Research at Andrews

What is research? What is creative scholarship? In a university that is home to specialists in a variety of fields, “research” and “creative scholarship” can mean different things. But they have one thing in common: hard work. The research projects in this brochure represent hours and hours that faculty and students have spent coding tests, analyzing surveys, conducting focus groups, directing operas, visiting libraries, and performing experiments.

For Charles Reid, an Andrews’ professor of voice and artist-in-residence, creative scholarship is directing the St. Matthew Passion or producing his podcast, “This Opera Life.” Not to mention researching his role in an historical opera or working on staging for an oratorio.

Special education professor Luana Greulich has been working on a Response to Intervention (RtI) project with colleagues from across North America. She has examined the effectiveness of a dynamic RtI model, which enables children who are not responding to standard instruction to receive the level of intervention that they need.

Biologist Benjamin Navia has found his research niche in examining the auditory system of house crickets. He is able to expose a female cricket to the sound of a male cricket chirping, isolate the auditory neuron, and track the action potentials.

Architecture librarian Kathy Demsky travels to Northern Italy every summer to lead the Waldensian tour. In addition to her active research on Waldensian history, she also maintains the vast Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) collection housed on the Andrews campus.

Duane McBride, David Sedlacek, Wendy Thompson, Alina Baltazar, Gary Hopkins and others on their interdisciplinary research team have conducted an extensive study on pastoral stress among North American pastors and their families. The results of their study have implications for pastors and their churches around the world. Using the data they collected, they are preparing recommendations for the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.

Chemistry professors David Randall and Ryan Hayes have documented the usefulness of spectroscopy in upper-division chemistry courses. Students in their classes who learn how to operate a spectrometer experience firsthand how scientists discover the composition of a substance.

Joel Raveloharimisy, director of the Community & International Development Program, has researched the use of contraceptives in Madagascar in an effort to understand how couples in collectivistic communities make decisions.

Perhaps Leona Running (1916–2014) best exemplifies the dedication to research here at Andrews University. Leona began her career as a professor of biblical languages in 1956, the first woman faculty member of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. Although she retired in 1981, she continued writing and editing until a few weeks before her death. We dedicate this brochure to her and to all our faculty members who demonstrate the same spirit of excitement for continuous learning through research and creative scholarship.

Sincerely,

Gary W. Burdick
Associate Dean of Research, School of Graduate Studies & Research