ACU Undergraduate Researchers have been busy this summer working on a variety of projects. Over 50 students from more than 15 departments have participated in research this summer. Seventeen students participated in research through the McNair Scholars program. Other students and faculty were supported by Pursuit Research Grants and Office of Undergraduate Research Summer Stipend Grants.
Here are some of the things we know about (let us know what we are missing):
McNair Scholars: The McNair Scholars Program had a successful Summer Research Internship! 17 students participated and completed research on various projects in their disciplines. They will be presenting their work at national McNair conferences in the coming months.
Biblical Studies: Victoria Sun and Houston Heflin studied Student Engagement.
Biology: In the Huddleston lab 3 students have been working on knocking out genes they think to be essential to horizontal gene transfer in the bacterial genus Aeromonas. They have also been looking for Aeromonas in rainwater.
Chemistry and Biochemistry: Ten students and 5 faculty members participated in on-going research projects in biochemistry, organic/medicinal chemistry, polymer science and organometallic synthesis.
Education: Ashley Towe, Kaitlin Sehres, and Jake Hall worked with Dr. Andrew Huddleston on a project entitled “Thou Read’st Black Where I Read White”: Understanding Pervasive Interpretive Pluralism of Biblical Texts through Louise Rosenblatt’s Transactional Theory of Reading.
Engineering and Physics: Hannah Hamilton, Ryan Pinson, Ramsey Towell, and Cecily Towell spent their summer at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, NY working with the PHENIX experiment along side Drs Michael Daugherity and Rusty Towell. They helped operate a $200 million dollar detector and built a test stand for detector development.
Dr. Darby Hewitt and several students worked on optics, laser science, and spectroscopy research.
ACU Library Maker Lab: Student Amy Carnagey worked with Dr. John Weaver to researchthe theory and practice of constructionist pedagogy (“inventing to learn”), and its present/potential impact on the design of learning experiences in the Maker Lab and elsewhere at ACU. They presented their research results at the 2014 Annual Conference of the American Theological Library Association (ATLA).
Language and Literature and Communications and Sociology: McNair Scholar Kendra Oregon (Dr. Ron Morgan’s student in Global Studies) worked with Drs. Cindy Roper and Paul Roggendorff on researching the interaction of Muslim, Jewish and Christian cultures in medieval Spain in her paper: “Tolerance in Toledo, Spain, Between Muslims, Christians and Jews, between 711 and 1031.” In her research, Kendra Oregon finds a valuable example for our times of peaceful coexistence in a radically pluralistic society.
Management Sciences: Levi Ritchie and Dr. Ryan Jessup were studying the effect of too much choice.
Check out some of the Summer Researchers
