Posts tagged ‘Student-Faculty Research’

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.  

Pilot Study by Miller, Marx, Portzer, and Student Researchers Featured in Story

With research support from LVC undergraduate and graduate students, Dr. Tonya Miller, adjunct instructor in business administration and master of business administration; Dr. Jenna Marx, assistant professor of psychology; Dr. Lori Portzer, assistant professor of exercise science, recently published the “Exploratory study of physical activity programming for women experiencing homelessness.” The researchers found that participants of a four-week physical activity program reported a significant decrease in the number of mentally unhealthy days they experienced. Their work was highlighted in “Research Shows Exercise Can Improve the Lives of Women Experiencing Homelessness.”

Ainsley Buia ’25 and Sara Collevechio ’25 Awarded Research Grant

Biology majors Ainsley Buia ’25 and Sara Collevechio ’25 were awarded the “Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences Undergraduate Research Project” for their project, “The molecular effects of alcohol sensitivity post traumatic brain injury in Drosophila melanogaster.” They, along with classmate and fellow researcher Raegan Laszczyk ’25, were invited to present their research at the 2023 Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences Conference. The trio are conducting their research under the faculty mentorship of Dr. Bona Hoxha, assistant professor of biology. 

Nearly 20 Criminal Justice and Sociology Majors Present Research at Regional Conference

Dr. Barbara Prince, assistant professor of sociology, announced that 19 criminal justice and sociology majors, many of whom have second majors, presented their yearlong scholarly research projects at the Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Social Research Conference. More than 60 undergraduates from 18 regional colleges and universities participated in the conference. The LVC student names and presentation titles were:

  • Living in a Social World: The Effects of Social Connectedness and Work Type on General Happiness by Courtney Metz ’23, sociology
  • Looking Deeper in the Mind: The Effects of Social Connectedness and Satisfaction with Social Life on Mental Health by Katie Fair ’23, sociology
  • Shining a Light on Policing: The Effects of Race and Political Ideology on Policing Attitudes by Dylan Ruhl ’22, criminal justice and history
  • Understanding Police Use of Force: The Effects of Race and Sex on Views of Police Use of Force by Hunter LeRoux ’23, criminal justice
  • A Crisis, a Natural Event, or a Hoax?: The Effects of Political Views and Religiosity on Environmental Attitudes by Amber Arnold ’22, criminal justice and Spanish
  • Getting High on Racism: The Effects of Racial Prejudice on Views on Marijuana Legalization by Bryan Gower ’23, criminal justice and psychology
  • Suffering from Weight Change and Mental Strain? Maybe COVID is to Blame: The Effects of Health, Sex, and Views of the Seriousness of COVID19 by Ryan Stroh ’22, sociology
  • Law and Order: The Effects of The Media and Race on Perceptions of Policing by Jake Abruzzese ’23, criminal justice
  • Thought Police: The Effects of Race and Political Ideology on Views of Police Use of Force by Benjamin Tressler ’23, criminal justice
  • The Grass That Broke the Country’s Back: The Effects of Ideal Number of Children and Attitudes Toward Government Spending on Drug Rehabilitation on Views of Legalization of Marijuana by Amanda Keller ’23 criminal justice
  • There is No Planet B: The Effects of Age, Sex, and Environmental Effects on Neighborhoods on Attitudes Towards the Environment by Kylie Beagell ’22, sociology
  • An Eye for an Eye: The Effects of Political Ideology, Sex and Educational Attainment on Views of the Death Penalty as a Punishment for Murder by Emma Conradi ’23, criminal justice
  • Till Death Do Us Part: The Effects of Ideal Number of Children and Education on Marital Happiness by Jade Julius ’23, sociology
  • Let’s Talk About Sex: The Effects of Age and Views of Sex Education on Views of Teen Sex by Paige Vennie ’22, business administration and sociology
  • Staying Safe: The Effects of Sexual Orientation and Political Views on Views of Sex Education in Public Schools by Sidney Wike ’23, criminal justice
  • Guns Under Fire: The Effects of Political Ideology and Sex on Views of Gun Control by Tim Convery ’23, criminal justice
  • The Ultimate Punishment: The Effects of Sex and Political Views on Views of the Death Penalty by Abigail Radcliffe ’23, criminal justice
  • Gun Control Based on Worldview: The Effects of Religious Affiliation, Religiosity, and Spirituality on Views of Gun Control by Colin Krieg ’23, criminal justice
  • Shadow of Death: The Effects of Religiosity and Spirituality on Views of the Death Penalty by Hannah McCurdy ’22, criminal justice

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. Marx and Alyssa Miller ’20 Present at NYC Conference

Dr. Jenna Marx, assistant professor of psychology, presented “Mindfulness and Meditation Information Online: A Content Analysis,” with Alyssa Miller ’20 (psychology and neuroscience) at the 2022 Eastern Psychological Association Conference in New York City during spring break. Dr. Marx and Miller presented research conducted with Emily Frazier ’21 (biology), Jasmine Locke ’21 (psychology), and Jacob Beard ’21 (business administration). Among other revelations, their student-faculty research found that “Online information about mindfulness and meditation varies in adherence to information literacy guidelines.” 

Dr. Manza Presents at EPA Conference

Dr. Lou Manza, chair and professor of psychology, presented “Grit: Connections to Self-Esteem, Self-Worth, Cognitive Processing, and Aging” at the 2022 Eastern Psychological Association Conference in New York City during spring break. Dr. Manza’s presentation, produced through a student-faculty research project with Julia Gabriel ’22 (psychology), Mallory Anderson ’22 (psychology), Samantha Paradise ’22 (psychology), Sophie Stranick ’24 (psychology and criminal justice), Shelby Anderson ’21 (psychology), and Amber Kintzer ’21, M’22 (psychology and master of business administration), noted that “High levels of grit were related to having positive self-esteem/worth, strong habits of mind, good metacognitive awareness, and aging.”

Dr. Veenhuizen and Jacob Marsh ’25 Co-Author Article in Computational Materials Science

Dr. Keith Veenhuizen, assistant professor of physics, and physics major Jacob Marsh ’25 are co-authors on an article published with colleagues from Lehigh University in the journal Computational Materials Science. The article, “Determination of the structure of lithium niobosilicate glasses by molecular dynamics simulation with a new Nb-O potential,” discusses the development of a new interaction potential for modeling the structure of lithium niobosilicate glasses. Dr. Veenhuizen provided the experimental data supporting the model. Jacob and Dr. Veenhuizen collaborated with the lead author, Dr. Wei Sun, on analyzing the glass structure results generated from the computational modeling.

Ziegler ’22 Presents Student-Faculty Research Poster at State Symposium

Erin Ziegler ’22, biochemistry & molecular biology major and environmental science minor, presented a poster, “The effects of deer, light, and competition on Podophyllum peltatum,” at the 2021 Pennsylvania Botany Symposium. Jake Beidler ’23, environmental science, Dr. Doug Becker, assistant professor of biology, and Dr. Rebecca Urban, director of environmental science and professor of biology, co-authored the poster.

Dr. Kitchen Publishes Student-Faculty Research with Gettysburg Colleagues

Experimental Psychology published the research of Dr. Michael Kitchens, professor of psychology. “Be Responsible? Priming “Responsibility” and the Bystander Effect in a Field Setting” in Experimental Psychology was conducted by Dr. Kitchens, Kristie E. Houck ’22, Sydney E. Petrasic ’22, Ethan H. Schultz ’21, Sierra S. Sheriff ’21, John O. Underwood ’21, Daymond N. Zweizig ’21, and colleagues and students from Gettysburg College.