Faculty Accomplishments

Amr Abdalla, the Baker Institute Scholar in Residence, published "Resolving Conflicts Wisely - A Scholarly Dialogue with Emeritus Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies." https://mjsl.usim.edu.my/index.php/jurnalmjsl/article/view/430 Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law.  VOL. 11 NO. 1 (2023): MJSL. Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.  Malaysia.

Kushal Adhikari, assistant professor of environmental engineering, was invited and participated in a panel discussion on "Nature-Based Solutions for Restoring Our Earth" at the European Commission's Stockholm Climate Week, 2023. He was also appointed as an Early Career Editorial Board Member for the journal "Resources, Environment and Sustainability," and invited to run a special issue for the “Hydrology” journal and is currently leading an issue titled "Green Infrastructure and Advances in Urban Hydrology."  He presented research on natural treatment systems and groundwater monitoring at the ASCE-EWRI (American Society of Civil Engineers – Environmental & Water Resources Institute) annual congress meeting. He also attended and moderated the session for Landmark symposium, 2023 along with presentations from summer research students titled “Lab-scale design for Pond-In-Pond: An alternative wastewater treatment system for reuse,” with Meghan Ward; and “Water Quality Assessment of Muddy Run, Pennsylvania, USA,” with Bryson Osborne.

Peter Baran, professor of chemistry, published “Chiral ligand-induced geometrical type of isomerism in Schiff-base copper (II) complexes with urease inhibitory activities” in Inorganica Chimica Acta (558, 2023, 121707, doi: 10.1016/j.ica.2023.121707).

Jack Barlow, Charles A. Dana Professor of Politics, published “Nationalizing ‘the Curse of Heaven’: Gouverneur Morris on the Constitution and the Slave Power” in The Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy (21: 25-49). It is a revised version of the essay he presented at Georgetown in December 2021. He also gave paper, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Nation: Gouverneur Morris and the Birth of American Constitutionalism,” to the daylong Colloquium honoring Professor William B. Allen, June 24, 2023.

The Health Initiative for Rural Pennsylvania has awarded $31,938 to Juniata’s Community Health working group to develop a COVID Memorial Project for Huntingdon County. This project is led by Bethany Benson Burns, professor of art, with support from Kathy Westcott, Charles A Dana Professor of Psychology, Sarah Worley, professor of communication, Tricia Hunt, Liz Mansberger, assistant professor of biology, Lee Ann DeShong-Cook, assistant professor of social work, Tia Warrick, director of public health & assistant professor of biology, and Kelly O’Brien. This project will engage the Huntingdon community and create experiential learning opportunities for students.

Kathleen Biddle, Martin G. Brumbaugh Professor of Education, presented "Dyslexia and the Reading Brain: Making the Connections" at the PA Higher Education Literacy Summit on May 16, 2023, in Harrisburg, PA.

At the invitation of Italy, Jim Borgardt, William W. Woolford Professor of Physics, gave the talk, "Collaborative Exercises to Build International Nuclear Forensics Capabilities," in Vienna at the 67th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He also completed the following:

• Published invited article, “Ten Years of Galaxy Serpent,” in the International Nuclear Forensics (ITWG) Mar 2023 Newsletter.
• Named Guest Scientist in the Radiochemistry division of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
• Received $298,400 grant from LANL to organize international exercises advancing national nuclear forensics libraries and enhancing nuclear forensics capacity in partner nations.
• Gave invited talk at the 3rd International Conference on Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 10 May 2023 in Budapest, Hungary.
• Gave invited talk at the 26th International Nuclear Forensics Working Group (ITWG) conference, 21 June 2023 in Tbilisi, Georgia

Dr. Borgardt also was granted $297,480 for International Nuclear Forensics Support through Los Alamos National Lab.

Lauren Bowen, provost and professor of politics, was a presenter in sessions entitled “How Provosts and Vice Presidents of Advancement Can Working Together to Generate New Sources of External Funding Revenue” and  “New Program Development, Program Assessment, Efficiency Gains and Prioritization” at the annual Chief Academic Officer Institute of the Council of Independent Colleges, Tampa, FL, November 2023. She also facilitated a session entitled “Self-Change Management for Veteran Provosts at the CIC meeting.

Jonathan Burns, instructor of history and art history and instructor of international studies, was granted $4,585.50 for Friendly Fire Expedition through Fort Ligonier.

John Crum, assistant professor of criminal justice, attended the American Society of Criminology Conference in Philadelphia. He presented his work entitled: "A Social Network Analysis of Campaign Contributions in PA Criminal Justice Elections." 

Additionally, his research assistant, Juniata student Daniela Scipioni, presented a poster that they worked on entitled: "Police Militarization & Drug Policy: The Impact of Marijuana Liberalization Policies on 1033 Program Justifications." 

Dan Dries, associate professor of chemistry, and Territa Poole, associate professor of psychology, had a manuscript titled "Evolution of a Self-Renewing, Participant-Centered Workshop Series in BMB Assessment" accepted for publication in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education.

Katy Johanesen, associate professor of geology, Lily Claiborne (Vanderbilt), and students Gabrielle Brown (Northern Vermont) and Easton Maxey (Vanderbilt) presented a workshop titled "Ungrading for Equity: Developing assessment strategies that support learning for all students" at the Earth Educators Rendezvous in Pasadena, CA on July 13. https://serc.carleton.edu/earth_rendezvous/2023/program/afternoon_workshops/w11.html

Dr. Johanesen presented a share-a-thon titled "Virtual Reality Spatial Training: Strike and Dip," a demonstration using virtual reality to teach geology concepts at the Earth Educators Rendezvous in Pasadena, CA, on July 11. Abstract: https://serc.carleton.edu/earth_rendezvous/2023/program/share-a-thon/tuesday/265143.html

She also published a commentary article: “Common-sense teaching for the 2020s: Ungrading in response to covid-19 and beyond” with 6 coauthors from across North America in the Journal of Geoscience Education this month. http:// DOI: 10.1080/10899995.2023.2259784

Kathy Jones, professor of education, and Ryan Bennett ’23 attended the Noyce annual Conference in Washington, DC, in June. Kathy also presented a poster coauthored by Jamie White and Leslie Leckvarcik highlighting lessons learned from the first Noyce grant and our expectations for the new grant.

Ryan Kough,⁠ associate professor of integrated media arts⁠; Terresa Moses⁠ assistant professor, Graphic Design and Director of Design Justice⁠ University of Minnesota⁠;⁠ and Christian Dunn⁠ , associate professor of graphic design at Jacksonville State University hosted a virtual event on August 25, 2023, on Alternative Assessment Methods through the AIGA Design Educators Community. 

She has been invited to showcase her artwork at the Woskob Gallery at Penn State. Part of this yearlong process is hosting a series of First Friday workshops where participants are able to make one-of-a-kind prints as a participatory art experience. The prints will become part of the Spring 2024 Solo Gallery Exhibition. Additional information can be found here: https://arts.psu.edu/outreach/woskob-family-gallery/

She also has letterpress posters in the annual Kells Type Trail in Meath, Ireland. The annual Kells TypeTrail brings together a wide range of art forms, highlighting our unique heritage of lettering as a form of communication.

Gina Lamendella, George '75 and Cynthia '76 Valko Professor of Biological Sciences, was awarded a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, “Impacts of Polyphenol-containing Foods on the Human Gut Microbiome,” 2023. $300,000. She also completed three publications this summer (including eight current students/recent alum, and three former Juniata colleagues).

1. Lamendella R, Chan J, Staab T. “The Impact of C. elegans Ceramide Glucosyltransferase Enzymes on the Beneficial Effects of B. subtilis Lifespan.” MicroPubl Biol. 2023 

2. Wright JR*, Ly TT*, Cromwell KB, Brislawn CJ*, Chen See JR*, Anderson SL*, Pellegrino J*, Peachey L*, Walls, CW, and Lamendella R. “Assessment of a Novel Continuous Cleaning Device Using Metatranscriptomics in Diverse Hospital Environments.” Frontiers of Medical Technology. 2023

3. Portolese AC, McMullen BN*, Baker SK, Chen See JR*, Yochum GS, Koltun WA, Lamendella R, Jeganathan NA. “The Microbiome of Complicated Diverticulitis: An Imbalance of Sulfur-metabolizing Bacteria.” Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. 2023 

Dr. Lamendella was also granted $18,100 for Metatranscriptomics Project with Wright Labs through the USDA Research Support Agreement.

John Lash, assistant professor of accounting, business, & economics, completed the following:

• Appointed to the Board of Directors of F-Star Technology. F-star is a clinical stage biotech developing next generation immunotherapies to transform the lives of patients with cancer. F-star is developing novel, innovative tetravalent bispecific antibodies intended to transform the lives of individuals with cancer and other serious illnesses. https://f-star.com/
• Appointed to the Board of Directors of Spring Education Group. Spring Education Group is a multi-brand education network of superior private school institutions spanning infant care through high school. The network, 230+ schools, brings together some of the best private school programs in the country, with proven track records educating children through unique and carefully crafted curricula. https://www.springeducationgroup.com/ 
• Appointed to the Board of Directors for Tutor.com, a service of The Princeton Review. Tutor works with thousands of educational institutions and education-forward organizations, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense and Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, to deliver nearly two million tutoring, homework help, and test preparation sessions per year. https://www.tutor.com/
• Collaborated with Dr. Milton Mueller and Dr. Karim Farhat of the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy Internet Governance Project to host an annual event at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on November 10, 2023, entitled "What is national security in a globally connected digital economy?"

Jim Latten, professor of music, was re-elected in June to a second 2-year term as President of the Board, Nittany Performing Arts Center in State College, the organization working to build a comprehensive community arts and educational high-rise concert and rehearsal facility in downtown State College.

Ryan Mathur, professor of geology, was awarded $114,133 from the Division of Earth Sciences, Petrology, and Geochemistry Program of the National Science Foundation over two years for his collaboration with scholars at the University of Michigan.

Monika Malewska, professor of art, exhibited artwork in the following group exhibitions:

1. "Maake Summer Group Show "at Maake Projects Gallery, curated by Emily Carol Burns, State College, PA 
2. "Portals" at Maryland Federation of the Arts, juried by Melissa Oresk, online exhibition, Annapolis, MD 
3. "Delectable," d’Art Center Main Gallery, juried national exhibition, Norfolk, VA

She is also currently exhibiting one of her paintings in PAINTED-BIENNIUL 2023, an International Competitive Biennial Survey of Contemporary Painting juried exhibition at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH.

Terita Poole, associate professor of psychology, was selected for the Berkeley Greater Good Science Center's Fellowship on Bridging Differences for supporting and enhancing the work for Summer of Y.O.U.

Matt Powell, professor of geology, published “Relative oversampling of carbonate rocks in the North American marine fossil record” by Diego Balseiro and himself, in the journal Paleobiology.

Susan Prill, professor of religion, published, “Ecotheology in The Sikh World," edited by Pashaura Singh and Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (Routledge Press). Some of the research for the article was completed during her 2014 sabbatical.

Kim Roth, professor of mathematics, and Erika Ward’s paper “Math and Democracy” has appeared in the Special Issue on Mathematics and Society of the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. Erika is a 2002 math and physics graduate of Juniata and is an associate professor of the practice in mathematics at Boston College. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol13/iss2/7/

Kim Roth also co-organized with Josh Laison and Robert Vallin the 2023 Mathematics of Various Entertaining Subjects (MOVES) conference themed “Threads Through Mathematics” at the Museum of Mathematics (MoMAth) in New York City in early August. She also moderated a panel “Mathemalchemy," where math is transforming” at the conference.

Li Shen, associate professor of marketing, attended the annual conference of AIB (Academy of International Business) and presented two papers. The paper she co-authored with Dr. David Pan, Dr. Alan Pan and Dr. Berna Mutlu won the Best Research Methods Paper Award. She has decided to donate her portion of the prize to Accounting, Business, and Economics students who have financial needs.

Jim Tuten, Charles R. and Shirley A. Knox professor of history, presented “Critical Acts of Commensality and Cultural Capital: How Madeira Wine Served Social Functions Among Anglophone elites (1815 to 2000),” Modernity and Globalization in the Atlantic World: Relationships, Dialogues and Exchanges, Centro de Estudos de Historia do Atlantico, Funchal, Madeira, November 23, 2023.

David Widman, professor of psychology, has work, "Psychophysical measurements during the priming of intrasexual competition," that has been accepted for publication in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. Widman, D. R., Brandon, J., Carrol, A., Garner, S., Kim, G., Phares, W. L., & Waite, R. (In Press).

Sarah Worley, professor of communication and director of community-engaged teaching and learning, was awarded the ATHENA Leadership Award by the Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce in October.

Worley, Dr. John Roth (CEO of Broad Top Area Medical Center) and Gillian Letson (former AmeriCorps VISTA) presented “Leveraging Collaboration to Support Community Engagement & Sustainability” at the annual Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers conference.

Chuck Yohn, director of the Raystown Field Station and assistant professor of environmental science and studies, was an invited speaker to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Training Workshop on Aquatic Invasive Plant Management.   His presentation was titled “The Value of College Partnerships”.