Students in the Teacher-Scholar Program make an impact in their academic field, surrounding community, and the faculty they work alongside. Don't just take our word for it, read below to see what the students' mentors have had to say about some of the students they have worked with!
2023-2024

Owen Norton

Participated in Fall 2023

Mentor: Dr. Ronald Morris

Department of History

Created the video "The Hands on America's RVs", hosted on the NEH funded web page “The Democratization of the Automobile Industry: Construction, Culture, and Preservation”

Owen Norton worked with Dr. Ronald V. Morris, in the Teacher-Scholar Program, in the fall of 2023. In the process he connected his interests and talents to produce a video on the RV industry in Indiana. He interviewed sources, gathered information, and compiled a story board that guided his exploration of the positives and negatives of working in the industry. He shared this at the BSU Student History Conference, the BSU Student Symposium, and the Special Projects Showcase. Its permanent home is on the NEH funded workshop.

Brandon Bender

Participated in Fall 2023

Mentor: Dr. Jordan Froese

Department of Chemistry

Co-authored a manuscript that has been peer-reviewed and is currently under revision (as of May 2024)

Dr. Froese writes: “Brandon joined our laboratory in the Fall of 2023. Brandon was trained in a wide variety of techniques that are crucial to the research in our laboratory, but eventually was tasked with the computational analysis of protein structures that had been developed through enzyme engineering in our lab. Brandon excelled in this work, and his efforts made a significant contribution to a manuscript that will be published in the near future."

Aidan Davis 

Participated in Fall 2023

Mentor: Dr. Bryan Essien

Department of Biology

Aidan was appointed as the new student representative on the Ball State University Board of Trustees. (Fall 2025)

My time at Ball State has been full of opportunities and meeting faculty who want me to succeed. My first experience with this was through the Teacher-Scholar Program with Dr. Bryan Essien. Dr. Essien was my freshman year ANAT 201 professor. He took note of my grades early on and asked to meet with me regarding his microbiology research. I accepted Dr. Essien’s invitation not knowing that it would be a catalyst to my success at Ball State. He advised me to apply to the Teacher-Scholar Program and get back with him once accepted. The Teacher-Scholar Program allowed me to build a foundation of academic skills that would not have been possible otherwise. I spent four semesters in Dr. Essien’s lab, and he offered me an anatomy teaching assistant job during this time. Over the course of those four semesters, this program and these skills were brought up in all my interviews for various jobs and positions. The interviews for my new research lab with Dr. Rayat, my job as a patient care/mobility technician, and my position on the Board of Trustees for Ball State all asked about this experience. The Teacher-Scholar Program paved the way for my time here at Ball State and is an experience I recommend to all.

Peyton Gillespie

Participated in Spring 2024

Mentor: Dr. Indigo Koslicki

Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology

Presented a poster and a paper at the Midwest Association of Criminal Justice and received their competitive travel scholarship. See her research highlighted by the College of Sceinces and Humanities.

Dr. Indigo Koslicki writes: “I worked with Peyton Gillespie as a Teacher Scholar student in the Spring 2024 semester. Not only did she present a poster at the Spring 2024 Student Symposium, but she went on to present a poster and a paper at our regional conference (Midwest Association of Criminal Justice) and she received their competitive travel scholarship (and was the only undergraduate student to do so). Due to her research, she was awarded the CJC Department Research Award for both the academic years of 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. We currently have a paper under review at Policing: An International Journal.”

Daniel O'Dell

Participated in Spring 2024

Mentor: Dr. Jordan Froese

Department of Chemistry

Co-authored a manuscript that has been published in a scientific journal.

Daniel participated in the Teacher-Scholar Program in the spring of 2024, and continued his work in our lab in the fall of 2024, spring of 2025, and through summer 2025 as part of the chemistry department’s CRISP program.

Upon joining our laboratory as a freshman through the Teacher-Scholar program, Daniel was trained in a wide variety of techniques and processes that are necessary for pursuing primary research in enzyme engineering. Daniel quickly began applying these techniques and contributing to our research program, carrying out a variety of essential tasks in our lab including mutagenesis, bacterial culturing under sterile conditions, enzyme assays, and data processing among many others. Daniel’s work contributed to the engineering of improved enzyme catalysts, and the elucidation of potentially generalizable strategies for successful enzyme engineering. Daniel has been recognized for these valuable contributions, serving as a co-author on a recently published manuscript. After completing his time in the Teacher-Scholar program, Daniel has continued his work in our laboratory, and he continues to push our research program forward with his curiosity and his dedication to discovery.

Katie Lehman

Participated in Summer 2024

Mentor: Dr. Eric (VJ) Rubenstein

Department of Biology

Co-authored a manuscript that has been published in a scientific journal. 

Katie Lehman’s work as a Teacher-Scholar Program participant resulted in co-authorship of the attached paper (Akoto et al., 2025). Katie contributed significantly to Figure 4 of this paper. This paper was selected as a highlighted article in the spring newsletter for the American Society for Cell Biology! Katie has continued to work in Dr. Rubenstein’s lab after the Teacher-Scholar Program, has presented her work at the Student Symposium, and has been awarded the Pepsi Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor Grant in summer 2025.

Alicia Van Duyn

Participated in Fall 2022

Mentor: Dr. Dan Nardi

Department of Psychological Science

Published as a single author a manuscript in an Undergraduate Research Journal.

Dr. Nardi writes: "Alicia Van Duyn did the Teacher-Scholar Program with me in Fall 2022, her first semester in college. She studied how perception of distance between people is affected by wearing a face-mask. After the program, she received a Pathways Undergraduate Research Fellowship and continued working on different projects. She presented her work at 5 conferences and published as a single author in the Undergraduate Research Journal Psyche an article titled “Mindfulness as a Buffer to Social Media Anxiety”. In the meantime, Alicia made the Dean’s list, received the Department of Psychological Science Senior of the Year Award, and was recognized as a Ball State University Top 50 Student. After only two years of college, she graduated Summa Cum Laude and was admitted to the Clinical Psychology Master’s Program at Ball State."

Makenna Poindexter 

Participated in Fall 2021

Mentor: Dr. Alexander Kaufman
Honors College

Edited a rare nineteenth-century pantomime which was presented at the NCHC Convention and published in the Robbins Digital Library.

Dr. Alex Kaufman writes, "Makenna transcribed and edited a rare nineteenth-century pantomime: Robin Hood; or, The Forester's Fate!, which was authored by F. C. Burnand. She also wrote all of the textual and explanatory notes for readers. She composed an author's biography, too.

Makenna disseminated her research and scholarship in two ways. First, she presented her work at the NCHC Convention in Dallas in November 2022 in a referred poster presentation session.

Second, her publication of the edited pantomime and the author's biography was published in The Robin Hood Project and also The Camelot Project, which are part of The Robbins Digital Library of the University of Rochester."

 

Griffin Hamilton 

Participated in Summer 2022

Mentor: Dr. Jennifer DeSilva
Department of History

Small Group Category Winner
StoryMaps Contest, Ball State GIS Day 2022

Dr. DeSilva writes, "Griffin used his historical skills to explore the development of a national discussion about morphine and cocaine, which contextualized accounts of addiction, illegal sales, and arrests in Muncie in the Gilded Age and Progressive Eras. By investigating the gendered narratives and racialization of drug use, Griffin's work helps us better understand how Muncie newspapers used Cocaine Alley to reinforce harmful stereotypes. Griffin's work in crafting narratives out of primary sources and situating Muncie within the current historiography, reveals how local history can uncover the deep roots of a continuing problem."

 

Taylor Bias 

Participated in Spring 2022

Mentor: Dr. Mary Konkle    
Department of Chemistry

American Chemical Society Scholarship Recipient

Dr. Mary Konkle writes “I am pleased to share the news that Taylor Bias has been selected to become a Scholar in the American Chemical Society’s Scholars Program. Taylor was selected as one of 130 scholarship recipients nationwide this year. To learn more, the link to the program is below. I am sure that her participation in the Teacher-Scholars Program helped to make her application competitive as a freshman. Taylor will be continuing research in our lab this summer with funding from the IN LSAMP Program. Taylor is a 21st Century Scholar and student in the Honors College.” 

 

Morgan Thatcher 

Participated in Spring 2022

Mentor: Dr. Matt Moore
Department of Social Work

Coauthored a manuscript based on work in the Teacher-Scholar program

Dr. Matt Moore writes “Morgan engaged with faculty members from the University of Southern California and Kean University. She also engaged with Mission 89, which is an international non-profit focused on sport trafficking. With the help of these mentors, Morgan had an article accepted in the Sport Social Work Journal.”

 

Matthew Cooper, Mason Sharon, Grace Guthrie, and Felix Goetschius-Adams

Participated Spring 2022

Mentor: Dr. Andy Waldron

Department of Theatre and Dance

Co-authored a published article on the research process and initial findings of the LGBTQ+ Theatre for Youth

Dr. Waldron writes, “The research team helped design a research study examining queer representation in LGBTQ+ Theatre for Youth.  Matthew and Mason collaborated with faculty on systematically locating material for review, and on a spreadsheet to track the findings. The team also started the article by objectively describing the research process and highlighting significant findings.  Grace and Felix continued the project in the summer.  They documented their analysis process, expanded the search into the online New Play Exchange, created a new analysis tool, and contributed their perspectives to the article. Each student also each read, analyzed, and documented 15-25 plays. These Teacher Scholar students highlight how the work begins with one team and builds over time by others’ contributions."  

Jordan Olson 

Participated in Fall 2020

Mentor: Dr. Gregory Rocheleau
Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology

Co-authored a manuscript based on the work performed during participation in the Teacher-Scholar program.

Dr. Rocheleau writes. "Jordan collaborated with two faculty members in the CJC Department on a research project examining if marital status and relationship quality affect how people cope with experiencing strains from victimization. This culminated an article recently published in Criminology and Criminal Justice, a peer-reviewed journal. She contributed to the article by helping to develop the topic, reviewing prior scholarship, and writing the initial draft of the literature review."