2025 Ledford Scholars
The Appalachian College Association is very pleased to announce the 2025 award recipients for our Ledford Scholars Program. These undergraduate students are provided financial support enabling them to work on a significant research project during the 2025 summer or fall terms. Scholars will receive assistance from their faculty mentors at their home institutions. This year, 49 students, representing 16 ACA member institutions, will receive funding.
Upon completion of their projects, the Scholars provide a video presentation of their research findings, which is recognized and made available for viewing on the ACA's website upon completion of the projects.
| Ledford Scholar | ACA Institution | Academic Major(s) | Research Project Title | Faculty Mentor(s) |
| Jacob Bailey | Lee University | Mathematics | Further Divisions of a 2 x n Rectangle | Richard Moy |
| Lathan Cornett | Alice Lloyd College | Biology | The Impact of Smoking and Vaping on Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum in the Respiratory Microbiome | Emily Stanczak-Maple |
| Sophie Daniel | University of the South | Political Science | Suppression of the Voice: The Impact of Voter Restriction Laws on Racial Minority Voter Turnout in Southern Appalachia | Clarissa Peterson |
| William Davis | Lee University | Political Science & History | Giles of Viterbo: A Man Whose Encyclopedic Life, Work, and Intellect Ought not be Lost | Jared Wielfaert |
| Taylor Dewald | Carson-Newman University | Biology Education | Determining Bumblebee Diversity and Abundance Across Two Different Habitats | Jessica Evans |
| Calli Dussia | Tennessee Wesleyan University | History | Complacency and Complicity: Socioeconomic and Ideological Influences on German Citizens during the Holocaust | John Seitz |
| Willow Ferguson | Davis & Elkins College | Environmental Science & English (Writing Emphasis) | Analyzing the Nature Writing Canon through Critical Disability Studies | Sebastian Williams |
| Drake Fowler | Montreat College | Environmental Science | Examining Mercury Biomagnification in Belted Kingfishers in Helene Impacted Western North Carolina | Joshua Holbrook |
| Chloe Freake | Lee University | Sociology | Why No One Wants to Work Anymore: Occupational Burnout Amongst Customer Service Workers | Arlie Tagayuna |
| Argo Fredericksen | Emory & Henry University | Biology & Chemistry | Role of ASER and ASEL neurons in nicotine state dependent learning in Caenorhabditis elegans | Jonathan Lindsay |
| Isabella Gall | Tusculum University | Psychology | Fear of Failure, Life Satisfaction, and the Role of Stress and Reappraisal | Katherine Smith |
| Muhammad Wali Ghayur | University of Pikeville | Biomedical Sciences | The Role of the Excitatory G Protein in Estrogen Receptor-Mediated Coronary Relaxation | Guichun Han |
| Jetta Ghosthorse | Warren Wilson College | Sociology/Anthropology & Global Studies | Community, Climate, and Connection in Disaster Recovery: Creating Paths Forward through Frameworks of Place-based Knowledge and Local Stewardship in Practice | Siti Kusujiarti |
| Benjamin Greer | Lincoln Memorial University | Conservation Biology | Quantifying Predator Diversity in NE Costa Rica | LaRoy Brandt |
| Kendall Hacker | Lindsey Wilson College | Biology | Field Measurement of Personality Traits of Two Common Competitors: White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and Golden Mouse (Ochrotomys nuttalli) | Sara Ash |
| Terri Hamilton | Lincoln Memorial University | English & History | Appalachian Folklore: A Fieldwork Collection | Abigail Heiniger |
| Trevor Hansen | Campbellsville University | Biology & Psychology | Cytotoxic Effects of Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide Cocktail in E. coli | William Mackay |
| Mallory Johnson | University of Pikeville | Biomedical Sciences | The Role of Gm14964 and miR-487b in Fear Memory | Sujin Bao |
| Madeline Jones | Carson-Newman University | Biochemistry | Poly Vinyl Chloride Leaches from PVC Pipe to Common Chemicals | Christine Dalton |
| Aiden Jones | Lincoln Memorial University | Pre-Veterinary Studies | Taxonomic Identification and Key Development for Opossum Parasites | Kathryn Purple |
| McKinley Jones | Lincoln Memorial University | Biology, Pre-Health Emphasis | Investigating the Toxicological Effects of Fluoride on Juvenile C. elegans | Julie Hall |
| Holly Jordan | University of Pikeville | Biology | Rapid Production of FDA-Approved Lecanemab Using a Plant-Based Transient Expression Platform | Kevin Wang |
| Presley Kinser | University of Pikeville | Biomedical Sciences | Appalachian Children's Eye (ACE) Study | Neeraj Singh |
| Emily Kledzik | Carson-Newman University | English, Creative Writing Emphasis | Emily Dickinson in Bibliotherapy | Damjana Marovie-O'Hare |
| Annabella Kovach | Bethany College | Environmental Science | Surveying the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) Population of a Stream in Northern West Virginia | Kathy Baker-Brosh |
| Allison Lienemann | Warren Wilson College | Conservation Biology | Survival and Success of Native, Riparian, Woody Live Stakes following Catastrophic Flooding | Amy Boyd |
| Aubrey Long | Tennessee Wesleyan University | Health and Human Performance, Pre-Physical Therapy Emphasis | Where Are Adults Physically Active in Non-Metropolitan Areas? | Douglas Gregory |
| Claire Matherly | Lincoln Memorial University | Conservation Biology | Mapping Habitat Patchiness within a Variable Tropical Landscape in the Caribbean Lowlands of Costa Rica | LaRoy Brandt |
| Dalton Maynard | University of Pikeville | Biology | Study of Population Dynamic of Mice in a Forest Ecosystem Using Capture-Mark-Recapture (CMR) Method | Agus Sofyan |
| Weslyn Mcintosh | Lincoln Memorial University | Conservation Biology | Quantifying Anuran Species Diversity in a Caribbean Lowland Rainforest | LaRoy Brandt |
| Zachary Mendez | Lee University | Exercise Science, Athletic Training Emphasis | Hydration Testing on Firefighters During Drills | Pamela Hobbs |
| Carly Mozingo | Lincoln Memorial University | Biology, Pre-Health Professions | Prevalence and Diversity of Bartonella spp. in Eastern Bluebirds (Sialis sialis) from a Mortality Event in Western Tennessee and Kentucky | Barbara Shock |
| Adrian Nelka-Hernandez | Tennessee Wesleyan University | Health and Human Performance, Pre-Physical Therapy Emphasis | Impact of Park Use on Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life | Douglas Gregory |
| Lydia Norman | Montreat College | Environmental Science | Assessment Of the Imperiled Eastern Hellbender Post-Hurricane Helene | Joshua Holbrook |
| Bailee Pennington | University of Pikeville | Biomedical Sciences | The Binding of Novel Endogenous Cannabinoid Enzyme Inhibitors in Bovine Eye | Matthew Lazenka |
| Jonah Pope | Lee University | Biological Science, Pre-Professional Emphasis | Determining the Effect of Pufferfish Toxin "Tetrodotoxin" on Cancer Cell Mobility | Jonathan Cornett |
| Mason Raker | Lee University | Ecology/Environmental Science | Jump Around: A Survey of Treefrogs in the Southeastern Forest Canopy | Thaddeus McRae |
| Sydnee Rogers | University of Pikeville | Information Technology Management | Bridging Educational Gaps for Non-Traditional Students in Rural Appalachia Using AI Tools | Praveen Kumar Guraja |
| Samantha Sasinouski | Maryville College | Neuroscience | Comparing the Efficacy of Lithium and Abilify on Bipolar-like Symptoms and BDNF Expression in Zebrafish | Jeff Kelly |
| Josie Short | Lincoln Memorial University | Conservation Biology | The Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Bat Guilds and Biodiversity at the La Suerte Biological Field Station in Costa Rica | LaRoy Brandt |
| Reese Stivers | Alice Lloyd College | Biology | Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Its Effect on Health Outcomes in Appalachia | Emily Stanzcak-Maple |
| Lily Stooksbury | University of the South | Undeclared | The Impact of Voter Restriction Laws on Racial Minority Voter Turnout in Southern Appalachia | Clarissa Peterson |
| Stewart Thacker | Lincoln Memorial University | Conservation Biology | Utilizing eDNA to Survey the Powell River for Presence of Blotchside Logperch (Percina burtoni) to Inform Conservation of the Critically Endangered Mussel, Cumberlandian Combshell (Epioblasma brevidens) | Matthew Lewis |
| Alexa Travis | Carson-Newman University | Biology | Nest Box Success of American Kestrels in Southeast Tennessee | Jessica Evans |
| Charles Tuggle | Maryville College | Neuroscience | Prevalence of Co-occurring Psychiatric Conditions Post Traumatic Brain Injury | Chad Shrock |
| Jaden Ward | University of Pikeville | Biomedical Sciences, Pre-Nursing Emphasis | Plant-Based Expression of Mepolizumab for Treating Lung Disease in Appalachia | Kevin Wang |
| Erica Werth | University of Pikeville | Psychology & Chemistry | Estrogen Potentiation of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Activation Induced by Bradykinin | Guichun Han |
| Cooper Willhite | Tennessee Wesleyan University | Biology, Environmental Science Emphasis | Making the Invisible Visible: 3D Printing Organic Molecules to Stimulate Visual Thinking | Oksana Gerlits |
| Shali Young | Carson-Newman University | Biology | Quantitative Data Analysis of Ticks Carrying Rickettsia | Matt Wilkerson |
