Muhlenberg College

Vijay Rao '22 and Jessica Sommer '21, working with Jordanna Sprayberry, professor of biology, explore the intricacies of bumblebee foraging. They're creating a framework for their research to explore how the enviromental conditions affect bee foraging and help other researchers studying the topic.

Adam Cantor '21 and Jonah Silverman '22 create an app to establish a home base for tick research across the country.

Caya Greenspan-Layman '22, with the help of professor of sociology Janine Chi, analyzes how performance art shapes identity and enacts social change in Southeast Asia.

Director of Public Health Chrysan Cronin and Kevan Shah '22 applied for the grant together last fall and announced the grant together to the community and the media at a campus event on January 16. The funds will be used to train students to train members of the Lehigh Valley community to administer the lifesaving drug Narcan.

Rebecca Shear '21 is working with Gretchen Gotthard, professor of neuroscience, to determine the impact of overloading working memory using visuospatial tasks such as Tetris.

Brian Acquaviva '21, Alexandria Lerner and Malak Rayes '21 are analyzing a recent scientific breakthrough called vibrational strong coupling (VSC), a phenomena that alters the characteristics of chemical bonds in ways never before seen.

Cole Giessler is looking at how native and non-native plants' blooming patterns change due to a warmer climate.

Have you ever wondered how your brain and mouth go from thinking about a word to articulating it? Alexandra Frazer, assistant professor of psychology, put this question to the test with the help of Muhlenberg student researcher Kat Hodges '20, a biochemistry major and public health minor. Students Alyce Huot '20, Hazem Abdelaal '20, Jessica Oxer '21 and Marwan Rajha '21 also assisted with the research.

Morgan Tietz '21 is analyzing and comparing biodiversity at two different types of green spaces in Allentown and conducting a sociodemographic search to determine which populations have access to these green spaces.

Muhlenberg students presented global education research at the annual LVAIC Global Student Conference.

Three students shared their research at the Joint Mathematics Meeting's Student Research Poster Session in Denver, Colorado, this January.

Muhlenberg faculty and students are using the spotted lanternfly to attract local high schoolers to math and science.

Muhlenberg student Olivia Toner '20 spent her summer in Lehigh Valley Health Network's Oncology Lab, where she worked alongside health professionals to map treatment strategies and record patient outcomes.

Three Muhlenberg student researchers co-authored a paper with Assistant Professor Justin Sparks published in 'American Chemical Society Photonics.'

Last spring, six Muhlenberg students who work with Gretchen Gotthard, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, presented their research at a conference in France.

Olivia Garcia '20 conducted historical research this summer at Muhlenberg College. Working with Cathy Ouelette, associate professor of history, Garcia connected several fields of study, such as political science, economics, dance, Latin, and American studies, to understand Argentine identity in the early 2000s. Titled 'The Politics of Performance,' the project seeks to make connections across disciplines in order to draw conclusions about the state of Argentina and its people in the time period.

Working with Erika Iyengar, professor of biology, Austin Hoffman studied how the time in streams and ponds can affect the biodiversity that colonizes leaf packs he plants. Isopods are crucial to stream and pond biodiversity, considering the amount of organisms that feed on them. By looking at the condition of leaves that is most inhabitable for the isopods, Hoffman can gauge when they are more effectively populated.

Steven Smith '19 studied the impact of age and gender on a child's ability to manage behavior and presented his research last spring at the Society for Research in Child Development Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Seed Box, a four-week pilot program, brought together sustainability studies and innovation and entrepreneurship faculty and students to come up with a concept that would offer a solution to a sustainability-related problem.

With mentorship from Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, assistant professor of psychology, Steven Smith '19 conducted an independent research project at Muhlenberg focused on how age and gender affect a child's development of their ability to manage their behavior. He presented the study last March at the Society for Research in Child Development Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Psychology students work with a local nonprofit to collect and analyze information it can use to ensure its continued funding-and continued success.

Danielle Kraes '21 conducted research in psychology at Muhlenberg College over the summer. Working with Kenneth Michniewicz, assistant professor of psychology, Kraes conducted research on the expectations of identity when associated with musical instruments. Gender biases are placed on those who violate these expectations negatively, such as women playing guitar. Kraes' research implies that someone viewed as an underdog is deemed more likable. The project will explore, through an experimental survey, whether or not underdog identity eliminates harsh evaluations when musicians violate expectations.

Jessica Deemer '21 conducted research in psychology at Muhlenberg College over the summer. Working with Psychology Professor Jeff Rudksi, Deemer aims to understand the stigma individuals have about using psychotropic medication for mental illness, especially depression. The research she is conducting will determine if individuals think one can still be their authentic, true self while using medication, or if they believe they are completely altered and no longer themselves.

Working with Alexandra Frazer, assistant professor of psychology, this summer, Jacob Lader '22 studied the psychology of perceiving visual art. The research involves the categorization of stimuli, pre-trial surveys, trials using an eye-tracker, and post-trial questionnaires. The analyzation and interpretation of data are aimed to better understand the experience of visual stimuli. Lader studies this phenomenon through abstract and representational art. "The visual arts, and how people both create and experience them, has always been interesting to me. Summer research allows me to explore my interest in-depth in a scholarly environment while preparing me for future research experiences."

Moira Ferrer '22 is conducting physics research this summer at Muhlenberg College. Working with Brett Fadem, associate professor of physics, Ferrer is designing, building and testing cosmic ray detectors. Cosmic rays are atom fragments that rain down on the earth's surface from outside the solar system and are commonly blamed for electronic problems in satellites and other machinery. Building a detector is a significant task as these rays move at the speed of light. Ferrer is working backward first, testing old cosmic ray detectors and troubleshooting ones that did not succeed. Then she'll work on building a system to detect the cosmic rays and coding a program to analyze the collected data.

Kristen Corless '20, an English and theatre double major, is conducting research at Muhlenberg College this summer. Working with Jill Stephen, professor of English, Corless studies how Dickinson used nature to explore immortality and death. Going through each of Dickinson's 1775 poems, Corless finds those discussing nature and organizes them into categories. She gives each a close read and tries to decipher Dickinson's code of the natural world, utilizing her extensive understanding of the poet's history and her own English theory. "Scholars have not given this particular subject enough attention and I hope to bring a new eye to it, uncovering new truths about Dickinson's poetry," she says.

Dario Lewczyk '20, a chemistry major, is conducting research at Muhlenberg College this summer. Working with Justin Sparks, assistant professor of chemistry, Lewczyk is working with the substances that are used by perfumers to slow down the evaporation of a fragrance to make it last longer.

Christopher Dasaro '20, a neuroscience major, conducted research at Muhlenberg this summer with Christine Ingersoll Fermier, professor of chemistry. He analyzed essential oils and their contents with an instrument called gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, or GC-MS.

Working with Thaddeus Robinson, associate professor of philosophy, Andrew Leahy '21 is conducting research this summer that aims to objectify some of the ways that writing can be enlisted as a tool for critical thought. He hopes to forge a closer connection between writing and critical thinking. Given the complexities that both entail, it is often difficult to realize their links - that writing can be enlisted as a tool for higher-level thought, and that critical thinking can be grounded in the tangible work of writing. Leahy's aim is to make these connections more accessible and approachable.

Jessica Sommer '21 is determining the distinctions between olfactory and visual cues when manipulating spaces around bumblebees.