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Faculty Research & Scholarship

Here you can read about research projects that Dordt faculty are engaging in.

Female professor looking at chemicals

Ayee, Dr. Manuela A.A.

Acquisition of a High-Performance Computing Cluster for Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching

National Science Foundation

Dr. Nathan Tintle, Dr. Joshua Zhu, Dr. Channon Visscher, and Dr. Nick Breems, Co-PIs

This project will significantly impact research and teaching at Dordt University by funding the acquisition of a new High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster. The cutting-edge resources offered by this computing cluster will benefit a diverse group of users, including Dordt faculty and students in both STEM and non-STEM disciplines. We anticipate that exposure to the intensive research training opportunities afforded by the new HPC cluster will inspire faculty and students to further pursue interdisciplinary research projects that harness the unique power of high-performing computing.

Retention of Undergraduates in STEM: Reducing Barriers to Success in Mathematics, Engineering, and Computer Science

National Science Foundation, Course Release

Dr. Ethan Brue, Dr. Valorie Zonnefeld, Dr. Nathan Tintle, and Dr. Kari Sanduoka, Co-PIs

This project will contribute - through scholarships - to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need.

American Institute of Chemical Engineers Conference Chair

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to serve as Chair of the Minority Affairs Committee and two technical sessions at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers to be held in Phoenix, AZ, November 13-18, 2022.

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Smiling lady

Bailey, Dr. Justin

In All Things Podcast Development

Course release to develop and produce the In All Things Podcast, a podcast that hosts conversations about living creatively in God’s created world by engaging in conversation with diverse voices across a wide range of traditions, places, and times.

Center for Pastor Theologians – St. Anselm’s Fellowship Cohort Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Augustine’s Theology of Pastoral Humility” at the Center for Pastor Theologians – St. Anselm’s Fellowship Cohort to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, October 3-5, 2022.

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A smiling man

Benjamin, Nate

AMS Fall Western Sectional Meeting Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Schurian Association Schemes Induced by the Unitary Group Acting on Isotropic Vectors” at the AMS Fall Western Sectional Meeting to be held at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, October 22-23, 2022.

Nate Benjamin
A picture of Nate Benjamin

Boer, Tara

A Kielstra Center Project Grant for EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Training, April 21 - December 31, 2022.

Tara Boer
A picture of Tara Boer

Bomgaars, Deb

Raising Awareness of a Genetic Mutation in Persons with a Frisian Background

Kielstra Center Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor, 2022-23 academic year.

Deb Bomgaars
A picture of Deb Bomgaars

Breems, Nick

ASA 2022 Pre-conference workshop on Ethical AI Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Programmer Responsibility for Artificial Agents: Maintaining a Meaningful Connection across Time and Space” at the ASA 2022 Preconference workshop on Ethical AI to be held in San Diego, Point Loma Nazarene University, July 29-August 1, 2022.

Nick Breems
A picture of Nick Breems

Brue, Ethan

Christian Engineering Conference & American Society of Engineering Education National Conference Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Reading the Technological Threads of the Biblical Story” at the Christian Engineering Conference and American Society of Engineering Education National Conference to be held in St. Paul & Minneapolis, MN, June 26-July 1, 2022.

Ethan Brue
A picture of Ethan Brue

Clark, Dr. Tom

Building Capacity & Quality in Statistics, Data Science, and Actuarial Science

Course release for investing time into content, pedagogical, and perspectival training in Statistics, Data Science, and Actuarial Science to better serve students in those program

A Kielstra Center Project Grant for Capacity Building for Actuarial Science, August-December 2022.

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Smiling man

Culpepper, Dr. Scott

The American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Freedom and Religion in the United States” at The American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting to be held in Denver, Colorado, November 19-22, 2022.

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Smiling man in suit and tie

De Smith, Bob

Northern Plains Conference on Early British Literature Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Donne's Double Conclusion to his Holy Sonnets" at the Northern Plains Conference on Early British Literature to be held at Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN, April 14-15, 2023.

A picture of Bob De Smith

Fictorie, Carl

American Scientific Affiliation 2022 Annual Conference Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “The Periodic Table as a Psalm of Praise” at the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) 2022 Annual Conference to be held at Point Loma University, San Diego, CA, July 29-August 1, 2022.

Carl Fictorie
A picture of Carl Fictorie

Helming, Luralyn

Lilly Foundation Faculty Fellow

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A picture of Luralyn Helming

Hollinger, Joshua

A Kielstra Center Project Grant for a project entitled “Understanding Determinants of Teacher Skill Improvement,” November 2022-2024.

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A picture of Joshua Hollinger

Jelsma, Tony

2022 Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation Presentation

A Kielstra Center Project Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Possible Role of Own Body Perception in Gender Dysphoria” at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation to be held at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, CA, July 29-August 1, 2022.

Raising Awareness of a Genetic Mutation in Persons with a Frisian Background

Kielstra Center Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor, 2022-23 academic year

Tony Jelsma
A picture of Tony Jelsma

Koerner, Laurel

Gilchrist Foundation Microgrant

$5,000 to support a theatre workshop and guest performance by esteemed actor and Dordt alumnus Jason Vande Brake in the Spring 2023 production of Henrik Isben’s, A Doll’s House.

Theater Project

Course Release for Staging a Doll's House with Guest Artist, Jason Vande Brake, to be held March 2023.
A Visiting Scholar's award to collaborate with alumnus & guest artist, Jason Vande Brake in a production of "A Doll's House" December 2022-March 2023.

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A picture of Laurel Koerner

Moser, David

Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Thomistic Christology in Girolamo Zanchi’s De incamatione” at the Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting to be held in Denver, CO, November 15-17, 2022.

A picture of David Moser

Mouw, Leah

A Kielstra Center Project Grant to provide an incentive to Dordt students to complete a survey on Increased Anxiety in College Students, October 15, 2022-October 30, 2023.

Leah Mouw
A picture of Leah Mouw

Mulder, Dr. David

Book Project – Education Textbook

Course release to write a new textbook to be used in Introduction to Education at Dordt University.

Association for Educational Communications and Technology International Convention Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Digital Florilegium: A HighTech Twist on an Ancient Reading Practice” at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology International Convention to be held in Las Vegas, NV, October 24-28, 2022.

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Smiling man

Olson, Dr. Erin

North American Association of Christians in Social Work Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “The Challenges of Being a Professor/Mother: Voices of Mothers in the Academy” at the North American Association of Christians in Social Work to be held in Oak Brooke, IL October 27-30, 2022.

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A smiling woman with short curly hair

Perigo, Jeremy

International Council for Evangelical Theological Education Consultation Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to lead worship at the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education Consultation to be held in Ephesus, Turkey, November 14-18, 2022.

Society for Christian Scholarship in Music Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Never Stop Working:” Singing the American Work Ethic to the God Who Rests” at the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music, to be held at Duke University, Durham, NC, March 2-4, 2023.

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A smiling dark-haired man with glasses and a scruff

Platter, David

Studio Project

Course release for studio research & production: new body of work, with additional Kielstra Center Project Grant funding.

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Rose, Dr. Onsby

International Society for Research and Promotion of Wind Band Music Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant present an academic paper entitled “Symphony No. 10 by David Maslanka with Matthew Maslanka: Commissioning, Composition, Performance and Analysis” at the International Society for Research and Promotion of Wind Band Music to be held in Valencia, Spain, July 13-18, 2022.

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A smiling man wearing tuxedo, white bowtie, and no-framed glasses

Schaap, Howard

A Kielstra Center Project Grant to attend the Glen Workshop to be held at UNC in Ashville, NC, July 23-30, 2022.

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Smiling man with brown eyes and sparse goatee

Shim, Jay

A Kielstra Center Project Grant for travel funds to Kumi University, Uganda December 20, 2022-January 4, 2023.

A picture of Jay Shim

Stiemsma, Shaun

Book Project

Course release to conduct research related to development of student scholarly experiences and a book manuscript with an additional Kielstra Center Travel Grant funding.

A Kielstra Center Project Grant to attend the NEH Seminar: Printing and the Book to be held at Ohio State University, July 4-29, 2022.

Shaun Stiemsma
A view of the front signage at Dordt's 7th Street entrance

Thompson, John

Book Project

Course Release for publication of a book entitled "Christian Perspectives on Social Justice."

John Thompson
The outside of the De Yager Student Activity Center

Van Beek, Dr. Leendert

Annual Conference of Dutch-Language Instructors in North America Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Ice Breakers: Conversation Starters in the Dutch-Language Classroom” at the Annual Conference of Dutch-Language Instructors in North America to be held at Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI, October 20-21, 2022.

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Man with closed-mouth smile and thinning white and grey goatee

Vander Werff, Justin

American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference & Christian Engineering Conference Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Is there such a thing as a Christian approach to productivity” at the American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference (Minneapolis, MN, June 26-29, 2022) & Christian Engineering Conference (Roseville, MN, June 29-July 1, 2022).

Justin Vander Werff
A picture of Justin Vander Werff

VanTol, Dr. Kathleen

Faculty Scholar Program

Course Release for Spanish for Educational Leadership.

A Kielstra Center Project Grant (with collaboration from the Andreas Center and Dean for Curriculum and Instruction) for ABA techniques in Special Education, September-December 2022.

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Smiling woman with short, wavy hair

Visscher, Channon

Lilly Foundation Faculty Fellow

Cloudy Zwei Con Presentation

A Kielstra Center Presentation Grant to present an academic paper entitled “Cloud Equilibrium in Substellar Atmospheres” at the Cloudy Zwei Con to be held in Bavaria, Germany, January 22-27, 2023.

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A picture of Channon Visscher

Wynja, Melanie

A Kielstra Center Project Grant to attend the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) Conference 2023: A Standard of Excellence to be held in Orlando, FL, January 21-25, 2023.

Melanie Wynja
A picture of Melanie Wynja

Zhu, Dr. Joshua

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycosylated and sulfated CCR5 N-terminal peptide library

National Institutes of Health, Kielstra Center Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor, 2022-23 academic year
This project will enable research on the N-terminal peptide of CCR5, which play important roles in CCR5-involved biological pathways such as immunological responses and cancers. Further study of these pathways is currently hindered by a lack of access to sulfated and glycosylated N-terminal peptides of CCR5 (CCR5- SGNTPs) due to diversified modification patterns, instability, and complex sugar structures.

We will develop and test an efficient chemoenzymatic approach for the synthesis of a library of CCR5-
SGNTPs which can serve as critical tools for biological studies.

A smiling man with short, dark hair

Zonnefeld, Dr. Valorie

Noyce Scholars: Preparing STEM Teachers to Serve in High-Need, Rural School Districts

National Science Foundation – Robert Noyce Scholarship Program - $1,200,000
Dr. Tom Clark, Dr. Jason Wyenberg, and Dr. Ryan Zonnefeld, Co-PIs
This project seeks to help Dordt recruit, prepare, and retain highly-qualified STEM teachers to teach in high-need rural school districts.

External Grant Administration

Course Release to continue to administer the Noyce Scholarship grant.

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