Gabby Adkins graduated from in August 2025 with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising. Prior to that, she spent the summer participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program, working under the mentorship of Gargi Bhaduri, PhD on a project that blended fashion, sustainability, and game design. Gabby was selected as a ESDRI-supported SURE student, which provides extra guidance from the Environmental Science and Design Research Institute (ESDRI) to a handful of students mentored by ESDRI-affiliated faculty.
“My research project dealt with teaching young students the negative impacts the fashion industry has on our planet, through game play,” Adkins explained. “Our goal was to work with game design majors at to create a table top game for ages 6 and up to play, that specifically focused on environmental sustainability in the fashion industry.”
For Adkins, one of the most eye-opening parts of the process was learning how to bridge the gap between simply giving information and truly teaching it. “I think the most interesting thing I learned throughout my research project was the difference between telling and teaching,” she said. “Through this research project I had to find ways to teach not only young students about sustainability in the fashion industry, but also the game design students my professor was working with to actually bring a table top game into fruition. Taking on this challenge of teaching information really helped me to better understand and properly teach sustainable development.”
The experience also came with new challenges—particularly adjusting to working in a fully remote research environment. “A challenge I have overcome during my experience in the SURE program was working on my time-management skills,” Adkins said. “My research experience was 100% remote as I was not in a lab setting. I focused more on doing research on my own time and meeting with my professor weekly to present my findings. I have never worked in a remote setting, so it was something to get used to, but doing it over the summer helped me to work on managing my time in more responsible ways and creating work/life boundaries.”
Adkins also emphasized the value of having a support system throughout the summer. “I definitely feel that having ESDRI's support through the SURE program enhanced my experience because I felt that I always had someone/something to rely on if I needed help. I mainly communicated with my professor because she understood my project the most, but it was so nice knowing that ESDRI was there if I needed the help!”
By the end of the program, Adkins had not only contributed to the creation of a sustainability-focused educational game, but had also gained experience in teaching, collaboration, and self-management—skills she plans to carry into her future career in fashion.