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Shenandoah Summer Scholars Share Results of Research

Students focused on a variety of topics under supervision of College of Arts & Sciences faculty members

Over the summer students in the College of Arts & Sciences worked on research topics under a professor’s supervision. The Summer Scholars Research Symposium provided a chance for them to showcase what they found to their peers and other faculty members.

In conducting research alongside faculty, the students are developing skills they’ll need for continued growth in their chosen fields.

Presentations occurred on Aug. 10 and Aug. 12, in the Health & Life Sciences Building, Halpin Rotunda, both in-person and live via Zoom for anyone who could not attend in person. 

Topics ranged from investigations into the lives of Union veterans of the U.S. Civil War and information theory to the “Impact of Microhabitats on Parasitism in Two Sunfish Species” to “Understanding Patient Adherence to Home-Based Physical Therapy Exercises,” and “Bacteriophage Isolation and Evolution in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa.”

The faculty and student researchers were:

Assistant Dean for Student Success in the College of Arts & Sciences and Associate Professor of Mathematics & Computer Science Jessica OShaughnessy, Ph.D., supervising Raquel Ventura Blanco and Minakshi Nepal (Discipline: Computer Science) 

Assistant Professor of Biology Jeffery Bara, Ph.D., supervising Jeremy Allinger, Jahveesha Combs and Samantha Chambers (Discipline: Biology)

Students presenting at 2021 Shenandoah Summer Scholars Research SymposiumProfessor of Public Health Audra Gollenberg, Ph.D., supervising Hannah Mink (Discipline: Public Health)

Associate Professor of Political Science Michael Romano, Ph.D., supervising Amber Wilt, Nickelette Justic, and Steven Stabler (Discipline: Political Science) 

Director of the McCormick Civil War Institute Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A., supervising Caitlyn Graulau and Kim Oliveto (Discipline: History) 

Associate Professor of Biology & Environmental Studies Michael Zimmermann, Ph.D., supervising Emily Malloy, Erin Atkinson and Emily Newlin (Discipline: Biology)

Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and Director of Academic Innovation and Associate Professor of Exercise Science Jessica Peacock, Ph.D., in collaboration with Board of Trustees member Kyle Feldman, PT, DPT (’11, ’14), supervising Ainsley Delbridge and Hannah Uhl (Discipline: Exercise Science)

Associate Professor of Quantitative Methods Sarah Daniel, Ph.D., supervising Sara Eaton, Annmarie Noonan and Lisa Branson (Discipline: Leadership Studies)

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