2016 Pioneer Scholars

Carroll University recognizes the 2016 Pioneer Scholars and their mentors for their academic and scholarly achievements.

Gianna DePons

Dr. David Bazett-Jones

Differences in Peak Impact Accelerations During Trail Versus Track Running

Various running surfaces and their firmness may affect the likelihood of overuse injuries on the lower extremity. The more firm a surface, the greater the impact acceleration that a runner feels upon landing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine whether there are differences between impact accelerations on different trail running surfaces. Participants will run on a dirt, gravel and paved trail, with accelerometers attached to different parts of the body to measure these impact accelerations. We hypothesize that a softer surface will decrease impact accelerations, which may reduce the likelihood of lower extremity injury.

Maria Roman

Dr. David Bazett-Jones

The Influence of Sex and Maturation on Biomechanics of Youth Runners

A large percentage of injuries among runners consist of overuse injuries which can be attributed to faulty running biomechanics. It has been previously found that females are at a greater risk for overuse injury than males. We suspect that these faulty running biomechanics and sex differences may arise during the maturation process of youth. Therefore, the goal of this project is to compare running biomechanics of youth across the stages of maturation (pre-pubertal, pubertal, post-pubertal) and between sexes. This study will increase our understanding of the etiology of overuse injuries and facilitate the design of prevention programs

Sarah Stock

Prof. B.J. Best

Here Lies: An Exploration of Death Through Flash Fiction

Our project seeks to explore death through a thematically connected flash-fiction novella. Flash-fiction is a relatively new genre of literature, in which stories consist of 100-1000 words. The genre's brevity and flexibility allows for a fusion of poetic and experimental styles that make it perfect for portraying both literal and figurative truths.

Sarah Johanek

Dr. John Garrison

J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Children of Hurin" and Its Medieval Influences

Our project examines the recently released The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien. The book was assembled after the author's death by his son, who drew upon Tolkien's manuscripts to publish the volume. Like others set in Middle Earth, this novel extensively draws upon Norse folklore and myth. We trace these influences by exploring source materials, such as Viking epics and Finnish folklore, to shed light on this new novel and Tolkien's larger body of work

John Serrano

Dr. John Garrison

Next to Nowhere: Bacon's New Atlantis and the Utopian Tradition

Our project explores the concept of "utopia" with a focus on the scientific or "techno-utopia". We trace the influence of one of the first utopian novels, Sir Francis Bacon's The New Atlantis (1627), on later literature such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1931). While our project primarily examines how these narratives critique the social consequences of scientific advancement in England, we also explore cross-cultural representations in Chinese, Polish, and Russian science fiction.

Kevin Jennings

Dr. Todd Levine

Experimental Evolution of Life History Characters in Triops newberryi in Response to Salinity and Light Exposure

Living things pass along information from generation to generation, defining the characteristics of each organism. However, they must also change to survive under varying conditions. We are studying how tadpole shrimp, small crustaceans that live in temporary ponds, change from generation to generation. We will experimentally manipulate the environment of several generations to better understand what traits are heritable and how quickly those traits can change over generations.

Rachel Kutzner

Dr. Joseph Piatt

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Ecology and Cyanotoxin Production in Green Bay, Lake Michigan

Water samples from Green Bay and Lake Winnebago will be analyzed to identify the most common cyanobacterial harmful algae blooms, or cyanoHABs, present which may cause harmful effects on those swimming in its waters. The cyanoHABs produce liver and neurotoxins which impact ecological and human health, including animal death and in some cases have caused human fatalities. We will be partnering with the lab of Dr. Todd Miller at the UW-Milwuakee Zilber School of Public Health and the Green Bay DNR, to determine the environmental drivers and the genetic microcystin producers which cause these cyanoHABs to bloom. The data collected will be arranged so as to predict such harmful algal blooms and prevent any harm to the local public and ecosystem.

Allison Tomczyk

Dr. Joseph Piatt

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Ecology and Cyanotoxin Production in Green Bay, Lake Michigan

The goal of this project is to broaden the understanding of the cyanotoxins produced by harmful algal blooms in Green Bay, WI. This knowledge is essential because harmful algal blooms are a growing problem in the Great Lakes, and the cyanotoxins produced are liver and neurotoxins, which impact the environment and public health. Working along with staff at UW- Milwaukee, we will be collecting several field samples from Green Bay and analyzing them via liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify the present cyanotoxins (e.g., saxitoxins and bioactive peptides). This project will provide information to develop predictive models and clarify the ecological drivers and genetic/molecular conditions under which harmful algal toxin blooms occur in Green Bay and related sites in the Great Lakes.

Sami Seybold

Dr. Massimo Rondolino

The Magic of 'Me': Disney's Appeal to the Masses by Legitimating Individuality

Disney film productions from the 1990s onwards have famously promoted a rhetoric of individualism and self-reliance. Regardless of the particular form or gender, its main characters consistently reproduce a well defined template: an outsider to the established society saves the world (often literally) by means of those very same properties that initially had made him/her an exile. This project will offer an analysis of Disney's rhetoric as a form of dynamics of legitimation, ultimately showing how by linking the lead characters' past of non-conformity to their eventual heroic success, Disney promotes and reinforces the idea that the self, in its most individuated form, is of irreplaceable value.

Katherine Wargo

Dr. Scott Hendrix

Renaissance at Court, or Renaissance in the Classroom? Understanding the Reception of Classical Studies and Renaissance Educational Models at Cambridge and Oxford in the Sixteenth Century

Katherine Wargo and her faculty advisor, Scott E. Hendrix, are examining the sixteenth-century curricula of both Oxford and Cambridge in order to test the long-received idea that these universities persisted in the traditional scholastic approaches to education that harkened back to the medieval period. Through an examination of book lists, writings from sixteenth-century students, and other sources, Wargo and Hendrix will determine how much the humanistic approach to education that was the hallmark of the Renaissance on the Continent had affected the educational system of Tudor England.