Here are the recent research, scholarship, and creative activities supported by the President’s Mentorship Fund for Faculty-Student Scholarship for the 2025 - 2026 academic year.
Spring 2026 Recipients
- Dr. Cynthia Ofori-Boateng and students Cameron Skodny, Singh Gurjeet, Morgan Hill, Lucas Errett, Kaylee Harshman, Gavin Cleary, Maxwell Cunliffe: Biorefining of Waste Materials into Biodiesel, Bioethanol and Biogas – Exergy Efficiency Assessment
- Drs. Geeta Verma and Ramesh Singh and students Theodore Markow, Nicholas Renzulli, Kaycie Cleric: Molecular Tuning of Lanthanide Binding Tag (LBT) Peptide for Selective Separation of Rare Earth Elements (Extension)
- Dr. Manisha Nigam and student Katrina Diaz: Supporting Student Scholarship and Professional Development for the 2026 American Chemical Society National Meeting
- Dr. Stephanie Jimenez and students Hoda Barakat and Kelly Hutchinson: Travel to the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association
- Dr. Ryan Kerrigan and student Ian Gasior: Benefit from Burden: Significance of Coal Refuse as a Rare Earth Elements Resource
- Dr. Jill Henning and student Nicholos-Octavius Harrell: Biological Evaluation of Novel Amide-Containing Quorum Sensing Inhibitors
- Dr. Ryan Kerrigan and student Jessica Hollan: U-Pb Zircon Geochronology of Pegmatites in Chester County, Pennsylvania: Insights into Appalachian Tectonic Evolution
- Dr. Bruce Robart and student Benjamin Milkie: Biogeography, Taxonomic and Genetic Relationships Among the Pedicularis sudetica Plant Species Complex
- Drs. Sharon Bertsch and Steven Stern and students Sadie Swank and Maggie Verostick: Travel to the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association
Fall 2025 Recipients
- Dr. Marsha Grimminger and student Tracy Yu: Spray deposition of titanium films for use in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells
- Drs. Geeta Verma and Ramesh Singh and students Theodore Markow, Nicholas Renzulli, Kaycie Cleric: Molecular Tuning of Lanthanide Binding Tag (LPT) Peptide for Selective Separation of Rare Earth Elements
- Dr. Laura Ritchey and students Evan Lenz, Samuel Allshouse, Ian Yatchik: Using RT-qPCR to evaluate the degree of hidden breaks in the growth of rice cprRNA
- Dr. Manisha Nigam and students Nathan Fisanick and Katrina Diaz: Development of Environmentally-Benign Reactions for the Organic Curriculum
- Dr. Ryan Kerrigan and student Jessica Hollan: Tracing Tectonic Origins: Geochemistry of Pennsylvania Pegmatites
- Dr. Natalie Conrad Barnyak and students Isabella Dadura, Emily Oliver, Madison Putman: The Kaleidoscope Classroom with Infinite Possibilities: Celebrating Multiculturalism Within Early Childhood Settings Through Diversity Stations
- Dr. Bethany McConnell and students Austin Deweese, Juliana Rosetti, Shallyn Shank, Luke Rozich: Student Teachers Measuring Personal Progress Goals for Classroom Management
- Dr. Stephan Ohl and students Megan Edder, Brandon Everhart, Everett Walker: Authentic Facial Expression and Body Language Animations for Virtual Student Characters
- Dr. Jill Henning and students Abigail Berry and Atlas Brogaard: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Surrounding Tick-Borne Disease Prevention in Southwestern Pennsylvania
Previous Recipients
Spring 2025
- Dr. Cynthia Ofori-Boateng and students Lopez Marcos, Verbus Jillian, Yu Tracy, Ethan Craft, Olivia Giardina, Gurjeet Singh, Cameron Skodny, and Kush Srivastava: Optimization of Anaerobic Co-digestion of Food Waste and Spent Coffee Grounds for Biogas Generation
- Dr. Sharon Bertsch and student Maggie Verostick: Travel to the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association
- Dr. Elaine Wilson and students Courtney Hilyer and Morgan Homer: Empowering Inclusion: Educators’ Knowledge, Perceptions, & Implementation on Assistive Technology in the Rural Classroom
- Dr. Elaine Wilson and students Eryn Marsh and Emily Karl: Building Bridge(s): Empowering Transitions Through Collaborative Teaching
- Dr. Manisha Nigam and student Katrina Diaz: Exploration of a green reduction in multi-step synthesis
- Dr. Christopher Cogenhour and students Luka Hodgson and Jenna Tallman: Linking watershed process to hillslope stability in an incised Appalachian Plateau stream: Rocky Run on the Pitt-Johnstown campus
- Dr. James Bilitsky and student Riley Figard: Hear & Sing VR: Interactive Pitch Training for Kids with Profound Hearing Loss
- Dr. Ladan Momayez and student Noah Massart: Numerical Analysis of Angle of Attack Influence on Momentum Thickness Boundary Layer
Fall 2024
- Dr. Sharon Bertsch and students Colton Nesmith and Nicole Sukenik: The Limitations of Testing Accommodations for Students with ADHD
- Dr. Ryan Kerrigan and student Isabelle Boyer: From Waste to Wealth: Analyzing Rare Earth Elements in Coal Refuse Piles
- Dr. Ryan Kerrigan and student Christopher Howard: U-Pb isotopic dating of the volcanic ash layers in New Paris, PA to provide insight into regional depositional and tectonic activity
- Dr. Manisha Nigam and students Karin Ilagin and Katrina Diaz: Microwave-Assisted Multi-Step Synthesis
- Dr. Bethany McConnell and students Courtney Hilyer, Emily Karl, and Morgan Homer: Our Experiences of Getting Professional Development through CEC Mentorship While Student Teaching
- Dr. Bethany McConnell and student Eryn March: Using Social Media as an Innovative Way for College Faculty to Recruit Future Teachers
- Ms. Geeta Verma: Improving Resources for Hands-on Beer Brewing and Winemaking Learning Experience for Engineering Students
Spring 2024
- Dr. Laura Ritchey and students Evan Lenz and Maxwell Cunliffe: Using RT-qPCR to evaluate the degree of hidden breaks in rice cprRN
- Dr. Bruce Robart and students Selena Laughlin and Zachary Connor: Employing Gene Coalescence to Evaluate Past Refugia and Dispersal Hypotheses for Pedicularis racemosa, Part II
- Dr. Manisha Nigam and student Karin Ilagin: Michael Addition Reaction in a Green Solvent
- Dr. Cynthia Ofori-Boateng and students Desean Hunter, Abigail Knapp, Marcos Lopez, Flash Stroop, Jillian Verbus, Tracy Yu: Sustainability Analysis of Waste Oil and Spent Coffee Grounds Biodiesel Production Technologies
- Dr. Elaine Wilson and students Emily Elson and Hannah Ribblett: BRIDGE to Independence for Students in Special Education
- Dr. Stephanie Jimenez and student Juliana Butz: Travel to the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Feb. 29 - March 2
Fall 2023
- Dr. Ryan Bird and students Roman Beran and Joe Holecz: Dynamics of Peptide Bonds, Part II: The Study of Acetohydroxamic Acid using Chirped-Pulsed FTMW Spectroscopy
- Dr. Bruce Robart and students Anna Startari and Zachary Connor: Employing Gene Coalescence to Evaluate Past Refugia and Dispersal Hypotheses for Pedicularis racemose
- Mr. John Teacher and students Saara Alsayed, Jay Miller, Gloria Mancilla, and Amity Shallenberger: Designing with and creating projected image and videography while merging technologies
- Dr. Ryan Kerrigan and student Aleya Schreckengost: Examining Minera Fluid Inclusions to Assess the Economic Potential of Allegheny Hydrothermal Systems
- Dr. Manisha Nigam and student Korina Pebley: Green Reduction in Organic Synthetic Sequence
- Dr. Mitzi Schaney and student Nicholas Scelsi: Trace Metal Analysis of Soils in Prince Gallitzin State Park
- Ms. Geeta Verma and students Aidan McMoil, Abigail Knapp, Flash Stroop and Nicole Hudak: Hands-On Beer Brewing Experience in Chemical Engineering Senior Project
Spring 2023
- Dr. Sharon Bertsch and students Isabella Nagy & Anthony McCann: Influence of Ethnic Background on Perceptions of Sexism and Infidelity
- Dr. Luis Bonachea and students Katherine Pugar, Claire Hummel, and Alexis Lupey: Creating a Digital Teaching Collection of Spider Identification, Taxonomy, and Reproductive Anatomy
- Dr. Ryan Kerrigan and student Christopher Howard: Examination of the 417-million-year-old Volcanic Ash Layers in New Paris, PA to Understand the Building of the Appalachians
- Dr. John Mullennix and students Leah Miller and Rachel Strode: Information about Artist Drug Use Affects Viewers’ Impressions of Art
- Dr. Manisha Nigam and Dr. Matthew Tracey and students Elaynah Pirzada & Michael Moslak: Development of a Multi-Step Green Organic Synthetic Sequence
Fall 2022
- Dr. Bruce Robart with students Anna Staratari and Briana Maxwell: Taxonomic and Genetic Relationships Among Members of the Pedicularis sudetica Complex, part 2
- Dr. Ramesh Singh and students Abigail Knapp, Renee Firek, Megan Gray, Aidan McMoil, Nicholas Bliss, Ian Dundas, Nicholas Gorschak, Devin Gomish and Katherine Croyle: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Fixation by Chlorella vulgaris Microalgae Cultivated in a Photobioreactor and Electroflocculation of Chlorella vulgaris using Electrodes of Different Materials
- Dr. Susan Wieczorek and students Angel Auxtero & Hannah Larson: It Always Gets Better: It’s Life; It Has To” (Addiction and Survival) and Illness is a Tunnel; Not a Cave (COVID-19 Experience)