission of Sensory Knowledge in 18th-Century Chemistry

Louis Gerdelan
Haas Postdoctoral Fellow
Harvard University
Catastrophic Knowledge: The Investigation of Disaster in the British, Spanish and French Atlantic Worlds, ca.1605–1780

Bono Shih
Cain Postdoctoral Fellow
Virginia Tech
Engineering at the Crossroads of Chemistry and Industry: Developing Ideas of Chemical Engineering, 1880–1980

Meagan S. Allen
Cain 80/20 Postdoctoral Fellow
Roger Bacon’s Medical Alchemy: Occult Remedies and the Quest to Prolong Life

George Borg
National Science Foundation SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellow
The Instrumental Revolution in Geochemistry
Dissertation Fellows

Rebecca L. Jackson
Doan Dissertation Fellow
Indiana University
Measuring “Well:” Clinical Measuring Practices and Philosophy of Measurement

Miriam F. Lipton
Cain Dissertation Fellow
Oregon State University
Bacteriophages and Antibiotics: The History of Cold War Politics of Antibiotic Resistance

Rohini Patel
Haas Dissertation Fellow
University of Toronto
Chemical Modernities: Politics of Production, Waste, and Empire in Elmira, Ontario, 1940–2000

Gustave Lester
Dissertation Fellow in Residence
Harvard University
Mineral Lands, Mineral Empire: Mapping the Raw Materials of U.S. Industrial Capitalism, 1780–1880
Distinguished Fellow

Alice Lovejoy
Cain Distinguished Fellow
University of Toronto
Cinema’s Militant Chemistry: Film and its Raw Materials
Cain Conference Fellows
Science in Humanities, Humanities in Science: Embedded Connections
Short-Term Fellows

Nicholas Allred
Allington Fellow
Rutgers University
Cinema’s Militant Chemistry: Film and its Raw Materials

Kerri Arsenault
Ullyot Scholar
Independent Scholar
Body of Evidence: A New Biography of Rachel Carson

Marcus Carrier
Cain Fellow
Bielefeld University
Chemistry without Substance: The History and Epistemic Status of Computational Chemistry

Matthew Crawford
Cain Fellow
Kent State University
Where Was the Enlightenment? Silver Mining, Technology, and Expertise in Late Colonial Peru, 1780–1820

David Dunning
Herdegen Fellow
University of Oxford
To Program Language: A History of What We Talk with in the Age of Computing

Deborah Garwood
Otlet Fellow
Drexel University
Exploring Collaborative Documentary Practices for Science History Institute’s Oral History Collection

Sarah Hijmans
Doan Fellow
Université de Paris
Between the Scientific and the Domestic: Anna Sundström’s Work in Berzelius’s House, 1819–1835

Sofiya Kamalova
Seidel Fellow
University of Valencia
The Making of Toxic Ignorance in Occupational Health: The Ardystil Syndrome, a Collective Intoxication at the Workplace in Late 20th-Century Spain

Odinn Melsted
Cain Fellow
Maastricht University
Chemical Perspectives: The Oil Industry, Geochemical Exploration Techniques, and Alternative Fuels Research in the 1970s

Edoardo Pierini
Allington Fellow
University of Geneva
Chemical Medicines and Dangerous Drugs: Sources and Impact of Angelo Sala’s Opiologia

Rosalind Powell
Haas Fellow
University of Bristol
Bodies of Knowledge: Discourses of Self-Experimentation in the Long 18th Century

Shoshana Simons
Cain Fellow
University of California Berkeley
The Digitization of Chemistry and Computing

Geert Somsen
Röhm and Haas Fellow in Focus
Maastricht University
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Why Gather? Reflections on the History (and Future) of Scientific Conferences

Gina Surita
Haas Fellow
Princeton University
The Currency of the Cell: Energy Cycles and the Remaking of Metabolism, 1900–1970

Qinyan Wu
Presidential Junior Fellow
University of Pennsylvania
Controlling Systems and Controlling Legacies: Barbara McClintock’s 1961 Conversation with Two Bacterial Geneticists
Science History Institute Research Fellow

Available Opportunities
Our scholars study a range of topics in the history and social studies of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.

How to Apply
Access application forms and instructions for our fellowships and library travel grants.

Fellows, 1987 to Present
See a list of fellows through the years, along with their research topics and affiliation at the time of their stay.

Application Guide
Optimize your fellowship application with this guide to candidate selection criteria and much more.

Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to common questions, including international visas and daily life at the Institute.

Named Fellowships
Learn about our named fellowships, their recipients, and the generous gifts that made them possible.