Celebration of Scholarship and Research brings community closer

Biola’s CSR allows students and faculty to share their projects.

Biola’s second annual Celebration of Scholarship and Research took place in the library on April 16. Over 40 student and faculty researchers presented, encouraging the community to bond through projects. Participants enjoyed refreshments while discussing the importance of research.

AN EVENT FOR EVERYONE

Program coordinator for faculty advancement Karina Serrano says she hopes to create a safe environment for faculty, undergraduate and graduate students to openly discuss their work.

“This is a professional development tool for them,” Serrano said.

She seeks to prepare students for their professional life by allowing them to begin their careers within the walls of Biola.

“This is a friendly environment,” Serrano said. “We are all Biolans here.”

CSR also gives out scholarships to those in need in order to allow more researchers to present their work. Serrano explained that the Student Government Association, library, Office of Faculty Advancement and the Pew Younger Scholars all come together in order to aid students who seek financial support.  

POSTER SESSION

The presentation topics varied from engineering to social discussions, such as junior interdisciplinary studies major Emily Payton’s “The Church and the Queers: Forming and Re-forming Ideology” poster. Payton explained that she researched the way Christians approach issues like gender and sexuality by analyzing the tone and voice behind their work.

“I hope people can have more awareness of how the conversation is being had,” Payton said.

Associate professor of archeology and anthropology Paul Langenwalter shared his research on Robert Eccleston, a miner who migrated from New York to California, and his diaries from the Gold Rush era. Langenwalter shared that he started the project many years ago with some colleagues, though they passed away before they could finish studying Eccleston’s diary.

Langenwalter then created a new group made of undergraduate and graduate students, which set out to study the findings made on Eccleston’s diary and notes about the pictograph located on the “Great Medicine Rock.” The writings on this rock were about healing people, hence the name. According to Langenwalter, his findings regarding the pictograph, many other pictographs may be understood.

Langenwalter is researching more about the nature of the pictograph style in hopes of translating more archeological finds of its type.

Biola undergraduate students also took the time to do research benefiting the school. Sophomore engineering physics major Joshua Williams created a “Smart Garden,” which allows the Biola organic garden to be controlled through an Amazon Alexa. Williams’ system connected a Raspberry Pi, a simple and affordable programmable computer, to any device via Wi-Fi, allowing live updates to be seen or heard.

“Hopefully somebody else can be inspired by this,” Williams said.