Faculty Accomplishments

Publications (Books/Articles)

Richard A. Barrett, Assistant Professor of Political Science

A Higher Understanding of Freedom, https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/a-higher-understanding-of-freedom-2019-08-27    Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College

Ryan Bezy, Professor of Psychology

Ryan Bezy co-authored and published an article in the Journal of Bacteriology titled “DrpB (YedR) is a non-essential cell division protein in Escherichia coli.”  This paper included three MMU undergraduate students that contributed work towards this manuscript as authors as well.

Babor, Ariel L. Anwar, Ryan P. Bezy, Evan W. Piette, S.J. Ryan Arends, Ute Müh, Monica R. Steffen, Jeremy M. Cline, David N. Stanek, Steven D. Lister, Shauna M. Swanson and David S. Weiss. (2020) DrpB (YedR) is a non-essential cell division protein in Escherichia coli. Journal of Bacteriology. 202:23, e00284-20.

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work

Dirks, A. (2018). The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Children and Families. Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Disorders, 2(1). pp 9-11.

Dirks, A. (2017). Treatment for the Suicidal Adolescent: A Critical Analysis of the Cognitive-Behavioral Approach. Acta Psychopathologica, 3(4). pp. 38-41.  

Joe Nguyen, Professor of Chemistry; Kristopher Keuseman, Professor of Chemistry; & Johnathon Humston, Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Nguyen, J. G. and Keuseman, K. J. “Chemistry in the Kitchen Labs at Home.” J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 3042-3047.

Nguyen, J. G., Keuseman, K. J., Humston, J. J. “Minimize Online Cheating for Online Assessments Through COVID-19 Pandemic.” J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 3429-3435.

Lacey Ritter, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Ritter, Lacey J., Taylor Hilliard, and David Knox. 2023. “‘Lovesick:’ Mental Health and Romantic Relationships among College Students.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20(1), 641. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010641

Ritu Shandilya, Associate Professor of Computer and Data Science

Shandilya, Ritu, Sharma, S. and Wong, J., 2022. MATURE-Health: Health Recommender System for MAndatory FeaTURE Choices. Computers in Biology and Medicine, (Under Submission), Elsevier.

Shandilya, Ritu, Sharma, S. and Wong, J., 2022. MATURE-Food: Food Recommender System for MAndatory FeaTURE Choices A system for enabling Digital Health. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 2(2), p.100090, Elsevier.

Sharma, S., Shandilya, Ritu, Kim, K., Mandal, D., Tim, U.S. and Wong, J., 2022. eFeed-Hungers 2.0: Pervasive computing, sustainable feeding to purge global hunger. Sustainable Computing: Informatics and Systems, 35, p.100694, Elsevier.

Sharma, S.K., Shandilya, Ritu and Sharma, S., 2022. Predicting Indian Supreme Court Judgments, Decisions, or Appeals - eLegalls Court Decision Predictor (eLegPredict). Statute Law Review, Oxford University Press, UK.

Shandilya, Ritu, Sharma, S. and Wong, J., 2020, July. MATURE: Recommender System for MAndatory FeaTURE Choices. In 2020 IEEE 33rd International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems (CBMS) 29-32. IEEE

Belkis Suarez, Associate Professor of Spanish

“Micro-espacios disidentes: Venezuela en el film Pelo malo.” In As faces do conflito sociopolítico: reflexão pluridisciplinar sobre a sociedade contemporânea,” Edição de CICS_NOVA (IPLeiria); ESECS/IPLeiria (Portugal). Forthcoming Spring 2019.

Jaclynn Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Sullivan, J.V., Potvin, J.M. & Christman, S.D. (2018). Mere Ownership of memory: Motor manipulation during encoding affects memory for words. Cognitive Processing, 1-6. doi:10.1007/s10339-018-0806-y

Sullivan, J.V. & Christman, S.D. (Revision submitted November 2020). Embodiment of Others Impacts Learning.

Sullivan, J.V. & Mason, A. (Re-Submitted April 2021). Embodiment and Athletic Stereotype Threat.

Sullivan, J.V. The Impact of Outdoor Curriculum on Student Mental Health and Academic Performance. (Submitted May 2021).

Robert Todd, Associate Professor of Mathematics

Micha Chrisman and Robert G. Todd. "Relating virtual knot invariants to links in S^3." New York Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 24 (2018), 630–660.

Bernstein, Neil P., Todd, Robert G. et. al. "Morphometric Models of Growth in Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata) as Related to Growth Rings." Chelonian Conservation and Biology 17.2 (2018): 197-205.

Puniya B., Todd, Robert G., Mohammed A., Brown D., Barberis M., Helikar T. (2018) “A mechanistic computational model reveals that plasticity of CD4+ T cell differentiation is a function of cytokine composition and dosage”.  Frontiers in Physiology 9, 462.

Mary Vermillion, Professor of English

Dr. Mary Vermillion’s lyric essay, “Mixed Bag,” was accepted for publication in Survive and Thrive: A Journal for the Medical Humanities and Narrative Medicine.

Anna Waterman, Professor of Biology

In press Waterman, A.J., C. Detry, M. Diniz, C. Neves, A. Martins, J. M Arnaud, D. W. Peate. Investigating the economic integration of coastal and interior settlements in Late Prehistoric Portugal: New Isotopic Data from Vila Nova de São Pedro. In: Papers from the Vila Nova de São Pedro Congress -1971-2021: fifty years of research on the Chalcolithic in the Peninsular West.

Waterman, A.J. Traveling up hill and down dale: using isotopic studies of human and animal mobility in Chalcolithic Portugal to investigate intraregional patterns of social and economic relationships in late prehistory. In: T.D. Price (ed). Isotopic Proveniencing and Mobility. The Current State of Research.

Waterman, A.J., B. S. Kendall, C. E. Haury-Artz, A. D. Somerville D. W. Peate. Stable and radiogenic isotope analysis of faunal remains from a western Iowa Oneota Complex site: an investigation of diet and mobility variation in the Late Prehistoric period of the upper Midwest. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology. 46(3): 223-254

Paper Presentations (National Conferences)

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work

Dirks, April (2018). “LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum for the social work classroom and the college campus” workshop presented March 15, 2018, at the 2018 BPD Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The workshop was presented to professional social work educators and practitioners from around the nation interested in implementing LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum into their schools and practice locations.

Dirks, April. (2021, June). “Child Abuse/Neglect: Evidence Based Treatment”. Virtual Webinar

Dirks, April. (2020, June). “Immigration and Sexual Abuse: Protecting Undocumented Children”. Virtual Webinar Presentation/Workshop. Presented for the Continued.com LLC providing Social Workers CEU’s for licensure. Workshop available for training at Continued.com.

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work & Jaclynn Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Dirks, April & Sullivan, Jaclynn. (2021, March). “Trauma-Informed Care, Resilience, and Neuroscience”. Presentation/training presented to social work agencies, individuals in clinical practice, and to social work students for social work month.

Paula Ganzeveld, Assistant Professor of Education

Ganzeveld, P. and Smith, L. (April 2019). Just Getting Answers Is Not Enough: Interventions to Create Mathematical Thinkers.  Workshop presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Convention, San Diego CA.

Bryan Gatzke, Assistant Professor of Exercise Science

Bryan Gatzke attended the virtual Periodization Conference from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Joe Nguyen, Professor of Chemistry

Nguyen, J. G. “Science fun nights and CheMMUsical Show.” Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. Abstract accepted March 31, 2020. Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education was terminated on April 2, 2020, by the Executive Committee of the Division of Chemical Education, American Chemical Society; and, therefore, this presentation could not be given as intended.

Joe Nguyen, Professor of Chemistry & Kristopher Keuseman, Professor of Chemistry

Nguyen, J. G.; Keuseman, K. J. “Chemistry in the kitchen as an online course.” Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. Abstract accepted March 31, 2020. Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education was terminated on April 2, 2020, by the Executive Committee of the Division of Chemical Education, American Chemical Society; and, therefore, this presentation could not be given as intended.

Edy Parsons, Professor of History

Edy Parsons - paper titled Changing the image of Chinese in Hollywood films: The role of China’s film market was accepted to be presented at the 2021 Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association.

Eyad Said, Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Robert Todd, Professor of Mathematics

Hajij, Mustafa; Said, Eyad; Todd, Robert. Generalized K-mean for Graph Partition Using PageRank, Computer Graphics & Visual Computing Conference 2020. Earned The David Duce Prize: Best Short Paper

Lisa Smith, Assistant Professor of Education

Ganzeveld, P. and Smith, L. (April 2019). Just Getting Answers Is Not Enough: Interventions to Create Mathematical Thinkers.  Workshop presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Convention, San Diego CA.

Jaclynn Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Sullivan, J.V. (November 2018). Nature is Calling and I Might Go: How Outdoor Activity Impacts Generation Z College Students' Academic Performance. Poster Presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA. 

Sullivan, J.V., Christman, S.D. (May 2018). Handedness in Musicians: Inconsistent-handers are More Likely to Play an Instrument than Consistent-handers. Posters presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA. 

Sullivan, J.V. (May 2018). Remembering What We're Shown: Embodied Cognition's Role in Comprehension. Poster presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA. 

Sullivan, J.V. (April 2018) Movement of Online Instructor Impacts Memory. Poster presented at the annual meeting of Midwest Psychological Associate; Chicago, IL.

(November, 2020). Online and doing it wrong: The impact of presentation style on learning in an online lecture. Poster presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Convention (Online).

Elliott, A.* & Sullivan, J.V. (April, 2021). Long Distance Learning: Recall and Recognition with Video and PowerPoint Conditions. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Dunkel, A.* & Sullivan, J.V. (April, 2021). The Impact of Nature- Based Curriculum on College Students Mental Health. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Sullivan, J.V. (Submitted May, 2021). Predicting Students' Post Pandemic Preferences Using Need for Cognition and Academic Locus of Control. Poster submitted to the 2021 Psychonomic Society Annual Convention

Anna Waterman, Professor of Biology

Waterman, A.J. C. Detry, M. Diniz, C. Neves, A. Martins, J. M Arnaud, D. W. Peate. From hinterlands to the sea:​ using isotopic data to understand mobility ​and economic integration ​between coastal and interior settlements in late prehistoric Portugal​. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, New Orleans, LA, January 5 – 8, 2023.

Waterman, A.J. From hinterlands to the sea:​ using isotopic data to understand mobility ​and economic integration ​between coastal and interior settlements in late prehistoric Portugal​. Lecture given for the Archaeological Institute of America Iowa Society local lecture series. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. October 20th, 2022.

Waterman, A.J., J. Beck, C. Quinn, H. I. Ciugudean, and PeateD. W.  Tracing human and animal migration in Bronze Age Romania: a preliminary analysis using87Sr/86Sr ratios from Apuseni Mountains sites in southwestern Transylvania. Poster presented at the 87th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Chicago, Illinois. March 31st-April 3rd, 2022.

Paper Presentations (International Conferences)

Christopher DeVault, Professor of English

Dr. Christopher DeVault was invited to present the lecture “’A Tryin Thirstay Mourning’: Impossible Mourning in Finnegans Wake,” at the 2019 Trieste Joyce Summer School in Trieste, Italy, in June 2019.

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work

Invited to be a speaker at the 14th World Congress on Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Conference (July 2018 in Vancouver Canada). The theme of the conference was “Challenges Encountered in Psychiatry and Mental Illness” and the planning board had an interest in my recent publication titled “Treatment for the Suicidal Adolescent: A Critical Analysis of the Cognitive-Behavioral Approach”.

Invited to present a workshop titled “Trauma-Informed Care & Domestic Violence: Treatment for Survivors of Assault” to be presented at the XXXVIth International Congress on Law and Mental Health in Rome, Italy in 2019.

Belkis Suarez, Associate Professor of Spanish

“Los límites de la revolución bolivariana en el film Pelo malo.” Conferência Internacional de Ciências Sociais e Humanas. Leira, Portugal, July 2018.

“Cuerpo y género: Reflejo de la vulnerabilidad en el cine venezolano del siglo XXI.” Latin American Studies Association (LASA), Barcelona, España, June 2018.

Anna Waterman, Professor of Biology

Waterman, A.J.C. Detry, M. Diniz, C. Neves, A. Martins, J. M Arnaud, D. W. Peate. Investigating the economic integration of coastal and interior settlements in Late Prehistoric Portugal: New Isotopic Data from Vila Nova de São Pedro. Paper presented at the Vila Nova de São Pedro Congress -1971-2021: fifty years of research on the Chalcolithic in the Peninsular West. Lisbon, Portugal. November 22 - November 23.

Waterman, A.J. “Finding Biological Markers of Mobility in Late Prehistoric populations of the Iberian Peninsula: A Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Approach.” Encounters with our past: Seminars in Prehistory and related disciplines. University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. Public Lecture Series. May 22, 2021.

Waterman, A.J., A. Figueiredo, J. T. Thomas, R.H. Tykot and D.W. Peate. Isotopic evidence of diet and mobility from the Chalcolithic burials of the Antas of Rego da Murta (Alvaiázere, Portugal). Paper presented at the Archaeological Heritage from Prehistory to the Classic Period, in the municipality of Alvaiázere Seminar. January 22, 2021.

Guest Lectures

Dennis Dew, Professor of Psychology

Dr. Dennis Dew was on a panel discussion at MPA entitled Using Behavioral Science to Minimize Obstacles to Effective Learning with 4 other professors from smaller Midwest private colleges. 

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work

Invited to be a panelist and share knowledge of the effects of opioid use on families and children for a panel discussion held at Mount Mercy University titled “Opioid Abuse in Linn County”. The panel discussion was open to the public, practitioners, students, and faculty and took place on April 4, 2018.

Presented summer scholarship work on "Domestic Violence and Trauma-Informed Care" at the Annual Scholars Day event sponsored by CITL on September 28th, 2018.

Co-presented to two cohorts of the sophomore nursing students on the topic “Nursing and LGBTQ” with Dr. Jen Lee. Date of the workshops was December 3rd, 2018.

Co-presented the official Safe Zone training for Mount Mercy University titled “Safe Zone Training I” and “Safe Zone Training II” with Dr. Jen Lee and Erin Broich of Campus Ministry. Multiple campus trainings.

Session Chairs/Workshop Facilitators

Ritu Shandilya, Associate Professor of Computer and Data Science

Co-chair for special session: Technology & Law (Legal Informatics)- eLegalls: Moving Towards AI-enabled Improved Civil Justice System, 12th International Conference on Soft Computing for Problem Solving (SocPros 2023), Moving Towards Society 5.0, Springer, IIT Roorkee, 11-13th August 2023.

Faculty Awards

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work

Summer Scholarship Award from Mount Mercy University. The topic of the summer research was on the upcoming presentation “Trauma-Informed Care & Domestic Violence: Treatment for Survivors of Assault

Research Funding, Scholarships & Fellowships

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work

Summer Scholarship Award from Mount Mercy University. The topic of the summer research is on the upcoming presentation “Trauma-Informed Care & Domestic Violence: Treatment for Survivors of Assault”. Summer scholarship funds will be used to develop this new research interest, integrate knowledge into teaching, and develop workshops on the topic.

Joy Ochs, Professor of English

Wrote and received a grant from Iowa Private Academic Libraries to redesign courses using Open Educational Resources.

She also was awarded the Feld Chair II for Teaching Excellence, focused on mission.

Jennifer Rasmussen, Professor of Education

Dr. Thomas R. Feld Endowed Chair I for Teaching Excellence, Mount Mercy University, 2018-2020

Belkis Suarez, Associate Professor of Spanish

Faculty Representative Award for The Most Improved Student Organization/Club Award, 2017-2018.

Jaclynn Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Sustainability Curriculum Development Grant - Mt. Mercy University

Society of Teaching Psychology Early Career Travel Grant - American Psychological Association

Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting Care Grant - Psychonomic Society

Robert Todd, Associate Professor for Mathematics

McElroy Student/Faculty Research Grant

Anna Waterman, Associate Professor of Biology

Anna Waterman received the Archaeological Institute of America Archaeology of Portugal Fellowship in the fall of 2020 for her project titled: titled “From Hinterlands to the Sea: Using isotopic data from Vila Nova de São Pedro to understand mobility and economic integration of coastal and interior settlements in Late Prehistoric Portugal.”

Additional Achievements

Christopher DeVault, Professor of English

Dr. Christopher DeVault served as chair of the Communication, Literature, and Arts department, as well as the program coordinator for the Mount Mercy English program.

Dr. Christopher DeVault also served as English program coordinator and on FLT, and he was promoted to full professor during this term.

April Dirks, Professor of Social Work

April Dirks was interviewed by Elizabeth Hlavinka, staff writer for MEDPAGE Today, about the increase of child abuse during Covid-19. The writer contacted her from New York because she came across her work on the topic of the opioid crisis and foster children. Dr. Dirks gave her professional opinion on the increase of child abuse cases during the Covid-19 crisis on May 21, 2020.

Bryan Gatzke, Assistant Professor of Exercise Science

Bryan Gatzke recertified as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

Joy Ochs, Professor of English

Represented Mount Mercy University at a round table of College Sustainability Grant recipients at the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, April 2018. Ochs presented Mount Mercy's 3-year sustainability plan.

Mount Mercy University's Fall Faculty Series: Sustainability: Human/Nature and the Future of the Earth

Dr. Joy Ochs served on Mount Mercy’s Pandemic Preparation Task Force and the Faculty Liaison Committee, and was also chair of EPC. She also began creating two new pilot courses in the Medical Humanities (EN 108: Writing and Issues of Health and Mortality and EN 300.H: The Medical Humanities), both of which she taught the Fall 2021 semester.

Dr. Joy Ochs directed the 2019 Fall Faculty Series, “Setting the Table: Pleasures & Perils of Food in America. She chaired EPC; and she was selected to serve on the Campus Reopening EEE Committee, where she helped write some of the COVID protocols MMU used that year.

Rob Rittenhouse, Associate Professor of Business

Rob Rittenhouse Completed continuing education courses including: Financial Planning Principles and Concepts and Suitability of Annuity Transactions as Required by the State of Iowa.

Ritu Shandilya, Associate Professor of Computer and Data Science

Guest Editor, Special Issue on Moving Towards AI-enabled Legal Applications and Improved Futuristic Legal Justice System, Technology and Law, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 2023

Guest Editor, Special Issue on Moving Towards AI-enabled Futuristic Civil Justice System, Laws Journal, MDPI, 2023 (edited) 

Mary Vermillion, Professor of English

Dr. Mary Vermillion served as the faculty advisor for The Paha Review and the director of the Visiting Writers Series, and she chaired the Cultural Affairs Committee.

Dr. Mary Vermillion coordinated and hosted a summer reading and writing club for our English majors as an important and successful community building opportunity to help our students through quarantine. She also coordinated the Visiting Writers Series and was the faculty advisor for the Paha Review.