Summer projects, GVSU style: See how faculty and student researchers made an impact

PHOTOS BY KENDRA STANLEY-MILLS AND CORY MORSE

There may be fewer students on campus during the summer, but impactful research still abounds. Researchers from a variety of disciplines were busy asking questions, collecting data, gathering input and experiences from people and more deeply understanding our world.

The result is research that enhances GVSU's reach into our communities and beyond, while providing invaluable experiential learning for students.

Here is a sampling of the work GVSU faculty and student researchers conducted over the summer.

A GVSU centerpiece: An annual summer of discovery

When it comes to summer research, nothing is more quintessentially Grand Valley than the Summer Scholars program. Each year, dozens of undergraduate and graduate students engage in academic exploration and data analysis while working closely with faculty members.

That emphasis on student research scholarship and creative activity in collaboration with dedicated faculty members focused on student success is what makes a GVSU learning experience distinctive.

A person poses with buildings in the background.

Two people stand next to a modified wheelchair.

A black and white photo of onlooking audience members.

Lending expertise on managing Kent County deer population

Kent County leads the state in car-deer collisions, creating a significant safety and property damage toll for residents, municipalities and agencies. That is a key reason why GVSU faculty and student researchers have been helping public officials with a holistic analysis of the county's large deer population to help find data-driven management solutions.

Those efforts include surveying and tracking the deer population numbers as well as soliciting input from residents.

Black and white image of a deer illuminated by a beam of light while standing in a yard at night.

Black and white photo of a person shining a flashlight out of the passenger side window.

A person's eyes seen in the rearview mirror, illuminated by red light.

A close-up view from the inside of a car, showing two people driving at night.

A fawn curls up on the side of the road beside a green hedge at night, illuminated by a beam of light.

A person stands in front of buildings and trees with their arms crossed.

Analyzing effects of salt runoff

Researchers from the Annis Water Resources Institute fanned out to 50 West Michigan lakes over the summer to measure salt levels.

The effort stemmed from concerns over increased use of road salt and how it impacts waterways and organisms in the water.

Aerial view of people with life vests and supplies sitting in a boat on a lake.

Three individuals stand in shallow water while hold the side of a boat filled with research supplies.

A close-up view of several minnow fish swimming above sand.

A turtle sits on the grass nearby a lake as two people and a boat are seen in the background.

A person sitting at the end of a boat lowers a rope into the water.

Three people wearing life vests sit on a boat, with one lowering a rope into the water.

Aerial view of a group of people sitting in a boat on the lake. Clouds are reflected off the water's surface.

Empowering future environmentalists

GVSU faculty member Becky Williams has incorporated into her classes insight from her research on sustainability educators to help "impart critical hope" for students studying the environmental field so they can feel empowered to carry on the important work.

She then works with students to act locally by introducing them to settings ranging from landfills to agricultural projects to food systems.

A person smiles while standing in a field of brightly covered flowers.

Students in Becky Williams's class researched GVSU food systems, including a tour of Laker Food Co. dining locations.

A person wearing an apron holds a pan as flames come from it.

Helping a threatened species by better understanding a key predator

Raccoons are a natural predator of turtles, but an out-of-balance ecosystem has led to an overpopulation of raccoons. That environment has created deep survival challenges for a rare turtle species, the wood turtle.

In the Manistee National Forest, GVSU is leading efforts to stabilize the turtle population by tracking both turtles and raccoons to provide more insight on the particular threat that raccoons present to the animals.

A black and white photo of multiple hands hold a wood turtle.

A person in outdoor gear stands in a forest holding a radio telemetry receiver. Tall trees and a bright sky fill the background.

A wood turtle with a transmitter attached to it's shell is held up during a bright day.

Measuring forces on a submerged cantilever

Persistence was paramount for engineering graduate student Jeremy Watkins, who first had to build a 180-gallon water tank before carrying out his independent study research calculating forces on a beam in the tank.

Ultimately, the data from these tests could be used for harvesting energy from ocean waves or calculating the thrust of underwater vehicles.

A person's face illuminated by light, gazes upwards. In the foreground, a box filled with blue light shows the person's reflection.

A person's eye is seen behind the top of a water tank's equipment.

Monitoring an invasive species in forests

A special disc designed by a student on Charlyn Partridge's research team to help capture airborne environmental DNA is a critical component of learning more about the hemlock woolly agelgid.

The stakes are high for this study, as the pest, left unchecked, could potentially devastate Michigan's eastern hemlock population. That would, in turn, dramatically change the ecosystem.

A person stands in a forest's shade, with a bright leafy background.

A hand reaches out to touch the leaves of a plant.

Two people stand in a forest focused on equipment. A tree branch in the foreground frames them.

Two people reach out touching a tree's leaves as they gaze upwards at it.

A close-up view of a person wearing latex gloves focusing on equipment.

A close-up view of a phone being held showing hemlock leaves.

A person stands off to the side observing a dead hemlock tree.

A person smiles as they look upwards while a person in the foreground talks.

Giving veterans a voice

After seeing the challenges her brother, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, faced as he transitioned to civilian life, Melissa Villarreal decided to study more deeply the issues combat veterans face.

Villarreal, a social work faculty member, has worked with graduate research assistant Nicholas Stevenson to hear veterans' experiences with medical and mental health conditions that resulted from combat along with the transition to civilian life.