Hofstra Horizons for Undergraduate and Graduate Research - Fall/Summer 2023

HORIZONS

for Undergraduate and Graduate Research

provost’sCOLUMN

HORIZONS

for Undergraduate and Graduate Research

It is always a pleasure to celebrate the accomplishments of students and their faculty mentors. In this issue of Hofstra Horizons for Undergraduate and Graduate Research, we highlight the research findings, the new knowledge, the explorations, and the plans for further study.

Student research is a driving force in academic arenas at Hofstra University. Students take seriously the guidance and support of university faculty who serve as mentors, who invite students to their labs, to their data set, to the physical space where their own research takes place.

Kudos students and faculty mentors alike! Know that your work is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Charlie Riordan, PhD Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

editor’s NOTE

This issue presents a sample of the research conducted by undergraduate and graduate participants in the 2022-23 research activities sponsored by the Provost’s Office. More than 100 students displayed posters and shared their finding’s with their peers, faculty, staff, and administrators.

It is important to note that many students included in this issue have presented papers and posters with peers and mentors at national and international conferences. We applaud those who have moved on to graduate studies and Hofstra, and other institutions of stellar standing.

Congratulations to faculty who served as research mentors to Hofstra students. Your work as role models to students year after year is a testament to your commitment to the discipline, to the academic development of students in your major, and to the long-standing reputation of the University.

Congratulations, students, on your submissions. May this be the beginning of many articles and interviews about the research you have done.

Sincerely,

Elfreda V. Blue, PhD Vice Provost for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies

Project Title:

Nicole Gorbenko BS, Bioengineering, Pre-Medicine Track, May 2024 • Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Plant-Derived Biomaterials for Vascular Tissue Engineering

Advisor: Dr. Nicholas Merna

Could you explain in layman’s terms what your research was about?

The leading cause of death in the United States is coronary artery disease, which causes blockages within the arteries. Our approach in this research was to remove that blockage and replace it with a leaf that has a specific shape and will be compatible enough to avoid implantation complications.

Is it an actual leaf from a tree? Or is it something prosthetic?

Currently, vascular grafts are made up of polymers and just very common materials. Our approach was to use actual leaves from the Hofstra campus. I looked at a few different trees around campus, and I found a very big one that had a specific texture that was kind of fuzzy, and we’ve been using that ever since! It has been working really well.

How did you know what you were looking for? Why did you pick that particular leaf?

I actually didn’t know what I was looking for. Previously, one of the researchers used a leaf from a Black-eyed Susan. This ultimately stopped working because the leaf would dissolve in our solutions, due to temperature changes. Therefore, I went around campus during the winter so I could see which trees lived and which ones didn’t to give me a better idea of what kind of leaf would work best. I picked off one or two leaves from each tree that I thought were potential options. Another consideration was the size of the leaf. We were looking for a larger one and ended up using a viburnum leaf.

How does this compare to stents in the cardiovascular system?

Current stents and vascular grafts are made from materials like polymers, which are very expensive and take awhile to produce. Our approach, using a leaf, makes a solution available all the time. It’s grown all year round, and it’s inexpensive. There have been previous studies about using leaves for different purposes, so that was kind of our inspiration to incorporate it into a different part of the biomedical field.

You took this leaf and what did you do? How did you find out it was successful?

We started off with a process called decellularization, which basically means you remove all the DNA from it. Because plant cells are always present, our focus was to remove them because if you were to implant it into a human, it wouldn’t be biocompatible. It would be rejected from your body. The decellularization process is currently four days long. On the last day, the leaf becomes completely clear, leaving only the structure of it. We then use a form of gelatin or glue to roll it around a rod and create a vessel. Afterward, we have to place cells onto the vessel to make it biocompatible. We still must complete a few more steps before we get to test it for implantation purposes. As of now, we’re planning on doing the implantation to rats during the fall 2023 semester.

Are you clear on what you have to do to prevent rejection from happening?

In order to prevent rejection, a specific cell type needs to be used which corresponds to the animal it’ll be implanted in. The cells being used come from a rat, so that for future studies we can implant the grafts into the rats and they will reduce the likelihood of rejection later on. Once they’re seeded onto the leaf, if they get rejected, they will die off almost immediately or after a few hours. We’ve noticed that once we have the cells seeded on the leaf, they do not die off. They are

After my first-year at Hofstra, I enrolled in a summer engineering program called

Women’s Summer Program in Computing/Engineering (WSPICE). It is a 5-week program

where each week focuses on a different major.

viable and that means that our DNA content is good. We used a DNA testing kit and got an accuracy of 99.9%. This was very hard to achieve. All of the other materials we used, such as the gelatin, are already biocompatible which makes the process smoother. It was achieving the desired structural component that was the most difficult to figure out.

Is this research considered groundbreaking?

Are you the only person or group that’s done this? There has been no literature review done on it. So, we based our work off of continual testing, fixing, and completing. I was here last summer working on it for very long hours. It’s a lot of dedication. If you have a question about something, it is hard to find information online because you must figure it out first. For instance, a different portion of this research is using a bioreactor, which mimics the human body. There are a lot of literature reviews on bioreactors. However, our approach was to make it useful for our specific grafts, which had not been reviewed previously. So, our best and only approach really was trial and error.

When did you start this research? How many people are on this team and who is the advisor?

I was accepted to the team in December 2021, and immediately started on this project. Our advisor is Dr. Nicholas Merna, and there are about 6 or 7 people in total. The team is continuing to grow.

I understand that you’re going to continue with this research by getting ready for implantation. Where do you see this research going in the future?

We are definitely trying to have a paper done by next year. I am planning to go to the Annual BMES (Biomedical Engineering Society) Meeting in Seattle, Washington, in October 2023. I will be presenting the research there. The goal is to build connections and let everyone see what we are working on. Some people might actually help with the research too. They may see

parallels between our work and what they’re working on. Conferences are so beneficial for exchanging ideas. Another scientist may point out a new direction or benefit of our findings that we didn’t recognize before.

Beyond graduation, I have been thinking of taking a gap year after college to possibly continue my work at Hofstra as a lab specialist. After that I would like to go to medical school to become a neurosurgeon.

How has Dr. Merna supported you with this research? What has he done to help you?

Dr. Merna has been such a reliable source of advice and direction. I often brought ideas to him which he either helped me to develop further, or he made me aware of flaws that we then discussed how to correct. Dr. Merna built the foundation for me, and I’ve been building blocks on top of that. He’s a very forward thinker, which gives me the freedom to generate ideas from my own curiosity. Dr. Merna will tell me if it’s going to be successful two years from now, and how it’s going to hold up 10 years from now.

How did you initially get involved with this research?

After my first-year at Hofstra, I enrolled in a summer engineering program called Women’s Summer Program in Computing/Engineering (WSPICE). It is a 5-week program where each week focuses on a different major. The week we had bioengineering, Dr. Merna was the professor. We did a variety of different experiments, and I automatically fell in love with the discipline. I approached him about research opportunities, which ultimately led to my discovery of his research team.

Allison Meer

BS, Biology, May 2024 • Hometown: Bayside, New York

Aidan Mathews

BS, Pre-Medical Studies, May 2025 • Hometown: New Hyde Park, New York

Project Title:

Applications of Human Hair as a Biomaterial –Immunological Effects in vivo

Advisor: Dr. Roche C. de Guzman

What was your project about?

Allison: The focus of our research was to investigate the potential useful qualities and applications that we can extract from human hair. We saw the potential for human hair because it is a very abundant and easily accessible material. Hair is also made up of matrix proteins that are biocompatible; however, it’s relatively unexplored in the field. Nobody has really tried to extract those useful proteins from human hair yet. Dr. de Guzman has been working on keratin-based projects since the 90s, so he’s been an excellent source of direction and information.

What did you do?

Allison: We processed hair in different chemical treatments and then surgically implanted it into the back of a mouse to see if we could get the hair to be accepted by the host body. Further, we assessed whether the different types of chemical treatments would have an effect on the hair implant’s acceptance. After two weeks, the tissues were removed and processed for staining, histological analysis, and imaging. I’m submitting the images of the tissues in my paper, so perfecting the staining process for imaging was a main focus of this project as well.

What are the implications of successful implants?

Allison: So, when you take a pill, you take a strong enough dose to where it diffuses throughout your whole system and hopefully it reaches its target. For the most part, this works but not for everything. For example, Dr. de Guzman’s interests are in bone regeneration, so if we’re giving a biologic that is going to calcify tissue, you don’t want your entire body to be a little bit calcified. This is where hair implants can be useful to target a really specific area and stay there. Currently, this process is being done using synthetically derived collagen sponges and other biomaterials that can be very expensive, unstable, and time-consuming.

Aidan, what was your role when you came into the project?

Aidan: I joined after Allison and Dr. de Guzman had completed removing the tissue implants, so I was involved in comparing the effects of the different hair strands. We used four different strands for implantation: regular, bleached, KAPS (a delipidized strand), and a group called TET (delipidized and de-cuticularized strand). To do this, we put all of the extracted tissues onto microscope slides and stained them. Since we were testing the immune response, as that would determine whether the strand

was accepted by the host body or not, we looked for the formation of fibrous or scar tissue, which are pretty synonymous. Collagen is the main component of such, so we used a staining protocol called Masson’s trichrome to detect how much collagen was formed from the chemical treatments.

Allison: This was the exciting part, as we could finally see what both the potential of the hair implant was, and the extent to which it was affected by the different chemical exposures. The more volume of scar tissue, the less compatibility, which is not what we wanted. The thinner and smaller that fibrous response is, the more compatible that means it is. Similar to scar tissue ... a big, immobilizing scar is going to be continuously inflamed and a sign of incompatibility.

Aidan: Exactly, so when staining the tissues, blue represented the presence of collagen. We wanted to see a minimal amount of that. From the imaging and Allison’s calculations, we found that the treated groups, KAPS and TET, were significantly different from the regular and bleached strands of hair and had a lower presence of collagen. This was a great result!

What does it mean that the treated groups were different from the regular and bleached hair strands?

Allison: With the treated groups, the goal was to remove as much of the outer cuticle layer of the hair strand as possible. These are called keratin-associated proteins, which is why we labeled one of the treated groups “KAPS.” Essentially, at the core of the strand is the purest form of keratin possible and has no identifying marks, meaning that mine would be the same as yours and anyone else’s. So, what we demonstrated here is that the identifying features of human hair within the strand’s outer layer lead to rejection during surgical transplant. This is a novel discovery and part of the first step to using biomaterial in human application.

What are your next steps?

Allison: We are currently within the image quantification stage, so we’re calculating the exact ratios of fibrous tissue in the samples. Once that’s done, we plan to write our paper and hopefully submit it by the summer. As for future directions, in this study we had eight experimental groups, which we then narrowed down to the three or four that we deemed most important. Given the opportunity, we’d like to repeat some of the implantations to exaggerate the effects of the chemical processes to have more dramatic results. Extending the study length from two weeks to maybe three or four would also be of interest.

Is there anything else you’d like to say in regards to Dr. de Guzman’s support and influence?

Aidan: This was our second project working with Dr. de Guzman, and both have been amazing. He’s a great professor and allows his students to learn through handson experience. The same happens with his research. He gives us the autonomy to determine our research pursuits and then oversees the progress of our outlined schedule.

Allison: I could spend this entire meeting discussing the intellect, skill, and value of Dr. de Guzman as a person, professor, and mentor. He takes our research very seriously and bestows upon us a lot of trust, which is motivating to us as students just starting out in our research endeavors. I was able to work very closely with him in the writing and editing stages of our last paper, which was published in Biomaterials. He engaged in a lot of communication with the biology department, as he’s in the engineering department, to ensure that I had access to everything I would need to conduct this research. I greatly appreciate his willingness to go above and beyond for me and for all of his students. He even helped me secure funding to go and present this research at the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Conference in San Antonio. This is where I learned everything I needed to know for the current project. Most of our study was able to be done here at Hofstra, but human-sized CAT scans are not appropriate tools for a creature as small as a mouse, so Dr. de Guzman utilized his extensive network to connect us with Stony Brook University to be able to use their equipment. On a personal level, he’s been a guiding light for my career trajectory. Having somebody with that level of professionalism and that much confidence in you does a lot for a student.

What are your hopes and plans for after graduation?

Allison: Currently, I would like to attend a biomedical engineering PhD or master’s program. I would love to work in the industry, such as a biotech company in medical device development. I’m fascinated by the world of prosthetics. I had an internship with a printing focus, so I’d love to incorporate some of that too.

Aidan: I’m pretty set about going to med school. Working with Dr. de Guzman sparked an interest in research for me that I’m inspired to continue. It’s motivating to think about the applications of these projects and results for years to come.

Isabella Andrade

BA, Biology with a Concentration in Pre-Health, May 2023

Hometown: North Hempstead, New York

Project Title:

The Effect of Soluble Substrates on Lignocellulose Degradation and Population Dynamics of C. clariflavum and C. thermosuccinogenes in Co-Culture

Advisor: Dr. Javier Izquierdo

Today, there is a big push for renewable energy sources, but harmful carbon emissions are still being put into the air every day. Isabella Andrade’s research began searching for an intermediate balance between fossil fuels and renewable energy sources. Using different combinations of bacteria, such as C. clariflavum and C. thermosuccinogenes, she fed the bacteria plant material for them to degrade and ferment. After the fermentation process, the end result created renewable biofuel that burns cleanly and produces energy. The main focus of Andrade’s study was figuring out the best combination of bacteria to maximize the output of energy created and discovering other uses for the biofuel.

The plant material used to feed C. clariflavum and C. thermosuccinogenes was shrub willow, a native New York shrub that is capable of growing in hostile environments, so it is far easier to grow than trees or coal. Other than the shrub willow, Andrade also created a synthetic version of the plant material using cellulose and glucose meant to mimic the plant’s properties. Unfortunately, C. clariflavum became toxic when exposed to glucose, meaning it was unable to grow. Although the synthetic material was unsuccessful, C. clariflavum and C. thermosuccinogenes were greatly successful in producing biofuel together.

What makes the research project unique is that C. clariflavum and C. thermosuccinogenes are anaerobic organisms. Since they cannot grow in oxygen, they had to be contained in a controlled chamber environment, which also helped with the project by allowing a greater degree of accuracy to the numbers. In the future, Andrade believes that there is potential for another project with C. clariflavum and C. thermosuccinogenes, as well as with the plant material and the synthetic plant material.

Currently, the research and lab studies are still in progress. There is much more work to be done on the project, such as looking at the reactions of the bacteria on a molecular level. Andrade does not think the research will be published in the near future, but perhaps after continued research and data collection.

After graduating, Andrade passed on the work of the project to another undergraduate student who is still attending Hofstra. Andrade plans to attend the master’s program in public health at Hofstra University to continue her education before moving on to medical school. She hopes to be able to combine education in public health with the actual medical aspect of health care and maybe be able to work in both fields to combine the preventative and treatment aspects of medicine.

Jamie Forman

PhD, Applied Organizational Psychology, May 2024

Hometown: Long Beach, New York

Project Title:

Identity Management in Jewish Employees

Advisor: Dr. Nicholas Salter

Describe to me what this research is about.

The research is an exploration of the experiences of Jewish employees at work. There’s very little current research on the topic. Most of the research that’s out there takes place in Israel or is particular to Orthodox Jews, or Jews that consider themselves to be more religious than others. But there is a component to Judaism that’s very ethnic, cultural, and secular, and that really hasn’t been explored before. This is a grounded theory, meaning it’s a qualitative interview study of Jewish employees who identify as Jewish in any respect. This refers to religion, culture, ethnicity, and those who have converted to Judaism. It was a study to understand what Jewish employees experience in the workplace, as far as inclusion, diversity, discrimination, and bias.

Who was your population? How did you determine the demographics?

My population was anybody over the age of 18 that could consent to participate and self-identified as Jewish. I asked when we did the interview how they would describe their Jewish identity, but it was not a criterion. There were no exclusion criteria for participation as long as somebody identified as Jewish. They did have to be working in an organization in the United States and not be self-employed.

At what stage are you at with the research?

I’ve conducted 43 interviews; they were completed in spring 2022. I have done a large part of the analysis, most if not all of it. It is in the process of being written up for publication.

What are your initial conclusions or results?

The main takeaway is with regard to identity management. With grounded theory, I didn’t start off with any hypotheses. I worked inductively, seeing how information/data across interviews aggregated together. What was discussed a lot was identity management. The finding being that Jews do have to engage in identity management where they have to consider their identity in the workplace, revealing or concealing aspects of that identity depending on external conditions.

There was a lot of covert and some overt discrimination and bias that participants experienced. As far as strategies for identity management, many participants talked about the idea of disclosure because, by and large, Jews in the United States are light skinned and/or White. In other words, nobody would know that someone is Jewish unless they chose to disclose that information. There were concerns about disclosure regarding safety considerations in workplace environments.

Participants talked a lot about where they situate themselves in the workplace. Specifically, where they fall in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) awareness spaces because there are more overt conversations about other issues, like race for example. However, because Jews are “passing” as White, there was consensus amongst the survey participants that Jews do belong in the DEI space. The participants felt like others do not accept them in the DEI space because the stereotype is that Jewish people are doing fine, and that every Jewish person is rich, so what do they need DEI for? However, participants felt like it was something that they needed but was frequently overlooked, especially with consideration to Judaism as a culture and ethnic identity, not just as a religion.

How did you become interested in this specific topic?

I have been interested in DEI for a while and Dr. Nicholas Salter, my advisor, is a DEI researcher. However, I have been interested in populations that aren’t considered often in DEI. I am Jewish, yet I never read about myself in any DEI literature. That sparked the idea, but even at the beginning of my work, Dr. Salter had to convince me that it was okay to embark on this area of research and that Jews were “counted” as diverse. He said there’s research out there on Christians, why shouldn’t there be on other religions? So, he sold the idea to me. Since there is a real lack of research on this topic and theory to draw on, I chose to do a qualitative study since the experiences are so nuanced and difficult to quantify.

What will the future look like for this research?

I started this before the scandal with Kanye West, but these topics surrounding antisemitism were recently pushed to the forefront. What I’m hoping comes out of the research is the inclusion of Jewish voices in the DEI space – bringing another set of voices into that conversation to try to make work more inclusive for everyone. Workplaces need to be aware of how policies, procedures, or a lack thereof, are inadvertently exclusive to certain groups of people. In the United States, we live in a Christian normative society. Even if we don’t consciously realize that many things we consider to be American really have their roots in Christianity, it does inadvertently wind up being exclusionary for certain people in the workplace. To be able to bring that awareness to organizations and to be more inclusive of, not just Jewish people, but anybody who is affected by those types of policies is my ultimate goal.

John Shea

PhD, Applied Organizational Psychology, 2022 • Hometown: Wantagh, New York

Project Title:

Development of an Implicit Test of Machiavellianism Using Conditional Reasoning

Advisor: Dr. Evelyn Rogers

Dr. John Shea was the runner-up for the H. Alan Robinson Award for his dissertation in which he developed a personality measure to assess if someone exhibits traits of Machiavellianism. Driven by his love of learning and curiosity, Dr. Shea began his research wanting to measure how much of a team player somebody is, but when determining ways to assess this trait, he fell upon a test of conditional reasoning, which inspired a new research topic.

Oftentimes, self-reporting tools are used to measure personality, but Dr. Shea questioned the accuracy of the results when team members can easily decipher the “right” response to appear favorable in the work setting. As humans, we try not to bring attention to negative aspects of ourselves, which can be enabled with self-reporting tools. When Dr. Shea discovered conditional reasoning, a test that poses situations and offers various responses lined with certain characteristics, he decided to assess Machiavellianism instead, as it focuses on manipulation and putting one’s interest before others.

With the test, Dr. Shea measured how personality influenced reasoning ability whereby some answers, if selected, demonstrated Machiavellianism without the participant realizing it. Using this tool allows participants to learn something about themselves and will foster more targeted development and training for leaders and team members.

Since Dr. Shea’s test was developed in under two years, he admits that it is not ready to be used for scientific discovery since a lot of testing still needs to be done. He shared the complexity of creating a conditional reasoning test, as you need to ensure it is measuring the exact trait you want to gauge. If there is overlap with another personality trait, you have to determine how to rework it. As with all research, this test is a work in progress that Dr. Shea hopes to refine in the near future.

Dr. Shea’s dissertation advisor was Dr. Evelyn Rogers, adjunct associate professor of psychology, who he greatly thanks for her support. Dr. Roger’s flexibility and constant conversation to discuss new ideas allowed him to stay on track and complete his dissertation with pride. Dr. Shea also acknowledges Dr. Rebecca Grossman, associate professor of psychology, for her insight on team orientation and for giving him the final push he needed to pursue this project. Lastly, he thanks Dr. Comila Shahani-Denning, senior vice provost for academic affairs and professor of psychology, for introducing him to industrial/organizational psychology and its profound impact on him.

As personality assessments grow in popularity, Dr. Shea hopes his research will eventually teach people something new about themselves that will in turn bring about positive change in their behavior. Dr. Shea currently works at Capital One with the talent assessment team, where he regularly utilizes the knowledge he gained from his dissertation to form his decisions. He shared that he will work in the field for a period of time to gain valuable experience, which he can then bring to the classroom if he decides to return to academia.

Amanda Perrone

BA, Geology and Secondary Education, Science, May 2024 • Hometown: Oakdale, New York

Project Title:

Project Title:

The Last Interglacial in the Central North Atlantic as Shown by Foraminiferal Abundance

Advisor: Dr. E. Christa Farmer

In fall 2022, Amanda Perrone, a geology and science education major, enrolled in Sedimentation, GEOL 135, with Dr. E. Christa Farmer. To her delight, she discovered what ultimately would become her honors research project.

To get a better understanding of sea surface temperatures from a long time ago, students in Dr. Farmer’s course used deep ocean sediment to analyze fossilized foraminifera, which are little organisms that are widespread in the ocean both historically and currently. They looked at the ratio in the abundance of two species, N. pachyderma and N. incompta, which can be used as a proxy for sea surface temperature. Specifically, when there is more of N. pachyderma, it can be inferred to be a colder time period.

Using sediment core samples supplied by the International Drilling Program and borrowed from faculty at Columbia University, Perrone and her classmates learned how to weigh, wash, sift, and analyze core sediment until they had a vial of foraminifera, which lived approximately 110,000-130,000 years ago. Perrone learned how to split the sample up to eight times, which allowed for 200-300 organisms on a slide. On these slides, students identified various species under the microscope and carefully picked out the ones they were looking for, such as N. pachyderma.

Perrone found this entire process very interesting, and when the semester was over, she asked Dr. Farmer if she could continue working with these samples as an honors option for the following semester. Perrone was chosen to continue this research during summer 2023 as a member of GEOTeams, a five-week authentic summer research experience run by Hofstra faculty. Teams are composed of four individuals including a professor, preservice teacher, Hofstra student, and a high school student. This experience led Perrone to focus solely on data collection and organism analysis during the fall 2023 semester, and develop the idea to compare the abundances of the organisms during the last interglacial period. She stated that the larger purpose of this research was to collect information about how past oceans react to temperature changes to support future research on the climate.

Dr. Farmer was very supportive of Perrone’s goals for the project, and taught her many research skills including fossil identification techniques. Perrone intends to continue with this research in the future and has expressed interest in teaching more students who participate in the GEOTeams program over the summer about fossil identification.

Perrone plans to become an earth science teacher after graduation and looks forward to incorporating research into her lesson planning.

Dr. Farmer was very supportive of Perrone’s goals for the project, and

taught her many research skills including fossil identification techniques.

Jasmine Truong

BA, History and Anthropology, May 2023

Hometown: Arcadia, California

Project Title:

As an Asian American, Truong can see firsthand why and

how some minorities would be attracted

to more conservative far-right groups.

People of Color in the Far Right

Advisor: Dr. Timothy Daniels

A class about historical fascism and anti-fascism with Professor Stanislao Pugliese in the Hofstra History Department was the inspiration for Jasmine Truong to enroll in a spring 2022 anthropology seminar that included studies of far-right political movements. What initially started as a classroom discussion and research topic quickly became an individual project for Truong, who also serves as the president of the Hofstra History Club.

Research on the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, led Truong to read articles that focused on the “Black response,” curious to see if there were Black people at the rally or riot. Truong began to question whether there were other people of color in far-right movements. She wondered how these people got involved and what role did they play in the far-right? Truong asked, “We tend to see the far-right groups as White supremacy groups, so how are these people of color involved and why? Are they serving a role that we may not know about? Do these people genuinely believe what these groups stand for and their messaging, and what are they themselves saying?”

Initially, Truong researched Joey Gibson, founder of Patriot Prayer, and Enrique Tarrio, chairman of the Proud Boys. This research expanded as Truong began looking more broadly into members of minority groups that are involved in far-right movements, such as Latin X, Black, Asian, and indigenous communities.

Using online ethnography techniques for this research was necessary due to COVID-19 and personal safety. According to Truong, “There was a risk that these groups were dangerous based on the readings my classmates and I were doing.”

As a result, she primarily focused on using the social media apps Twitter and Reddit, and ultimately expanded to using TikTok, Parler, and Gab. According to Truong, Parler and Gab promote themselves as defenders of free speech, yet Tarrio does not use Gab and only has an account on Parler. He regularly uses Twitter.

“I would DM people for more information, but I never received any emails or DMs back. This was a struggle to get people to respond. I fished around on Reddit asking

if people had insight, and there was no response. I am not sure if this is because they could see that my account was newer,” she said.

Truong found that Black Americans who were involved with conservative movements were more involved in groups like “Blacks for Trump,” whereas Latin Americans could be found more so in far-right groups like the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers. “This could be a result of social media and news consumption and/or if these individuals were already coming from a right-leaning household.”

Notably, most of the leaders Truong researched were not involved in these types of groups until right before or right after the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia. Truong concluded that these minority members “are serving a role and that is to make groups appear to be less racist and more inclusive. They want the far right to appear that it is for everyone even if their language is not saying that; it’s about the image.”

As an Asian American, Truong can see firsthand why and how some minorities would be attracted to more conservative far-right groups. According to voting data, Asian Americans tend not to be vocally political but do lean to more democratic ideals. However, according to Truong, Chinese and Vietnamese people do not always vote democratic. She concluded that this is because many Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans are anti-communist; they don’t support socialist leaning programs like debt relief or some healthcare issues. These are the pockets of the Asian population that you might find leaning to the far right.

Truong hopes this research area continues. However, the intense reading of these social media accounts has been mentally taxing on her, and she is looking to get away from the topic for now. However, Truong will work with Professor Timothy Daniels on a publication proposal in spring 2023. She will take a gap year and plans to apply for a PhD in history during the fall 2023 semester. Truong would like to pursue a research thesis on the South Vietnamese perspective of the Vietnam War.

Shayna Trachten

BA, Music, May 2023 • Hometown: Levittown, New York

Project Title:

Towards Inclusive Music Curricula: The Calling of Social Justice and Music Education

Advisor: Dr. Francesca Cassio

Describe your research to me.

I surveyed different scholarly peer-reviewed articles that discussed Eurocentrism and racism in music education. As I was reading, I extrapolated the author’s primary argument, the supporting arguments, their proposed solutions, and their recommendations for how universities and music programs can strengthen their commitment to anti-racism and anti-sexism. I analyzed these recommendations and solutions and put together my recommendations for Hofstra’s music program.

Ethnomusicologist Margaret Walker said that we should call out racism when we notice it. I agree with this, as we cannot change something we do not acknowledge. I also support her idea of indigenizing the curriculum by adding indigenous elements, such as music from Native Americans, and incorporating them into music theory. She questions why we, as a society, venerate the same composers repeatedly. I also looked into Dr. Philip Buell’s work and believe he’s correct in saying that we must move toward anti-racism rather than residing in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, if music departments keep the titles “music history” and “music theory,” I think they should expand the curricula to include all music genres, instead of just Western classical. Michigan State University Professor Juliet Hess contributes to this topic and suggests that we need to challenge the idea that Western music is best by “confronting the hierarchies that place Western classical music on top as the norm.”

This research is really about racism, and I started it in September 2022 when more and more higher education programs started to develop anti-racism initiatives, including music education. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, more and more stories about racism were appearing on social media, and these stories really resonated with me, as my own ethnic and musical background is so diverse. I am a Chinese Afro Cuban American woman who was not trained in classical music, like so many of my peers.

How did you become interested in this topic?

My own familial and multiethnic background influenced my interest in this research. Early on, I learned Chinese music

and Cuban boleros, which caused a disconnect with Western classical music. My abuela was a Cuban jazz pianist who taught me the boleros and religious chants of Santeria, which was taught to me orally. My mother’s Chinese family is from Guangdong, China, and as a child she enrolled me in Chinese school where I learned Mandarin. I was raised with traditional Chinese music including folk songs. As I I grew up and started focusing on music, my schools in the United States taught music from a Western point of view. So, when I started talking to my teachers about what I grew up with, there was a disconnect and that is how this all became my primary interest.

Who was your advisor and how did they support you?

Dr. Francesca Cassio was my advisor and I loved the level of discussion we had during our meetings. I have known Dr. Cassio for almost a decade. When I was 9 or 10 years old, I started taking Punjabi Bhangra lessons and most of the kids in the class were Sikh. So, I found myself at a Hofstra Sikh music concert with my parents and that is where I first met Dr. Cassio. As a student at Hofstra, I continued studying Indian and Sikh music with her and, ultimately, she served as my advisor on this research project. She is very understanding. If I ever needed extra support, she was very accommodating.

What are your plans now that you’ve graduated and where do you see this research going in the future?

My immediate plans are to go to graduate school at Five Towns College and get a master’s degree in audio engineering within a music production framework.

As far as my research, I hope to see more schools start working on anti-racism initiatives. The project has served as a foundation for me to pursue decolonial studies because institutionalized racism and long-standing intersectionality are more pervasive than we think.

This research provided me with an academic opportunity to defend a thesis and do extensive research. If I do go on for another master’s or even a PhD, I would definitely take the decolonial studies track.

Sinjita Bhattacharya BA, Sociology, Minor in Civic Engagement

and Disability Studies, May 2023

Hometown: Princeton, New Jersey

Project Title:

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be on me.”

Ableism, Stigma, and the Social Role of South Asian American Siblings to

Advisor: Dr. Johanna

Shih

Disabled People

What was your research about?

My research focused on the experiences of 18 South Asian American siblings who have a disabled family member. I defined South Asian as descendants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and anyone who self-identified with that identity. Further, they had to be the sibling of an individual who had intellectual or developmental disabilities, or autism. Specifically, I looked for those who were immigrants from any of those countries themselves, or their parents were immigrants. I looked for people who were U.S.-based, so that my analysis would be grounded in American society. When I interviewed these 18 siblings, I tried to get a sense of how ableism and stigma played a role in their socialization growing up, in their role within their families, and their experiences as individuals. I was also interested in how their experiences of being a sibling to a disabled person impacted them as they grew into adults and what they thought about their futures.

What did you primarily find?

What I found was essentially three main theories. One is that cultural context and stigma are very different in this particular population. For example, for South Asians, there is a stigma that the siblings aren’t normally taken into consideration for how they’re affected by the relationship. I ended up primarily interviewing individuals who identified as women, or were assigned female at birth and now identify as non-binary. So many were dealing with the South Asian cultural norm of feeling as though they had to fulfill the caretaker role, keep quiet, and make themselves smaller, because that is what is expected of women. The cultural normativity of striving for excellence and high achievement was relevant in the sibling relation. It added to the pressure of being a third parent.

Parentification was the second theory I found present for a lot of the siblings that I interviewed, which demonstrated that they felt this pressure to be the perfect sibling. This meant not having a disability or mental health condition, while also being a caretaker. The subjects felt that they needed to overcompensate for their sibling’s disability. This belief played a role in how they viewed their social role as well.

Finally, almost all of the people I interviewed mentioned a fear that their future romantic partner either wouldn’t accept their sibling for their disability or wouldn’t accept the caretaker role that they saw themselves taking on within the family. That seemed to be a deal-breaker. Many of them talked about their future jobs being focused on caregiving, or flexible enough for them to take care

of their sibling. In American culture, the idea of nursing homes or assisted living programs is normalized, but in South Asian cultures not being the one to take care of a loved one is looked upon very negatively. Many siblings mentioned how they didn’t want their sibling to be in a home or institution. Rather, they are going to live with them, take care of them, and support them financially. Some indicated only financial support, while others predicted they would be their sibling’s full-time caretaker. The weight of this caregiver role plays a part in every decision they make, such as where they go to school, where they plan to live, what types of job they intend to take, who they plan to marry, etc.

Did all of your participants have the same experience? Not everyone had the same experience, but it was a uniform occurrence that every single person felt that it was their role and their responsibility to help in some capacity. It was interesting because every single person I interviewed used the phrase “third parent” in their interviews. That was something I didn’t prompt, but everyone was naturally viewing themselves in that light. Some siblings expressed that they didn’t have to take on too much, but others advocated for their sibling on their parents’ behalf because they had a better understanding of English, or managed their day-to-day functionality.

In South Asian culture, how are people with disabilities viewed?

In South Asia, disability differs slightly in different religious contexts, but overall it is typically regarded as a moral shortcoming. In the Hindu religion, disability is a consequence of your actions in your past life, and this is the testament or trial you have to endure as a result. I ended up having predominantly Hindu participants in my sample, with only two others being Muslim. According to research, within Muslim religions, parents who were interviewed about their experience talked about how they viewed it as a test from God to prove their worthiness and their goodness as a person. Disabled people, in India or other South Asian countries, are stigmatized as shameful and crazy, even though it’s not necessarily a psychiatric disability. All people with a disability are reduced to one negative depiction of what their reality looks like. There’s an understanding that they should be hidden from view, and kept away. This is much different than our understanding in the United States, especially with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and inclusion being codified into law. When going to temple or mosque, however, disabled people still feel the stigma when surrounded by other Hindus or Muslims despite being in the United States.

How did you become interested in this area?

My younger brother is autistic. We are South Asian. My family migrated from India before I was born, so this is where I grew up. As I got older, I noticed that I struggled with anxiety around my sibling in public places, and with the idea of planning my future with him in mind. When I was in high school, I found comfort in support groups for others in my position, and I realized my experiences were shared by many others. I even started a group specifically for siblings of color. We meet once a month via Zoom to talk about our experiences trying to balance our identities as individuals and caretakers, as well as ideas for our future selves.

As someone who studies our disabilities and is disabled myself, it’s important to me that disabilities are not looked at as a loss or burden. Many struggles and challenges are often the result of our society not being built in a way that provides services and resources for families when they have a disabled family member. It’s not the disabled person’s fault. A better infrastructure and more resources would make the burden feel more manageable. Part of my group’s mission is to intercept and disrupt ableist ways of thinking. To do so, the training I’ve provided for siblings is meant to reframe their feelings of frustration to better understand the political and social issues that are at play on a grander scale. If people are interested in joining the siblings of color group, they are welcome to email me and I’d be delighted to welcome them.

What are your plans for the future of this research?

I don’t have any immediate plans to publish, although I’d like to because there is minimal research in this area, and I want siblings in need of a supportive community to have my research available for them as a resource. My committee has been very supportive, and they’d like me to publish as well. This fall I am attending the University of Washington Law School in Seattle, so I probably won’t be able to publish while school is in session. I am a recipient of the William H. Gates Public Service Law Scholarship funded by the Gates Foundation. Recipients are students interested in pursuing public interest law, which I’ve always been interested in. I had help from professors and the faculty at the Writing Center throughout the application process. Dr. Johanna Shih was a huge support for me during my research project. She was extremely encouraging and kept me motivated throughout the writing process. Dr. Shih demonstrated such expertise in quantitative research methods, and I’m lucky to have had the experience of working with her.

Oisemujaime Victoria Idehai

Master of Public Health, May 2024 • Hometown: Edo State, Nigeria

Pindar Mbaya

Master of Public Health, May 2024• Hometown: Borno, Nigeria

Project Title:

A Systematic Review That Examines the Barriers, Predictors, and Facilitators of Using On-Campus Food Pantries Among College Students

Advisor: Dr. Trishnee Bhurosy

Describe your research to me.

Oisemujaime: Our research was about the facilitators of and barriers to assessing an on-campus food pantry for college students. This was a systematic literature review in which we started with over 7,000 articles on the topic. We narrowed our scope to 100 articles, and we have focused on drawing attention to food insecurity on-campus to combat the neglect this topic typically faces.

Many assume that college students have received money from their parents to take care of themselves, especially in terms of eating. However, people forget that money is not always the problem, but that it’s about the lack of access to food – specifically, where it is located and what kind of food is available. For example, the public health students at Hofstra usually have classes that are late in the afternoon or evening until 10:30 p.m. in the Health Dome, secluded on the far northeast side of campus, away from food sources. There are only fast food restaurants located near that side of campus. Some vending machines are located in the Dome, but they do not have nutritious food. Healthier food options on campus are far from the Dome and expensive. Students can buy fresh fruit, but any other produce is expensive to buy on campus. While it is great that there is a shuttle to a nearby supermarket, this can be inconvenient and expensive.

Pindar: There are two food pantries on campus that are provided for students: one near the residence halls and one in the Health Dome. Not many students use the Dome pantry, seemingly due to lack of awareness that the food pantry exists, as well as wanting to avoid the stigma that students who use the food pantry may not have enough money to eat. In fact, it is not that students do not have the money to eat, they just do not have access to nutritious food to support a balanced diet. Additionally, it also appears that many international students do not understand the concept of what a food pantry is. These are all examples of barriers.

Facilitators are measures and efforts that will make students want to use the food pantry. This can include the attitudes of the pantry staff. For instance, if a student is treated rudely by the pantry staff, they may not return.

We chose this topic because we are international students, and food insecurity happens with many international students. This often happens because we do not know who to talk to on campus and the food options that are in the food pantry are not nutritious, or are not items that we are used to seeing and tasting in our home countries.

Where would you like to see this research go in the future?

Oisemujaime: We would like to get the research published and have an impact on students’ access to food, while also decreasing the stigma of food pantries so that it’s a more sought-after and useful service for students.

How did your faculty advisor support you with your research?

Pindar: In her courses, Dr. Bhurosy is always emphasizing how to carry out research using systematic reviews and methods. We also saw how Dr. Bhurosy excellently manages the food pantry as the founder of the Hofstra Dome Pride Pantry and Nutrition Equity Researcher and were inspired to approach her about the topic.

Where did you previously study and what are your future plans?

Oisemujaime: I went to university in Nigeria and studied physiology. After earning my master’s degree in public health here at Hofstra, I have plans to become certified as a cardiac perfusionist. I would like to stay in the public health sector in the United States initially, and then eventually return to Nigeria.

Pindar: I went to university in Nigeria, where I studied veterinary medicine and veterinary public health. I am now getting the education for “one health” for both humans and animals. I hope to go back to Nigeria and practice one health, where there is a balance between both.

We would like to get the research published and have an impact on students’ access to food, while also decreasing the stigma of food pantries so that it’s a more sought-after and useful service for students. — Oisemujaime Victoria Idehai

Rida Nasir

BS, Health Science, May 2025

Hometown: Floral Park, New York

Project Title:

Rising Trends in Firearm Mortality Among Children in the United States, 1999-2020

Advisor: Dr. Ibraheem M. Karaye

Rida Nasir, a premed student graduating in May 2025 with her Bachelor of Science in Health Science, was eager to pursue research in a topic of extreme relevance in the United States. In 2020, firearm mortality was the number one cause of death in the United States, surpassing unintentional injury, cancer, and congenital malformations. The Black Lives Matter protests motivated her and her advisor, Dr. Ibraheem Karaye, to further examine this key public health issue. Nasir was fascinated by Dr. Karaye’s idea to conduct research that relates to current social issues, specifically in the previous academic year. The two researched maternal mortality rates during the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.

When conducting data analytics for the issue of firearm mortality, Nasir and Dr. Karaye used the CDC database. They conducted joint regression models, which revealed that mortality rates had a trend of declining by 1.8% per year until 2013, when the rates increased drastically by 7.8% per year until 2020. Moreso, they revealed that mortality was highest among males, African Americans and Hispanics, and among children in the southern U.S. census region.

Their main goal was to influence stricter firearm legislation and hope that they themselves and other researchers could contribute to identifying individual drivers, contextual drivers, and social drivers to develop intervention measures. They outlined some in their research, but acknowledged the influential power of politics on the matter.

What sets their literature review apart from other publications with the same topic of firearm mortality rates is that their date range for data examination was 1999-2020, which not all previous studies shared. What was additionally unique about their study is that they not only used the U.S. census region data, but also a national ranking system that measures legislation enacted by states intended to decrease firearm mortalities from Giffords Law Center.

As far as future plans, Dr. Karaye and Nasir’s literature review is currently under appraisal for publication, but they plan to shift gears toward the spatial analysis of hospital concentrations in Nassau County, NY. Nasir plans to attend medical school and continue to conduct research alongside practicing medicine.

In 2020, firearm mortality was the number one cause of death in the United States, surpassing

unintentional injury, cancer, and congenital malformations. The Black Lives Matter protests motivated

her and her advisor, Dr. Ibraheem Karaye, to further examine this key public health issue.

Kulsoom Baloch

Master of Public Health, December 2023 • Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan

Project Title:

The Association of Bisphenol-A and the Risk of Breast Cancer Among Non-Hispanic Black Women Living in New York, 2023 to 2038

Advisor: Dr. Chanapong Rojanaworarit

Kulsoom Baloch had an extensive and impressive background before attending Hofstra, as she had already completed her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and was a practicing doctor in Pakistan.

The goal of Baloch’s research while completing her Master of Public Health was to demonstrate and confirm the relationship between Bisphenol A (BPA) and breast cancer, specifically in non-Hispanic Black women living in New York from 2023 to 2028. BPA is a frequently used chemical that when introduced to heat, can leach into food or drinks. Current researchers have supported this relationship, but there hasn’t been a definitive study conducted to demonstrate statistical supporting proof. Between 2007 and 2010, the CDC found that non-Hispanic Black women had more BPA in their bodies and more breast cancer compared to other populations.

Baloch worked with a few fellow students and researchers under the mentorship of Dr. Chanapong Rojanaworarit. She collected data from primary healthcare providers to recruit participants to measure the BPA levels and prevalence of breast cancer in her sample of 7,236 women. Her results supported the association between BPA and the risk of breast cancer among non-Hispanic Black women. As for women in her sample who were positive for breast cancer, 79% of them displayed BPA levels higher than 3 µg/L.

Following the completion of the study, Baloch plans to continue with the research and literature with her team. Some challenges that arose were determining what the length of study should be and following her participants for the next 15 years to evaluate their BPA levels. Deciphering how to test for BPA was another difficulty that Baloch had to navigate. It required rigorous research until she determined that a chromatography mass spectrophotometer will provide the most satisfactory information. Other factors for Baloch to consider going forward include partnering with a primary care provider and the financial expense of the study. Despite the challenges, she is passionate and driven to continue contributing to the preservation of women’s health. Her long-term plans are to continue gaining experience, specifically within research, with her MPH in the United States before returning to Pakistan.

Her results supported the association between BPA and the risk of breast cancer

among non-Hispanic Black women. As for women in her sample who were positive for breast

cancer, 79% of them displayed BPA levels higher than 3 µg/L.

Henna Chaudhry

BA, Chemistry, May 2024 • Hometown: Smithtown, New York

Project Title:

eLearning Bite (eBite): Developing Health Professions Education Online Through Blogging

Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Schlegel

In search of an exciting academic opportunity to complement her major studies in chemistry, Henna Chaudhry, a Rabinowitz Honors College student, applied to work as a research assistant to Dr. Elizabeth Schlegel for her studies regarding medical education. Chaudhry had a previous passion for teaching as she enjoys tutoring for the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and Library Partnership Program (LPP) here at Hofstra. She also hopes to become a pediatrician, so this was an incredible opportunity to kick-start her experience in medical education.

Chaudhry helped conduct and facilitate research for Dr. Schlegel’s eLearning Bite blog posts, or “eBite,” which is a site for reference-based medical education material. Dr. Schlegel’s mission for eBite is to provide a centralized source for integral pieces of proper medical education for faculty across various states and countries to employ within their teachings. The topics are related to curriculum development, evaluation and assessment, humanities, and professional development.

Chaudhry’s primary responsibility was to compile the data of the site’s users utilizing Google Analytics. Specifically, the user’s country of origin, the date and time of site access, the type of device that they’re using, age, and gender. She determined from the data that there were more than 31,000 pageviews since 2021, demonstrating tremendous growth in the use of eBite over the past two years. Interestingly, Chaudry was able to pinpoint the target audience for Dr. Schlegel so they could generate specific content that would appeal to their frequent users. She also enjoyed the creative elements behind the content creation, which included short videos, flyers, and presentation slides. Further, Chaudhry’s research recognized the importance of learning viewer behavior by tracking what day of the week users were more likely to view articles and which days they spent the most time reading articles. Her analyses demonstrated that more people checked the blog at the beginning of the week, but those who viewed the blog at the end of the week spent more time reading. Dr. Schlegel has been able to communicate these findings on a global level at conferences she’s attended regarding medical school education curriculum. Notably, her most recent conference was the Academic Medicine Digital Demonstration Virtual Conference.

Finally, Chaudhry expressed how valuable it was to work under Dr. Schlegel, as they had frequent meetings in which she learned the basics of data collection and analytics, expanded her professional network, and worked collaboratively to further eBite’s successes. She relayed her excitement for the growth of eBite, as she may one day be studying from the platform herself in med school. Dr. Schlegel has initiated plans to transform eBite into a more expansive website called ScholaRx, which Chaudhry is looking forward to learning from.

Hendrik Hebbeker , BS, Mathematics and Physics, December 2022 • Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Project Title:

Superconducting Properties of the Candidate Topological Superconductor Ti3Sb

Advisor: Dr. Matthew Smylie

Describe your research to me.

When I worked with Dr. Matthew Smylie in his research lab, we measured different properties of certain interesting, superconducting materials. “Superconducting” is one of the key words. Superconductors are materials that when below a certain temperature become perfectly electrically conducting. That means no electrical resistance and, in principle, no power loss. Implementing this would be really useful in industry. Unfortunately, the temperatures at which these materials do this are typically extremely low. For example, in Dr. Smylie’s lab we go down to 1.8 Kelvin (~ -450° Fahrenheit), which is colder than outer space. That’s why we sometimes jokingly call the lab the coolest place in Nassau County!

So, the material investigated in this particular project is Ti3Sb (Titanium 3 Antimony). We received a sample from Dr. Smylie’s colleagues at Argonne National Laboratory. It is already known that this material is a superconductor, but it might be a candidate to be a “topological” superconductor. This means that it is one of the most promising ways to build quantum computers, which could be very powerful.

Tell me about some aspects of your research with this material.

We made magneto transport measurements that generate data for the electrical resistance of this material at different temperatures and at different magnetic fields. For this, we use the cryostat that we have here at Hofstra. First, we mount the sample on the probe that we built at Hofstra and put it into the cryostat. Once it is in there, we can cool it down to those really, really low temperatures, and at the same time we can apply a magnetic field that penetrates through the sample. We wrote computer programs that we used to measure the mentioned properties. Essentially, what you can see as you cool this material down is that the electrical resistance at some point abruptly drops to 0 hms.

So, the colder it gets the better the electrical condition? For this material, roughly speaking, yes. Resistance is basically the villain. You don’t want any resistance, so you can have perfect conductivity; when resistance goes to zero it perfectly conducts electricity.

I know that you’ve said there’s been studies that have identified that this material is a superconductor. So, what was unique about what you were doing? Well, these materials were first discovered to be superconductors in the 60s and 70s. And they did crude

measurements on these materials 40-50 years ago. Only very recently has it been discovered that this material might be a prominent candidate for a topological superconductor, which has kick-started new research. Essentially, our research more comprehensively examined the superconducting properties. At Hofstra, we did those magneto transport measurements to map out the superconducting phase boundary, which hasn’t been done in such an extensive manner before. We can show at what magnetic fields and at what temperatures the material is superconducting.

Where do you see this research going in the future?

I’ve already presented this remotely for the International Symposium for Superconductivity in Japan earlier in the fall 2022 semester. It was a workshop with professional scientists. Dr. Smylie gave me the opportunity to present it, which was nice. I don’t know how many people were in person in Japan, but in the online room there were at least 30 scientists. We have also published an article in the American Physical Society’s Physical Review B, which is the standard professional physics research journal.

It sounds like Dr. Smylie was heavily involved in this project. How has he supported you? What did you learn from him?

Well, there’s been a lot, as you can imagine after doing research with him for so long. His energy, creativity and problem-solving abilities are very impressive – and he created the perfect environment to learn from. There is a constant flow of ideas if something doesn’t work right, especially in the lab, to solve these problems, to maximize the accuracy. Dr. Smylie is incredibly meticulous. He really makes sure that the parts are working in such a way that they yield as accurate data as possible.

What are your future plans, and how has this research influenced those plans?

I’ve been accepted into two graduate schools in Europe for physics, the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. I have decided to attend ETH. From what everyone is telling me, the research I did was incredibly useful and a strong factor on my applications for graduate school. I plan to first complete a master’s degree, but a doctoral degree is a possibility. I could easily see myself as a physics researcher, but I am hesitant to say this is definitively what I want to do. I am open to whatever attracts my focus in the future.

William Jude Hart

BS, Geology, December 2024 • Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Project Title:

First Reported Vertebrate Fossils From the Cretaceous Deposits on Long Island

Advisor: Dr. J. Bret Bennington

Describe to me your research project.

Long ago, Long Island was much more tropical than it is now. It was a lot warmer, and it had a vibrant plant life. This was recorded in the sediments and rocks, which are now found on Long Island. For 180 years across the literature, many scientists talked about these rocks because they are special. The sediments and rocks have produced remains of plants and pollen from terrestrial environments. However, no one has found animals with backbones from these lost worlds across the northern shores of Long Island, which is what I recently accomplished.

Wow. So, you’re the first person to do that?

Looks like it, yeah. There were no confirmed vertebrate body fossils on Long Island, until now.

So now that you have found these fossils, what does it mean for us historically and scientifically?

It means we have more clarity on what was there. That’s important because for a long time, over the 180 years of literature, many people have assumed that since Long Island is a product of glaciers advancing and retreating that you wouldn’t be able to find anything. This is because glacial movement carries such immense force, they’ll crush up anything in its path. So, it’s very important that finds like these are discovered because if you never make these kinds of discoveries, then you never would have known that there was a fish during the time of the dinosaurs swimming amongst the sands on Long Island. If not for these discoveries, you wouldn’t have known that there was something other than plants that were roaming around amongst the floodplains, or flat environments that would occasionally receive large amounts of water.

The vertebrate fossils that you found, do you suspect that they were fish?

Concerning one of the two we’ve found, yes. The unfortunate thing about paleontology is that you can only extract so much information. Currently, I’m in the process of identifying what kind of fish has this backbone. That’s

pretty much the only thing that I could investigate as of now, because the other fossil we have found is even more fragmentary than our fish vertebra!

Was it a large specimen or a small specimen?

Both are microfossils, which means that these fossils can only be found if you process and sift a sample of sediment and look at it under a microscope.

The first fossil I found comes from when I was processing clay from a floodplain environment. We went to Northport, on the north shore of Long Island, which was our study area for that day. We observed some interesting sediments, so we collected some samples for processing. As I was sifting through this clay, I saw this little dark “pebble” at the bottom of the sink. In fact, my advisor almost threw it away because it was so dirty. You couldn’t tell that it was a fossil with the naked eye when it was in that state. However, I persisted because I saw it as something that didn’t look like a plant nor any kind of rock I’ve seen before. This is characteristic of fossils, as they usually contrast with the sediment, which this one did.

Eventually I cleaned it up and let it dry out. Then my advisor cleaned it more thoroughly with a miniature ultrasound chamber, and we looked at it under a microscope. You could tell that there was an external bone surface, and an internal spongy surface, confirming that it was indeed a fossil. We also had our colleague, Dr. Robert V. Hill, an anatomy lecturer in the Hofstra Nursing School who has published research with the American Museum of Natural History, look at it and confirm our identification. We asked Dr. Michael D’Emic, a dinosaur paleontologist from Adelphi University, to take a look as well.

I then found the fish vertebra afterwards. When sifting through my sediment sample, I noticed an oddly curved pebble, and as I looked closer, I thought: ‘... well pebbles don’t often look like that.’ My advisor examined it under the microscope and said it was a fish vertebra, and our

other colleagues confirmed this. He also commented that it was polished and worn down, so we were lucky to find it because, again, there are a lot of natural forces that act as preservation bias for fossils like these.

When you went to Northport and you were looking for samples, how did you know how deep in the ground to explore?

These sample locations were on the surface, yet not exposed to the air. We went to the beach and we looked at the shoreline cliff faces. They were glacially displaced blocks of prehistoric sediment that faced northward to the Long Island Sound, a tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. We knew that sediments of this age would be there because many have been documented already. Again, we’re going off approximately 180 years of research. People have known that this sediment existed, it just hasn’t been thoroughly investigated, which is where we come in as the investigators.

As we traversed along the cliffs, we eventually started seeing very peculiar patterns where the sediments shift from a dark red to a brown, or if you dig into this cliff face you eventually come to find clay that’s hiding behind a different kind of sediment. It doesn’t take much effort to look around and find these observations. All you have to do is get out of the house, do your homework beforehand, and explore every peculiar nook and cranny. There are similar areas like this, such as Caumsett State Park in Lloyd Harbor.

What is the mechanism that you use to approximate the age of what you’re looking at?

We use something called stratigraphy. This is the sect of geology that studies rock layers that geologists call “strata,” and the ancient times during when they were deposited. What others have done in the past is they have correlated the strata on Long Island to strata in New Jersey. Strata in New Jersey are in better condition than the ones on Long Island because they have suffered less glacial deformation. These strata are also correlated to strata in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and may extend as far south as Georgia or Virginia. When we look at the plant fossils we use something called biostratigraphy, where you use fossils you find in the strata, usually invertebrates and plants, to correlate strata together and date them.

How did you become interested in this research and when did you start?

All my life I’ve been very attuned to and gravitated toward the natural sciences and nature. When I was kid, I would open my dinosaur encyclopedia and just start

trying to pronounce the words and learn about what these animals were like. Whether I was studying the sciences in school or reading science-related topics at my leisure, it all culminated into this knowledge of the natural world and what it offers to scientists like me. Eventually when I came to Hofstra, I got acquainted with the Geology, Environment, and Sustainability Department, and I started looking into academic research. I approached Dr. Bennington, who would eventually become my advisor and mentor, and asked if he had any projects that needed additional work. He said, “Come with me,” and we went to the PaleoSediments Lab, where he showed me samples from the rock formation we’re studying. This all happened in September 2021, and I haven’t stopped working on this project since.

Where do you see this research going in the future, and do you have any plans for conferences or publications?

Yes, this is going to be my undergraduate thesis. I just hope nobody ‘scoops’ our idea because in the field I’m in, paleontology, the study of prehistoric life, sometimes people can be greedy due to how competitive it can become. I hope that my undergraduate thesis will be published, preferably in a peer-reviewed journal. A lot of this research would most likely be used in my academic ventures going forward, as the experiences I’ve learned in the Geology, Environment, and Sustainability Department are very meaningful and can go a long way. I’m probably going to get a Master of Science and then a Doctor of Philosophy, so I can continue onto postdoctoral work and further expand upon my skill set. However, I’m not entirely sure on the subject matter. That will be determined when I apply and become accepted into a graduate school or program. Areas like geosciences, biological sciences, or comparative anatomy could be good subjects, as they are subjects commonly associated with paleontology.

Is there anything notable that stands out to you in the way that Dr. Bennington has mentored you?

He is unlike any professor I’ve met on this campus. He is incredibly supportive and very knowledgeable about his field, as any paleontologist should be. I can tell every time I walk into his classroom that he truly cares about the students he teaches. Dr. Bennington makes sure the lessons resonate with you so that you actually learn from them. You can follow up with him anytime. You can just knock on his door and ask a question whenever he’s around. He’s very friendly and engages in chats about common interests. Many people who have graduated or have been around the department for a while will attest, as I have, that Dr. Bennington is truly one of a kind.

Evan Kreth BS, Biochemistry, May 2024 • Hometown: New Hyde Park, New York

Project Title:

Establishing the Flory-Fox Equation for Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) Using Differential Calorimetry (DSC) and Determining Relative Tacticity Using Quantitative Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (qHNMR)

Advisor:

Dr. Ronald D’Amelia

Being that your research is so technical, I’d like you to describe what you did, why it was special, and what was the outcome?

Basically with polymers, you have a repeating unit and it’s that same unit over and over and over again, like a long chain. What’s fascinating about a special class of these polymers, amorphous polymers, is that they don’t melt. They undergo what’s called a glass transition where they go from a hard, glassy state to a soft, rubbery one. Essentially, we were studying how the length of the polymer influences the temperature at which that transition occurs. If you have a short polymer, that means that you have a lot more endpoints rather than if you have a longer polymer. And so, because you have more of those endpoints, you have more free volume in the system. The more free volume you have, the lower the glass transition temperature is going to be, because it’s almost like the polymer’s relaxing when it’s undergoing this transition. So, the Flory-Fox Equation is the equation used to relate the length of the polymer. They also call it the Number Average Molecular Weight. This was established in the 1950s.

Remarkably, there is no recorded equation for polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), which is used in plexiglass and lucite. This equation does not appear in the literature. There is not a single article that outlines, at least an up-to-date one, the Flory-Fox Equation for PMMA, which was kind of strange. This was the motivation for the project: to publish a paper where it’s accessible. If anyone searches the Flory-Fox Equation for PMMA, there is now one available.

We calculated the Flory-Fox Equation using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), where we measured the changes in heat to supply the PMMA transition.

Why was this research so important? What impact will it have for the future?

Dr. Ronald D’Amelia is a physical polymer chemist. He creates chemical education projects and publishes chemical education experiments, which are meant to be applied to undergraduate laboratories at universities. The motivation for this project came about when we did the literature review to find the Flory-Fox Equation for PMMA, and there was nothing available. It was pretty strange and frustrating that we couldn’t get a value or an equation. It’s a pretty common parameter, the glass transition temperature. There’s also a real-world application because polymers are all around us. Everything that we deal with is made up of polymers, like the plastics that we use. Even our glasses because they have polycarbonate lenses. You need to be able to know the temperatures at which these things undergo glass transition temperatures so that if it’s a hot day outside, your glasses won’t melt!

Has this finding been published?

Dr. D’Amelia and I are currently working on the article. That’s only the first part of the research. It’s going to be a bigger article because we kind of just went down a rabbit hole of PMAA and characterizing it. We’re trying to publish it in the Journal of Polymer and Biopolymer Physics Chemistry. We will submit the manuscript by the end of summer 2023.

Are you going to continue with this research, or are you starting something new?

We’re done with this project and have wrapped everything up. This project has directed us into other endeavors, though. We are collaborating with Dr. WachterJurcsak in the Chemistry Department to do a chemical education experiment. I’m definitely continuing research until the day I graduate.

What are your post-graduation plans?

Professor D’Amelia is encouraging me to attend graduate school to earn a PhD in Chemistry. The more I think about it, that’s the route I’m probably going to take. I’m now working on finding graduate schools and trying to put together a list of schools that I will apply to in the fall.

It seems like you’re very excited about these research opportunities that have come your way.

As a society, we have all of these problems that can be solved in chemistry. I just want to be put on a team and fix problems. Here’s where I can contribute to society.

How has Dr. D’Amelia supported and taught you?

With all of his students, he tries to develop a sixth sense where, whether you’re in the classroom or in the lab, you just know which direction to go with the work. It’s really something that you can’t teach, but with practice and knowledge it becomes like intuition. That’s what he’s taught me to do. It’s something intangible.

Jennifer Wisnewski

MA, Sustainability, May 2023 • Hometown: New Hyde Park, New York

Project Title:

Green Public Procurement at Battery Park City Authority

Advisor: Dr. Jase Bernhardt

For the completion of her master’s in sustainability, Jennifer Wisnewski interned at Battery Park City Authority, located in lower Manhattan. As a sustainability intern, Wisnewski was tasked with developing a green purchasing guide. For such a guide, New York State has an executive order that lists recyclable specifications for commonly purchased items from New York State authorities and agencies, which she used to assess what the Battery Park maintenance team purchased most often. Wisnewski determined that toilet paper, hand soap, traffic cones, and gloves were the most purchased, and then reviewed what specifications were required by New York State. Using this information, she created a guide that lists what certifications the products may have. For example, eco-logo, UL-logo, or forestry-certified. This guide is now used by the purchasing team, as well as by the maintenance team, to ensure that they are purchasing more sustainable items. To fulfill her remaining class requirements, she researched how government entities on local, state, and federal levels can use green purchasing to enforce more sustainable buying throughout their constituents.

Wisnewski accepted a full-time position with Battery Park City Authority after the completion of her internship as a procurement associate working with the purchasing team. New York State just updated their guidelines, so she is in the process of reviewing that while utilizing and updating the guide she generated.

As far as the future of sustainability, Wisnewski noted Battery Park City released an action plan to continue their sustainability efforts. Furthermore, by 2030, New York State’s new vehicles must be electric, which is something the park is already looking into. Wisnewski’s ambition and interest has been ongoing. Prior to attending Hofstra, she graduated from Boston College and got a degree in environmental science before teaching for four years for Teach for America in New Orleans. Wisnewski started Hofstra’s master’s program part time while she was still teaching and moved to New York City when it was time to complete the internship. She finds beauty in the city and is passionate about the work she’s pursuing.

To fulfill her remaining class requirements, she researched how government entities on

local, state, and federal levels can use green purchasing to enforce more

sustainable buying throughout their constituents.

Andrew J. Canlé

EdD, Educational and Policy Leadership, May 2024

Hometown: Lynbrook, New York

2023 Provost Scholar Award

Project Title:

The Influence of a Game-Based Intervention on the Level or Quality of Students’ Classroom Participation

Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Natow

Andrew J. Canlé is a third-year doctoral student at Hofstra University in the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies doctoral program with advisor Rebecca Natow. Canlé is beginning the dissertation stage of his degree that “deals with the influence of a game-based intervention on the level or quality of students’ classroom participation.“ He believes that games designed to help grow a student’s social skills can simultaneously stimulate their participation in class. Canlé grew up attending the Valley Stream public school system in New York before deciding to continue his studies in education. He is currently an assistant principal in a K-6 building in the Central Islip School District, and aspires to continue his career in school administration.

As a side business, Canlé creates games to help students improve their social skills, which are imperative for the 21st century. The particular game that Canlé uses in his research is already employed in 97 school districts across the country. He utilizes customer service surveys to better advertise and change the game, if necessary.

For Canlé’s research, he considered the increase in digitization in K-12 education today. New technology brings many positives to the classroom, such as “personalized educational pathways on computer programs,” that cater to a specific student’s needs. However, this also provides for less opportunity for in-person interactions. Canlé is not anti-technology, but he thinks there needs to be a balance. “I think our students in K-12 today are growing up in a world with increasingly fewer opportunities for face-to-face interactions, but social skills are necessary to move forward in life.”

In Canlé’s initial pilot testing, he used fourth-grade integrated co-teaching (ICT) classrooms for the games and conducted interviews with the teachers to gather their thoughts and observations. The first theme he tested was “the more connected we feel, the more we are to

engage.” According to the teachers, after only two weeks (four sessions of the game), they noticed closer peer relationships. The teachers perceived that the students had less fear of peer ridicule, such as getting a wrong answer in front of the class. The students enjoyed the game and learned something new and useful for their lives because of it. They learned “collaboration, creativity, and communication” or “21st century skills,” as Canlé calls it. Since there is no curriculum specifically for the teaching of social skills, the teachers felt that the game was a great way for their students to explicitly learn those necessary skills.

The other piece of the initial testing was having as much support from administrators as possible to help teachers make the “game-based intervention a successful pedagogical tool,” says Canlé. The teachers in the study all agreed that their building administrators were a great help during the testing and were flexible as to when they could play the game with their students during the school day.

Canlé intends to expand his testing outside of the fourthgrade classroom to include one sixth-grade- and one ninth-grade classroom in a comparative study he plans on conducting this fall. Each classroom will be in the Central Islip school district and still in ICT environments. Canlé explains that the “reason for that is because we’re trying to see if there are any differences in the influence of the age groups.”

To spread the knowledge of his research and games, Canlé has spoken at several conferences, including the School Administrators of New York State (SAANYS) Conference in New York, and a few others in Boston. Canlé’s biggest dream is to take his games onto the television show Shark Tank and pitch it, although he thinks this is unlikely. What he wants most is for his games to “showcase that we need explicit interventions to build social skills today.” Canlé sells his games on his own website and on social media outlets like Instagram and TikTok.

Monica Schauss

EdD, Educational and Policy Leadership, May 2023

Hometown: Long Island, New York

Project Title:

The Power of Hope and Grit With First-Year STEM Students

Advisor: Dr. Chanapong Rojanaworarit

Describe what your research was about.

I looked at two concepts: grit and hope, and how that impacts academic success and persistence with first-year Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) students. Grit is defined by research psychologist Angela Duckworth as “passion and perseverance toward long-term goals.” Passion is being able to focus on that long-term goal, while perseverance is having the resiliency to keep going in the face of adversity or any obstacles that might arise. As defined by Charles Richard Snyder, “hope is thinking about the motivation, or the agency, required to achieve goals, as well as the physical pathways one can take to actually achieve the goals.”

My research investigated if there was a statistically significant relationship between grit and hope in a population of first-year STEM students. It also examined if grit and hope predict academic success as measured by a student’s GPA, as well as persistence in the academic domain. I surveyed 123 first-year STEM students between the ages of 18 and 20, who had different majors, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. One key finding, which was interesting, was that the students’ scores indicated academic success. For instance, 77.2% of them were deemed academically successful. I defined academic success as measured by their first-semester GPA. If students earned a 2.8 on a 4.0 scale, they were considered academically successful – and that was 95 out of 123 students.

Another result showed that 122 of the students persisted in studying a STEM major. I defined persistence as students who kept a major within the STEM field. Even if they had switched from biology in the fall to speech in the spring, I still deemed them as persistent since they remained within the STEM field. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do any analysis on persistence because a lot of the research shows that students who end up changing their major do so either later in their first year or early in their second year. Other key findings revealed that students in my study actually had high hope, which was really eye-opening. Also, students who had higher-hope levels had higher first-semester GPAs compared to their lower-hope peers. Higher-hope students had a first-semester GPA of 3.54, whereas their lower-hope peers had a GPA of 3.01. My data also revealed that students

who took my survey had statistically higher GPAs compared to the overall first-year population.

I completed Hofstra’s Higher Education Administration master’s degree in 2015, and began the doctoral program in 2018. Completing the doctoral program was a long five years. During that time, I really noticed the actions of my peers – whether they were leaving the major or field, or losing the dedication, grit, and rigor that they had devoted to their studies. This inspired me to incorporate grit into my dissertation topic.

Why do you think that is?

I can’t say for sure, but the majority of students who participated in my study were likely enrolled in introductory or lower-level courses.

What are some examples of the questions you used to measure grit and hope?

Grit and hope both have validated scales. Angela Duckworth created the grit scale and Rick Snyder created the hope scale. With the grit scale, one of the items is “new ideas and projects often distract me.” If that’s something that you scored higher on, you might not have as much grit. “I’m a hard worker” and “I finish whatever I begin” are the other scale items that revealed the persistence I was looking for to assess long-term goals. Items on the hope scale reflected problem responses and a positive outlook, such as “I can think of many ways to get out of a jam.”

What do you see for the future of this research?

I would love to continue to do research on this and discuss how colleges and universities can play a more intentional role in increasing students’ hope and grit levels. As an academic advisor, I often see students who come in and say they’re pre-med to start, but they failed their first bio exam and begin questioning their pursuits. So, what do they do in the face of adversity? Do they keep going and try to find a different pathway, utilizing that hope to overcome that obstacle, or do they just give up? Helping students find that motivation to keep going through challenging times is something universities can take a more active role in doing, and I’d like to be that catalyst for change.

LaSheanma Santiago

PhD, Learning and Teaching, May 2023 • Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Project Title:

Collective Teacher Efficacy and Teacher Evaluations: An Exploration of the Impact of the Teacher Evaluation Process on Collective Teacher Efficacy

Advisor: Dr. Judith Kaufman

What was your research focus and what did you do?

My mission was to research the relationship between teacher evaluations and collective teacher efficacy. I conducted a mixed-method study in two elementary schools in New York City that were notably high-performing schools in the Bronx. There were about 50 teachers and two administrators that participated by completing surveys and interviews detailing their beliefs around collective efficacy and teacher evaluations. Collective teacher efficacy is the belief that all teachers believe that they, as a whole, have the expertise and power to make an impact on their students. Therefore, I investigated the teachers’ beliefs regarding their impact on children’s education and how those teacher evaluations impact that belief. For the administrators, it was more about determining what they feel is impacting collective efficacy and the effect of their implementation of evaluations.

Why did you select schools that were high performing?

Well, I had originally intended to choose low-performing schools, but my advisor, Dr. Kaufman, pointed out that if we label them as low performing, we’d have to tell them that, and that could depress their collective efficacy. Another reason we selected high-performing schools was because I wanted to see if collective efficacy would still be high in spite of

their socioeconomic backgrounds, as there tends to be an association between school performance and socioeconomic status.

What were the significant findings of your study?

The most influential aspect of the evaluation process was the teachers’ understanding of the system itself, specifically their comprehension of the feedback process. I noticed that this reflected the interviews I had with the administrators, as they emphasized taking the time to explain evaluation rubrics, giving feedback, and implementing surveys suggested by the teachers themselves. Importantly, they created a system with the input of the teachers so that it truly benefited their professional development. Not only was formal feedback supported by the findings, but informal feedback was too. An example of this would be asking a colleague who may teach the same grade level or have the same length of experience for advice or input about a student. Teachers not only discussed feeling supported by their administrators, but also by their colleagues. Informal coaching and providing input when electing for new hires has positive effects on the culture as well. This all has a huge relation to trust. Building relationships with the teachers you spend time with inside and outside of school hours allows for more insight into evaluating others’ teaching styles and allowing oneself to be more relaxed in a feedback

environment. Understanding, respect, and confidence are very important for feedback.

What is your next step?

I will definitely be applying what I’ve learned to my role as a current assistant principal. I’ve already begun implementing intervisitations and plan to start weekly informal drop-ins with teachers to provide them with feedback and support in any way I can. I’m looking into continuing this research and presenting at a couple of upcoming conferences.

Who assisted you throughout the process?

My team was amazing and really motivated me throughout the process to keep going. I faced many challenges with pushback and lack of communication as I was trying to finish during COVID-19. My advisor, Dr. Judy Kaufman, was a rock star from the beginning. Throughout the time that I’ve known her, several life-changing events happened: pregnancy, marriage, and a new job (assistant principal position). During this time, Judy emailed me every now and then to check in, not push me to pursue my research, but being a genuine source of comfort and encouragement for me. After I felt as though I was in a good spot in life to finish my research, Judy supported and helped me find patience through the long process. Our hard work certainly paid off, and I couldn’t have done it without my support team.

Susan Turner Radin

EdD, Teaching and Learning, December 2022

Hometown: East Atlantic Beach, New York

Project Title:

Dance Impressions: The Power of Practice and Pedagogy on Adolescent Identity Formation

Advisor: Dr. Rosebud Elijah

Dr. Susan Radin was the recipient of the H. Alan Robinson Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award for the 2021-2022 academic year. Since she has danced her entire life and has been a dance educator for 25 years, Dr. Radin easily determined her dissertation topic: understanding how dance content and/or pedagogy influenced students’ identity construction and development.

Inspired by personal experiences and students’ anecdotal feedback, Dr. Radin conducted a case study on eight of her former students who participated in the dance program at a Title I public high school in a suburb outside of New York City between 2003 and 2021. Dr. Radin interviewed the participants twice, either in the studio or via Zoom, where they were shown a video of the studio to help situate them when they were asked to reflect on their experiences in dance. Participants shared descriptions and experiences of who they were before and after the program, with most citing how the content and pedagogy of the program helped them reach a deeper understanding of themselves as well as others. The supportive pedagogy also helped them realize their potential, increase their confidence and creativity, and strengthen their abilities.

Dance is oftentimes cast aside as an extracurricular activity that is only done for fun and viewed as an art form that does not hold educational value. This notion encouraged Dr. Radin to

conduct this research to showcase how dance education is essential to the well-being, health, development, identity, and education of adolescents. Other research conducted on dance education was limited to training techniques, negative pedagogies, sexual stereotypes, and body image concerns; therefore, Dr. Radin found it essential to go beyond the literature and formally identify how using holistic and feminist pedagogy can affect the development of adolescents.

Dr. Radin’s case study has now opened the door to research exploring various aspects of one’s identity, pedagogy styles, and components of dance education. She shared, “The findings related to the importance of a challenging and diverse curriculum, an inclusive and supportive culture, and exploratory pedagogy to adolescent development are intriguing and l ead me to believe that students in non-arts-related subjects could benefit from the inclusion of these elements.”

Dr. Rosebud Elijah from the Department of Teaching, Learning and Technology was Dr. Radin’s advisor. Dr. Radin recalls that Dr. Elijah challenged her to rethink all aspects of her work including her role in the study, the data, and her presentation of findings. She also commends Dr. Elijah’s “intelligence, dedication and kindness [that] helped me navigate the challenging dissertation process and reach the high standards

we both share.” Dr. Radin also recognizes Dr. Amy Catalano and Dr. Judith Kaufman from Hofstra University; Dr. Susan Koff from NYU; and Dr. Kathleen Kesson of Long Island University for their contributions to her research.

From her research, Dr. Radin would like the general public to understand the value that dance education holds and how dance programs should be offered in all public schools. The physical, cognitive, social, and emotional benefits that dance provides will be helpful to dancers and non-dancers. Using a holistic and feminist pedagogy is empowering to students as it creates a comfortable environment for them to explore their abilities and identity, which will support them as they navigate life.

Dr. Radin plans to continue to teach as a secondary dance educator and as a professor at Hofstra University. She also intends to continue her research in the field of dance and explore other areas of teaching and learning with a particular interest in “the learning that occurs during the creative process. I would also like to explore if and how holistic and feminist pedagogy contribute to learning in traditional ‘content’ areas.” In addition, Dr. Radin hopes to expand the number of dance programs in New York public schools, so that more students can benefit from the many aspects of dance.

Kevin Kuliner

BA, Digital Marketing

MS, Digital Marketing, May 2022 Hometown:

Syosset, New York

Raj Sujanani

BBA, Finance and Marketing

MS, Marketing, May 2024

Hometown:

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Project Title:

How Google Ads Impact Nonprofit’s Website Performances

Advisor: Dr. Li Huang

Describe what your study was about?

Kevin: We computed the Google nonprofit marketing immersion program. This is facilitated by Google and allows students to work with real nonprofit organizations to help them reach their business goals with the use of Google ads. Dr. Li Huang selected us for the project, as we were all top performers in her classes and did well on her simulation that walked us through running Google ads in a controlled environment. We were paired with an organization called the Mental Health Collective. They are an online-based Twitter space that’s used to facilitate mental health meetings with anybody who wants to join. The organization had a strong business objective in mind, but were struggling with their marketing.

At first we had a meeting with the Mental Health Collective to understand their business goals so that we could develop a business strategy. Aside from running the Google ads, we did a full-on restructuring of their marketing infrastructure by implementing a more analytic platform and redesigning their website to be more fueling and responsive for all devices. For one month, between April 9 and May 9, we ran the campaign. As for our results, 2,434 people saw our ad and 110 people clicked on it. This resulted in a highly competitive 4.5% click rate. The cost for clicks was $1.91, again very competitive. In total, we met 44 of our objectives. We were really tracking two things: people viewing the actual event pages to join these events and people who were looking through the ads on Twitter. Therefore, we were able to see how our campaign efforts affected viewers’ activity. We still maintain a strong relationship with the Mental Health Collective, and are continuing to build their website and market for their domain outside of our original project.

Raj: We all identified major issues and worked on those specifically. My main task was optimizing the landing page of the website by providing visual updates that made it more informative, easier to navigate, and user-friendly. We also implemented an email signup list that boosted communication by sending out newsletters and updates regarding upcoming events. This created more of a community feel, which is something they were previously lacking. As a result, we saw a significant increase in web traffic.

Kevin: People of all different backgrounds, with all different reasons, were visiting the site for the first time thanks to our efforts. We significantly helped the business just by improving the landing page itself and improving their Google ads.

Sophia Masciarelli

BA, English with a Creative Writing Concentration, May 2023

Hometown: Northbridge, Maine

Nile Love

BA, Marketing with Digital Marketing

Concentration, May 2024

Hometown: Wheatley Heights, New York

Sophia: Nile and I worked together to generate the headlines and descriptions for the responsive search ads. To do this, we sectioned our target audiences by age groups: 18-25, 26-44, and 45-65+

Nile: We also created positive and negative keywords to more accurately direct people to the Mental Health Collective if they were seeking services that the organization could provide. This focused their clientele and caused the click rates for May to remain significantly high. In one of our last meetings, we discussed our closing points. We advised them to change the name of their website to end in either .com or .org, which could help them too.

Alex: I was involved with strategy. Right now, I work in investment, but I have a passion for marketing and digital strategy. I was most involved in figuring out how to break down the ad groups and how to structure the overall campaign.

How did you get the Mental Health Collective as your client?

Kevin: We submitted our top three areas of interest that we wanted to work with, one of our picks being mental health. We were then directed by a Google algorithm to the Mental Health Collective. On the other end, the Mental Health Collective had already applied for the Google grant account. Whether or not they were granted student management, companies like the Mental Health Collective apply to get ad grant money so that every month they can get a certain amount to spend each day on Google ads.

Since this was a group effort, what would you say was the biggest challenge?

Kevin: The most challenging part was trying to find the time to meet to align ourselves with our strategies. With both graduate and undergraduate students, we have varying schedules. Nile and Sophia are student-athletes and Raj, Alex, and I have obligations outside of school too. Ultimately, we achieved results as a team through effective communication and dedication to the project.

How has this experience influenced your post-graduation plans?

Sophia: As a current job candidate, I’ve found that this program, and my experience with it, has been one of the main conversation topics during interviews. It’s a unique experience that has provided me with valuable marketing skills. This was my first time working with an actual company, so I’ve gained insight into the real world of business, which is contributing to my value as a candidate. Additionally, it’s helped me decide that I want to pursue a career in marketing.

Kevin: I currently do social media marketing for an agency based in Manhattan. I work on paid social media advertising on sites like Facebook and Pinterest. I hadn’t really worked with Google ads, so this project gave me valuable exposure to the protocol on the site. My familiarity with the synergy between paid social media and paid searching, as well as my work experience, helped me to communicate the importance and interplay of both to our client. As far as my future career, I now have credible success with not only paid ads but also paid searching.

FRANK G. ZARB

Alex Passaretti

BA, Communications Broadcast Journalism • MS, Marketing, May 2024

Hometown: Oceanside, New York

Raj: I was always familiar with the creative side of marketing, but this project illuminated the technical side. The research we did, such as looking into other companies and the past history of different keywords, inspired an appreciation for the analytics, tracking, and monitoring duties of marketing. I was fascinated by this method of troubleshooting and problem-solving, which are skills that I hope to enhance and continue to use throughout my career.

How did Professor Huang support you all as a team and with the project?

Kevin: Dr. Huang influenced all of us in tremendous ways. I’ve taken at least four of her classes, and she’s been an immense source of knowledge in class and throughout our career deliberations. She’s been an incredible mentor and has provided us with active learning simulations without having to worry about the risks of spending real money. Dr. Huang has essentially set us up for success.

Alex: Specifically with the project, Dr. Huang provided us with the perfect amount of direction. She encouraged us as a team to exercise creative freedom and develop our own strategy. In the beginning we had such little experience with Google ads and felt a little lost, but Dr. Huang helped structure our efforts enough for us to grow into our positions with confidence.

FRANK G. ZARB SCHOOL

HOFSTRA AT A GLANCE

LOCATION

Hempstead, Long Island, 25 miles east of New York City

Telephone: 516-463-6600

CHARACTER

A private, nonsectarian, coeducational university

PRESIDENT

Susan Poser, JD, PhD

COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS

Academic Health Sciences Center (Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell; Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies; School of Health Sciences); Frank G. Zarb School of Business; Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science; Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs; School of Education; School of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts; School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics); Stuart and Nancy Rabinowitz Honors College; The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication; Maurice A. Deane School of Law; Hofstra University Continuing Education

FACULTY

There are 1,281 faculty members, of whom 478 are full-time. Ninety-three percent of full-time faculty hold the highest degree in their fields.

STUDENT BODY

Undergraduate enrollment of 6,224. Total University enrollment, including graduate, School of Law, and School of Medicine, is 10,393. Undergraduate male-female ratio is 44-to-56.

PROGRAM OPTIONS

Bachelor’s degrees are offered in about 175 program options. Graduate degrees, including PhD, EdD, PsyD, AuD, JD, and MD, advanced certificates and professional diplomas, are offered in about 200 program options.

THE HOFSTRA CAMPUS

With 117 buildings and 244 acres, Hofstra is a member of the American Public Gardens Association.

LIBRARIES

The Hofstra libraries contain 600,000+ volumes and provide 24/7 online access to more than 200,000 full-text journals and 900,000 electronic books.

ACCESSIBILITY

Hofstra is 100% program accessible to persons with disabilities.

JANUARY AND SUMMER SESSIONS

Hofstra offers a January session and three summer sessions between May and August.

Nondiscrimination Policy

Hofstra University is committed to extending equal opportunity to all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental disability, marital or veteran status (characteristics collectively referred to as “Protected Characteristic”) in employment and in the conduct and operation of Hofstra University’s educational programs and activities, including admissions, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. This statement of nondiscrimination is in compliance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, the Age Discrimination Act, and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to nondiscrimination (“Equal Opportunity Laws”). The Equal Rights and Opportunity Officer is the University’s official responsible for coordinating its overall adherence to Equal Opportunity Laws. Questions or concerns regarding any of these laws, other aspects of Hofstra’s Nondiscrimination Policy, or regarding Title IX as it relates to reports against employees or other nonstudents, should be directed to the Equal Rights and Opportunity Officer, who also serves as the Title IX Officer for Employee Matters, at HumanResources@Hofstra.edu, 516-463-6859, 205 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549. Student-related questions or concerns regarding Title IX should be directed to the Title IX Officer for Student Issues at StudentTitleIX@Hofstra. edu, 516-463-5841, 127 Wellness & Campus Living Center, Hempstead, NY 11549. For additional contacts and related policies and resources, see hofstra.edu/eoe