Stander Symposium Projects

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  Fighting Hunger In Dayton Through Operations Research

  Madeline Renee Mock

  Many households are food insecure, meaning they lack access to a sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food. The Foodbank, located in Dayton, Ohio, is a private organization that works to combat food insecurity. The primary responsibility of the Foodbank is to serve as a central warehouse that collects, stores, and distributes nutritious food in the community. The goal of this project is to optimize the truck routes in order to reduce mileage and save operational cost for the Foodbank. This project focuses on the truck routes involving food collection. There are currently 51 active retailers that donate to the Foodbank regularly. These retailers are visited between 1 and 5 times per week, with many retailers receiving multiple visits per week. The Foodbank has 5 trucks that can run collection routes with each truck having a capacity of 10 pallets. The trucks are currently running 19 food collection routes per week totaling 967.28 miles. When the trucks are not being used for food collection, they can be used for mobile food pantries and deliveries to partner agencies. Therefore, The Foodbank is interested in reducing the number of food collection routes. This problem is formulated as a Vehicle Routing Problem. A spreadsheet solver that implements Large Neighborhood Search was used to create new routes. As a result, the number of routes was reduced to 17 per week and 707.32 miles per week. This 27% reduction in mileage results in a cost savings of 1,300 meals per week.

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  Finding the switches that activate animal genes through a combined in silico and in vivo approach

  Chad Michael Jaenke

  The DNA sequences of genomes encode the recipes for making functional cellular products, notably proteins, and switches that regulate when these products are made. While the genetic code for proteins has been known for decades, a similar code for the regulative switches is lacking. This presents a major challenge to understanding the genetic basis of life, as these switches (called cis-regulatory elements or CREs) may outnumber protein-coding genes by 20-50 fold. Both in vivo and in silico approaches exist to study CREs, but the former approaches are generally low throughput and not up to the scale of vast genomes, and the latter lack validation of predictions. We are merging in silico and in vivo approaches to identify the CREs controlling genes responsible for a fruit fly pigmentation trait. Here, we are leveraging the knowledge of five CREs that switch on the transcription of five different genes from a fruit fly tergite pigmentation gene regulatory network (GRN). We are using the SCRMshaw bioinformatic tool to identify novel predicted CREs controlling genes within this GRN based on underlying similarities in the DNA sequences of the known CREs. From this novel list, we will test 24 for CRE activity in in vivo reporter transgene assays. The results from these tests will reveal to what extent the in silico method succeeded. Novel validated CREs will be compared with the known five to reveal what the molecular functions are for the common DNA motifs as the next stage of this research project. The encoding of information in CREs is a universal feature of life, so these results bear upon life at every level, including the betterment of the human condition.

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  Flourishing the Urban Environment: How Urban Gardens Affect Pollinators

  Emily Ann Rickert

  Bees are an essential part of human life as they provide important pollination to many crops used for food while also promoting flowering plant growth. Within the urban setting there are places that keep this in mind and attempt to conserve bee population by planting native species of plants, just as parks plant bee-friendly flowers, and urban gardens use vegetables and flowers known to attract bees. Urban gardens work to provide vegetables and organic produce to communities in order to alleviate food crisis and subsequently also grow pollinator-friendly food. This study focused on whether the biodiversity of bees, wasps, hoverflies and other significant pollinators are being affected by these different types of urban land use and their resource availability. Urban gardens and restoration efforts were therefore used to gauge how human manipulation of the environment in certain urban areas can possibly change how pollination occurs.

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  Fluorescence Capabilities and Characterization of Oxidized Biochar Particles

  Bethany R Davies

  Biochar is a made through a simple combustion method from any biomass. This research utilized biochar from 3 different biomass sources, as well as a green hydrothermal synthesis, to produce fluorescent carbon-based particles. Characterization of these particles were carried out using Infra-Red, Ultraviolet-Visible, Fluorescence, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. These particles are composed of a conjugated carbon lattice with nitrogen and multiple carbon-oxygen functional groups. The use of an economical and green synthesis that allows for the production of these oxidized particles with no waste or by-product, makes this compelling as a research focus. All 3 biochar-based carbon particles exhibit similar strong fluorescent behavior when excited by light in the ultra-violet to near visible range, with light emission occurring in the visible region over a range of approximately 300nm with an emission maximum in the 430-450nm region. The physical and fluorescence characteristics of these particles makes them an ideal candidate for future research into a safe, green, cost-effective biosensor.

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  Foreign Language Acquisition and Retention

  Delilah Simone Fox, Emily M Horwath

  The brain plays an important role in language acquisition and retention. In this presentation, we will explore how the brain learns, stores, and retrieves language, as well as the specific differences between the brain’s activity when learning a first and additional languages. The brain as related to language is complex and is not yet fully understood; however, this presentation will discuss the accepted theories about the brain structures and function connected to language. These theories will describe the processes that learn, store, and retrieve language in the brain. Although there are still discoveries to be made, research has shown that differences exist between learning a first and additional languages. These may include the ease of learning the language, how hard one’s brain must work when processing first and other languages, and even the visibly noticeable effects between using a first or other language. With the former information in mind, we will explain how the neurological structures and processes of language and the differences in brain function that occur while learning a second language as opposed to the first can be used to impact teaching styles for language acquisition.

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  Free Clinics are Losing Funding

  Keagin Seaira Collie

  With the proper funds, free clinics are able to offer low cost (mean of donation request/fee is $9.30) or free of charge visits for patients (Darnell, 2010). During the visit, patients are able to seek care from a provider and in addition, receive laboratory or radiographic services, if available at their free clinic (Darnell, 2010). However, free clinics often face a challenge in finding long-standing funds to support their cause. The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics has reported an overall 20% decrease in clinic funding (Birs, 2016). Reach Out of Montgomery County, a free clinic in Dayton, Ohio, experienced a fund loss that left a 21% decrease in their typical budget (2017 Annual Report). Their funding partnerships with Montgomery County Human Service Levy (HSL) and United Way (UW) of Greater Dayton Area were terminated, due to change of direction towards a UW national theme in poverty (2017 Annual Report). In addition to Reach Out, a free clinic in Florida reports experiencing a budget cut as their clinic lost a 3-year grant that would have provided $100,000 in funding (Fantozzi, 2015). The clinics’ cessation of monetary support thus results in a tighter budget they are forced to operate on, which can cause added pressure to fulfill the needs of the underinsured. This poster will highlight the loss of funding free clinics are experiencing with a special focus on Reach Out of Montgomery County.

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  From Putt Putt to Prairie: A Hole-in-One for Ecological Restoration

  Sara Marie Brunner, Erin Nicole Ferrell, Drew Daniel Gojsovich, Alex Everitte Newman-Caro

  This study was designed to be a vital stepping-stone in the long-term ecological restoration of Old River Park, located in Dayton, Ohio. For over fifty years, this park served the public and inevitably became a significant part of the Dayton community. Nestled within the park is a deserted Putt Putt course that has been consumed by invasive plants such as Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) and honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). Due to the lack of natural predators, these plants actively inhibit the growth of other native species by outcompeting them for vital resources such as sunlight and water. This has ultimately led to a detrimental decrease in native plant biodiversity. The objective of this project was to restore the course by first clearing and controlling the invasive plants. A trial-and-error process was utilized to determine individualized methods of removal. Spaded shovels were best-suited for removing Callery pear, while clippers were best-suited for removing honeysuckle. To re-enforce the natural competition within the area, the team visited different sites within Old River Park and collected native prairie plant seeds. Species included pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), goldenrod (Solidago), and wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia). The team collected no more than twenty percent of seeds from each population to ensure phenotypic diversity and genotypic variability. These seeds were then dispersed within the cleared areas of the course. Ultimately, the group was able to remove invasive species from fourteen of the eighteen Putt Putt holes. As a continuing project, further results are pending based on the re-growth of invasives during the spring, summer, and fall of 2019. The team also worked with other students and Dayton community professionals to produce a long-term vision and restoration goal for the site. Native plants will be seeded at each hole of the course based on sunlight and nutrient availability, conclusively producing a “native prairie garden walk” for public education and enjoyment. This research is important because it will allow University of Dayton students to understand the importance of native ecology and the substantial impact that humans can have on natural environments.

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  Fully Electric Car Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) - Is the electric car truly better than a standard sedan?

  Zachary A Connolly, scott Murphy Seel, Erik Robert Sekelsky

  When Tesla first released the Model S, the first fully electric car, there were a series of academic articles released stating that over the entire life of an electric car, these vehicles are environmentally worse than a standard gasoline powered sedan. Our goal is to explore this topic and determine if these articles are still applicable. Using an environmentally extended Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), we will evaluate fully electric cars based on energy requirements, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental indicators. We will compare these results to an analysis of the status quo of a similarly priced standard gasoline powered sedan to determine if fully electric cars have less of an environmental impact.

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  Fundamentals Based Stock Weighting for Concentrated Portfolios in the Industrials Sector: An Empirical Analysis, 2009-2017

  Will Luis Perez

  More and more Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) are using fundamentals based factor weighting (FBFW) to enhance performance and generate alpha. In this study I develop a two factor weighting model for a concentrated portfolio of 10 and 20 stocks in the S&P500 Industrial Sector ETF XLI. I use sales growth and relative price change as my weighting factors and test two hypotheses (1) Concentrated stock portfolios with FBFW models can outperform the broad market over long periods of time and (2) Concentrated stock portfolios with FBFW models can outperform their market weighted sector counterparts over long periods of time. The period of analysis is 2009-2017.

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  Future Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on Miami, Florida, USA.

  Hannah Reid Butler

  This project aims to analyze the impacts of sea-level rise on the coastal city of Miami, Florida. Rising temperature is causing the melting of land-based glaciers and the thermal expansion of the ocean. Both of these factors have led to sea-level rise. This will affect people living in coastal areas. Using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach, this project will first identify inundated areas based on future sea-level rise projections for the year 2100. The census blocks inundated by this rise will then be analyzed based on socioeconomic factors such as race, income, and age. This information will identify any demographics being affected by these issues of climate change. This project will give insight into the affects of future climate change and give those who will be affected a chance to prepare and build resilience to these changes.

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  Gas Chromatography Applications: Ethanol concentration and SCFA Detection in Listeria

  Paul Robert Maricocchi

  Gas Chromatography (GC) is a separation technique for volatile compounds that involves the vaporization of a sample through an injector. Then, the vaporized sample is carried by a gas moving through a stationary phase (column) packed with a gel or a solid until reaching a detector. Recently, the CME department acquired a GC system with exchangeable detectors and columns to promote teaching and research within the program. During the 2018 Spring semester, the gas chromatography equipment was mastered by learning its fundamental aspects and correct functioning. This summer, through the SURE program and to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration across Units and Departments within the University of Dayton, this work developed GC analytical methods for use both in the classroom and in research for the identification of various compounds. A method was developed for the Senior level CME Unit Operations course, on which ethanol and water samples from a distillation column are analyzed to determine the composition of the binary mixture. In terms of research, Dr. Vasquez’s NEMlab is also interested in determining the concentration of ethanol in water after liquid-liquid extraction using castor oil and magnetic nanoparticles coated with biopolymers from trees. Additionally, Dr. Sun’s microbiology lab works with a bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes as its model organism, and there is an interested in determining short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as a new form of biomarkers whose concentrations can be linked to health. Specifically, the lab is interested in the amount of SCFAs that are produced by Listeria, and requested the development of a GC method for this purpose, which was successfully generated using a new column and a flame ionization detector. Both characterization methods were successfully created and saved on the GC instrument and will have a significant impact in the advancement of interdisciplinary research efforts at UD.

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  Generation of Silver Nanoparticle Pharmacokinetic Profiles in a Lung Model

  Rachel Marie Galaska, Stephanie A Miller

  Nanomaterial technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent in consumer and industrial applications, including drug delivery, energy harvesting, environmental applications, and medicine due to their unique physiochemical properties. As nanomaterial use increases, so too does human exposure. This has made it progressively more important to understand the toxicological effects of nanomaterials and their interactions with the human body. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most commonly used nanomaterials due to their antibacterial properties. As inhalation is one of the most common exposure routes, understanding the toxicity of these AgNPs on lung tissue was studied. Using A549 cells for a lung tissue model, AgNPs of two sizes, 10 nm and 50 nm, and two different coatings, citrate and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), were studied. Toxicity analysis was performed to determine the effects of dose on cell viability. Pharmacokinetic profiles in static conditions were developed using deposition analysis. Future work will include deposition analysis on dynamic conditions to replicate conditions within a body. This work is part of a larger project to develop an enhanced microcellular model (EMM) to bridge the in vitro - in vivo gap and characterize nanomaterials, evaluate biological responses, and develop pharmacokinetic profiles.

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  Geospatial Wetland Vulnerability Assessment in Greene County, Ohio

  Tessa Louise Farthing

  Wetlands are an important component of the natural environment. They improve water quality, provide an ecosystem for a great amount of biodiversity, and act as a form of natural flood mitigation. Groundwater eutrophication from various sources of pollution can cause changes in microbial, marine, and plant ecology and therefore require the necessary management practices of the areas. In this study, we analyzed a range of environmental factors to determine the vulnerability to contamination for the Greene County, Ohio wetlands. An index of susceptibility was calculated based on specific parameters of the EPA DRASTIC groundwater assessment method. The specific factors utilized in this study were depth to water, net recharge aquifer media, and topography. In addition, we incorporated land use and other potential sources of pollution to create a more inclusive set of parameters. A geostatistical analysis was conducted to determine the amount and location of wetland areas in Greene County that are subject to a high index of susceptibility. Defining the susceptibility of wetlands helps in decision making for sustainable urban planning as well as determining the wetland areas that are at the highest risk for pollution and may require the most time and funding for research and management practices.

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  GIS-Based Habitat Suitability Analysis for the Eastern Hellbender

  Emma C Yanosko

  The Eastern Hellbender is North America’s largest amphibian species and is in great danger of extinction. A good understanding of its spatial distribution is very important because the species is a biological indicator for good water conditions. Keeping this vital species off the endangered list is advantageous for preserving biodiversity in our streams. The aim for this project is to determine the most suitable habitat range for the Eastern Hellbender based on the factors that most affect its distribution. First, we will identify the most significant factors that are affecting the population of the hellbender. The six factors chosen are as follows: land cover, elevation, slope, water temperature, water pH, and proximity to dams. A suitability map will be created for each of the criteria. All of the six suitability maps will be overlaid to create a complete suitability map. This suitability map will then be compared to the actual current species range of the Eastern Hellbender so that its accuracy can be assessed. This information could provide insights into the species dynamics, as well as the design of protection plans and conservation strategies.

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  GlacierNet: A Deep Learning Architecture for Debris-Covered Glacier Mapping

  Zhiyuan Xie

  The global temperature has been continuously increasing over the past decades. The effect of temperature increase can directly affect the health, dynamics, and processes of alpine glaciers. In this research, the convolutional neural network (CNN), which is a deep learning, feed-forward neural network, is applied to the Landsat era satellite images for automated mapping of debris-covered glaciers. Our preliminary results indicate high accuracy in glacier mapping, a major step in developing a fully automated methodology for glacier mapping.

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  Global and Gene Specific Regulation in Response to Physiological State in Freeze Tolerant Anuran Dryophytes chrysoscelis

  Elizabeth Claire Sinnathamby

  Cope’s Gray Treefrog, Dryophytes chrysoscelis, seasonally tolerates freezing. During this process, it is subject to cellular stress from factors such as metabolic starvation, DNA damage, toxin accumulation (from cellular metabolism), and the risk of protein misfolding. Preliminary transcriptome data indicates that many mRNA transcripts vary in relative abundance within hepatocytes of D. chrysoscelis during discrete periods of warm acclimation, cold acclimation, freezing, and thawing . Physiological changes that occur in this frog are likely the result of epigenetic regulation—an alteration in gene expression that does not influence DNA sequence. This modification in gene expression can be observed by the subsequent change in relative abundance of mRNA transcripts. This thesis investigates the relative abundance of several mRNA transcripts for (1) methyltransferase genes that mediate some epigenetic regulation by transferring methyl groups (global regulation) and (2) genes that mediate stress responses contributing to freeze tolerance (local regulation). All of the genes selected are orthologous counterparts to those found in humans. We hypothesize that methyltransferases important to the freezing process will be differentially regulated (either up-regulated or down regulated) compared to the warm condition, whereas stress genes that enhance the survivability of the frogs during freezing will be up-regulated and those that are metabolically costly will be down-regulated. These results demonstrate trends in mRNA expression within four biological groups (warm acclimated, cold acclimated, frozen, and freshly thawed) that may be relevant to the freezing process. mRNA was isolated from livers of frogs within the four biological groups at the time they were sacrificed. cDNA was created and relative abundance was identified using RTqPCR techniques. Results were analyzed using ΔΔCt logarithm to calculate fold change. Deeper understanding of physiological processes that either contribute to or are metabolically costly to freeze tolerance may have future applications in human tissue banking and cryopreservation of organs for transplants.

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  How College Students are Bringing Solar to Their Cities

  Sam Powell Dasco, Theresa Isemann, Colin Joern, Melissa M Padera

  RE-volv is a national non-profit whose mission is to empower communities to learn about and afford renewable energy. Empowerment has become a buzzword in today's society; what does empowerment look like on a practical level? This poster will explore the methodology in which college students were empowered to organize one of the inaugural chapters of RE-volv and successfully raise over $32,000 for a Dayton non-profit to offset 100% of their electricity use. Students did this while educating over 400 campus and community members about solar energy. Successes and failures, motivations of internal and external partners, and the overall crowdfunding process will be explained in order to define what empowerment looked like for these students.

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  How Representation During a College Visit can Influence a Student of Color’s Decision to Attend a Predominately White Institution

  Deidre Danielle Luckett

  Students attend campus visits hoping to gain an understanding of what universities can offer them as students. Universities have shifted their focus to creating visitation experiences where students feel a sense of belonging before they even apply. Due to the growing understanding of the positive influence of representation, many schools are beginning to showcase campus diversity through various multicultural visitation experiences and making stronger efforts to include diverse groups of students (Boyington, 2017). The purpose of this quantitative research study is to examine how students’ decision of college choice is influenced by the racial/ethnic representation present during their college visit at a predominately white institution. A survey was distributed to current undergraduate students of color at the University of Dayton to reflect upon their experiences during their college visit and how the presence of other students of color, faculty, and staff contributed to their decision to attend the University of Dayton and their overall sense of belonging. This study combines the frameworks of college choice with the students’ needs of positive representation and an environment where they feel they belong.

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  Human-eyewear device interaction

  Vamsi Charan Adari

  The purpose of this project is to address the problem of interaction between the user and eye-wear devices. In particular, our framework recognizes audio instructions, hand gestures, and human gazes and translate them into commands. First, the audio input from the user is recognized and converted to text by using speech to text recognition system. Second, hand gestures are recognized based on the movements of finger tips in multiple frames. Third, the human gaze is computed as the average of the two distances captured from both eyes. To demonstrate these commands, we developed two applications to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new way of interaction. The first application projects a 3D model explorer that can be manipulated through the commands that we programmed to expand, rotate, or reset. The second application projects a solar system that demonstrates the ability for these commands to interact with multiple virtual objects. This advancement in eye-wear device interaction will facilitate the usability of eye-wear devices with virtual objects moving forward.

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  Hurricane Harvey hits the prairie: how are grassland insect communities affected by a hurricane?

  Bridget Marie Caffrey, Emily Elizabeth Jones, Ryan William Reihart

  Although hurricanes are pervasive disturbances along the Gulf Coast, we know little about how they affect the organisms living in rare coastal tallgrass prairie ecosystems. We especially know little about how they affect organisms other than plants, especially insect communities that are crucial to prairie functioning. Hurricanes cause flooding and deposit lots of marine-derived nutrients; both of these effects could greatly affect insect composition. We predicted that insect communities would have greater effects on litter insects than aboveground insect communities, and that overall insect abundance would be lower after a hurricane. We sampled insects in the litter by pitfall traps and aboveground vegetation by sweep-netting both before (litter=1 year pre-hurricane and aboveground vegetation=2 years pre-hurricane) and after Hurricane Harvey that hit our field site in 2017. We found that insect abundance was lower in the litter and aboveground after the hurricane, and that the composition of insects in the litter and aboveground was very different after the hurricane hit. We hope to test in the future whether effects on insects are driven by flooding versus the deposition of marine-derived nutrients. As hurricanes are predicted to grow in intensity and frequency, the results of this experiment are very important in managing insect communities in these rare ecosystems.

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  Identifying Antibiotic Producing Microbes

  Veronica K West

  Antibiotics were first discovered accidentally in 1928 and then purposefully synthesized to help combat bacterial infections. In the relatively short time since their discovery, many bacterial species have developed resistance mechanisms to these antibiotics. Due to the ability of pathogens to rapidly proliferate, beneficial mutations to increase their fitness in their environment have helped pathogens respond to antibiotics relatively quickly. The importance of discovering novel antibiotics to combat resistant strains is increasingly important. The Small World Initiative utilizes student researchers across the world to isolate new antibiotics to combat the intensifying antibiotic resistance dilemma. The goal of this research is to use bacteria isolated from soil to test their antibiotic producing abilities against a variety of previously known antibiotic resistant pathogens, termed ESKAPE pathogens. The gram-positive pathogen, Enterococcus faecium, specifically demonstrates antibiotic susceptibility to a few of the soil isolates. The susceptibility is confirmed by zones of inhibition which indicate that the isolate is producing antibiotics to which E. faecium is not yet resistant. The isolates that exhibit antimicrobial activity against the pathogens will be identified through a process of Gram staining, catalase testing, and other biochemical tests. The purpose of these tests is to identify new antibiotics that can be used to help combat antibiotic resistant pathogens.

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  Identifying Natural Inhibitors of Bacterial Efflux Pumps

  Marrisa Ann Therriault

  Antibiotic resistance is a constantly progressing epidemic. Many strains of bacteria have developed a resistance to antibiotics, resulting in prolonged sickness and death. Resistance can be to a specific drug (single drug resistance) or to multiple drugs (multi-drug resistance). This resistance can be caused by a tripartite protein pump called an efflux pump that extends through the inner and outer membranes of the bacterium to pump antibiotics from the inside of the cell to the extracellular environment. In E. coli, the efflux pump is called AcrAB-TolC. In an effort to combat the problem of multidrug resistance, I sought to identify inhibitors of the AcrAB-TolC pump by screening extracts made from edible plants. I identified one plant extract that appears to block efflux pump activity in live E. coli cells and can sensitize the cells to the antibiotic, carbenicillin.

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  If we build it, will they come? Insect communities as indicators of restoration in an urban prairie network

  Amanda N Finke, Beth Margaret Fuchs

  The increasing negative effects of human impact on Earth has led to the urgent need for large-scale ecological restoration. One ecosystem of particular interest is tallgrass prairie, which is one of North America’s most endangered ecosystems. However, restored and constructed prairies often do not support the same biodiversity and ecosystem services as remnant prairies. Most restoration projects only focus on reinstating vegetation, assuming other trophic levels will colonize on their own. One of these taxonomic groups are arthropods, which make up a majority of the biodiversity in prairies. We sought to determine if there is a difference in the arthropod communities of constructed and remnant prairies. It was hypothesized that arthropod communities would be different, and older constructions would more closely resemble remnants. Indicator species could be identified, which possess certain functional traits (morphological or life history) that allow them to colonize these sites. Sweepnet samples (100 sweeps per site) were taken at 5 constructed prairies and 5 remnant prairies in 2017, and 7 constructed prairies and 6 remnant prairies in 2018. All arthropods were sorted to order, and some orders to morphospecies. We saw that in 2017, Coleoptera (beetle) abundances were higher in remnants compared to constructions (p=0.04). In particular, Phalacridae (shining flower beetles) could be possible indicator species for restoration in prairies. Preliminary data from 2018 shows that the number of Phalacridae increases with the age of the constructed site (R²=0.47). These results suggest that insect communities are different in the two prairie types and certain species of arthropods are not being restored in one or two years, but rather over long periods of time as late-successional species are able to colonize. These results could have large implications on how tallgrass prairies are restored and managed, and how these ecosystems should be assessed for restoration.

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  Immigrant and Refugee Struggles in Education

  Charlotte A Mahoney, Elena Jean Niese

  The student population of the educational system in America is being flooded with a multitude of culturally diverse needs, language being one of these important factors that impact a student’s success. One of the populations that is becoming increasingly affected is that of refugees. Being the recipient of two-thirds of the resettled refugee populations, the United States has found a furthering need to accommodate the inclusivity and academic success of these students in the classroom. This is present in communities across the world, and a common theme in the United States and other countries is the interactions of minority populations with the dominant culture. As bicultural and bilingual students enter education systems, teachers are adjusting their methods in order to accommodate this population of students. This includes respecting the student’s first languages (L1) while integrating their acquisition of the second language (L2). Schools, in addition to a student’s home life and other communities, serve an integral role in encouraging healthy development of students’ languages. By recognizing the importance of students’ backgrounds and cultures, schools can help their students strengthen their identity and what they value.

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  Impact of a Catholic and Marianist University Experience on Career and Education

  Anna Kathleen Wilhelm

  A number of students choose to attend religious universities based on their personal beliefs, or faith practices that they hope to further develop while in college. However, the particular values or skills established during college may or may not continue to manifest themselves as individuals advance in their careers or education. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of a Catholic and Marianist university experience on one’s career and/or further education. More specifically, we aim to learn more about how alumni of Marianist universities in the United States feel that their Catholic and Marianist education has influenced their career journey and/or experience in earning additional degrees. This qualitative study includes interviews with alumni of Catholic and Marianist universities in the United States and seeks to determine the impact of their Catholic and Marianist college education on their careers and further education. Insights from this study can be used to inform practice specifically at Catholic and Marianist universities, as students prepare for their careers and/or further education.