A total of eight Hope College students have received Bultman Summer Research Awards from the college to conduct research at Hope in the natural and applied sciences this summer.

The students being honored with the awards are Joseph Adamson, Derek Blok, Erica Budge, Kyle Falk, Matthew Johnson, Samantha Pahls, Caitlin Ploch and Christine Springer.

Presented by the division of natural and applied sciences, the awards provide stipends to conduct summer research at the college collaboratively with members of the faculty for 10 weeks.  A recipient was named for each department within the division.

Previously known as the Summer Research Awards of the Dean for the Natural and Applied Sciences, the awards have been renamed in honor of President James Bultman, who is retiring at the end of the current school year.

Considerations for the $3,900 awards include interest in science, promise of research and scientific accomplishment, academic standing and departmental endorsement.  The recipients are also eligible for a subsidy for summer housing on campus.

The eight competitively selected recipients are among more than 140 students who will be conducting research at the college this summer supported from endowed funds at the college as well as through external grants received by Hope and individual faculty members.  The students will include Hope students, students from other colleges and universities, and high school students; area high school teachers are also among the researchers.  More than 40 Hope faculty in the natural and applied sciences division will be engaged in research this summer.

Adamson is a sophomore from Battle Creek and will be conducting research in biology in an interdisciplinary project with mathematics.  He will be working on “Insect development in a changing climate” with Dr. Airat Bekmetjev, associate professor of mathematics; Dr. Aaron Putzke, assistant professor of biology; and Dr. Brian Yurk, assistant professor of mathematics.

Blok is a junior from Schoolcraft and will be conducting research in engineering.  He will be working on the research project “Electrical Stimulation of Sensation” with Dr. Katharine Polasek, assistant professor of engineering.

Budge is a junior from Portage and will be conducting research in mathematics.  She will be working on the research project “Lights Out and Related Puzzles on Graphs” with Dr. Darin Stephenson, professor of mathematics.

Falk is a junior from Hoffman Estates, Ill., and will be conducting research in the geological and environmental sciences.  He will be working on the research project “Environmental Chemistry” with Dr. Graham Peaslee, who is the Elmer E. Hartgerink Professor of Chemistry and chairperson of the department, and is also a professor of geology/environmental science.

Johnson is a sophomore from White Lake and will be conducting research in computer science.  He will be working on the research project “SES: Develop a Marketing App for Hope that Uses QR Codes” with Dr. Michael Jipping, professor of computer science and chairperson of the department.

Pahls is a junior from Sturgis and will be conducting research in chemistry.  She will be working on the research project “Activation of Carbon-Carbon Bonds” with Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, assistant professor of chemistry and Towsley Research Scholar.

Ploch is a sophomore from Redford and will be conducting research in physics.  She will be working on the research project “Microwave Superconductivity” with Dr. Stephen Remillard, assistant professor of physics.

Springer is a junior from Ann Arbor and will be conducting research in nursing.  She will be working on the research project “Uncertainty in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease” with Donna Garrett, assistant professor of nursing.