Granting Possibility

Granting Possibility

Ohio Wesleyan Awards $67,200 in Fall Semester OWU Connection Funding for Hands-On Learning

DELAWARE, Ohio- Ohio Wesleyan University is awarding $67,200 in OWU Connection grants this fall to enable students to study brain development, explore first-generation college student experiences in the Czech Republic and the United States, participate in veterinary service-learning in Panama, and more.

The university awards multiple rounds of Theory-to-Practice Grantseach academic year to support its signature academic experience, the OWU Connection. All students complete at least one OWU Connection experience before they graduate that requires them to Think Big (complete undergraduate research), Do Good (participate in community-engaged learning, including student leadership), Go Global (complete off-campus study), or Get Real (explore their future careers through meaningful internships and externships).

Those earning fall 2025 grants and their OWU Connection projects are:

• "Investigating the effect of stress," submitted by senior Sharvi Arora of Jammu, India, with co-applicants senior Jan Kubacek of Liberec, Czechia, and junior Emily Holt of Grove City, Ohio, and with faculty member Chelsea Vadnie, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology. From January through April, they will investigate how adolescent stress affects the brain using a mouse model. "Adolescence is a critical stage of brain development, when stress can cause long-lasting changes in emotional regulation and mental health," Arora said in the grant application. "Understanding how stress alters brain chemistry may reveal mechanisms underlying anxiety and depression."
• "First-Gen Students and Socioeconomic Transitions: Comparing Countries," submitted by faculty member Paul Dean, Ph.D., professor of sociology and social justice, with co-applicants Brad Pulcini, Ph.D., dean of student services, and sophomore Keira Russell of Newark, Ohio. All the first in their families to attend college, they will travel to the Czech Republic for 10 days in May with three additional first-generation (FG) college students, still to be identified. The group will collaborate with academic partners at the University of Ostrava. "Together," Dean said in the grant application, "we will explore social mobility, factors that facilitate and impede mobility, worker transitions, class identity, and reflect on the experiences of FG students across different contexts. It builds upon our previous (grant-funded learning) with FG students and is designed to merge personal reflection with academic research and close mentoring."
• "Floating Doctors: The Intersection of Veterinary Medicine, Zoology, and Environmental Science," submitted by junior Izzy Fry of Dublin, Ohio, in collaboration with junior Jocelyn Inderhees of Lawrenceburg, Indiana. During a three-week veterinary service-learning project in Bocas del Toro, Panama, they will participate in the Floating Doctors program in collaboration with World Veterinary Services. For three weeks in May and June, they will assist with spay/neuter clinics, routine treatments, and emergency care for a range of species. "This experience offers us exposure to hands-on work with international veterinary professionals, working with finite resources, in a tropical climate, with indigenous communities, bringing together our coursework from across disciplines," Fry and Inderhees shared in their grant application. Faculty member John Krygier, Ph.D., professor of environment and sustainability, will assist them in analyzing and sharing their experience.
• "Comparison of North America's Introduced Wall Lizards to Native Populations in Italy and France," submitted by Eric Gangloff, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences, with co-applicants senior Brittney Parks of Syracuse, New York; junior Tyler Williard of Ravenna, Ohio; and junior Brooklyn Upp of Columbus, Ohio. They will use their OWU Connection grant funds to travel to the two European countries for three weeks in June and July. "The overall goals of this project are to evaluate differences in the traits between the introduced and native common wall lizards and the environments in North America and Taormina, Italy," Gangloff said in the grant application. "The data collected in this project can be used to study evolution in the context of invasion biology."
• "Mozart and the Midwest: A Comparison of Children's Access to Third Places in Vienna, Austria, and Delaware, Ohio," submitted by senior Abigail Kallay of Painesville, Ohio, with co-applicant and faculty member, Bona Kang, Ph.D., assistant professor of education. For eight days in May, they will investigate third places in the Hietzing district of Vienna, Austria, and create a list of characteristics and map places by type. (In this context, "third places" are locations other than home (first place) or school (second place) where youths are able to develop a sense of community.) When they return, they will compare their findings with research into third places previously conducted in Delaware. They will use the information to benefit OWU's teacher education program and propel discussions about the resources available to future students.
• "A Multi-Facility Study of AI Performance in Textile Sorting," submitted by student Aninditha Nair of Dombivli, India. "As a computer science and data analytics student at Ohio Wesleyan University, I have learned to approach sustainability as both a technical and ethical problem," writes Nair, who will work on her grant-funded research from January through March. "My coursework in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and statistics has shown me how computational tools can identify inefficiencies in large systems. ... By photographing more than 1,000 garments across three U.S. recycling facilities representing different climate zones, I aim to build a dataset that reflects how heat, humidity, and sunlight affect fabric degradation. This data will support the creation of machine learning models that classify fabric type and detect defects with 80 to 95% accuracy, allowing recycling operations to route materials efficiently and reduce dependence on unsafe manual labor abroad."
• "Researching Traditional Chorotega and Costa Rican Ceramics through Hands-On Exploration," submitted by junior Julia Ryan of Westerville, Ohio. "A central component of this project will be the available engagement with experienced artisans, gallery curators, non-profit leaders, and other individuals working in the ceramics field," Ryan said in the grant application. "I will be learning methods of clay gathering and processes, hand-coiling, ceramic wheel throwing, modeling, and natural glazing techniques. This will be further explored in the Chorotega ceramic traditional methods, with local clays gathered from the mountains mixed with freshwater iguana sand, local mineral-based paints, specific wheel and hand building techniques, and firing methods." A capstone of Ryan's nine days in Costa Rica will be an exhibition of ceramics and photographs tied to the Central American experience.
• "Land Use Land Cover Change Research in Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica," submitted by senior Pacey Schtucka of Wadsworth, Ohio, and Nathan Rowley, Ph.D., associate professor of environment and sustainability. They will travel to the Central American community for a week in March to further Rowley's ongoing land use land cover (LULC) change research. They will use drones to explore ecotourism-related changes to the land. "As ecotourism is an important economic factor to the community, it is important to protect and study the natural resources in the area, but it is also important for the locals to protect the environment that they live in," Schtucka stated in the grant application. She also outlined the skills developed at Ohio Wesleyan that will aid her in the project: "During my time at OWU, I have taken numerous courses related to this topic, am actively participating in a GIS (geographic information system) internship and remote sensing independent study with Dr. Rowley," Schtucka stated. "During the fall 2025 semester, I am working as the GIS intern for the Franklin County Auditor's Office. For my internship, I work extensively with GIS to update the city's remote-sensed data so that it can be published to the public."

After students complete their OWU Connection experiences, they prepare reports and make presentations based on their objectives and experiences to share their learning and inspire others. Learn more at owu.edu/connection.

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.