Past Awards - 2026

Below are abstracts of KU BEARS grant awards from 2026. Click on the titles to read each abstract.

  • Textbook Redesign and Refinement

    Kate Clair

    College of Visual and Performing Arts | Art & Design 

    Jessica Dick

    Major: Communication Design

    Overview: The KU BEARS Undergraduate Student Research Program is a perfect opportunity to keep professors engaged in productive research and writing over the summer months. The commitment to give the student worthwhile work forces the professor to stay on schedule over the summer for the student to be able to work. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my student more during our phone conferences over the summer. It gave both of us insight into the life issues that impact a self-directed project’s production and completion. My student turned out to be effective at working independently and taking initiative in the layout of a textbook that I was working on refining. She also did not flinch at taking on the mind numbing task of adding in figure numbers for each of thousands of images and adding these numbers to the corresponding linked digital files. This is a tedious but necessary step in a publication (and something I had been procrastinating due to the minute focus needed for the task.)

  • Experiences of Patients and their Families Living with Long Term Incurable Cancer

    Emily Cripe 

    College of Visual and Performing Arts | Communication Studies  

    Brooke Steed 

    Major: Biology: Pre-Med & Other Health Careers 

    Overview:  The purpose of this research was to look at the effect of living with cancer long-term on both the patient and family members. Most research about cancer experiences focuses on the patient themselves or perhaps their primary caregiver. There is very little research on the effects of cancer on other family members or the family unit as a whole. This study explores the experiences of long-term incurable cancer patients and the families through in-depth qualitative interviews. Most research done in the field looks at cancers that are treatable, rather than types of cancer where the patients have to live with it for a longer period of time. The goal of this research was to get a better understanding of the effect, looking specifically at the communication theory of resilience, in hopes to get a better understanding and hopefully get the analyzed data out to more people. The process of learning how to collect and code qualitative data is something that this student has never done before and will be extremely helpful in all of the research that they continue to do as a biology major on a pre-medicine track. The effect of cancer on patients and their families is also a very important topic for them to understand, looking into their future of medical school and working one-on-one with patients and families of all different diagnoses. 

     

  • The Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Drought Tolerance in Beetroot

    Christine Cummings 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Biological Sciences  

    Leslie Ponce-Vargas 

    Major: Biology: Pre-Med & Other Health Careers 

    Overview:  Global warming plays a critical role in plant growth. As temperatures continue to rise it causes plants to experience severe drought stress, which affects its growth cycle. As a result, plants need to adapt mechanisms or strategies to continue growing despite abiotic stressors such as drought stress. Plants associate with microbial communities, specifically Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). AMF assists with nutrient uptake and water absorption, allowing the plant to grow. This research tested Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) and its effects on the growth of Beetroots (Beta vulgaris L.) under drought stress. The student hypothesized that plants inoculated with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi will survive and grow more than the plants that were not inoculated with the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in both drought and water conditions. The experimental design consisted in a 2 x 2 factorial design, four treatment groups were tested for Beetroot (Betavulgaris L.): (1) watered with AMF, (2) watered with no AMF, (3) drought condition with no AMF, (4) drought condition with AMF. The data was analyzed using a two-way ANOVA test to evaluate the effects of water stress and AMF inoculation on plant biomass, leaf length and leaf surface area. A leaf surface area scanner was used for measurements for length and surface area; and a balance was used to measure mass. The results of the study demonstrated that AMF showed no effect on plant growth, but it allowed the plant to survive under drought stress. The student concluded that AMF helps with plant survival instead of plant growth. 

  • Time, Temperature and Topology with Ultracold Atoms

    Kunal Das 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Physical Sciences  

    Sophie Miller 

    Major: Physics 

    Overview:  Sophie Miller worked on how to broaden the physics of quantum teleportation to apply to mixed states. Much of the prior work has been concerned with teleporting the more restricted case of pure states, in the microscopic realm and typically non-thermal systems. To scale up quantum teleportation, inevitably one needs to consider more complex systems which are at finite temperatures. Such states would be in a thermally mixed state. The quantum entanglement, necessary for teleportation, in the context of mixed states, can be used to understand the possible relation between time and temperature in quantum physics. Sophie used and adapted computer codes to simulate quantum teleportation in systems comprising of a mixture of different pure states and examined how the teleportation fidelity would be impacted in progressing from pure states to mixed states. With that as a goal, the student is continuing to work on this project beyond the summer. The experience with this research will help the student pursue their career goals as they plan to enroll in a Ph.D. program in physics after graduation

  • Temperature and Precipitation Shifts in the Suquehanna River Watershed

    Michael Davis 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Physical Sciences  

    Cassidy Howes 

    Major: Elementary Education (4-8) 

    Overview:  Understanding climate variability and its hydrological implications in the Susquehanna River watershed is essential for regional water resources management and ecosystem resilience. This study evaluates observed changes in temperature and precipitation across a network of meteorological stations within the watershed from 2000 to 2020 and examines resultant trends in temperature and precipitation and watershed hydrology. Data will be collected from the National Center of Environmental Information (NCEI) and from the National Weather Service (NWS) State College office. This study will look at historical trends as well as future projections of temperature and precipitation in the Susquehanna River watershed. This will be conducted on annual and seasonal time scales to determine vulnerabilities to possible hazards like flood or enhanced runoff that can travel downstream to the Chesapeake Bay.

  • Revising and Expanding Ethnographic Websites on KU’s digital Research Commons

    William Donner 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Society, History, and Culture  

    Vance Dotterer 

    Major: Anthropology 

    Overview:  This project involved uploading images from the Kutztown Folk Festival from its founding in 1950 until 1991. The Kutztown Folk Festival was the first folklife festival in the country and provided a model for the display of regional cultural life that are presented by the bearers of that culture. The folk festival inspired other folklife events, including the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival on the national mall, and was part of the reorientation of the study of folklore to the more comprehensive and holistic study of folklife. It also was part of a movement to have bearers of a cultural tradition represent their tradition as part of public dis-plays. These images document the festival’s history, including the activities of its founders Don Yoder, William Frey and Alfred Shoemaker. The photographers were William Walter (1950-1963) and Richard Hoff-man (1955-1991). Bill Walter and his wife Lillian were closely involved with the demonstrators and craftsmen of the festival. Richard Hoffman was a precisionist painter who documented the festival with a more artistic eye. The pictures show the activities at the festival including food making, butchering, children’s activities, folk dancing, crafts activities, fourth of July parades through the borough of Kutztown, wedding practices, funeral practices and the presentations on the seminar stage. There are images of a visit by NBC news and their correspondent, Arlene Francis in the early 1950s. The website provides an important visual documentation of a very important public presentation of a regional culture at a time when many traditional Pennsylvania German practices were still part of the daily life of people in the region. 

  • Mathematically Modeling Colonic Crypt Fission

    Brooks Emerick 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Mathematics  

    Alexandra Haskins 

    Major: Computer Science 

    Overview:  This project concerns the mathematical modeling of the human colonic crypt fission process, a tissue-level mechanism by which intestinal crypts grow, bud, and divide into two daughter crypts. The main focus of the project is to expand and refine an existing computational framework that couples cell population dynamics to the changing crypt geometry during fission. It is our job to develop and implement numerical methods that incorporate moving boundary behavior and a three-dimensional bifurcation mechanism so that the model can reproduce baseline simulations of normal crypt growth and division. The investigation will be about the system primarily using computer simulation in MATLAB along with standard analytical and numerical techniques from differential equations, partial differential equations, and scientific computing. This project contains a rich introduction to mathematical biology and multi-scale modeling, where systems of equations are used to describe how cell densities and tissue structures evolve over time. Further, this project will act as an introduction to scientific programming and scientific writing, valuable assets for any aspiring mathematics researcher

  • Comparing Early Braille Instruction Practices and Outcomes

    Nicole Johnson 

    College of Education | Special Education  

    Kate Musgrove 

    Akiyah Stevenson 

    Majors: Special Education: Visual Impairment 

    Overview: This undergraduate research project examined current barriers to braille literacy and instructional strategies used to support braille learners in the United States and Europe. As technology has expanded access to information for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, increased reliance on screen readers, audiobooks, and other auditory tools has raised concerns about declining braille literacy. Although technology provides important opportunities for access and independence, braille remains essential for developing literacy skills such as spelling, grammar, written communication, and independent reading. 

    Through a review of current literature, the project explored barriers to braille instruction, including limited access to qualified teachers, insufficient professional training, inconsistent instructional practices, and an increasing emphasis on auditory access. The research also examined evidence-based and innovative approaches to braille instruction. Strategies used in the United States included identity matching, the Natural Order of Contractions, I-M-ABLE, and Constant Time Delay. European approaches included play-based and technology-supported programs such as the Braille House, Braillík, Braitico, and BrailleStudio. 

    Across countries and instructional approaches, several common themes emerged, particularly the importance of early exposure, meaningful instruction, consistent practice, and engaging learning experiences. The findings emphasize that braille and technology should not be viewed as competing approaches. Instead, educators can intentionally integrate both to promote literacy, access, and independence. This research highlights the continued importance of evidence-based braille instruction and the need to prepare educators to support the literacy development of students who are blind or visually impaired. 

  • Mars2020 Upper Fan Study

    Erin Kraal 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Physical Sciences  

    Maria Clark 

    Major: Chemistry 

    Overview:  The Mars2020 Perseverance Rover has been exploring the Jezero Crater. As it has traversed up the fan deposits, it collects a variety of remote sensing data to understand the history of water on Mars. This project analyzes data taken from the upper fan deposit to understand the chemical weathering and depositional processes. We identified grains and matrix within the images, including masking abrasion tool marks. We utilized SuperCAM data for grain size. We used X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) data processed through Pixelise software to begin analysing composition of the different components. This project also integrates the research into the Mars2020 mission. KU sophomore chemistry major, Maria Clark, was onboarded as a science team member for the Mars2020 mission. 

  • Acquisition and Obsolescence: Library Policies Affecting a Video Game Research

    Sandra Leonard 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | English  

    Nicole Gerstenberg 

    Jackson Mullen 

    Majors: Library Science 

    Overview:  KU BEARS summer research grant students travelled to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, to present their research on the importance of providing access to retro video game collections in university libraries and potential barriers to this access. Students in this cohort collected library policy statements from across the country to analyze how some library policies that bar older media formats can result in libraries weeding or excluding video game texts that cannot be legally obtained or shared in any format other than by using their original consoles. Such obsolescence acquisition and collection policies can therefore limit access for researchers of video games to primary source texts. Current KU library science students Nicole Gerstenberg and Jackson Mullen, were joined by English major Hailey Duncan, Cinema, TV, Media Production alumni Gabu Gonzalez, Computer Science alumni Hannah Katein, and English professor Sandra Leonard for this interdisciplinary scholarly presentation at the Save the Games Symposium.

  • Habitat Preference of Black Bears at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

    Andrew Mashintonio 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Biological Sciences  

    Rachel Nunemaker 

    Major: Environmental Science: Biology 

    Overview:  Increasing temperatures due to climate change can cause a shift in plant distribution and thus suitable habitat for the animal species that rely upon them. The American black bear (Ursus americanus) re-quires a large portion of forested land for their survival and reproduction. The shift of plant species coupled with human population growth and increased land use has the potential to minimize the available resources for black bears. In response to these issues, we evaluated the habitat and vegetation of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary to identify which plant resources may be utilized by the local black bear population. We surveyed understory vegetation and historic canopy cover within fixed plots at locations that were previously monitored for black bear presence. We generated four vegetation layers: proportion of fern, proportion of blueberry, proportion of laurel, and proportion of overall vegetation. We fit occupancy models in R to evaluate the effect of these layers on whether bears would occupy a particular site. All four layers were associated with black bear occupancy, with fern having the strongest positive association. The top occupancy models included both proportion of fern cover and the time of day, which affected the probability of detecting black bears. These results show that fern cover is an important resource for black bears at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Additional vegetation surveys can be completed to identify areas within the sanctuary likely to be utilized by black bears.

  • The Archaeology of Idustrialization in Eastern Pennsylvania

    Khori Newlander 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Society, History, and Culture  

    Alivia Case 

    Major: Anthropology 

    Overview:  The rise of American industry during the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries dramatically transformed the United States. Researchers who study early industrial communities wish to understand how physical, economic, demographic, and social factors intersected in the unfolding of industrialization. Archaeology is particularly well placed to provide relevant insight because it can trace trajectories of cultural change over extended periods of time. Archaeology can also recover material evidence of the countless men and women who, though lost to the history books, helped America become an industrial and economic power. In this study, Alivia Case and I examined the changes wrought by industrialization through the archaeological study of Joanna Furnace, a nineteenth-century ironworks in eastern Pennsylvania. Through the comparative study of the artifacts recovered from the ironmaster’s mansion and the tenant houses at Joanna Furnace, we examined how participation in industrialization and the burgeoning capitalist economy was mediated by social identity (e.g., class). Alivia and I will showcase the results of our collaborative study through an exhibit installed at the heritage center at Joanna Furnace in Fall 2026 and through scholarly presentations in Spring 2027. 

  • Comedy is Not Always Evergreen: Exploring Narrative Transcendence as Kairotic Apologia

    Megan O'Byrne 

    College of Visual and Performing Arts | Communication Studies  

    Ben Williams 

    Major: Communication Studies 

    Overview: Kairos determines and demands a range of rhetorical responses. The right time to respond to an exigency is not always the expected time. Some situations require immediacy in the invention, conceptualization, and application of rhetorical strategy. In this paper we examine comedian Sarah Silverman's use of transcendent apologia in an unexpectedly kairotic context. An audience member attended Silver-man's live show in February 2023 wearing blackface and a costume resembling one she herself wore on her TV show in 2007. The audience member intentionally donned the persona and purchased a front row center ticket in an act of protest to confront Silverman with her own past racist acts. The audience member was ultimately forcibly removed from the premises. Silverman was then confronted by a 2,000-person audience who had witnessed the scene but did not fully understand its meaning. In this paper, we argue Silverman employed narrative transcendence as a form of kairotic apologia. To emancipate herself from racist image-damaging actions of the past, Silverman harnesses an apologia strategy that frees herself from blame under the guise of comedy and contextual change. 

      

  • A Model of Sunlight Reflection on Skin

    Danielle Seier 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Physical Sciences  

    Isabella Venezian 

    Major: Physics: Engineering 

    Overview: Sunlight is an electromagnetic wave (EM wave) that can interact with the skin resulting in suntan or sunburn. A common observation is that skin near the border of bathing suits gets tanner than the surrounding skin. To better understand this phenomena we build a computational biophysical model including radiation propagation, absorption, scattering, layers of the skin and their biological components. The sunlight was represented as EM waves defined by first principles of electromagnetism. We found that reflection of the EM wave from a boundary representing a bathing suit contributes to tanner skin at the border. 

    This is the main result of our research. This figure represents the top layer of the skin. On the y-axis we test different angles that the sunlight hits the skin and on the x-axis we represent the distribution on the skin. The rapid change from dark blue to teal represents the boundary where the bathing edge is located. The intensity (the change in color) represents how dark a tan is, so the more yellow the plot or increased intensity, the darker the tan would be. The strip near the bathing suit edge represents the finding of the model where the intensity or tan is darker. Note: this result does not fully represent scattering. 

  • The Impact of Biochar on Nutrient Retention, Soil Moisture, and Crop Productivity

    Jacob Sewall 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Physical Sciences  

    Caroline English 

    Major: Environmental Science: Regenerative Agriculture 

    Overview: Regenerative agriculture is an emerging strategy for food production with the goal of increasing soil ecosystem health while simultaneously producing a sustainable crop yield. Current research on effectively implementing this strategy is lacking. Our goal is to understand how amending the soil influences microbial activity. In many cases, agriculturists amend the soil with the objective of feeding plants (crops). That plant “food” does not, however, always feed the soil ecosystem (e.g. water-soluble chemical fertilizers). As a result, many agricultural soils have limited biological function and are slowly degrading. Here, we focus on targeted feeding of the soil microbial community with the aim of identifying the most efficient method to provide nutrients and energy to soil biology while still producing crop yields for human consumption. Our results suggest that raw (un-composted) organic matter is most effective at feeding soil microbes. Finely chopped or ground organic matter elicits a larger microbial response, and there is no significant difference between placing fresh, green organic matter on the soil surface or incorporating it with shallow tillage. Regardless of the delivery mechanism, microbial activity diminishes rapidly and returns to baseline levels within a week. This implies that future work should focus on the longevity of available nutrients and the resulting microbial responses. 

  • Geophysical Mapping of Modern and Ancient Prairie Dog Burrows

    Laura Sherrod 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Physical Sciences  

    Elizabeth Keim 

    Sierra Smart 

    Majors: Geology 

    Overview:  Prairie dogs, genus Cynomys, inhabit a large portion of the western central United States and have been extant for approximately 2 million years, first appearing in the Late Pliocene. These burrowing ground squirrels are known for their complex social structures, sophisticated methods of communications, and keystone position in the ecosystem. This work presents a comparison of the ground penetrating radar (GPR) results of surveys of three modern burrow systems of Cynomys gunnisoni near Taos, New Mexico and an ancient rodent burrow system west of Bernalillo New Mexico in the Ojito Wilder-ness within the Jurassic Todilto Formation. 

    The modern burrow systems are in two zones of distinct geology. Alluvial fan deposits comprise the first zone within the town of Taos, while the second zone is east of Taos at Valle Escondido Golf Course, with one burrow system adjacent to a fairway and another directly beneath a fairway. Each of these modern burrow systems are active, with prairie dogs visibly maintaining the entrances. The ancient burrow system is in gypsum with burrows infilled by fine-grained clastic sediments of Pleistocene age. The current surface exposure clearly shows one level of burrows radiating in multiple directions, with evidence of mammoth tracks crosscutting the burrows. 

    GPR results from both the modern and the ancient burrow systems show complex networks, with tunnels in multiple directions and inclines. While the geophysical results with the alluvial fan deposits are very noisy due to the poorly sorted clastic sediments and several anthropogenic disturbances, the sediments at the golf course are much more conducive to GPR surveying, producing a greater signal to noise ratio. Burrow entrances are clearly imaged with the upper level of the burrow system distinctly shown in the modern systems. Deeper levels are challenging to identify in the GPR data from the mod-ern burrow systems, with only faint traces visible. The ancient burrow system shows at least one level of burrows below the surface expression of the burrow system. 

    Although limited by the depth of penetration of the equipment used, results demonstrate similarities in both ancient rodent and modern prairie dog burrows across a time frame spanning epochs. 

  • The Influence of Precipitation on the Body Condition of Birds During the Breeding Season

    Todd Underwood 

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Biological Sciences  

    AJ Dalkner 

    Major: Biology: Organismal/Ecology 

    Overview:  Climate change has altered precipitation patterns. This change in precipitation has led to declines in arthropods, which in turn may impact the birds that eat them. Neotropical migrants, birds that breed in North America and winter in Central and South America, are a group with conservation concerns. The body condition (i.e., mass/wing length) of these birds on their wintering grounds can be impacted by precipitation levels, but less is known about potential impacts during the breeding season. Here, we examined the influence of annual variation in precipitation (precipitation totals on 15 June) on the breeding season body condition (birds in June) of four Neotropical migratory songbirds (Veery, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, and Ovenbird) breeding in Pennsylvania using a 7-year banding data set. We found that age did not significantly influence body condition, but body condition differed significantly by sex for three of the four species, so analyzed data separately for males and females. Although there was variation in precipitation levels over 7 years, we found no significant relationship between annual precipitation and body condition for males or females of all four species. The lack of a relationship may be influenced by our measurement of precipitation or the inability to detect changes in body condition over a single month. Alternatively, birds may compensate for low food availability by spending a larger portion of their day foraging to maintain their body condition. Future research should explore new methods of quantifying moisture levels during the breeding season and include additional years of data.