Research of students, faculty supported by grant awards

Fri, May 1, 2009 |

Ten Valparaiso University undergraduate students and two faculty members recently received grants to support research projects ranging from studying the wetlands of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to improving health equity in Central America.

The grants, totaling $5,500, were awarded by Valpo's Creative Work and Research Committee to support:

• Wendy Marth, a sophomore chemistry major from Holly, Mich., who will conduct research on the ability of the Great Marsh wetlands complex to handle the influx of water into Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and filter out pollutants;

• Mechanical engineering majors Jackie Kondratko and Robert Schroeder of Granger and Derek Leatzow of Chicago, who are traveling to Switzerland, where they will continue a Valpo research project investigating the use of solar energy rather than fossil fuels to produce zinc from zinc oxide;

• Ted Pietrzak, a junior meteorology major from Edwardsburg, Mich., who will spend a month in Japan this summer studying the effects of air pollution generated in China on Japan's air quality in collaboration with a Valpo faculty member;

• Changmo Sohn, a senior chemistry major from South Korea, who will present his research on a bacterium that may be helpful in preventing the spread of radioactive contamination in soil and groundwater at the annual meeting of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology;

• Elizabeth Thompson, a senior meteorology major from Norman, Okla., who will conduct a survey of a water canal in a Tanzanian community in preparation for a Valpo Engineers Without Border project to repair the canal;

• Katherine Thomas, a senior nursing major from Evanston, Ill., who will present research on improving health equity in rural Nicaragua through social transformation at the annual conference of the American Public Health Association;

• Social work majors Whitney Pollatz, a senior from Green Bay, Wis., and Jodi Naumann, a junior from New Berlin, Wis., who are studying the impact of Valpo students' study abroad experiences on their world views;

• Dr. Rick Gillman, professor of mathematics and computer science, who will accompany eight undergraduate students presenting their research at two mathematics conferences; and

• Dr. Kevin Ostoyich, assistant professor of history, who conduct archival research for his book project "Divergent Paths? Conceptualizing German Culture in America During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries."

Grants from Valpo's Creative Work and Research Committee help foster a climate of systematic inquiry and teaching excellence on campus through the support of research and creative work and faculty-student collaboration on projects.