ACRoSS 2016

Lightbulb gears

For the summer of 2016, ACRoSS runs from June 7th to August 9th.  At each weekly meeting, students will present short overviews of their specific summer research projects (e.g., proposed experiments, data, anticipated results) to an audience of students, faculty, staff, administrators, community members, and prospective students and their families. Meetings will be held on Tuesdays from Noon until 1:30 PM in the Tippie Alumni Center’s Tillotson room. Lunch is provided courtesy of funds furnished by the URSCA office.

Note: The ACRoSS Summer Research Poster Symposium will take place on Friday, July 22nd from 8:30 am to 10:00 am in the Campus Center lobby. Details for participation to come.

ACRoSS 2016 Schedule


Tues, June 7, 2016


Jeremy Loewer (Communication Arts ’18), Sophie Dodge (Community and Justice Studies ’18) and Professor Michael Keeley (Communication Arts) Documentary Film and Local History


Jordan Gaston (Biology ’16), Leah Krainz (Biology ’18) and Professor Tricia Humphreys (Biology) Musca domestica Transmits Viable Haemophilus ducreyi Following Experimental Exposure


Anastasia Ripkin (English and Environmental Science ’19), Madeline Hernstrom-Hill (English and History ’18) and Professors John Miller (English) Forms of Interconnection: Ecology and the Victorian Novel


Tues, June 14, 2016


Nia Shuler (English ’18)  and Professor Aline Lo (English) Returning to Refugee Return Narratives


Jessica Reed (English ’18) and Professor Alexis Hart (English, Learning Commons) Questioning in “Matched” Writing Consultations


Adam Miller (Political Science ’18) and Professor Shanna Kirschner (Political Science) Does Peacekeeping Really Bring Peace? Post-War Violence Beyond Killing


Tues, June 21, 2016


Jessica Yohe (Biochemistry ’18), Sydney Chambule (’19) and Professor Brad Hersh (Biology) Arrival of the Fittest: Finding the Genes Responsible for Evolution of Animal Shape


Melissa McCann (Environmental Science ’18), Bailey Pifer (’19) and Professor Ian Carbone (Environmental Science) Reflective Materials for Organic Light Concentrating Devices and Brainstorming Ways to Increase Meadville Home Energy Efficiency


Mimi Lam (Mathematics and Communication Arts ’18) and Professor David Miller (English) Transcendentalism, marriage and the origins of American Feminism in Antebellum New England


Tyler Allen (International Studies and Religious Studies ’18), Grant Marthinsen (International Studies and Religious Studies ’17) and Professor Yunous Mirza (Religious Studies) The Rise of IS


Tues, June 28, 2016


Susan Campbell (Biochemistry ’18), Zachary Iezzi (Biochemistry ’18), Eleni Kaffenes (Biochemistry ’17), and Professor Ivy Garcia (Chemistry and Biochemistry) Heating the DEAD down to the core: Lessons in Protein Structure 


My Dang (Economics ’18) and Professor Hoa Nguyen (Economics) Technology Adoption and the Effect on Environment and Economic Condition


Rachael Robertson (Communication Arts ’17) and Professor Vesta Silva (Communication Arts) The Story of Zika: An analysis of North American News Media coverage of the Zika Outbreak


Tues, July 5, 2016


Josh Patton (Political Science ’18) and Professor Shannan Mattiace (Political Science) Security and Violence in Mexico


Claire Wilson (English ’19)  and Beth Watkins (Theatre) A Dramaturgical Investigation of Vogel’s A Civil War Christmas


Jordan Caldwell (Physics and Mathematics ’17), Mackinzie Price (Physics ’17), Liam Dawson (Physics ’17) , Roger Hatfull (Physics ’16), Professor James Lombardi (Physics), and Professor John Wenskovitch (Computer Science) When Stars Collide


Tues, July 12, 2016


Lily Appiah-Agyeman (Neuroscience ’17), Natalia Han (Biochemistry ’17), and Professor Lauren French (Biology and Neuroscience) Is there a Connection between Alzheimer’s Disease and Potassium Channels?


Maggie Dugan (German and English ’18) and Professor Richard Schindler (Art) Towards an Anarchist Pedagogy


Alexia Porche (’19) and Professor Aimee Knupsky (Psychology) Your Skills are Your Superpower: Understanding Theory of Mind and the Link to Social Competence

Jocye Ensler (Psychology and English ’17), Andrew Hopf (English ’17) and Professor Ben Slote (English) The Curious Endurance of To Kill a Mockingbird: Further cultural analysis

Tues, July 19, 2016


Kristi Sestak (Physics ’17), Kylee Karczewski (Physics ’18) and Professor Doros Petasis (Physics) Synthesis and Magnetic Studies of Rare Earth Nanocrystals and Metal Complexes


Becca Duch (English ’18) and Professor Jennifer Hellwarth (English) Managing the Sexual Body in Medieval Hebraic, Islamic, and European Christian Texts


Hannah Fischer (Chemistry ’18), Max Steffen (’19), Cole Tower (’19) and Professor Ryan Van Horn (Chemistry) Crystallization of Biodegradable Polymers for Drug-Delivery Applications


 Tues, July 26, 2016


Paige Hickman (Environmental Science and Spanish ’17), Kaye Moyer (Environmental Science ’19), and Professor Beth Choate (Environmental Science) Native Pollinator Diversity in Meadville, PA


Clayton Storms (Music ’19), Perry Rusen-Morohovich (Music and Global Health Studies ’19), and Professor Douglas Jurs (Music) Monster Music: Exploring musical meaning through sonic representation of Imaginary Beings

Kayla Waltman (Psychology ’17) with Professor Becky Dawson (Global Health); Justin Stascak (Environmental Science ’17) with Jennifer Foreman (Psychology); and Tiffany Choi (Biochemistry ’19) with Professor Stephanie Martin (Economics) Network for Local Knowledge and Research: 2016 Summer Research Projects


 Tues, Aug 2, 2016


Arianna O’Connell (Communication Arts ’18), Cassandra Bachik, (Communication Arts and Journalism in the Public Interest ’18), and Professor Ishita Sinha Roy (Communication Arts) White Rage and Post-Racial Politics in America


Hannah Eisemann (Environmental Science, ’17), Allyson Wood (Environmental Science ’19) and Professor Casey Bradshaw Wilson (Environmental Science) Distribution of Round Gobies within the French Creek Watershed


Carissa Lange (Biology and Environmental Science ’18), Bryce Olson (Biology ’18)  and Professor Matt Venesky (Biology) Spatial and temporal dynamics of an amphibian fungal pathogen in Northwestern PA

Tues, Aug 9, 2016


Maria Kim (Computer Science ’18), Schuyler Vetry (Computer Science ’18), Jesse Del Greco (Computer Science ’19) and Professor Janyl Jumadinova (Computer Science) Web Service for the Local Food Hub 


Milton Guevara (Political Science and Religious Studies ’18) and Professor Eric Boynton (Philosophy and Religious Studies) Commemorating Atrocity


Bailey Pifer (Biochemistry ’19) and Professor Ian Carbone (Environmental Science), Common Roots, part of the Network for Local Knowledge and Research: 2016 Summer Research Projects