Archive for the ‘Alumni Accomplishments’ Category.

Dr. Albert and Morgan Ernst’s ’21 Research Published in Infancy

Dr. Rachel Albert, associate professor of psychology, published “Infant vocalizations elicit simplified speech in childcare” in Infancy with co-authors Morgan Ernst ’21 and Dr. Claire Vallotton (Michigan State University). The paper demonstrates that infants use their vocalizations to actively shape their learning environments in multiple social settings—including childcare classrooms! Just like mothers, childcare teachers simplify their speech when responding to baby babbles to provide simpler more learnable information at moments infants are more receptive to learning. 

Dr. Kitchens Published with Student-Researchers; Presents at Annual Meeting

Dr. Michael B. Kitchens, professor of psychology, co-authored Cognitively accessible words associated with God as effective lexical primes in the Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, 8(2), 78–101 with four current and former student researchers: Isabella Lang ’23, M’25 (clinical mental health counseling 3+2), Sydney Petrasic ’21 (neuroscience), Brian Remper ’16 (criminal justice and psychology), and Brittany Wilson ’16 (psychology). Kitchens also presented his paper, What do people think about God? Investigating a mental representation of God as effective priming stimuli, at the 2022 Annual Meeting for the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion/Religious Research Association in November.  

Dr. Pitonyak Publishes NSF-funded Research with Miller ’21, Malda ’22, and Colleagues

Dr. Daniel Pitonyak, assistant professor of physics, Josh Miller ’21 (physics and mathematics), Michael Malda ’22 (physics and analytical finance), and physicists from Penn State Berks and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility published “Updated QCD global analysis of single transverse-spin asymmetries: Extracting H~, and the role of the Soffer bound and lattice QCD”.  The article appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Physical Review D, a leading journal in elementary particle physics research. The authors analyzed additional theoretical and experimental constraints on phenomena in high-energy collisions called single transverse-spin asymmetries and showed their consistency with the underlying mechanism of quark-gluon-quark correlations.  The research was funded by Dr. Pitonyak’s National Science Foundation grant.

Mathematical Physics Research Group Published in Quantum

Finite-Function-Encoding Quantum States,” the results of work done by LVC Mathematical Physics Research Group members Alex Heilman ’19 (physics), Ezekiel Wertz ’18 (physics), and Dr. David Lyons, professor of mathematical sciences, was published in the prestigious peer-reviewed science journal Quantum. This article is joint work with a research group at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.

Dr. Veenhuizen, Jacob Franklin ’23, and Collin Barker ’19 Publish Student-Faculty Research

Student researcher Jacob Franklin ’23 (physics) and alumnus Collin Barker ’19 (physics) are co-authors with Dr. Keith Veenhuizen, assistant professor of physics, on an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Optical Materials. Dr. Veenhuizen is the lead author of the article, “The role of glass composition in the 3D laser fabrication of lithium niobate single crystal in lithium niobosilicate glass,” which explains how glass composition controls the nucleation and growth of crystals in glass and how this can be leveraged to create single crystals, a valuable result for making single crystal architectures in glass for optical applications. Co-authors of the article also include collaborators from Lehigh University and Corning Incorporated.

Dr. Davis Presents Pair of Sessions at State Conference

Dr. Sharon Davis, director of music education and associate professor of music, presented two sessions at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association annual conference in early April. She presented her first session, “Modern Band in the Classroom: Performing, Creating, and Assessment,” with three graduates of the Modern Band Certificate Program, Dan Brenner ’02, Dean Packard-Howey ’16, and Kayla Kurtz. Brenner and Packard-Howey also earned their bachelor’s at LVC. Dr. Davis also presented on the “Redefining General Music” panel discussion. 

Barraclough Performs with Canonico ’14 and Lancaster ’18

Michelle Barraclough, adjunct instructor in flute, performed with LVC music alumni at two recent events. She first performed with the Harrisburg Camerata, a newly formed professional choir co-conducted by Tyler Canonico ’14. Next, she performed in a school production of Beauty and the Beast that Kyra Lancaster ’18 music directed.

Sydney Petrasic ’21 Presents at Regional Conference

Sydney Petrasic ’21 (neuroscience) presented “Intellectual Humility: Connections to Reasoning, Cognitive Attitudes, and Irrational Beliefs” at the 2022 Eastern Psychological Association Conference in New York City. Petrasic’s presentation was the result of student-faculty research with Dr. Lou Manza, chair and professor of psychology, and psychology majors Margaret Mailey ’24, Jordan Stum ’23, Molly Faron ’23 (psychology and sociology), Sydney Fitzgerald, and Ashley Dotey ’21. The researchers found that “Conspirational beliefs were correlated with being overconfident in one’s intellectual skills—but not with logical reasoning ability.”

Erin Martin ’20 Publishes First Book

Erin Martin ’20, music education, writing under the name E.R. Martin, published her first novel, Dawn of Fire.

Dr. Dietrich Conducts District 7 Orchestra

Dr. Johannes Dietrich, Newton and Adelaide Burgner Endowed Professor of Music and director of the LVC Symphony Orchestra, recently conducted the PMEA District 7 Orchestra. More than 100 high school students from southcentral Pennsylvania participated in the festival which was hosted by Eastern York High School and Amanda Fortney ’02, M’14, orchestra director. The program included the Pennsylvania premiere of Stella Sung’s “The Phoenix Rising” and Steven Amundson’s “Longing for Your Return.”