Last summer, senior Joshua Woodley (History major with a concentration in Classics and the Ancient Mediterranean) conducted research under the mentorship of Roanoke College history professor, Dr. Jason Hawke. His project “History, Myth and Memory in Messenia”, explores the question of identity in the Ancient World, specifically focusing on the Greek polis Messenia in second-century CE historian Pausaias’ work Guide to Greece (Periegesis Hellados). Pausanias was a writer concerned with sites, myth, and geography yet his history of Messenia possessed this unique focus. During his research, Joshua became well acquainted with both the classical source of Pausanias, and modern scholarly arguments. As the Messenian story developed, patterns emerged that set the region apart from others; There was a large section of the work dedicated to their proud heroic, and sometimes Homeric, history. In addition to recent scholarship, these patterns led to the conclusion that the Messenian history was the product of years of enslavement by the Spartans. The stories they told, set them in an already firmly grounded historical narrative, and the information Pausanias relayed includes them in cultural developments they had previously been excluded from. Joshua plans to continue studying Messenia throughout his senior year and continue researching Classical Greece in graduate school, emphasizing marginalized communities and their place in history. He would like to thank his mentor, Dr. Hawke, and all the faculty involved in the Summer Scholars program for their help.

Congratulations on all your hard work and good luck at graduate school!

Photo Credits: Mikaela Gantz

Mikaela Gantz (Political science and environmental studies double major with concentrations in legal studies and peace and justice studies ‘25) participated in the Summer Scholars program last summer with mentor Dr. Todd Peppers, a Roanoke College Public Affairs professor. She applied to the program to conduct research in the familiar Roanoke area and to be a part of a community of student researchers. Mikaela’s project, “The Land Dictum: Environmental Rights Guaranteed by the United States Constitution”, examines a legal article that focuses on environmental rights. Her research centers on Substantive Due Process environmental rights, arguing that those rights include the right to a safe and functioning earth under the right to life and liberty aspects of the due process clause. The Summer Scholars program has allowed Mikaela to gain insight into her field of study: “Legal research is very difficult and time-consuming. It is a lot more reading and thinking than I thought it would be. I am very glad I was able to experience it before law school because it reminded me that this is something I love doing and am capable of doing as well”. Her goals for this project include writing a 50-page paper to submit to a law journal, preparing her for the expectations of writing and research in law school. Mikaela would like to thank her project supervisor and mentor, Dr. Peppers for his constant guidance and encouragement. 

Congratulations on all your hard work and good luck in law school!

Photo Credits: Lily Chow

Senior Kaylee van der Steeg, (History, Political Science, and Art History triple major with a concentration in Screen Studies) conducted research over the summer through Roanoke College’s Summer Scholars program. Her project titled, Children: Humans or Threats?, explores the lives of 732 children as they survive Nazi persecution before being sent to England. Her project focuses on the children who were in the concentration camp systems and their oral histories. While research mainly focuses on the 1940s, the arguments made throughout the piece apply to genocide up until today. Thanks to the Summer Scholars program, Kaylee was able to continue her research on children in 20th-century conflict. During her research, she noticed a gap in Holocaust, and more generally genocide, literature where it pertains to children. In the future, Kaylee aims to bridge the gap between the literature and children’s experiences through future research and publications. Kaylee would like to thank her advisor, Dr. Robert Willingham, Roanoke College History professor, as well as her proofreaders: Ivey Kline ’23, Madison Smith ’24, Camille Carter ’24, and Elizabeth Walton ’24.

Congratulations on all your hard work!

Halie Higley (Criminal Justice and Sociology double major ‘25) explored the obstacles Roanoke County Jail inmates face before release with supervisor, Dr. Kristin Richardson, Sociology and Public Health professor. During her time, Halie met with many of these residents, allowing her to better understand their perspectives and needs as both individuals and a general population. With these findings, she will offer a formal proposal that includes suggestions for changes, improvements, and new program ideas that can be implemented in the facility to best suit the population, staff size, and budget of the jail. As a long-term goal, Halie hopes to succeed in enacting these changes in the facility, which would allow the jail to have a more individualized focus for rehabilitation and reentry. Halie applied to the Summer Scholars program to expand her knowledge and research opportunities and this was the perfect program for her research, as it allowed her to remain on campus while completing the data collection for the project in the Roanoke County Jail, which is just a short walk away from campus. The academic opportunity and ease of access to the research site were the final pushes to encourage her to apply for the program. Summer Scholars also helped Halie improve her skills through the informative workshops held weekly. She learned how to more effectively communicate her research goals and progress with others outside of her field of study. From conducting her research, she learned more about the operations of the correctional facility as a whole, as well as how important different perspectives can be when studying rehabilitation and reentry. Furthermore, Halie learned more about the process of conducting research, as there are so many factors that contribute to having a successful experience. While the approval process for human subject research in a vulnerable population is very tedious, it allowed her to critically think about every aspect of the study in a different way. As she nears the completion of her project, Halie would like to thank her project supervisor, Dr. Kristin Richardson of the Sociology and Public Health Department for her endless encouragement and confidence in her abilities as a researcher. She would also like to express her gratitude to Sergeant Brian Flannagan, the Rehabilitation Sergeant in the Roanoke County Jail, as this project would not have been possible without his support. Finally, she would like to thank Dr. Kristi Hoffman and Chief Joseph Mills for being outstanding committee members during each stage of the research.

Congratulations on all your hard work!

Lorenzo Camobreco (Biology major ‘26) applied for the Summer Scholar program to further his journey into the world of scientific research. He has been a research fellow at Roanoke since his first year and wants to continue developing and honing his skills as a researcher. His project, “rbfox1 gene expression and its impact on neurological development using zebrafish (Danio rerio)” observes how an increase in the expression of the rbfox1 gene impacts neurological development within zebrafish. With this research, Lorenzo hopes to collect data that detects changes within the shape of the brain, behaviors exhibited by affected zebrafish, and molecular changes within the zebrafish resulting from an increased rbfox1 expression. This will provide insight into how rbfox1 impacts the developing brain, hopefully supporting a hypothesized mechanism behind how rbfox1 works to create the neurological disorders observed in cases where it is expressed outside the normal ranges. During his time in the program, Lorenzo gained several research skills and techniques ranging from genetic engineering to embryonic microinjection. Furthermore, he was able to gain a better understanding of how to formulate his thinking when it came to research and was able to apply this skill to his project. Lorenzo would like to thank Dr. Lassiter for all the support he provided in helping to spark his research interest.

Congratulations on all your hard work!

Congratulations to the winners of the Fall 2024 Research Showcase! Your hard work has not gone unnoticed!

First Place: Reed, Abby: Examining storm water infiltration in a meadow restoration site: Where does the rain go? Faculty mentor: Dr. Rachel Collins (middle)

Second Place: Hill, Samson: Transition Metal Free N-Atom Transfer Reactions With Diaziridinium Salts. Faculty mentor: Dr. Daniel Nasrallah (left)

Third Place: Maan, Moazzam: A Structural Analysis of Largest Independent Sets in a Family of Circulant Graphs. Faculty mentor: Dr. Anil Shende (right)

Samson Hill (Chemistry major ‘26) participated in the Summer Scholars program conducting research with Roanoke College chemistry professor, Dr. Daniel Nasrallah and his lab partners, Alexis Hamilton and Ben Cerkovnik. His project, Transition Metal Free N-atom Transfer Reactions with Diaziridinium Salts, aims to support the development of methods to form carbon-nitrogen bonds; these bonds are vital to society as they are used in pharmaceuticals often. Previous knowledge of methods includes forming these bonds using transition metal catalysis. However, these metals tend to be toxic and expensive, so Samson’s project seeks to synthesize non-toxic and inexpensive organic molecules that can facilitate these reactions in place of using transition metals. Samson applied for the Summer Scholars program to gain experience working on chemistry research in a laboratory environment and contribute to scientific knowledge. During his time over the summer, Samson gained valuable skills such as designing and performing experiments with the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. Upon graduation, Samson plans to apply to a chemistry PhD program. He would like to thank Dr. Nasrallah, Alexis Hamilton, Ben Cerkovnik, the Summer Scholars program, and the Roanoke College chemistry department. 

Congratulations on all your hard work!

This summer, senior Elizabeth Clay (Theatre major and Religious Studies minor 25’) researched with Fine Arts professor, Dr. Nelson Barre through the Summer Scholars program after dedicating a semester to gaining hands-on experience in Dr. Barre’s class, “Play Direction”. Her project titled, “Diving Into Directing: Halley Feiffer’s” How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them” focuses on directing a play surrounding the lives of three girls who deal with substance abuse and grief. Participating in Summer Scholars has allowed Elizabeth to explore various elements of creating theatre including selecting the play, planning and executing the auditions, marketing, and developing a vital understanding of the socio-political context of the play. Furthermore, she started a Director’s Notebook to become her personalized encyclopedia that contains an analysis of the whole play and each character, scene breakdowns, the context of the play, and more that will help guide her actors, designers, and stage managers through the production process. In completion of this project, her show has been submitted for review with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), which will send two respondents to review the show and consider it for invitation to the Region IV festival in February 2025. Elizabeth’s show took center stage on December 6th and 7th at Roanoke’s Olin Studio Theatre. After graduation, Elizabeth plans to pursue her passion for directing and theatre with a traveling children’s theatre program before returning to school to become a theatre professor. 

Congratulations on your show!

This summer Junior, Julianna Morrow (Biology major and Environmental Studies minor ‘26) conducted research in the Summer Scholars program with her mentor, Dr. Rachel Collins. Her project, Effect of Seasons on White-tailed Deer Behavior Between Suburban and Rural Landscapes, investigates the seasonal behavior changes in white-tailed deer between suburban and rural habitats. Julianna aimed to answer two important questions based on the data collected: “How does habitat impact white-tailed deer behavior between suburban and rural wooded habitats across seasons?” and “How does time of day impact the number of detections in suburban and rural wooded habitats?”. While the research is ongoing, Julianna gained various learning experiences such as collecting, analyzing, and explaining data, tracking methodology, and how to utilize Microsoft Excel to its fullest potential. Since starting her project, she has noticed the patterns of suburban white-tailed deer from her research in real life and learned more about wildlife management and the importance of managing overabundant populations like white-tailed deer. Julianna plans to further examine behavioral changes between suburban and rural habitats and present her findings at a conference. She would like to thank Dr. Collins for encouraging her to apply for the program and supporting her along the way, and the Summer Scholars program for giving her the chance to learn more as a research student. She would also like to thank the Honors program for its additional funding and the biology department for the game cameras used in her study. 

Congratulations and we look forward to seeing the final project!

This summer, senior Leila Hussein (Political Science major with a concentration in German Studies ‘25) conducted research through the Summer Scholars program with mentor, Dr. Justin Garrison, Roanoke College political science professor. Her project, Why Are People Violent? René Girard, Mimetic Theory, and Film examines film through the lens of René Girard’s mimetic theory to understand things about ourselves and the nature of collective violence. Leila applied for Summer Scholars because it was the perfect opportunity to take her research and turn it into a job, and she enjoyed every aspect of her experience. Although her research has been time-consuming it has also been very fulfilling for her. Leila would like to thank Dr. Garrison for introducing her to Girard’s work, guiding her through the research process, and leaving a lasting impact on her life. 

Congratulations on your research!