Last week, Luke Jones attended the Association of Environmental Studies and Science conference. Working with Dr. O’Neill in the Environment Department, Luke presented his project “Planting for climate resilience: Using heat mapping to assess climate vulnerability and the need for future greenspace and urban tree cover in Salem, VA.”
This past weekend, Dr. Lassiter brought three students to Montreal for the International Zebrafish Society Conference. Olivia Brichter and Allyson Herriges presented together “The Effects of Estrogen on Tail Fin Regeneration in Embryonic Zebrafish (Danio rerio).”
Congratulations to everyone and we all look forward to see what you do next!
Maryam Nishtar is a rising senior at Roanoke College, from Islamabad, Pakistan majoring in Psychology and Biochemistry with a concentration in Neuroscience. Maryam is a member of the service organization Alpha Phi Omega and is a resident advisor on campus. She is also a medical scribe at Lewisgale Medical Center and plans to pursue a career as a physician-scientist.
Maryam hopes to use that position to be an advocate for women facing healthcare challenges and dedicate her time to women’s neurological health and overall wellbeing. In her spare time, Maryam likes to explore the Roanoke Valley by going hiking and trying out different places.
Maryam is working with Dr. David Nichols on the project “Physical Changes in the Brain as a function of Clinical Dementia Ratings in Women with Alzheimer’s Disease.” This project will identify differences in the brain structures of men and women with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), taking into consideration the role of clinical dementia ratings. A literature review will provide context for research about AD in women in relation to clinical dementia ratings in addition to an analysis of longitudinal MR and PET images. The purpose of the study is to identify brain regions affected by AD in the female brain as this may give insight as to why women experience AD more than men.
Haley Keene is a rising junior attending Roanoke College. She is from Abingdon, Virginia. She is majoring in biochemistry with plans off attending a medical school in her future. During her time at Roanoke College, Haley has become proficient in Excel data processing, NMR spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. She has experience in gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, riding her bike, and going out to eat with friends.
Haley is currently working with Dr. Johann on the project “Development of Methodologies to Analyze Antimalarial Drugs from Developing Nations.” As she explains, malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that is typically transmitted through mosquitoes. It can be serious and sometimes fatal to the infected. Coartem is a drug that is used to treat malaria. It has been estimated that thousands of individuals die each year from antimalarial drugs like Coartem that are not up to standard or have been falsified. Many developing countries do not have the resources necessary to test these drugs. This project, with samples sent by Notre Dame from developing countries, would involve analyzing the drug Coartem and making sure it is up to standard. Producing a method to analyze Coartem could potentially save the lives of those suffering from subpar antimalarial medication.
A recent honor places Roanoke College’s physics program in the top 10 percent nationally and internationally.
The Roanoke College chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) has won an Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS National Office. That designation is given to fewer than 10 percent of all SPS chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and worldwide.
The honor recognizes chapters for their excellence as top-tier, student-led physical sciences organizations. SPS chapters are evaluated on their level of interaction with the campus community, the professional physics community, the public, and with SPS national programs. The Outstanding Chapter Award recognizes high levels of outreach as well as unique approaches to fulfilling the mission of SPS to “help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community.”
Next up, we have Davis Tingle. Davis is a rising senior expecting to graduate with math and computer science degrees. As a summer scholar, he is working on optimizing drone delivery in rural and city landscapes. Outside of academics, Davis is a lead guide with Outdoor Adventures and is one of two R-house volunteer coordinators.
This summer, Davis is working with Dr. Shende on the project “Drone Delivery Optimization in Mixed Fields.” He explains: My project’s focus is researching optimization methods for autonomous drone delivery. In recent years drones have become viable options for delivery agents as they are fast and environmentally friendly. Therefore, anyone who orders packages from the internet will benefit from this research. I plan to optimize a scenario in which a train drops off pods containing both goods and a drone to service the area. My goal is to find ways to minimize parameters like 1) total flight time and distance, 2) number of drones and pods used, and 3) the total time and distance for the train.
Happy Friday! We have two Summer Scholars to introduce today!
First up, we have Lillian Pingle. Lillian is a junior from Waynesboro, Virginia, who is majoring in Sociology and minoring in Religious Studies. She is in the Honors Program, on HrnsPAG, and the president of RC Lutherans. She also has two jobs, one as a tutor at the Roanoke College Writing Center and the other as a Wellness Peer Educator with Student Health and Counseling. She plans to graduate from Roanoke College in December of 2022 and go on to get her Master’s in Religion starting in the Fall of 2023.
Lillian is working with Dr. Trexler on the project “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: The Whitest Christian Denomination in the United States.” Here is her description of her work: This project examines why the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has the highest percentage of white people of any other Christian denomination in the United States (Lipka 2015). I conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with pastors in the Virginia Synod to discuss why they believe that the ELCA is the whitest Christian denomination in the United States, and how they think racial diversity and justice might occur in the denomination. After these interviews, I will survey the laity in those pastors’ congregations to assess lay conceptions of racial justice in the ELCA.
As we begin to start a summer of research, it is time to introduce our Summer Scholars!
Jennie Costa is a double major in Art History and History. This summer, she is working with Dr. Leslie Warden on the project “Visiting an Ancient Egyptian Oasis: What Ceramic Artifacts from ‘Split Rock’ Can Reveal About Ancient Travelers and the Paths they Chose.” As she explains, many popular accounts of Ancient Egypt focus on the artifacts of the elite, which although interesting, exclude a massive portion of the population. This research, conducted using everyday ceramic artifacts from the North Kharga Oasis Survey, aims to provide insight into the use patterns of the oasis, a sanctuary for travelers. For the Egyptians, the desert was an unforgiving and brutal region, far outside the known and welcoming world of the Nile Valley. The oasis was a crucial stopping point before travelers faced the dangerous conditions of the deshret, and the ‘things’ people left behind at Kharga Oasis provide insight into the function of the site.
Keep an eye out for more introductions of our Summer Scholars!
