Saints Showcase Their Research in Spain

Siena Saints are offered excellent opportunities to collaborate with their professors on original research and project development. The latest success story is the presentation at an international conference of two separate papers on trauma-informed learning.

Jami Cotler, Ph.D., professor of computer science, attended the annual International Conference on Higher Education Advances HEAd '26, held June 15-18 in Valencia, Spain, where she and Trenton "TJ" Mychack '26, G'27, presented on "Knowledge Translation for Interdisciplinary STEM Learning: A Trauma-Informed UX Collaboration in a War Context."

The pair collaborated on the research with Dmitry Burshteyn, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Siena, Svitlana Kuzmina of the education department at Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University in Ukraine, and Donnie Mysliwiec '25, G'27, Maxim Kril '25, and Jeremy Bult '26. They designed a teacher-facing resource that uses repeated interdisciplinary knowledge translation to help instructors support students impacted by war trauma.

"It's inspiring for myself and for Siena students to be part of such a thoughtful and globally engaged academic community," said Cotler. "Opportunities like this are so important for sharing research, building international connections, and creating meaningful collaborations across institutions and borders."

HEAd'26 brought together more than 250 researchers and practitioners from over 50 countries to explore research results related to the methodologies, the preparation of students, and the organization of educational systems.

"Having the opportunity to meet people from around the world in a setting where education is the focal point was an opportunity I'll never forget," said Mychack. "Meeting people who were so open to helping with the project we have spent two years working on made me proud of all the hard work that my peers and I put into this project. It really showed how close to our hearts these issues are no matter where we come from."

Cotler and Burshteyn presented a second paper at HEAd'26 based on collaboration between Siena and Vinnytsia. "Development of Trauma-Informed Digital Educational Tools for Children in Ukraine: An Exploratory Evaluation of a Cross-Cultural Collaborative Project." The data analysis and paper writing were led by Meghan Bullock '25.

"It is incredible how impactful collaboration can be when individuals are allowed the opportunity to share their personal experiences and abilities with one another, and I hope it inspires other researchers as well," said Bullock. "Working on this project under the mentorship of Professors Cotler and Burshteyn was what made the research and my time at Siena so special." "Watching students grow into confident researchers and professionals is one of the most rewarding parts of being an educator," said Cotler. "Their work is an excellent example of the impact undergraduate research can have."