Every two weeks, Highlander Highlights shares with readers some of the extraordinary research and accomplishments happening on and off campus through the tireless work and curiosity of our students and faculty.
High school students have a BLAST at Radford STEM camp
Over four days in late July, rising high school freshmen and sophomores gained an abundance of knowledge in STEM-related fields at Radford University’s BLAST camp. They learned from Radford faculty, students and alumni about biology and chemistry, plants and animals, robots, cryptography and cybersecurity. They also had classes in medical laboratory science and built and launched rockets on the McConnell Library lawn. “Launching the rockets was pretty cool,” said rising high school freshman Annemarie of Blacksburg, Virginia.
The students topped off their half week on campus with a delicious ice cream made with liquid nitrogen made by Radford chemistry and biology faculty.
BLAST, an acronym for Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology, is a partnership between the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, the Commonwealth of Virginia and five partner universities, including Radford University. The program is funded by the Virginia General Assembly with the purpose of increasing the number of high school graduates who pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers by increasing students’ access to STEM enrichment experiences.
BLAST at Radford University provided 80 high school students with an opportunity over a four-day residential camp to experience a wide range of hands-on STEM learning experiences led by faculty in the Artis College of Science and Technology. It also gave the participants an early view of college campus life.
“I thought it would be an exciting opportunity to spend time in a college setting and help me prep for college and stuff I want to do in the future,” said Colin, one of the 78 BLAST camp participants. Colin said his favorite part of the experience was “learning about biology and bacteria and stuff like that. It was just fun to learn more about science.”
RUC biomedical students, faculty member have publications accepted to national conference and international journal
A manuscript written by biomedical science alumni Willow Lehrer ’23 and Anna Lewis ’22 with Assistant Professor of Biology Sara Houser has been accepted for publication in the international Journal of Water and Health.
“An Evaluation of a New Rapid qPCR Test for the Detection of 2019-Novel Coronavirus Nucleocapsid (N1) Gene in Wastewater in Roanoke and Salem, Virginia Sewersheds,” reports findings from the research from a collaborative project among Radford University Carilion, where Houser teaches in the biomedical science program, and Jayasimha Rao and Susan Tolliver of the Carilion Basic Sciences Lab, along with the Western Virginia Water Authority and funded by the Virginia Department of Health.
In addition, Houser has co-authored a paper with a small group of RUC alumni that has been accepted to the national conference of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The project, “A Pilot Study Utilizing Wastewater-Based Epidemiology to Determine Presence of Gram-Negative Enterobacterial Targets in Southwest Virginia Sewersheds,” will be presented at the conference in Los Angeles in October by Rao.
RUC alumni who worked with Houser on the project include Lehrer, Kathleen Linsenman, Troy Stallard, Lauren Luther, Kaylin Young and Rachel L. Rogers.
Creating inclusive opportunities in social studies classrooms
Darren Minarik, an associate professor in the Radford University School of Teacher Education and Leadership (STEL), is co-editor of the new book “Creating an Inclusive Social Studies Classroom for Exceptional Learners.”
The book “serves as a comprehensive reference guide for K-12 educators and university-based social studies methods instructors and special education instructors wanting to create more inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities in the general education curriculum,” said Minarik and his co-editor Timothy Lintner, a professor at the University of South Carolina Aiken.
Minarik co-authored three of the book’s chapters, one with Lintner, “The Social Studies Classroom: Advocating for Inclusive Education,” and two with Janis A. Bulgren, “Addressing the Learning Needs of Students with Disabilities Through Effective Questioning” and “Supporting Inclusion with Higher Order Thinking and Reasoning.”
STEL faculty members Melissa Lisanti, Elizabeth Altieri and Karen Douglas also wrote a chapter titled “Inclusive Social Studies Through Collaboration and Co-Teaching.”
“Creating an Inclusive Social Studies Classroom for Exceptional Learners” helps readers, Minarik and Lintner explained, “explore how social studies provides an opportunity to create more inclusion for students with disabilities, how to create an inclusive learning environment through best practices in collaborating and planning and how to help students with disabilities gain access to social studies content and achieve higher levels of understanding.”
Increasing accessibility to Appalachian studies
A new textbook, “Accessible Appalachia, An Open-Access Introduction to Appalachian Studies,” features a chapter co-written by Radford University Sustainability Manager Aysha Bodenhamer. The chapter, “"Black Lung: A Continuing Struggle for Coal Miners,” is a collaboration between Bodenhamer and Bennett Judkins, a writer and professor at Lee University who had previously researched black lung in the 1970s. The duo collaborated on the written piece that is now featured in “Accessible Appalachia” after Judkins discovered Bodenhamer’s current research examining black lung.
As a faculty member in the Department of Sociology in 2019-20, Bodenhamer worked on the research with then-undergraduate student Cody Meador. “We traveled to two black lung clinics in Vansant and St. Charles run by Stone Mountain Health Services to interview coal miners with black lung,” said Bodenhamer, who received a grant from the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences to conduct the research.
“Accessible Appalachia” is a collection of original scholarship covering Appalachian artistic, cultural, historical, natural and social development. The textbook is free and has open access to all interested readers.
Taking Stratified Policing north of the border
Co-directors of the Center for Police Practice, Policy and Research and criminal justice professors Roberto and Rachel Santos have partnered with Chief Mark Crowell, Deputy Chief Jen Davis and the Waterloo Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada, as they implement Stratified Policing – a business model for proactive crime reduction the professors developed. This ongoing collaboration includes three phases: an agency readiness evaluation, extensive training and continuous support and guidance for operationalizing crime analysis, problem-solving and accountability. Stratified Policing has been implemented throughout the United States and internationally. “Its goal,” Roberto Santos said, “is to create organizational change that incorporates evidence-based strategies as part of police service to the community to reduce crime and victimization more effectively.”
Retired faculty member granted professor emeritus status
Retired faculty member Eric Du Plessis has been granted professor emeritus status by the university. Du Plessis taught French language and literature in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature and writing in the Department of English from 1980 to 2024.
Criteria for emeritus status include a minimum of 10 years of service to Radford University, evidence of effective teaching and significant professional contributions. The privileges and responsibilities attached to emeritus status include the use of McConnell Library, a university computer account, the use of athletics facilities available to the university’s current faculty, a Radford University ID card and special events discounts and attendance at university functions that are open to all current faculty.