Scholars and artists pursue summer research projects

Gretchen Bogan is painting her adult individuality against a southern family backdrop in her writing project, “Waveland, MS: A Novel.”

“I had known that I wanted to write this story for about two years now,” she said. “Last year, I wrote a skeleton of it as a short story for a fiction class taught by (faculty member) Barrett Bowlin, detailing the main characters and premise – although the medium I wanted to communicate it through has changed from screenplay to graphic novel to book and back again a number of times.”

Bogan is one of 24 students – and 23 from Harpur College – who received the 2017 Summer Scholars and Artists Fellowship. The �������� Undergraduate Research Center programs awards a $3,000 stipend to aid student projects and an additional $1,000 to the faculty mentor. The opportunity gives students the ability to expand their knowledge on topics they are passionate about.

Known to her friends as Bo, Bogan is a senior double-majoring in English creative writing and anthropology. Under the mentorship of Bowlin, she traveled to Mississippi to glean some firsthand information for the setting of her story.

“My project is a novel exploring racism and homophobia in a small town on the coast of Mississippi,” she said.

Bogan stressed how important it is to her that her novel is as genuine a portrayal of life there as possible.

“Fictional, the story centers around a young, interracial lesbian couple who have recently moved to the town,” she said. “Tensions within their relationship and within the town explode into conflict after the tragic murder of a popular teenage girl, highlighting that it was not just a single act of violence that ended her life, but the systems of marginalization and objectification affecting and perpetrated by the living characters as well.”

As Bogan explained the plot and deeper meaning of her novel further, she began to touch upon her personal connections to the text.

“My family is from the south – I have family, I think, in almost every southeastern state,” she said. “Growing up in New York, learning about the violence and discrimination in the south from an outside perspective, I struggled to combine my experience with my education. Now, as an adult, queer woman, I continue to struggle with my relationship with Mississippi.”

Bogan said she hopes writing the novel doesn’t only help her reflect on herself, but also acts as a mirror for other people in a similar situation, caught between two cultures.

“I know wonderful people there [in Mississippi] and it is a beautiful place, but I know that I am not entirely welcome—and if I were to move back to the south like my cousins have, I would struggle to belong,” she said. “I wanted to write this story to explore the complex dynamic, for those who call the south home even though they are othered by their communities.” �����

Jared Jaeger is so fascinated with ecological biology that he turned it into a Summer Scholar project called “Salt and Invasions: The Effect of Invasive Species and Salt on Further Invasions.”

“I looked at invasive plants to see if they can facilitate invasive amphibians,” he said. “Salt is a widespread benefactor with human impact on the ecosystem, which makes it easier for invasive species to invade the plants.”

Jaeger is a senior biology major with a concentration in evolution, ecology and behavior.

“I’ve been interested in biology for a long time and I enjoy working with animals so it just seemed to be my natural course,” he said.

Jaeger chose Jessica Hua, assistant professor of biological sciences, as his Summer Scholar mentor.

“I took Environmental Science 101 and asked my professor about research,” Jaeger recalled. “He suggested his wife, Professor Hua, who happened to also teach ecology.”

Jaeger spent the summer of 2016 helping in Hua’s lab.

“I worked with salt in a lab so I had background in that,” he said, “ (Hua) has knowledge of invasive species and amphibians and her husband is a plant ecologist, so we have a good system to work with.”

While he isn’t sure where we wants to go for graduate school just yet, Jaeger said he knows he wants to continue his work in research.

“Actually working in a lab last year made me much more interested,” he said. “I worked with plants, amphibians and aquatic ecosystems.”

Jaeger has some advice for those who would like to start their own research projects.

“Find a professor that’s interested in the same things you are and use that expertise to build off of until you can find something to do independently,” he said. ��Ⳣ

Timothy Morris spent his summer researching ants in the Nature Preserve.

“Ants are the little things that run the world,” he said.

Originally from South Salem, N.Y., Morris is a senior studying geological sciences and environmental studies. He worked with Kirsten Prior, an assistant professor of biological sciences, on his project, “The Ecological Implications of Ants as a Seed-Dispersing Vector.”

“While small, ants are extremely abundant and play key roles in terrestrial ecosystems, offering several ecosystem services,” Morris said. “One integral service ants provide is seen in their seed-dispersing abilities. Different species have different abilities of seed dispersal. That’s what my project about: how different ant species influence dispersal and plant communities.”

Morris discovered his interest in invasive species while doing an internship last year at the Bedford Audubon Society as a native-garden intern. His responsibilities included identifying plants, maintaining the garden and managing the non-native species.

“I did some ground work, going out and (helping) other people’s studies. That’s why I felt this time I can do something more in-depth, like design the whole project, collect the data and analyze it,” he said.

Morris spent eight weeks in the Nature Preserve and another campus site—Nuthatch Hollow—conducting a survey of ant species and “comparing the role that ant species play as seed-dispersers to help the ecosystem function in these forests.”

Though Morris is not sure what his post-graduation plans are, he said he is interested in being an environmental teacher at some point. Serving as a teaching assistant in an environmental science class gave him a lot of joy.

“I got the chance to teach people things I care about,” he said. “As environmental issues wind up affecting people, it is important to make sure people understand what is going on. And I feel if they know more about the nature, they will appreciate it more.” —T��

Zachary Ritter got in touch with his Irish heritage as a Summer Scholars and Artists Fellowship recipient.

“Being able to tap into those roots was a thrilling idea,” the senior music major said. “My dream is to someday join the ranks of composer/performers like Caroline Shaw, and it is my hope that this project will be a great step toward doing so.”

Ritter studied Sean-nós, a traditional Irish singing style, with critically acclaimed singer Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek. Additionally, he attended the Irish Arts and Culture Festival in the Catskills, where he was able to learn about all aspects of Irish music.

Sean-nós is a singing style focused on storytelling. The style has little or no vibrato, is highly ornamented, and is usually unaccompanied.

“It’s my hope that beyond becoming a more well-rounded musician that I can also bring Irish music more into the public eye ” Ritter said. “Around here, if I mention that I want to learn Sean-nós, there are not many people who know what that is. In my ideal world, that wouldn’t be the case.”

Ritter discovered his research topic while working with the Music Department, where he has found support from many of the professors there. Daniel Davis, an assistant professor of music, served as Ritter’s mentor on the Summer Scholar project.

“I would be hard-pressed to find a professor in my department that wasn’t influential in some way. The way that the major is constructed means that every class is an opportunity to expand my horizons as a musician,” Ritter said. “Whether I’m studying early music in music history or studying music from other cultures, everyone here has a love for music, and they love to share that enthusiasm with the students.”

Support for his music career also comes from off campus. Ritter learned to play guitar and piano at home, and picked up singing after his brother joined the choir at Vestal High School.

“One of my earliest memories was making a drum set out of bowls and pots and pans in my basement,” he said. “I chose to pursue music seriously after my sophomore year of college when I realized that music is the thing that really motivates me.”

After graduation, Ritter hopes to apply to master’s programs in music composition.

“There’s a lot of music out there,” he said. “The more I can get inside of new and different kinds of music, the more I think I can create or perform compelling music myself.” —W��