SOAR Profile Archive
SOAR (Student Opportunities for Academic Research) is a Moravian University program which provides stipends, travel allowances, and research expenses to support students, in any discipline, who are engaged in scholarly or creative activity with faculty members. Since scholarship takes different forms in different disciplines, SOAR is designed to be as general and inclusive as possible.
2022 SOAR Students
2021 SOAR Students
2020 SOAR Students
2019 SOAR Students
 | CHRISTINE WIEDER ’20Project Title: Communicating the Environment: Fact, Fiction, Poetics |
 | SETAREH ALIPOUR ’20Project Title: The effect of intensity of visual (dark & light) cues in Drosophila melanogaster larval learning memory |
 | ERIN ANAGNOST ’19Project Title: Towards Project-Based Citizen Science: Environmental Education and Community Action at Lehigh Valley Summerbridge |
 | MATTHEW ANDERSON ’21Project Title: Interactions between juvenile blue crabs and Asian shore crabs |
 | ALVARO BELMONTE ’20Project Title: K-Super Bondage Number on Graphs |
 | ALEC BUTTNER ’21Project Title: Synthesis of Peptide-Based Quorum Sensing Modulators for S. pneumoniae |
 | COLE CAREY ’19Project Title: Crosslinking Dirhodium Complexes to Macromolecules to Increase their Uptake in Cancer Cells |
 | CARLY DANOSKI ’20Project Title: Salamander Diversity and Ecology at the Deputy Field Center and along the Monocacy Creek |
 | EMILEE ENGLER ’21Project Title: Synthesis of Peptide-Based Quorum Sensing Modulators for S. pneumoniae |
 | BRYAN KELLY ’20Project Title: Photometric Analysis of Variable Star Systems |
 | MEGAN KONRATH ’20Project Title: Inter-strand Crosslinking of DNA by Novel Rhodium Complexes |
 | KATIE MAYER ’20Project Title: Effects of Ocean Acidification on Social Hierarchies of Juvenile Lobsters |
 | KAITLYN NEMES ’20Project Title: Will an Antioxidant Decrease Bacterial Burden in an Infection Model? |
 | WILL PELLETIERS ’19Project Title: Sustainability and Social Return on Investment of Medical Legal Partnerships |
 | MARY SAMPSON ’20Project Title: Sexual Orientation and Change Blindness |
 | CHRISTOPHER SHOSTED ’20Project Title: The Rhetorics of Healthcare on Reddit: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Online Right-Wing Communities |
 | GABRIELLE STANLEY ’21Project Title: Understanding How Students’ Conceptions of Writing Change After the First Year of College |
 | CRYSTAL YAUTZ ’20Project Title: Sexual Orientation and Change Blindness |
2018 SOAR Students
 | CHRISTOPHER SORICH '19Project Title: Monitoring of Prescribed Burn Areas at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center |
 | IRENE BONETTI '19Project Title: Understanding the Role of Phosphorylation in Tumor-Suppressive Function of Gap Junctions |
 | MICHAEL GALLO '19Project Title: Exploring the Intersection of Justice and Health |
 | CORINNE PHILBIN '20Project Title: Flavor of Bethlehem: A Celebration of People and Food |
 | AUSTIN GRACE '19Project Title: A Diversity Assessment of Arachnids at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center |
 | ALAYNA KOCH '19Project Title: Microbiome Analysis of Soil from Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund Site |
 | KATIE BOYLE '19Project Title: Effects of Ocean Acidification on Growth of Callinectus sapidus |
 | ROBERT SCHEIRER '20Project Title: Effects of Seizure Susceptibility on a Complex Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster |
 | TEVO’N CAMPBELL '21 & EMMA ADAM '19Project Title: Kinematic of Prey Handling in Arboreal Snakes |
 | MADISON PURSELL '19Project Title: Drug Analysis of Wastewater Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry |
 | NOAH REISS '20 & ADRIANNA MANTZ '19Project Title: How Nature Experiences Help Us Thrive |
 | ELLYCE NIEVES '19Project Title: The Underrepresentation of Teachers of Color: Using Narrative Inquiry to Address the Imagination Gap |
 | ERIKA SALUS '19 & JILLIAN MULUHAN '20Project Title: Shadows Searching for Light: The Learning Experience of Being a Studio Assistant for Three Large-Scale Projects |
 | ADRIANA FACCHIANO '19Project Title: The Neuroprotective Effect of Curcumin in the Striatal 6-Hydroxydopamine Model of Parkinson’s Disease |
 | GABRIELLE STANLEY '21Project Title: Toward Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation of the Teaching of Writing in Local High Schools |
 | ANDREW BAINBRIDGE '19Project Title: Synthesis of an Anti-Tumor Rhodium Compound |
 | MILES LIZAK '18Project Title: DNA Binding Rates and Cytotoxicity of Rhodium Compounds |
 | GABRIELLA NASTA '19Project Title: Responsive Shared Book Reading and Early Literacy Skills in Four Year Olds: A Summer Reading Experience |
 | JULIA DEMARCO '19Project Title: Individual and Peer Feedback Systems: Exploring the Effect of Recipient’s Personal Purpose Statements |
 | LAUREN STEINERT '20Project Title: Exploring the Influence of Australian Politics, Environment, and History on Aboriginal Music and Storytelling |
 | KYLIE CHICHURA '19Project Title: The Effects of Multiple Amino Acid Mutations of a Key Quorum Sensing Peptide, CSP-1 |
 | NATHANIEL RHOADS '19Project Title: Socio-Economic Analysis of Satellite Observations to Predict Cholera |
2017 SOAR Students
 | KYLE FROEHLICH ‘19 AND DANIEL GERRITY '19Project Title: Using Stable Isotope Analysis to Study the Exchange of Nutrients between Myrmecophytes and their Mutualistic Ants in an Amazon Rain Forest |
 | MOLLY LOKITIS '18 AND ERIKA SALUS '18Project Title: Moravian University presents: Exploring Peace |
 | JONATHAN NADRAWS '17Project Title: Optimizing cyclization of LamD derivatives in preparation for bioassays of Lactobacillus plant arum |
 | MICHAEL BASSIL '19Project Title: Realism, Anti-Realism, and the Representation Problem |
 | CATALINA PEREZ '18Project Title: The Effects of Dams on River Water Quality |
 | LAUREN CARONIA ‘20Project Title: Synthesis, Characterization, and DNA Binding of a Novel Rhodium Complex |
 | MARIA MANZ '18Project Title: Painted Turtle Inter-pond Movement, and Nest Disturbances |
 | LEANNA MARIE ALTENBURG ‘18Project Title: Transient DNA Transformation of Drosophila melanogaster Embryos Through Electroporation |
 | JESSICA HERGENROTHER '18Project Title: Multisensory Phonics Intervention for Students At-Risk for Reading Development |
 | BETTYJO LABARE ’20Project Title: Tourism and Poverty: The Effects of Rural Tourism on Homeless and Impoverished Communities on The Oregon Coast |
 | MAKKAH DAVIS ‘18Project Title: Analyzing Partisan Combinatorial Games |
 | JOSEPH HALL ‘19Project Title: Choral Village |
 | BRIELLE POPOLLA '19Project Title: History of the Deputy Center |
 | BETH DAVIES AND AARON HUDSON ‘18Project Title: Assessing and intervening in health-harming legal needs in the Lehigh Valley |
2016 SOAR Students
 | RICHARD BUFFONE & JOSH TOTH ’18Project Title: The Delaware River Watershed Initiative: Macroinvertebrate and Fish Community Assessment in the Upper Lehigh River Watershed |
 | CRYSTAL COLLINS ‘17Project Title: Antibiotic Tolerance: Distinguishing between Classical Resistance and Persistence in a Macrophage Infection Model |
 | BRANDON DIMICK ’17Project Title: The Effects of a Temperature-Sensitive Mutation on Bang-Sensitive Mutants in Drosophila melanogaster |
 | SHELBY DOES ’17Project Title: Turtle Population Dynamics in Three Ponds at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center |
 | PAIGE HART ’17Project Title: Recapitulating Immuno-Antimicrobial Synergy against Escherichia coli infections |
 | BRYAN HARVEY '19Project Title: An Algebraic Investigation of Bandaged and Constrained Rubik’s Cubes |
 | CHRIS HASSAY ’17Project Title: Laying the Groundwork for a Writing-Enriched Curriculum at Moravian University |
 | GAUTAM KANAKMEDALA ‘17Project Title: Intergenic Effects of Bang-sensitive Mutations in Drosophila melanogaster |
 | LOUKYA KANAKAMEDALA ’17Project Title: The Neuroprotective Effects of Curcumin in the 6-Hydroxydopamine Model of Parkinson’s Disease |
 | SWATHI KANAKAMEDALA '17Project Title: DNA Cross-linking by Antitumor Active Rhodium Compounds |
 | JOSH LEVANO ’17Project Title: 'Extreme Kinesis: A Comparative Study of Prey Handling in Snakes' |
 | JESSICA LYNCH ’17Project Title: Establishing preliminary relationships between peptide structure and quorum sensing activity in Bacillus cereus |
 | AUSTIN MATES '18Project Title: Synthesis of Rhodium-DNA Model Complexes |
 | AMANDA MILLER '17Project Title: Polyproline folding: the effect of chain length and interactions |
 | EMILY MILLER '17Project Title: Friendship, Victimization, and Peer Interactions in School-aged Children |
 | RAYMOND MORALES ’17Project Title: Extreme Kinesis: A Comparative Study of Prey Handling in Snakes |
 | NATHAN NOCCHI ’17Project Title: The Nature of Free Will in Light of Contemporary Neuroscience |
 | MATTHEW OBSZARNEY '17Project Title: Moravian Music: Creating Performance Editions of Anthems and Choral Works |
 | MICHELLE POMPOSELLO '18Project Title: How Do Sand Boas Capture Prey They Cannot See |
 | MEEGHAN ROSSI '17Project Title: Glycoalkaloids and False Potato Beetle Eggs |
 | KAYLI SILIMPERI ’17Project Title: Effect of Bang-sensitive Mutations on Memory in Drosophila melanogaster |
VISHU SOLANKI '17Project Title: India’s Black Economy: Origins, Obstacles & Opportunities | |
JORDAN SWEENEY '17Project Title: The Role of Physical Activity in the Overall College Experience: How students and athletic directors perceive the challenges and benefits of staying physically active while in college | |
 | ERIN TIWOLD ’16Project Title: Manipulating Signal Hydrophobicity to Alter Quorum Sensing in Streptococcus Pneumoniae |
 | DEVON VUKOVICH ’17Project Title: Edge and Vertex Failure Games on Graphs |
 | MICHAELA WILSON '17Project Title: Stereotype Analysis of Alternative Medicine Practices |
2015 SOAR Students
- Daniel Schmucker ‘17
- Paige Malewski '16
- Audrey McSain '16
- Gregory Cahill '17
- Brittany Spinosa-Weber '16
- Alex Sestok '16
- Kurtis Reif '18
- Zachary Molchany '16
- PJ Mindo '16
- Laura McBride '16
- Max Korten '16
- Jaclyn Hudak '16
- Natalie Herb '16
- Sarah Durham '16
- Morgan LaPointe '15
- Devon Jakob '16
- Ljuboslav Boskic '17 and Rebecca Hamel '17
- Taylor Blake '16
- Sabrina Signorelli '17
- Breanne Pirino '17
- John Barr '16
- Kaitlin Raseley '16
- Savannah Brown '16
- Tony Rivera '16
- Courtnie Lambert ’16
- Shelby Morgan ’16
- Adam Buzzard ’16
2014 SOAR Students
 | VICTORIA ALUPKE '17Project Title: Teams, Tones, and Tensions |
 | SHANNON BENSETLER '15Project Title: The Impact of Land Preservation on Water Quality in the Lehigh River Watershed |
 | WILLIAM CHRISTMAN '16Project Title: Honor and Masculinity: The Experiences of German Soldiers during the First World War and the Emergence of Right-Wing Radicalism, 1914-1923 |
 | DAVID GASPER '16Project Title: The American Civil War and the Lehigh Valley: A study and analysis of Primary Sources |
 | ADAM GHOWERI '15Project Title: Intranasal Administration of DNSP-11 in a Chronic 6- |
 | DYLAN GRUBB '16Project Title: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Bethlehem Pennsylvania |
 | COLLEEN HAIT '15Project Title: Sculpting in Our Community: Working Three-Dimensionally with Elementary School Children |
 | HUY QUOC HUYNH '15Project Title: The Economic Development of Vietnam from International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Perspective. |
 | CAITLIN HYLAND '15Project Title: Creating a Model for the Neurological Disease PCCA 2, in Drosophila melanogaster |
 | ABBY JEFFRIES '17Project Title: Sculpting Peace in Our Community: Working Three-Dimensionally with Elementary School Children Through a Summer Art Camp Curriculum |
 | ALEJANDRA KAPLAN '16Project Title: The Impact of Land Preservation on Water Quality in the Lehigh River Watershed |
 | COLTON KRIAL '15Project Title: The Politics of Place and the Freeing of Political Discussion: The Scarcity of Public Space and the Searching for Political Discourse in Bethlehem, PA |
 | ELIZABETH MACK '15Project Title: Kinematics of Prey Capture and Swallowing in Sand Boas: Balancing Conflicting Functional Demands |
 | MICHAEL MUANDREW '14Project Title: Creating a complete edition of Hasse’s La Spartana Generosa |
 | LAURA MUBRIDE '16Project Title: Creation of an Annotated Bibliography of the Kittatinny Ridge in Pennsylvania as a Tool for Developing Conservation and Research Priorities |
 | CHRISTOPHER OSSONT '15Project Title: The Role of Action Research in Reclaiming Teachers' Professional Lives in an Era of International Accountability |
 | KAYLA POOLE '14Project Title: Executive Function in Relation to Reading Outcomes in School Age Students |
 | KERRY REIDER '16Project Title: Kittatinny Ridge ecological monitoring project |
 | BRIANNE SCHOOLCRAFT '15Project Title: The Role of Action Research in Reclaiming Teachers’ Professional Lives in an Era of International Accountability |
 | GHAZAL STITY '15Project Title: Characterization of a novel bang-sensitive in Drosophila melanogaster |
 | LEAH TRIBER '15Project Title: The Politics of Place and the Freeing of Political Discussion: The Scarcity of Public Space and the Searching for Political Discourse in Bethlehem, PA |
2013 SOAR Students
- Shauna Abdouche '14
- Alicia Altemose '14
- Sam Ansman '14
- Tanner Apple '14
- Megan Davis '15
- Dana Fineman '15
- Lindsay Galasso '15
- Alexandra Giacoletti '14
- Michael Giacoumopoulos '14
- Sevde Guzel '14
- Colleen Hait '15
- Caitlyn Heil '16
- Casey Hilferty '14
- Aisling Housel '14
- Alex Huynh '14
- Rachel Johnson '14
- Kelsey King '14
- Kimberly Lescowitch '14
- Michael McAndrew '15
- Alyssa Miller '14
- Vincent Reed '14
- Dylan Ricciardi '14
- Rachel Ruisard '14
- Brianne Schoolcraft '15
- David Siepietowski '15
- Melissa Walters '14
- Brittany Wilczewski '14
2012 SOAR Students
- Caroline Bartulovich '15
- Marla Bianca '13
- Katy Blair '14
- Shane Burcaw '14
- Nicole Clark '14
- Victoria Clark '13
- Kyle Goodbred '13
- Colleen Hait '15
- Amarnath Kandallu '13
- Katie Marakos '13
- Melissa Marazas '13
- Amanda Moreno-Bonilla '13
- Brett Rentzheimer '14
- Sean Rossiter '14
- Anna Santamaria '13
- Brianne Schoolcraft '15
- Liz Sgambelluri '13
- Gabrielle Sommer '14
- Valerie San Filippo '15
- Brian Welsko '14
- Victoria Womer '13
- Madison Zebrine '13
- Melissa Zirkel '13