“With upgraded equipment, EMU will provide richer, practical laboratory, research, and project-based experiences to prepare students for lucrative careers in STEM fields and nursing,” states a grant application submitted by Dr. Tara Kishbaugh, dean of faculty and student success for EMU.

The grant request also includes a “small salary allocation to support the procurement, calibration, and installation of equipment” and to train faculty and students on its use.

It further states that the upgraded equipment would provide a significant educational opportunity for current students, attract faculty and students to EMU, and enhance contributions to STEM and health care fields through research, publication, consultation with local businesses, and a better-prepared workforce in Virginia.

“This project would amplify the impact of our current NSF STEM scholarship program, which increases postsecondary education access for academically talented, Pell-eligible students,” the request states.

The “EMU grows STEM” project is among a list of community priorities highlighted in the Fiscal Year 2026 federal spending bill, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., announced in a news release in February.

For a full list of projects in the Shenandoah Valley and Highlands regions of Virginia funded through the FY26 spending bill, .

About EMU

EMU is a fully accredited university known for its outstanding STEM and health program preparation. Over 90% of job-seeking graduates of EMU find employment quickly, with many in nursing and STEM employed before graduation. EMU is a Forbes Best Return on Investment University and is one of the best colleges in the regional South (U.S. News & World Report). EMU STEM students gain practical and technical skills through project-based experiences and social networks through mentorship from faculty and supportive learning communities. 

Three ��ݮ���� students heading to careers in science and medicine have earned funding for summer research and travel.

The CT Assist Health Experiential Learning Program awards funds to pre-professional health science students at EMU to support overseas clinical experiences that help prepare students for professional health programs. is a Harrisonburg-based healthcare staffing business owned by two alumni. 

Cindi Boyer, a junior neurobiology major who wants to become a physician’s assistant, and Belen Hernandez Rosario, a sophomore majoring in biology on the pre-med track, were awarded grants from CT Assist. They will be traveling to Peru this summer with Professor Kristopher Schmidt. 

“Students will shadow in large hospitals and small clinics around the country, exposing them to a variety of treatment centers,” Schmidt said. “They will also be auditing a graduate class with me on cross-cultural healthcare.  We will hike a section of the Inca Trail as well as some touring around the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.”

The Kauffman-Miller Research Awards are named for emeritus professors Glenn Kauffman (chemistry) and Roman Miller (biology), each of whom were “champions of undergraduate involvement in authentic scientific research at EMU. Over their 30-plus year tenures, Kauffman and Miller each worked with more than 40 undergraduates on research projects ranging in topics from organic blueberry production to the synthesis of new cyclic organic compounds.

Zach Bauman, a junior environmental science major, will be supported by a Kauffman-Miller Research Award in surveying changes in stream water quality, including nutrients and sediment loading, of the North, Dry and Briery Branch rivers.

The research will help to explain how much agricultural land impacts the rivers as they transition from a more natural environment to a more human-influenced environment, Bauman said. He is one of several students who have contributed to ongoing research in water quality differences between forested and agricultural lands with Professor Doug Graber Neufeld.

“We’re in a unique area where there’s such a clear boundary between forested and agricultural lands, so I’ve had students working for some time to try to use that to understand that role,” Neufeld explained.

The research is “some of the only research on headwater streams in the Shenandoah Valley,” Bauman said.

Ohio dairy farmer David Kline’s first trip to the Shenandoah Valley came with a surprise — it’s not flat amid the mountains.

“You have rolling hills,” he said. “I like roll to the land.”

What’s more surprising is how many people heard Kline say that.

A crowd of about 200 packed into Dayton’s Montezuma Hall Wednesday night to listen to the Amish farmer speak of the importance of being respectful stewards of God’s land.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension, ��ݮ���� and Valley Conservation Council were among the event’s sponsors.

“I guess Amish speakers are fairly popular,” extension agent Eric Bendfeldt said when introducing Kline.

Attendees, however, did not come out to listen to just any Amish speaker.

Kline is the author of several books, including “Letters from Larksong: An Amish Naturalist Explores His Organic Farm,” and travels often to share the story of his 120-acre family farm in Holmes County, Ohio.

The Amish comprise about half Holmes’ 40,000 people, according to the county’s chamber of commerce.

Amish and Mennonites share many of the same beliefs, born out of a 16th century European movement known as Anabaptism — rejecting infant baptism. The Amish, though, live a much more conservative lifestyle today.

Because of that faith, Kline asks not to be photographed. An EMU professor’s in-laws live near him and brought him to Virginia since he uses a horse and buggy as transportation in Ohio.

Kline is speaking to classes at the university this week. Eastern Mennonite School students have actually visited his farm a number of times as part of science teacher Myron Blosser’s summer program.

“It is a real treat to sit around and chat with David on his farm as the sun goes down, then get up early to ‘help’ milk his cows, eat a farm-grown breakfast, watch him mow hay with horses and discuss issues in agriculture with him,” he said in an email. “It has a way of framing perspectives for us.”

Kline said farmers must embrace technology and science only so much, ensuring that the knowledge gained from manual labor on farms is handed down to succeeding generations.

He uses wind power to pump water on his farm and solar energy to charge batteries. Otherwise, his farm and many others around him are electricity-free.

“If there’s a storm,” Kline said, “we never worry about lines being down.”

That way of life is not for everybody, he admits. What is, though, is respecting the land that grows the world’s food.

Kline advises farmers to “romance” young people to keep them interested in agriculture and to not be overwhelmed by the job.

“This is the best life you can live,” he said.

When the state of Georgia needed someone to rescue its troubled system for mentally ill and disabled individuals, it hired Frank Shelp ’80. In May 2009, Georgia named Shelp to be its first-ever commissioner of its newly formed Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, charged with the well-being of 120,000 individuals, 2,000 of them in hospitals.

Shelp, a psychiatrist who holds multiple degrees, knew the work would be challenging. In 2007, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a series of investigative articles on Georgia’s underfunded psychiatric hospitals, holding the system responsible for more than 100 deaths from 2002 though 2006. These newspaper articles attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which did its own multi-year investigation and concluded that “preventable deaths, suicides and assaults continue to occur with alarming frequency in the hospitals.”

Shelp’s remediation efforts in his first year on the job impressed the U.S. Department of Justice sufficiently to cause it to withdraw its lawsuit against the state for violating the civil rights of the people it was supposed to be caring for.

The foregoing facts about Shelp and his cabinet-level position in Georgia have been widely reported in the media in Atlanta and elsewhere in the state.

What has not been reported is the path Shelp took from his own troubled childhood home in New England through what was then Eastern Mennonite College to arrive at his current position of immense responsibility. It requires him to combine compassion, medical knowledge, and organizational acumen to head an agency with an annual budget of $1 billion.

Shelp grew up in Colchester, Connecticut, in a family consisting of a younger sister, a mother with fragile
mental health, and a Navy-serving father who was away from home for months at a time as a non-commissioned officer on submarine duty.

Shelp somehow made it to college in Kansas in 1973, but had to drop out when his father sent his mother on an airplane to Shelp. By that act, his father announced his decision to wash his hands of his wife’s deteriorating mental state. He took Shelp’s sister and moved out of the family home.

Shelp brought his mother back to Connecticut, got a job at a Christian bookstore, married, settled with others on a chicken farm, and became a father. Lacking a car, Shelp would ride his bicycle 14 miles one-way to work in the bookstore, regardless of the weather, season or amount of daylight.

At a national meeting of Christian booksellers in 1976, Shelp heard then-EMU president Myron Augsburger deliver an inspiring keynote speech. Shelp sought Augsburger’s counsel after the speech. Augsburger, known across America for his leadership as an evangelist, encouraged Shelp to consider
re-enrolling in college and invited him to visit EMU.

Borrowing a dilapidated VW Beetle, Shelp and his family drove to Harrisonburg where Augsburger showed them around the campus. The president told them that finances should not be viewed as an insurmountable barrier to getting an EMU education—ways and means could be found.

Enrolled in the fall of 1976, Shelp received tuition assistance from the college. For living expenses, he ran a bike shop, open Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m., and all day on Saturday. Bikes were the family’s only transportation — “not because it was a groovy, hippy thing to do; it was raw necessity.” Shelp and his wife—towing the baby—biked to a co-op to buy grains, beans and other staples and to a dairy farm to buy milk.

Shelp recalls with gratitude that Augsburger stayed attuned to Shelp’s financial and personal struggles; Augsburger periodically passed along funds from his own pocket, quietly and with no expectation of repayment. Shelp double-majored in biology (earning a BS) and liberal arts (for a BA). Carrying a heavy load of classes, he graduated in three years of year-’round coursework.

Amid this staggering amount of responsibility—schoolwork, a business, parenthood—Shelp remained the caregiver for his desperately ill mother. Despite Shelp’s efforts to keep her safe in an apartment, his mother usually lived out of her car. She often disappeared for days until Shelp could locate her and retrieve her.

EMU’s classes were a bright spot in his life. “I will put my degrees and quality of education at EMU up against any one of my fellow graduate students from Harvard, Yale or any of the other Ivy League schools. I would not have done as well if I had graduated from any other school. It wasn’t just the academic preparation. It was the personal attention I received from the professors. That made the difference for me.”

Shelp managed to reach his final semester of college with only $3,000 in outstanding loans. He borrowed
another $3,000 just before graduation to position himself for settling his family in Richmond, Va., and beginning his graduate studies at the Medical College of Virginia.

While earning his medical degree from MCV, Shelp remained the conscientious son. He took his mother to Richmond, so that he could continue to look after her. She died of natural causes in his third year of medical school.

In 1988 at Duke University, Shelp completed a residency in psychiatry and geriatrics—familiar terrain for him, given 10 years of being his mother’s caregiver. In 2006, he earned an MPH in healthcare policy and administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In his role as commissioner today, Shelp says he seeks to implement values similar to those he saw underpinning EMU in the late 1970s: respect for all and inclusiveness; meaningful service to society; integrity; and transparency in both finances and operations.

As the keynote speaker at the 2011 Homecoming banquet for donors, Shelp told hundreds of attendees: “Eastern Mennonite represents the greatest paradox in terms of its size versus its impact.” He applauded the way EMU asks students to go beyond acquiring knowledge and skills to pondering how they are going to use these assets to make a positive difference.

Since the early 1990s Shelp has chosen to thank EMU for enabling him to transform his life as a young adult by making a generous donation each year to its University Fund, the primary fund through which EMU provides financial assistance to undergraduate students.

Brown, a native plant corps project leader at the , is charged with the task of working on the restoration of the , a project that brings back memories of his undergraduate work as an environmental science major.

“I’ve had flashbacks to my senior practicum at ,” said Brown, an major at EMU. “Big Meadows Swamp and Cowles Bog look nothing alike, but the underlying principals and techniques used to minimize impact and restore these areas are very similar.”

Indiana Brown and the wetland of dunes

Since graduating, Brown has explored Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky; built trails at Point Reyes National Seashore in California; and spent a winter doing restoration with the Bureau of Land Management at Turtle Mountain Wilderness in the Mojave Desert.

His current focus is on the installation of native plant species in areas of the Cowles Bog Wetland, a section that has become infested with invasive plants.

Working in a “full circle restoration” process, Brown and his team harvested seed from plants in unblemished wetland areas to maintain genetic consistency. After non-native vegetation is removed, the harvested seed is used to propagate the area with the hope they will yield more seed the following year.

“Currently, we are working to remove species from wetland areas that were left as remnants of human influence in the mid-1900s,” Brown said. “Today these species negatively impact hydrology and their removal will allow the wetland to function more like it did before human influence.”

Building bridges at EMU

Brown points to his practicum under , professor of , and courses with , professor of biology and , associate professor of , for helping to develop his theoretical and practical skill base and opening doors to his current job.

“My senior practicum provided me with a great background in wetland ecology and the unique concerns that confront anyone attempting to restore sensitive wetland areas,” said Brown. “I am a kinesthetic learner, and my courses with Roman and Terry, in addition to the experience of working with the the U.S. National Park Service at Shenandoah, tied together all the theoretical models we learned about.”

Brown also believes his practicum at Big Meadows Swamp provided him with an internal “swamp GPS,” adding, “If you can get out of [Big Meadows] without getting disoriented you can pretty much find your way around anywhere.”

Katie Jantzen, co-leader of , said the overall goal of the mini-grants was to encourage the campus community to think more proactively about steps they can take to initiate efforts.

“We see these projects as a way of helping to support sustainability initiatives on campus that may not otherwise happen due to lack of funds,” said Jantzen. “Selection was based on the impact the project would have on the EMU community, student initiative, feasibility of implementation, and a diversity of ideas.”

Changes around campus

Projects to receive funding include a $400 grant for an LED theater light fixture for the Technical Theater class; $250 for compost bins in 15 lounge and kitchen areas across campus, submitted by , web content manager and strategist; $125 to purchase local food to reinforce learning in a food writing workshop, submitted by , assistant professor in and the departments; $125 for compost bins in residence halls, submitted by sophomore Christine Baer; and a $100 grant for raspberry hedges as edible landscaping near Northlawn residence hall, introduced by the .

“We hope that our funding can be the initial impetus to get many of the projects off and running as they expand in scope and influence,” said Jantzen.

Winning projects were selected by a committee composed of , sustainability coordinator, , Earthkeepers faculty advisor, Jantzen and co-leader Josh Kanagy and members of Earthkeepers.

Earthkeepers, and the quality enhancement plan sponsored the mini-grants.

About Earthkeepers

The mission of Earthkeepers is to encourage, simplify and implement environmentally friendly practices around the campus community by following Christ’s example of holistic redemption by pursuing sustainable attitudes and practices, according to their website. In addition, Earthkeepers have helped fund composting and recycling programs, edible landscaping and The Bicycle Cooperative.

More information on Creation Care Council and sustainability practices at EMU can be found at .

Carr joins Mary Johnson, a first-grade teacher at Clark Elementary School in Charlottesville, in sharing the award.

“Jennie is a resourceful and creative teacher so it comes as no surprise that she is the recipient of this award,” said , director of EMU’s MA in education program. “We are proud of Jennie’s recognition…. She is a gift to the students she teaches.”

“Teaching is about inspiring and challenging young minds, enhancing learning with interactive technology, and providing a safe, encouraging atmosphere for every child to reach individual goals and find personal success,” said Carr. “The award was a true honor.”

The award — supported through a grant from the Verizon Foundation — recognizes Virginia teachers who use “Thinkfinity” resources into the classroom. Thinkfinity is Verizon Foundation’s free web portal providing access to online instructional resources, including lesson plans aligned with state standards, reference materials and interactive tools for students, according to a release.

“Great teachers are always on the lookout for new sources of lesson plans, reference materials and activities that engage students and support increased learning,” said Patricia I. Wright, superintendent of public instruction at the VDOE.

Carr was nominated by her peers for the awards program. Nominations included lesson plans using Thinkfinity and a video demonstrating it in the classroom.

Carr received $1,000 stipend to conduct workshops on Thinkfinity, $1,000 unrestricted cash prizes and iPads. The gifts were provided through a Verizon Foundation grant.

If anyone values opportunity, it’s Lyubov Slashcheva. As a at ��ݮ���� (EMU), taking the Dental Admission Test (DAT) is one of her priorities. Her free moments are spent engrossed in a DAT study guide.

A Russian interpreter for the (HRFC), Slashcheva does not waste a moment. Five schools, including the University of Baltimore, West Virginia University, University of North Carolina, University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Commonwealth University have already received her dental school application. When asked why Virginia Commonwealth appeals to her, the frequenter of the EMU Dean’s List expounded upon her overall campus visit impression. At the school, she said, service is emphasized and envisions that serving others will equip her well for dentistry. In-state tuition and proximity to home also helps, she added.

After she dons EMU’s royal blue gown this December, the visionary plans to travel. She will spend four months in Gracias, Honduras and Mayobamba, Peru with the , serving in two dental clinics. The Luke Society will support her as she educates communities about preventive medicine, stimulates community development and builds community missions with a local pastor. Slashcheva will do this all so local individuals can care for themselves.

With over three years of Spanish under her belt, Slashcheva is slightly nervous for the time away but is optimistic it will be an opportunity for growth. This experience, the forward-thinker hopes, will give hands-on dental experience and a picture of rural dentistry abroad.

Family-rooted worker

In addition to being a highly disciplined student, Slashcheva values her family and church community. When she is not arduously studying for the next exam, serving others or spending time in extra-curricular activities, the youngest of three children relaxes at home with her parents.

She donates her time to the HRFC and other dental clinics in the area while working two jobs. Additionally, Dr. David Kenee, Dr. Steven Gardener and Dr. Stacie Dietz, all in the dentistry field, receive Slashcheva’s helping hands. She also tutors struggling students in organic chemistry and biology and works at .

At her home congregation of First Russian Baptist, Slashcheva co-directs a choir that meets three times a week and attends a weekly youth prayer meeting. “I like a strict schedule,” said Slashcheva who also plays flute in the church band.

After pondering how she spends her free time Slashcheva said she can’t live with free time. “After I graduate, maybe I’ll learn how.”

Slashcheva cherishes the common ground built at the HRFC between medical professionals, clients and volunteers. Others, she hopes, “would value the opportunity that the HRFC presents to do a job willingly while belonging to the larger effort.”

Research being conducted at ��ݮ���� in Harrisonburg could begin to shed some light on the mysteries of aging.

Assistant professor of is doing aging research using an unlikely subject- fruit flies.

The concept of studying human aging by using fruit flies is one his student research assistant Charise Garber, a senior from Lancaster, Pennsylvania found a bit strange when she first signed on to the project.

“It was really weird when I first thought about it that way. You don’t really think about discoveries in flies having very much to do with human life span or anything else,” Garber said.

However, Copeland says the flies are at the very center of unlocking the mysteries of aging.

“A lot of our understanding of various diseases, we have some kind of framework but with aging we have no idea of how it works really,” Copeland explained. “We kind of have some ideas of why it happens but we don’t really have any genes behind it or why it happens or why some people can live long healthy lives.”

With the flies, Copeland can run experiments that would be impossible to do on humans.

“We can’t obviously do a lot of human studies so we use these flies to kind of learn from them and then apply to humans,” Copeland commented. “They’re kind of the testing ground for aging research, it can then be applied and it’s kind of what we’ve seen work for these small organism, has also worked for larger organism.”

However, the average life span of a fruit fly in the lab is just about 45 days. So how can research into a creature so small, with such a short life span, tell scientists anything about human aging? The answer to that relies heavily on what has worked in the past.

“Anything we know about aging has come from smaller organisms, from nematodes, from fruit flies and then has been applied to mice and into chimpanzees,” Copeland said.

Successful research that is done on the flies in Harrisonburg is then tried on larger organisms in labs around the world.

“So if it works for a fly and a worm, and it also works for a mouse, it will certainly work for a human,” Copeland said.

If it works in a human, then it could have dramatic consequences on how age-related diseases are treated.

Copeland says “A lot of what we know about medically related diseases – Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Cancer – all of them have a primary factor of age. Typically you don’t hear of young people getting these diseases.”

One especially tough disease that has an age related component is Alzheimer’s.

“A lot of people with Alzheimer’s have an age related disease, a lot of their metabolism goes down and if we can figure out how the metabolism has gone wrong in an Alzheimer’s patient, maybe we can boost their metabolism, boost that age related aspect and then find a way to recover that aspect and maybe find a treatment,” Dr. Copeland said.

The research team has already found some success in changing the metabolism of flies.

One experiment Garber ran seemed odd at first: giving a small dose of poison to the flies, but believe it or not, the flies lived longer.

“I was kind of like, well that seems strange, you know it’s kind of a strange concept that you can feed flies poison and expect them to live longer, you know it’s just not something you expect,” Garber said.

While it may be years before anything learned from the fly lab changes how we live, it’s already starting to take hold.

“When you take a step back and you look at the lifespans, you look at the accumulated data, you can say hey I actually have a story here, I see that I can actually extend the life of flies, 40%, 50, that’s something significant,” Copeland said.

Some of the research has already been applied to mice by a French scientist and Garber plans to use her experiences in the lab when she applies to medical school later this semester.

Gnagey went to work to find answers, spending two years in research, culminating in a . The award is based on Gnagey’s work as a graduate student at The Ohio State University for his paper, “A Semi-Parametric Analysis of Land Developer Costs and Development Timing.”

“My current research goal is to study changes in rural land use, specifically conversion of agriculture land to residential housing,” said Gnagey. “Greater understanding of development patterns and regulatory policies generate ways to better plan communities while also achieving more efficient economic outcomes.”

Gnagey used a statistical technique that relies less on economic assumptions-and more on incorporating geographical features in environmentally sensitive areas-to analyze land developer’s decisions of the timing and location of subdivisions in a rural Maryland county, close to the Chesapeake Bay.

“The goal of this research is to model changes in land use, particularly the conversion of agricultural land to residential housing,” said Gnagey. “Policies have been implemented to control fragmentation and potential damages to the ecosystem, but they are understudied. If we can understand how communities have grown in the past we can encourage economic growth and preserve the environment and natural resources for the future.”

Gnagey hopes the data he collects will show where land developers subdivide land and the characteristics that lead to those decisions. “I will include variables such as the characteristics of developers, land and the surrounding land while using new spatial statistical techniques to further explain development patters better than prior research has been able to.”

, professor of at EMU, said Gnagey’s work at EMU and time with helped him further understand land development issues. “His work in Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami undoubtedly helped him understand the economics of daily household decisions amidst challenging circumstances.”

Gnagey, who praised his adviser and fellow graduate students for their support on this research, emphasized his work is far from over.

“My manuscript still needs improvements before it can contribute to academic journals, but this award confirms that I am on the right track,” sad Gnagey.

Following the completion of his PhD, Gnagey envisions applying for jobs at liberal arts universities.

“Liberal arts schools often require professors to undertake a significant teaching load, but many of my professors at EMU demonstrated balance between a full-time teaching load and quality academic research, something I aspire to.”

More information on the Business and economics department can be found at .

To view an interview with Chris Gingrich visit .

While most EMU students were relaxing their first weekend of spring break, junior Elisa Troyer and senior Nathan Derstine were talking about bugs- fire ants, to be specific.

associate chemistry professor Matthew Siderhurst

Thanks to associate chemistry professor Matthew Siderhurst, Troyer and Derstine spent the first weekend of their spring break at the Entomological Society of America Eastern Branch 81st Annual Meeting in Maryland.

“It’s following in the tradition of what other professors are doing,” said Siderhurst. “Across the disciplines here at EMU, going to conferences is important.”

Only undergrads to present research

Troyer and Derstine’s experience was different than other students’ conference experiences though; they actually presented their research. Troyer and Derstine were the only two undergraduate presenters in a sea of graduate students and experts.

“I think I was definitely a little anxious because we were the only undergrads who were presenting,” Derstine said. “But I felt confident in our presentation.” Troyer and Derstine have been working with Siderhurst on a project that looks for methods of controlling the fire ant in Hawaii by identifying their alarm pheromone(s) and figuring out how to use this knowledge to control the ants’ invasiveness.

“The broad goal is to use this chemical to help develop something to attract ants to one place so they could eat something bad for them to make them die,” said Derstine.

Research corrects mistakes

Troyer presented her academic paper first, discussing a chemical produced by invasive fire ants, which she and EMU graduate David Showalter helped identify two summers ago. The chemical had been previously misidentified by other scientists. Next, Derstine presented on the application aspect of this discovery and how he and his colleagues tested the pheromone in the field.

While this conference was a highlight in Derstine and Troyer’s educational careers, the foundation for the opportunity to present was laid several years ago.

“Nate was in the first class I taught at EMU. Elisa [was] in my general chemistry class. That’s where the relationship with my students really begins,” Siderhurst said. “I’ve been very lucky to have them work in my lab and get to see how they work.”

Living and learning together

Siderhurst has been working with several EMU students including Derstine and Troyer, over the past few summers. The group spends time living and working together, as well as playing card games and talking about life issues. Read more…

“Living together in Hawaii really helped us get to know each other, so it was almost like a cross cultural experience in a way, with the faculty and student interactions,” Siderhurst said.

“That’s just another level of relationship that’s hard to get other places.”

Developing a relationship with Siderhurst through this scientific research has had a profound impact on Troyer, who said that when she first came to EMU, she could not have cared less about bugs. “After working with Matt, insects are fascinating, and I can get really, really, really excited about them,” Troyer said. “Working with him opened up another path for me. I could see myself being happy doing either [something in the medical field or something with insects].”

Derstine agreed that Siderhurst has helped him explore career options as well. “I’ve known I’ve wanted to do research, but research and biology is a huge field. Being really involved in this project from start to finish was great. The conference gave me a better idea of how the whole research thing works. It’s given me a route, a possible thing to do. It helps me think about grad school preparation. The conference was about exposure,” he said.

‘Presenting’ a unique experience

Siderhurst explained that getting to present research as an undergraduate is a unique experience. At a larger school, science professors would likely be more focused on graduate students than on undergraduates, but EMU’s small numbers help professors emphasize the learning process.

Siderhurst said. “This is the first time I have had students present at a conference. We’re doing good science. They are out there experiencing it. The next step is to then put yourself out in front of the scientific community and say, ‘here’s what we’ve been doing,’ and get critiqued and get feedback and ideas from experts.”

While this is an exciting part of the learning process, he noted that it can also be scary to put one’s research out there at an academic conference. When he first asked Troyer and Derstine to present, he said they were willing but still required some “arm twisting” on his part.

“Both of them have presented here at EMU before. This was just taking it to the next level,” Siderhurst said. “I think they approached the opportunity with enthusiasm tinged with trepidation. “We started preparing at the beginning of the year. Last week, it was, ‘ok, go through it,’ and do that over and over again so it really becomes second nature.”

Both Troyer and Derstine plan to travel with Siderhurst to Hawaii to continue research with the pheromones this summer. But will they be able present again next year?

“As long as we continue to do research that’s quality stuff, we’ll keep presenting,” Siderhurst said.

Read about this and other in-the-field research students are participating in…

Read more…

In addition, many majors include opportunities for internships, where students apply classroom learning to “real world” settings.

Beyond this, a number of students majoring in the sciences, particularly biology or chemistry, are supplementing their laboratory experience with original research projects on and off campus with EMU professors.

EMU students Elisa Troyer and David Showalter (l.) look at a sample trace on the computer screen as part of an electrophysiology setup in an instrumentation lab with EMU chemistry professor Matthew Siderhurst. Photo by Jim Bishop

This year, the departments of biology and chemistry are benefiting from seven grants from federal and state agencies or from private foundations, according to Doug Graber Neufeld, professor of biology and chair of the biology and chemistry departments.

“These grants are critical to help to support the many students involved in independent research projects, with the subjects of studies ranging from molecular neurobiology, to the chemistry and ecology of insects to water-related issues in developing countries,” Dr. Graber Neufeld said.

“The past year saw 17 students involved in research projects during the year, with an additional 10 students involved in summer internships with EMU biology or chemistry faculty.”

Work in Cambodia and Thailand

Graber Neufeld and colleagues from Buffalo (NY) State College used funding from an ongoing National Science Foundation grant to take six students, including two from EMU, to work in Cambodia and Thailand this summer. The program gives opportunities for students to work alongside local scientists on issues of drinking water quality and sewage treatment.

Another group of six students will be selected to return with him to Cambodia and Thailand the summer of 2009 to continue the work on water issues. The work is a an outgrowth of two years that Graber Neufeld spent working through Mennonite Central Committee on environmental issues in Cambodia.

Allison E. Glick, a junior chemistry major from Pekin, Ill., was among the students who spent last summer doing research in Cambodia.

“I looked at the concentration of pesticides on water spinach still in the field,” Glick noted. “It was a greatly enriching experience where I learned as much about the research process in a location like Cambodia as I did about pesticide longevity,” she added.

‘Connecting theory with practice’

With the help of a $25,000 Jeffress Grant, a Virginia foundation, along with USDA funds and Hawaii Department of Agriculture funds, Matthew Siderhurst, assistant professor of chemistry, is continuing earlier research on pest control in Hawaii, isolating hormones to use in creating more effective insect traps for ants and beetles. EMU students David N. Showalter and Elisa Troyer worked with Dr. Siderhurst last summer in the Suter Science Center laboratory.

Showalter, a senior biochemistry major from Harrisonburg, is writing a paper on the project the fall semester that he “hopes to have published in a scientific journal.”

“I anticipate doing graduate work in biochemistry, and this experience is helpful preparation that I wouldn’t otherwise get,” Showalter said. “It’s proving a valuable way of understanding analytical methods and connecting theory with practice.”

Greta Ann Herin, assistant professor of biology, has participated for two summers in the Shenandoah Valley Molecular Biology Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Students participating in the program investigate the modulation of glutamate receptors that are important in brain function. EMU’s portion of the REU amounts to approximately $21,000, including supplies and stipends for the student participants.

Students ‘develop independence’ as researchers

“The goal is for the student to develop independence as a researcher by conducting his/her own research project, gaining skills in the laboratory, being exposed to the primary literature, participating in scientific presentations and discussions,” Herin said.

An EMU faculty group from a cross-section of departments have formed the Shenandoah Anabaptist Science Society (SASS) for constructive engagement of science and religion.

The group has received a three-year, $15,000 matching grant administered by the the Metanexus Institute Local Societies Initiative, a Philadelphia, Pa.-based organization, with funding from the John Templeton Foundation.

SASS steering commmittee member Roman J. Miller, professor of biology at EMU, said the Society “provides resources and a formal context to encourage the integration of Christian faith – particularly in its Anabaptist expression and convictions concerning peacemaking and service – while helping students learn more about major real-world issues at the intersection of science and Christian faith.”

Students Doing ‘Cutting-edge Research’

Stephen Cessna, associate professor of chemistry, in collaboration with James M. (Jim) Yoder, professor of biology, secured some $100,000 in grant funding from the National Science Foundation for laboratory equipment for plant psychology and ecology laboratory courses.

“This is not trivial stuff. These students are doing cutting-edge research,” Graber Neufeld said. “As a bonus, a number of students wind up having their research published in scholarly journals or being invited to give presentations at professional conferences.”

He noted that two EMU students, Laura Cattell and Allison Glick, will present findings from their research in water treatment and pesticide use in Cambodia at a conference in Pennsylvania in November 2008. One of Dr. Siderhurst’s students presented at a meeting this summer.

“All the grants we’ve received are involving students in these research projects,” the EMU professor said. “For a school our size, that’s rather impressive.”

A pharmacologist doing cutting-edge research on separating normal and cancer cells will discuss her work in this area at the second Suter Science Seminar of fall semester.

Dr. Jeannine Strobl

Jeannine Strobl, professor and pharmacology chair at Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, will speak 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22 in room 104 of the Suter Science Center on “Cells and Bridges: Can Microengineering Help Identify Metastatic Cancer Cells?”

“We are using microengineering to refine the chip design and optimize the separation of normal and metastatic breast cancer cells, Dr. Strobl said. “This technology can be applied to the development of microchip systems for early detection of metastatic breast cancer cells and screening platforms to identify drugs that suppress metastatic behavior in cancer cells.”

“Dr. Strobl has had a long and successful research program over the past years investigating factors and influences that cause and promote cancer, especially breast cancer,” said Roman J. Miller, professor of biology at EMU. “Health care professionals, health science students, nurses and other persons who are interested in the causes and potential treatments for breast cancer are especially encouraged to attend this seminar presentation,” Dr. Miller added.

Read more about Dr. Stobl’s presentation on cancer research.

The seminar series is sponsored by the Daniel B. Suter Endowment. Dr. Suter joined the EMU science faculty in 1948 and became head of the biology department and developed the pre-med program. He retired in 1985 and died in 2006.

Refreshments will be served 15 minutes prior to the presentation.

Admission to the program is free. For more information, contact Roman J. Miller, 540-432-4412 or millerrj@emu.edu.

A new research project that Eastern Mennonite Seminary professor Lawrence M. Yoder is undertaking should provide some answers.

As part of that research, Dr. Yoder, professor of missiology at EMS, will conduct a study of "pastoral habits" in an attempt to identify the factors that make some pastors "excellent."

Yoder and a yet unidentified research partner will seek to learn from 25 pastors who have been identified by their conference ministers and the office of Congregational and Ministerial Leadership of Mennonite Church USA as fruitful and effective leaders. Then, using a model created to identify skills and habits needed for church planting, Yoder will begin a series of in-depth interviews.

"The idea is that you talk to a person and you ask them to describe what they do in all different aspects of their work," said Yoder, "not to give you their theory, but to describe what they do from day to day, from week to week, over the range of their ministry.

"We will approach all the interviews in the same way. We will ask the pastors to tell us what they give their time and energy to," said Yoder. "We will get them to tell stories, so that for each person we end up with what we could call a ‘thick description’ of their ministry."

This information will then be compiled and Yoder and his colleague will use it to develop a profile of excellent Mennonite pastoral leadership.

"Our Mennonite seminaries will then review the information and decide if there are gaps in their programs, consider what happens in seminary education and discern to what degree seminaries form, teach and train people in the skills and habits that have been identified as necessary for excellent pastors," Yoder noted.

Through a cycle of colloquies and other exchanges, professors and pastors will create a feedback loop that strengthens the effectiveness of both groups.

Yoder’s research, part of a $1.6 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded to Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary of Elkhart, Ind., has practical implications for both teaching organizations and individual pastors and other church leaders.

"We owe our congratulations to Lawrence for his leadership in designing a piece of the research," said Eastern Mennonite Seminary Dean Ervin R. Stutzman. "This project will help us unlock the secrets of pastoral excellence for seminaries, students and pastors themselves, and in the process help EMS become even more effective in training church leaders."