CSWGS is delighted to honor Valerie Heckel '26 with the 2026 Merfish Award.

Valerie drew upon her foundation in SWGS coursework to execute two advanced engaged research projects. As one of two students awarded the competitive Amici Fellowship in Summer 2025, she conducted research in Florence to examine how sexuality has been represented in Italian Renaissance art, how these representations compare with contemporary sexual culture, and how contemporary museum-goers understand the sexual nature of that art. Her engaged methodology was evident even at the proposal stage, when she created and distributed a zine to inform her peers on the project goals and research questions driving her interest. In addition to visual analysis of artworks and interviews with museum-goers, her methods in Florence included volunteering with local organizations that provide critical resources to the city's LGBTQ+ community. A letter of nomination submitted on her behalf observed that Valerie's Amici Fellowship project "reflects her belief that research on culture and sexuality must be conducted in partnership with the communities it seeks to understand."

Valerie also completed a year-long Seminar and Practicum research project in partnership with Avow Texas, a reproductive justice nonprofit that focuses on abortion advocacy. The project applied Black feminist epistemology, visual analysis, and interviews with multiple populations to understand how people determine whether information about reproductive health is trustworthy and legitimate. After presenting at the CSWGS 2026 Seminar and Practicum reception, Valerie was invited along with the other members of her cohort to present her findings to the Texas Abortion Advocacy Network.

Valerie has contributed to the Rice community as a Rice Women in STEM Mentor, the organizer of a biweekly reproductive justice reading group in collaboration with Rice Students for Reproductive Justice, and as a volunteer at the Rice Women's Resource Center and CSWGS student worker. Her abiding commitment is to, in the words of one nominator, "ethically grounded, justice-oriented research."