MSU Sociology undergraduate Carrie Nielsen wins all-university excellence award

April 19, 2021

Sophomore Carrie Nielsen received the Ruth Hamilton Award for high-level achievement in coursework, co-curricular activities and extra-curricular activities.

"Carrie is a high-achieving student in the Department of Sociology and a member of MSU’s Honors College.  She is earning a BS in Sociology and a second BA in Economics," said Sociology Chair Dr. Aaron McCright.

"During her entire time at MSU, she has been a member of the College of Social Science Scholars Program and has conducted faculty-mentored research as a Professorial Assistant."

At MSU’s 2021 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF), Carrie presented the results of her first project on how messages about climate policy approaches may influence Americans’ views about climate change.

She recently joined an interdisciplinary team investigating the prospects for community-managed sustainable energy technologies in off-grid communities in Brazil and the US—in a multi-year project funded by the National Science Foundation.

During 2020-2021, Carrie is serving on the College of Social Science Dean’s Student Advisory Council. She is an Alumni Distinguished Scholar who is part of the Social Science Scholars Program and the Honors College. In her free time, she is involved with the Refugee Outreach Collective, St. Vincent Catholic Charities, and Women and Minorities in Economics.

The Ruth Hamilton Award is one of MSU's “All-University Awards for Excellence,” which has a perpetual endowment, and is named after Dr. Ruth Simms Hamilton, a distinguished sociologist whose work over decades made major contributions to the understanding of the African Diaspora. Dr. Hamilton also made significant contributions to sociological theory and to our understanding of international migration, urbanization, and inequality.