Research Team

Principal Investigators

Sara N. Beam, Principal Investigator and Applied Associate Professor of English

Midge Dellinger (Muscogee (Creek) Nation), MA, Oral Historian, Project Co-investigator and Tribal Liaison 




Kristen Oertel, Principle Investigator and Professor of History

Graduate Student Investigators

Abby Rush (Hidatsa/Apsáalooke), MA English. PSIG Graduate Assistant, 2023-2024

Current Undergraduate Students

Abby Ridley (Cherokee Nation), TU Class of 2026, Major in English & Creative Writing, with a minor in Spanish

Hannah Ridley (Cherokee Nation), TU Class of 2026, Major in English & Creative Writing, with a minor in Spanish

MaKayla Davis (Osage eagle clan), Associate Degree in Criminal Justice, College of the Muskogee Nation, TURC-CMN Scholar for 2024 

Marcus Martinez, TU Class of 2025, Major in History


Reagan Shull, 

TU Class of 2025, Major in Speech Language Pathology, with Minors in English, Education, and Early Intervention

Robert Loveall, TU Class of 2026, Major in English, with a minor in Philosophy

Ethan J. Waquie, Mvskoke (Creek) Nation & Jemez Pueblo, Nokosvlke (Bear Clan),

College of The Muscogee Nation, TURC-CMN Scholar for 2024 

Advisor and Research Associate

Laura M. Stevens

Advisor & PSIG Project Founder 

Professor of English and Honors College Director, Auburn University

Former Student Co-Investigators

Cecilia Gutierrez, BAs Religion & Philosophy and History, with a Certificate in Classical Studies, 2024

Rhonda Still, BA English, 2023

Elizabeth Bailey (Cherokee Nation), BA English, 2022

Nevin Subramanian, BSBA Finance and BA Music, 2021

Lexie Tafoya (Cherokee Nation), BA Creative Writing, 2022