September 5th 2014
Crystal Stone ’15 is one of only nine students at private colleges to receive a 2014-2015 Commonwealth Good Citizen Scholarship from the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) Foundation. You can read more about Crystal’s work here.
September 4th 2014
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Allison Connell Pensky is the project director for the development of an electroencephalography (EEG) research laboratory being funded through an $85,000 grant from the Orris C. Hirtzel and Beatrice Dewey Hirtzel Memorial Foundation. The EEG laboratory will benefit both research and teaching experiences on campus. Pensky had an article published in Perception (volume 43). “Effects of using multiple hands and fingers on haptic performance in individuals who are blind” reports data collected with collaborators from UC Berkeley and the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. The article discusses how blind individuals benefit from the use of multiple fingers and hands when interacting with tactile maps and that this benefit surpasses those you see in sighted participants.
September 4th 2014
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Allison Connell Pensky is the project director for the development of an electroencephalography (EEG) research laboratory being funded through an $85,000 grant from the Orris C. Hirtzel and Beatrice Dewey Hirtzel Memorial Foundation. The EEG laboratory will benefit both research and teaching experiences on campus. Pensky had an article published in Perception (volume 43). “Effects of using multiple hands and fingers on haptic performance in individuals who are blind” reports data collected with collaborators from UC Berkeley and the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. The article discusses how blind individuals benefit from the use of multiple fingers and hands when interacting with tactile maps and that this benefit surpasses those you see in sighted participants.
August 19th 2014
From as far back as she can remember, Lee Ann Streshenkoff ’17 has wanted to be a veterinarian.
“I have always loved animals,” says Lee Ann, a chemistry major and psychology and Spanish minor.
Since her freshman year, Lee Ann, a Pittsburgh native, has been serving as a Bonner Scholar at Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center in Saegertown, Pa. The center rehabilitates wildlife and returns it to the wild, as well as provides community education. Tamarack specializes in treating birds of prey of all ages, adult seed-eating songbirds, turtles, and opossums.
Bonner Scholars like Lee Ann work with a local agency like Tamarack for four years as part of the national AmeriCorps program. Students receive financial compensation for their commitment and participate in a leadership development training series.
“We’ve hosted Bonner students, as well as Allegheny work-study students, for as long as I can remember,” says licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator Carol Holmgren, Tamarack executive director. “Each student brings something unique.”
At Tamarack, Lee Ann assists with food and medication preparation, admissions exams, general care, and physical therapy. She also presents education programs at local schools and senior centers. She spends about 30 hours per week during the summer and 10 hours weekly during the school year at her site.
“Meric Islam ’17, another Bonner Scholar at Tamarack, and I did physical therapy on a red-tailed hawk this summer. It was so exciting to do hands-on work during my freshman year,” Lee Ann says.
“But my favorite part about this job is community education, where I go out and talk about wildlife and the environment,” she adds.
On these visits, staff members from Tamarack, including experienced Bonner students like Lee Ann, bring one of the center’s eight trained birds on a handler’s gloved hand to assist with education. These birds were originally admitted to the center with injuries, Holmgren says. Although they are now healthy, they each have a disability preventing them from being able to survive in the wild.
“The fact that I have gained enough experience to hold a bird is mind-blowing to me,” Lee Ann says. Another highlight of Lee Ann’s first year at Tamarack was caring for an adult female screech owl that was admitted to the center from Allegheny’s campus.
“This patient was diagnosed with a concussion, so we spent several weeks caring for her,” she says. “We gave her anti-inflammatory and pain medication and assisted with feedings. In addition, she helped the center by fostering a set of owlets who were admitted to the center shortly after she arrived. She was a great mom to them.”
Once the owl was fully recovered, Lee Ann helped to release her on campus in August. “The release was very beautiful; she was so majestic,” Lee Ann explains. “Experiences like this make it all worth it, because sometimes there are some very sad times when we lose a patient. But when you can send an animal back into the wild, it’s amazing.”
In addition to her experience at Tamarack, Lee Ann also volunteers at Hog Heaven Rescue Farm in Cochranton, Pa., and is a member of the animal welfare and pre-vet clubs at Allegheny. She hopes to one day pursue her dream to become a veterinarian.
“Being a part of the Bonner program and having this experience at Tamarack has changed my life,” she says. “It has made me want to be more involved in my community and has expanded my veterinary interests. The College has already opened my eyes to so much.”
August 19th 2014
From as far back as she can remember, Lee Ann Streshenkoff ’17 has wanted to be a veterinarian.
“I have always loved animals,” says Lee Ann, a chemistry major and psychology and Spanish minor.
Since her freshman year, Lee Ann, a Pittsburgh native, has been serving as a Bonner Scholar at Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center in Saegertown, Pa. The center rehabilitates wildlife and returns it to the wild, as well as provides community education. Tamarack specializes in treating birds of prey of all ages, adult seed-eating songbirds, turtles, and opossums.
Bonner Scholars like Lee Ann work with a local agency like Tamarack for four years as part of the national AmeriCorps program. Students receive financial compensation for their commitment and participate in a leadership development training series.
“We’ve hosted Bonner students, as well as Allegheny work-study students, for as long as I can remember,” says licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator Carol Holmgren, Tamarack executive director. “Each student brings something unique.”
At Tamarack, Lee Ann assists with food and medication preparation, admissions exams, general care, and physical therapy. She also presents education programs at local schools and senior centers. She spends about 30 hours per week during the summer and 10 hours weekly during the school year at her site.
“Meric Islam ’17, another Bonner Scholar at Tamarack, and I did physical therapy on a red-tailed hawk this summer. It was so exciting to do hands-on work during my freshman year,” Lee Ann says.
Lee Ann provides community education.
“But my favorite part about this job is community education, where I go out and talk about wildlife and the environment,” she adds.
On these visits, staff members from Tamarack, including experienced Bonner students like Lee Ann, bring one of the center’s eight trained birds on a handler’s gloved hand to assist with education. These birds were originally admitted to the center with injuries, Holmgren says. Although they are now healthy, they each have a disability preventing them from being able to survive in the wild.
“The fact that I have gained enough experience to hold a bird is mind-blowing to me,” Lee Ann says. Another highlight of Lee Ann’s first year at Tamarack was caring for an adult female screech owl that was admitted to the center from Allegheny’s campus.
“This patient was diagnosed with a concussion, so we spent several weeks caring for her,” she says. “We gave her anti-inflammatory and pain medication and assisted with feedings. In addition, she helped the center by fostering a set of owlets who were admitted to the center shortly after she arrived. She was a great mom to them.”
Once the owl was fully recovered, Lee Ann helped to release her on campus in August. “The release was very beautiful; she was so majestic,” Lee Ann explains. “Experiences like this make it all worth it, because sometimes there are some very sad times when we lose a patient. But when you can send an animal back into the wild, it’s amazing.”
In addition to her experience at Tamarack, Lee Ann also volunteers at Hog Heaven Rescue Farm in Cochranton, Pa., and is a member of the animal welfare and pre-vet clubs at Allegheny. She hopes to one day pursue her dream to become a veterinarian.
“Being a part of the Bonner program and having this experience at Tamarack has changed my life,” she says. “It has made me want to be more involved in my community and has expanded my veterinary interests. The College has already opened my eyes to so much.”
May 5th 2014
Seventeen Allegheny students participated in the Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference held at Penn State Behrend on April 12. They are (with their faculty advisors listed in parentheses): Leanne Balster ’14 (Stephanie Martin and Ben Slote), Patricia Belle ’14 (Brad Hersh), Mark Burkhart ’14 (Scott Wissinger), Jordan Gaston ’16 (Tricia Humphreys), Shelby Hernan ’15 (Jeff Cross), Maria Miranda ’14 (Jeff Cross), Allison Palmer ’14 (Tricia Humphreys), Patrick Payne ’15 (Stephanie Martin), Kirsten Ressel ’14 (Scott Wissinger and Matt Venesky), Tashina Robinson ’14 (Tricia Humphreys), Kelsey Sadlek ’14 (Brad Hersh), Samantha Skobel ’16 (Jeff Cross), Amanda Spadaro ’15 (Kristen Webb), Rachel Stegemann ’14 (Brad Hersh), Adrianna Stolarski ’14 (Milt Ostrofsky), Rachel Verno ’14 (Stephanie Martin), and Jennie Vorhauer ’14 (Brad Hersh). Gaston, Hernan, Ressel, Stegemann, and Stolarski were given awards for best presentations in their sessions. A total of 248 students and 136 faculty from 13 colleges in western and central Pennsylvania participated in the conference.
May 5th 2014
Seventeen Allegheny students participated in the Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference held at Penn State Behrend on April 12. They are (with their faculty advisors listed in parentheses): Leanne Balster ’14 (Stephanie Martin and Ben Slote), Patricia Belle ’14 (Brad Hersh), Mark Burkhart ’14 (Scott Wissinger), Jordan Gaston ’16 (Tricia Humphreys), Shelby Hernan ’15 (Jeff Cross), Maria Miranda ’14 (Jeff Cross), Allison Palmer ’14 (Tricia Humphreys), Patrick Payne ’15 (Stephanie Martin), Kirsten Ressel ’14 (Scott Wissinger and Matt Venesky), Tashina Robinson ’14 (Tricia Humphreys), Kelsey Sadlek ’14 (Brad Hersh), Samantha Skobel ’16 (Jeff Cross), Amanda Spadaro ’15 (Kristen Webb), Rachel Stegemann ’14 (Brad Hersh), Adrianna Stolarski ’14 (Milt Ostrofsky), Rachel Verno ’14 (Stephanie Martin), and Jennie Vorhauer ’14 (Brad Hersh). Gaston, Hernan, Ressel, Stegemann, and Stolarski were given awards for best presentations in their sessions. A total of 248 students and 136 faculty from 13 colleges in western and central Pennsylvania participated in the conference.
April 14th 2014
Professor of Psychology Patricia Rutledge and psychology majors Barbara McCarthy ’10 and Rebecca Lendyak ’10 recently published the paper “Let’s get this party started: The effects of descriptive and injunctive norms on preparty behavior in college students.” The paper appears in the January 2014 issue of the journal Substance Use & Misuse.
April 14th 2014
Professor of Psychology Patricia Rutledge and psychology majors Barbara McCarthy ’10 and Rebecca Lendyak ’10 recently published the paper “Let’s get this party started: The effects of descriptive and injunctive norms on preparty behavior in college students.” The paper appears in the January 2014 issue of the journal Substance Use & Misuse.
February 20th 2014
Assistant Professor of Psychology Lauren Paulson and Professor of Psychology Patricia Rutledge published a peer-reviewed article in the international publication “Eating Behaviors.” The article, “Effects of Perfectionism and Exercise on Disordered Eating in College Students,” appears in the January 2014 issue.