Freedman Prize for Student-Faculty Research

Nixtamalization: Cooking with Clay

Nixtamalization is the traditional cooking process embedded in the foodways of indigenous communities throughout the Americas. By cooking maize or corn in an alkaline solution, (calcium hydroxide) the process of nixtamalization increases the nutritional value of corn and transforms it into a corn dough or masa. Over the year triple major (Art, French, ENSS) Megan Bryla ’26 and double major (Art and Art History) Cas Markel ’26 will work together with Professors Rozene, MFA, and Balogh-Brunstad, PhD to make and test clay cooking pots using a newly designed flame-ware clay body for cooking (Freedman 2023-25 Bryla and Van Engen). Using land race single origin corn from Mexico and the Northeastern United States, they will analyze side-by-side comparisons of nixtamalized corn cooked in hand-made clay pots, versus the corn cooked in a stainless steel pot to determine what, if any chemical, physical, and/or nutritional differences are present.

Rhizosphere Community Response to Phosphorus Hotspots in Bottomland Forests in Western Kentucky

Environment, Sustainability, and Society undergraduate student, Miakoda B. Feldman ’26 will undertake a research project with Dr. Zsuzsanna Balogh-Brunstad (Geology) and Dr. Stephanie Carr ’06 (Biology). The project explores the fungal communities that forage for nutrients to support bald cypress trees in the floodplains of Western Kentucky. Mesh bags of phosphorus-containing mineral (apatite), buried at the Four Rivers Basin in Fall 2024. The bags will be collected and analyzed for microbial and fungal presence and chemical changes. DNA will be extracted from the samples and sent to a lab to determine the microbial and fungal community through Sequencing. Miakoda will use bioinformatics (big data analysis) with the help of Dr. Carr to determine the microbial and fungal community profile of the samples. Miakoda and Dr. Balogh-Brunstad will use various microscopy techniques coupled with non-destructive chemical analysis to describe changes in the minerals. The team will work together to correlate the new information with existing data to improve the understanding of bald cypress dominated ecosystems.

DNA QR-Codes

In 2023, Andrew Daisernia ’24 and Dr. Stephanie Carr ’06 participated in a marine research expedition offshore the coast of Oregon to an area of the ocean known as the Juan de Fuca Ridge Flank. The NSF-funded work aimed to collect fluids from the oceanic crust of the seafloor for geochemical, genomic, and cultivation studies. These interdisciplinary analyses were designed to advance our understanding of deep subseafloor microbiology (archaea, bacteria, and their viruses) by providing new, fundamental insights into which organisms are present and how they survive in their environment. Daisernia, a biology major in the education program, participated as an educational outreach officer. Dr. Carr and Daisernia created an educational activity, that uses QR-Cords to explain how computers can interpret genomes. Because DNA has four nucleotide bases, the activity requires custom multicolored QR-codes created in collaboration with Emmy Sema ’25, a computer science major. In 2025, Daisernia was awarded a Freedman Prize. The funds will allow the development of the QR-code concept for publication in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education.

The role of shoreline complexity and water flow rate on mating success and sexual cannibalism in the striped fishing spider.

Luna Lopez ’26, in collaboration with Dr. Sweger, will study the mating behavior of
Dolomedes scriptus, also known as the striped fishing spider. This semi-aquatic arachnid is found in freshwater shoreline habitats and exhibits complex courtship behaviors including sexual cannibalism, where females may consume males. The project will examine how environmental factors, specifically water flow and shoreline complexity, affect mating success and cannibalism rates. Using aquatic circulation pumps to manipulate water flow, the team will observe spider pairs in controlled environments under different shoreline structures and water flow velocities. Research will take place in campus laboratories throughout summer and fall 2025, with spiders collected from Hartwick’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus. The goal is to better understand how changing habitats influence spider
behavior, offering insights into the species’ adaptability and survival. This work will further shed light on an understudied group of spiders, and provide some insight into hypotheses on the evolution of sexual cannibalism.

The pathway to becoming a pre-service music educator: Exploring the efficacy of recruitment efforts.

Hartwick Music Education student researchers investigate ways to help the growing deficit of K-12 music educators in New York State with their project “The pathway to becoming a pre-service music educator: Exploring the efficacy of recruitment efforts.” Under the guidance of program director Dr. Meghan K. Sheehy, music education majors Benjamin Pauli ’26, Sebastian Quarella ’26, and Madison Tobon ’27 examined the impact of music recruitment events on the program-of-study decisions for high school music students. Researchers surveyed participants before and after four music recruitment events during Hartwick College’s 25-26 academic year (Honor Band, Celebration Choir, Flute Day, and Jazz Day) to see if there was any effect on participant interest in becoming a music teacher after their experience at Hartwick Music’s special event and a brief discussion about the need for music teachers and the significant numbers of music teacher positions open in New York state. Participants who were high school seniors during the 25-26 academic year were surveyed one final time during the fall of 2026 to uncover which program of study they chose for their college education, if any. Findings may be used to inform statewide efforts to grow the dwindling pool of K-12 music educators.

A Daily Diary Study of Female Collegiate Student-Athletes During Their Athletic Season

Hartwick College Psychology Department Associate Professor and Chair, Dr. William Kowalczyk, is working with current Biology and Psychology student, Shelby Swartz ’26, to examine the day-to-day correlation of mental health challenges on the predictability of athletic outcomes in their study, “A Daily Diary Study of Female Collegiate Student-Athletes.” Their previous study on student-athlete mental health and time of season showed that athletic factors, such as coach relationship and individual performance, had the greatest impact on the mental health challenges. Now, they examine those factors on a more specific and daily level. Athlete mental health is becoming an increasing topic of conversation, but is still often stigmatized. Their findings could be useful in providing student-athletes with more adequate mental health resources and lessen the stigma in athletics. This study will be completed during the 2025-2026 academic year.