Hope College
AC-9: Academic Research

Brian Bodenbender, Geological and Environmental Science Department Steve Bouma-Prediger, Religion Department, Environmental Studies Tom Bultman, Biology Greg Murray, Biology Jianhua Li, Biology Roger Nemeth, Sociology Kathy Winnett-Murray, Biology Stephen Scogin, Assistant Professor of Biology and Education Cathy Mader, Physics (Director of the Day 1 Program) Aaron Best, Biology and Brent Krueger, Chemistry, Sara Brokus, Chelsea Payne & Randy Wade (Watershed Day One Team) Paul Pearson, Yew Meng Koh and Brian Yurk (Great Lakes Team Day One) Michelle Gibbs, Director of Holland-Hope College Sustainability Institute Susan Ipri Brown, Director, Center for Exploratory Learning and Instructor, Engineering Jonathan Peterson, Geology and Environmental Science Julie Kipp, Women’s and Gender Studies Joanne Stewart, Chemistry Lauren Janes, Assistant Professor of History Sonja Trent-Brown, Associate Professor of Psychology Suzanne DeVries-Zimmerman, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences Jennifer Hampton, Hope College associate physics professor David Van Wylen, Dean of Natural and Applied Sciences Greg Pavlok, Visiting Assistant Professor of Engineering Edward Hansen, Geological and Environmental Science Department Jill Vanderstoep, Mathematics Marty Jordan, Political Science Paul De Young, Physics and Engineering Kara Slater, Director of Physical Plant Greg Maybury, Director of Operations and Chief Sustainability Officer

Worked with the Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Office for Research and Scholarship to identify all faculty currently involved in such research.

Aaron Best (Chemistry Department) his working on research about our local watershed and is an integral part of "Project Clarity"--a region-wide collaborative effort to clean up Lake Macatawa, the Black River, and its tributaries. http://macatawaclarity.org/ Kathy Winnett-Murray (Biology Dept.) has for many years been doing research on local bird populations, especially songbirds. Steven Bouma-Prediger, Professor of Religion, is working on a book on ecological virtue ethics. Stephen Scogin and STREAM School - The Scogin Science Education Research Lab completed a second year of research with Hamilton Community Schools’ middle school STREAM program. STREAM is a project-based learning program combining content standards in multiple subjects with outdoor education. Specifically, the Scogin Lab investigated how returning STREAM students transitioned from seventh to eighth grade as the program expanded from one grade level to two. In addition, research continued from last year on the challenges and successes of the program from student perspectives. In addition to qualitative interviews and observations, pre-post quantitative surveys were administered to determine how students’ attitudes changed over the course of the year in regard to mathematics, science, 21st century skills, and engineering/technology. This research contributes to the integrated STEM education knowledge base and to conversations about practical implementation and facilitation strategies associated with innovative programming in K-12 contexts. Stephen Scogin and Michelle Gibbs are also working together on a student research project involving DOE energy assessments at the campus cottages (housing owned by Hope College) and student behavior. The cottage assessment process included the collection of data related to the physical structure, heating system, cooling system, and hot water system in each cottage. From these data, a Home Energy Score was generated for each cottage. In addition to this score, researchers were provided with data related to square footage, energy usage, water usage, occupancy levels, and year of construction of many cottages. The researchers then created surveys to evaluate the behaviors of the students living in the cottages.

The Stories of Hope website, is not specifically focused on sustainability research, but it highlights research and projects conducted by faculty and staff. https://blogs.hope.edu/stories-of-hope/ The Day One Program allows students to plug in to hands-on research projects and solve real-world problems in laboratories and in the field, right from day one. http://www.hope.edu/academics/day1/ Creating a website that houses research specific to sustainability is one of the 2016-2017 goals for the Holland-Hope College Sustainability Institute (HHCSI). The HHCSI also publishes information about research on it's "In the News" website. https://blogs.hope.edu/sustainability-institute/in-the-news/