Janet Cope

Associate Professor of Physical Therapy | Joined Elon’s faculty in 2006

Janet Cope has conducted multiple studies and published a number of papers related to assessing personal exposure levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, in anatomy laboratories. She also is writing a book about 19 years of teaching in an anatomy lab with non-living colleagues. During her research, she travelled across the country to video record five different anatomy laboratories and conducted more than 80 interviews with anatomists, anatomy students, anatomical gift program directors, morticians, registered anatomical donors and clergy, to name a few. Her book will address the essential relationships that are established between the living and the dead in the anatomy laboratory, a highly specialized learning environment.

Human Anatomy I; Human Anatomy II

• Ph.D. in Anthropology, Paleopathology, Skeletal Analysis from University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• M.A. in Anthropology from University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• M.S., C.A.S. in Occupational Therapy / Upper Extremity Rehabilitation from Springfield College
• B.S. in Physical Education (Teacher Certified) from University of New Hampshire

• DPT Class of ’16 honors human donors in service of thanksgiving and farewell
• DPT students hold ‘Bones & Backpacks’ session at local elementary school
• Human Anatomy students attend to the mind, body ... and spirit

Steve DeLoach

Professor of Economics | Joined Elon’s faculty in 1996

Steve DeLoach’s research interests focus on how people respond to changes in the economic environment. Those interests include shifts in the macroeconomy, such as recessions and expansions, and the operation of key markets. His recent work examines the imperfections of the financial markets in Indonesia. How important is it for people to have access to saving accounts or to be able to get a loan from a bank, rather than a friend or family member? And what impact does it have on a family’s livelihood, diet and even their children’s ability to remain in school? DeLoach works to answer these questions in his research. He is also looking at how the state of the economy impacts the way American workers allocate their time and energy when searching for new jobs.

Introduction to Econometrics; Intermediate Macroeconomics; Principles of Economics; Statistics for Decision-Making; the Impact of Microfinance; Growth and Innovation (study abroad in Poland and Ukraine); Café Europa (study abroad in Central and Eastern Europe); Currencies and Crises; Money and Banking; International Trade and Finance; Gender and Development

• Ph.D. in Economics from Michigan State University
• M.A. in Economics from Michigan State University
• B.S. in Business Administration from University of Nebraska

• Economics Professor Stephen DeLoach examines issues related to microfinance
• Steve DeLoach: ‘Saving Billions: The Real Impact of Microfinance on World Poverty’ - April 7
• Steve DeLoach, Mark Kurt publish article in Journal of Teaching in International Business
• Steve DeLoach featured in Fox 8 ‘Buckley Report’
• Economics professors’ research highlighted on Cafe.com

Benjamin Evans

Associate Professor of Physics | Joined Elon’s faculty in 2008

Ben Evans takes tools from physics and applies them to questions of biological importance. His most current work focuses on use of a unique nanoparticle composite to develop new cancer treatments. Evans and his students have made microscopic spheres from the flexible magnetic material, which are smaller than red blood cells and have the ability to carry certain types of chemotherapy drugs. The magnetics enable remote heating of the spheres to stimulate drug release, and can also be used to direct the spheres to specific locations in the body so there can be a targeted delivery of a large dose of drugs to treat malignant tumors. He uses his findings in this field to build the foundation for the graduate-style research group he runs for undergraduate students.

Independent Research; Research Methods; Biophysics; Modern Physics; University Physics; General Physics; Physics of Sound; Conceptual Physics

• Ph.D. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• M.S. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• B.S. in Physics from Rhodes College

• Ben Evans named recipient of full-year Elon sabbatical
• Ben Evans presents at World Congress on Biosensors
• Elon Physics alumna publishes first-authored paper in top magnetics journal
• Ben Evans earns U.S. patent

Thomas Henricks

Danieley Professor of Sociology and Distinguished University Professor | Joined Elon’s faculty in 1977

Thomas Henricks’ research interests focus on social theory, modernization and change, popular culture, race and ethnic relations, and, especially, the physiological, environmental, social, cultural and psychological relationships that shape behavior and experience in sports and play. In his work, Henricks sees play as a specific strategy of self-realization. From sports and games to art, music, jokes, riddles, friendly arguments and teasing among siblings, play provides a full exploration of the possibilities of what it means to be human. In his research, Henricks delves into the social meanings behind play and its ability to help people envision better versions of themselves.

Introductory Sociology; Sociology of Popular Culture; Sociology of Sport; Race and Ethnic Relations; Sociological Theory

• M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from University of Chicago
• B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from North Central College

• Professor’s new book anything but child’s play
• Three professors named Senior Faculty Research Fellows
• Henricks publishes book on play
• Faculty present at conference on play
• Henricks honored as Distinguished Professor

Julie Lellis

Associate Professor of Communications | Joined Elon’s faculty in 2010

Julie Lellis’ scholarship is driven by an interest in identity and its role in strategic communications. Her research focuses on how businesses, organizations or groups of people communicate their core values to others. She has a particular interest in advocacy efforts and the nonprofit sector. She is currently working on a book where she suggests that many organizations act like zombies in today’s digital world, which requires they be proactive in messaging and respond quickly to a large variety of audiences. As a registered yoga instructor, Lellis is also interested in how yoga and other wellness or contemplative practices are positioned in the media.

Communications in a Global Age; Strategic Writing; Health Communications; The Reincarnation of Yoga in America; Public Relations and Civic Responsibility

• Ph.D. in Mass Communication, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• M.S. in Rehabilitation Psychology and Counseling, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• B.A. in Sociology, the University of Richmond

• Julie Lellis pens first article as PR News contributing writer
• Julie Lellis publishes research in Health Communication
• Barbara Miller, Julie Lellis co-author article in Environmental Communication
• School of Communications celebrates outstanding students, faculty
• Barbara Miller, Julie Lellis co-author article in Journal of Applied Communication Research
• Julie Lellis, Lucinda Austin present research at PRSA conference

Buffie Longmire-Avital

Assistant Professor of Psychology | Joined Elon’s faculty in 2010

Young black women have an elevated risk of contracting HIV, but they consistently report lower-risk behaviors. Buffie Longmire-Avital’s research focuses on how psychosocial and cultural factors contribute to health disparities that impact minority communities. Her most recent work examines how perceptions of partner availability may influence whether young heterosexually-active black women have sexual health conversations with their male partners. Young black women with limited partner options may alter how, when or even if they ask their sexual partners about previous sexual history, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, as well as testing histories. Their risk of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases must be considered in conjunction with their partner’s risk. She is also interested in the chronic stress that results from micro-aggressions, which are daily slights that are perceived to be a function of minority status, and their potential link with obesity, depression and substance use for young black American women.

Community Psychology; Lifespan Human Development Psychology; Health Psychology; Early Childhood Development Psychology; Non-Empirical Research Methods; General Psychology

• Ph.D. in Applied Psychology, New York University
• B.S. in Psychology, Lafayette College

• Elon Senior and Assistant Professor Buffie Longmire-Avital Present at National Conference
• Buffie Longmire-Avital presents poster at conference
• Buffie Longmire-Avital co-authors article

Rebecca Todd Peters

Professor of Religious Studies | Joined Elon’s faculty in 2001

As a feminist and Christian social ethicist, Rebecca Todd Peters’ scholarship focuses on questions of social ethics as they relate to economics, the environmental crisis, globalization, poverty and women’s access to reproductive health care. Peters addresses issues of conflict and social injustice in the world with the recognition that religion plays a significant role in shaping people’s worldviews and moral ideas. Her most recent work is developing a Christian ethic of reproductive justice as the framework for thinking about women’s whole reproductive lives, including everything from access to contraception to fertility treatments to unplanned pregnancies. She is examining many different sources, including history, social science, philosophy and Christian tradition. This new project also focuses on helping people think in more sophisticated ways about how pregnancy challenges our existing moral categories of personhood and life. In addition, Peters writes about current events, theology, justice and social change on her blog, “To Do Justice,” which is featured on Patheos, an online site that hosts conversations on faith.

Poverty and Social Justice; Wealth and Poverty; Feminist Theologies; Environmental Ethics; Christianity and Social Justice

• Ph.D. and M.Div. in Christian Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in New York
• B.A. from Rhodes College

• Patheos website now hosts blog by Toddie Peters
• Toddie Peters authors column for Huffington Post
• Rebecca Todd Peters presents keynote lecture at Futures of Capitalism conference
• Book by Rebecca Todd Peters offers new ethical approach to living in global economy
• Distinguished Scholar Toddie Peters: “Moral intuition” a building block to social justice

Michael Rich

Jennings Professor of Law | Joined Elon’s faculty in 2010

Michael Rich’s work focuses on the intersection of emerging technologies and criminal law. One area of interest is in technologies that prevent criminal conduct. Criminal laws are built around traditional policing—preventing crime by convincing people not to commit crime. But new technologies, such as advanced ignition interlocks that prevent a car from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol level is over the legal limit, aim to make driving while impaired effectively impossible. Such an approach requires rethinking the role of the government’s relationship with its citizens and the nature of an individual’s right to decide whether to engage in illegal conduct. Rich is also interested in looking at technologies like machine learning that can be used to predict crime and identify likely offenders. His research examines the use of such techniques to create algorithms that can identify individuals who are likely to be engaged in criminal conduct.

Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure; Evidence; Advanced Criminal Procedure

• J.D. from Stanford Law School
• B.A. in Physics and English from University of Delaware

• Elon Law professors provide analysis of historic Supreme Court rulings
• The use of automated technology in crime fighting
• Michael Rich authors “Should We Make Crime Impossible?”
• Mike Rich presents on the perfect prevention of crime
• Michael Rich publishes on criminal informants in American Criminal Law Review
• Michael Rich discusses criminal law on Higher Education Today

Brianna Duff ’15

Physics & Creative Writing | Hometown: Richmond, Virginia

Drew Perry, Associate Professor of English

Duff combined her majors to write the novel, I Travel Light, which is a fictional work framed by real principles of physics. She visited CERN, a European organization for nuclear research that studies the structure of the universe, and researched other authors who combined physics and creative writing.

Duff was always told that she would have to choose between science and writing—her two academic passions. Her ability to conduct research and write her novel is what gave her an outlet for combining her passions, making her a stronger scientist and writer.

National Conference of Undergraduate Research and hosted a reading along with two other creative writing research students.

Took an intensive six-week publishing course at Columbia University and is working as an account coordinator for a digital publishing company called BookBub.

Thomas Lampl ’15

Biochemistry | Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Victoria Moore, Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Lampl has investigated a lab model that simulates what happens to kidney cells during sepsis. Along with Victoria Moore, assistant professor of chemistry, and Taylor Davis ’15, he wrote an article about the research that was accepted for publication in the Journal of Visualized Experiments, a peer-reviewed journal that publishes both a paper manuscript and video on scientific topics.

Ever since taking biology in high school, Lampl wanted to do biochemical research in college. During his first year at Elon, he heard about Moore’s research and asked if he could join her research lab.

Spring Undergraduate Research Forum and American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Attending Cumming School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

Melissa Mischka ’15

Early Childhood Education | Hometown: Torrance, California

Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Professor of Psychology

Mischka and Kaitlin Sands ’15 collaborated on gathering their research on how parents teach numeracy and scientific concepts to their 4- and 5-year-old children. Mischka and Sands each conducted their own study and gave a group of parents prompts for math and science activities. A second group of parents received a list of learning activities, but those parents didn’t receive any specific instructions to lead conversations with children. Mishcka looked at whether parental use of open-ended questions sparked a child’s intellectual curiosity.

Mischka’s passion for early education and the value she placed on identifying the best ways to instill learning science and math into children inspired her research.

Spring Undergraduate Research Forum and National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Accepted a job at the Aspirations School of Learning in Carlsbad, California.

Nicole Payne Mota ’15

Music Performance | Hometown: Chesapeake, Virginia

Victoria Fischer Faw, Professor of Music

Payne researched Afro-Cuban music and identity, as well as the development of Cuban music through several time periods. She used the Lumen Prize to visit Cuba in summer 2014. She spent her days learning about Cuban-American relations, and the Spanish language and culture at University of Havana and traveled during the evenings to witness the nation’s music scene. She presented “Que Viva El Ritmo: An Evening of Cuban Music” at Yeager Recital Hall. She was featured on piano and vocals and performed with guest artists, Felix Sanabria from Miami and Bradley Simmons from Duke University.

As the child of a Cuban mother and Puerto Rican father, Payne grew up listening to salsa. The music she grew up with became more important to her after coming to Elon and discovering that it wasn’t part of most people’s lives.

National Conference on Undergraduate Research and Spring Undergraduate Research Forum

Attending Florida International University to work toward a graduate degree in piano performance.

Kaitlin Sands ’15

Psychology | Hometown: King, North Carolina

Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Professor of Psychology

Sands and Melissa Mischka ’15 collaborated on gathering their research on how parents teach numeracy and scientific concepts to their 4- and 5-year-old children. They each conducted their own study and gave a group of parents prompts for math and science activities. A second group of parents received a list of learning activities, but those parents didn’t receive any specific instructions to lead conversations with children. Sands wanted to know if training parents improved a child’s predictive and mathematical reasoning. She also wanted to see if it made a difference if the activities took place in a physical environment rather than a virtual one.

Sands’ passion for early education and the value she placed on identifying the best ways to instill learning science and math into children inspired her research.

Spring Undergraduate Research Forum and National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Attending the University of Texas at Dallas to begin graduate studies in developmental psychology.

Kate Smith-Lin ’15

International Economics | Hometown: Winchester, Massachusetts

Steve DeLoach, Professor of Economics

Smith-Lin researched whether or not a household’s access to a bank affects what they do with their money. She found that citizens in Indonesia don’t necessarily save more money after a bank opens in a rural area. However, she did find that microfinance helps impoverished communities because it enables families to protect their assets if faced with an emergency.

Smith-Lin’s interest in microfinance comes from Elon’s 2011-12 Common Reading Selection, Creating a World Without Poverty, by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Yunus spoke at the 2012 Spring Convocation, and his real world applications of microfinance inspired her.

Eastern Economic Association annual conference, Midwestern Economics Association annual meeting, National Conference on Undergraduate Research and Spring Undergraduate Research Forum

Working at Luxury Real Estate Group and Boston Private Bank and Trust as a rotational development program associate.

Jake Sokoloff ’15

Music Theatre | Hometown: Nesconset, New York

Jane Wellford, Professor of Performing Arts

Sokoloff interviewed his grandmother and a dozen residents at the Village at Brookwood, a retirement community in Burlington, North Carolina. He compiled what he learned from the interviews into an original musical production, which had two sold out performances.

During a discussion with his grandmother, Sokoloff learned that she felt like no one listened to her anymore. He combined his passion for music with the chance to hear and present stories of an older generation.

Spring Undergraduate Research Forum

Plans to pursue a career in the performing arts, and to combine his passion for music with his passion for telling older generations’ stories in front of a live audience.

Mia Watkins ’16

Cinema & Television Arts | Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri

Janna Anderson, Professor of Communications
Anthony Hatcher, Associate Professor of Communications

Watkins was part of a five-student research team that conducted interviews with Internet leaders at the Internet Hall of Fame in Hong Kong to find out the Internet’s status and its future. After recording and transcribing more than five hours of interviews, the research focused on responses regarding descriptions of the Internet using a weather analogy, hopes and fears for the Internet and best practices to ensure positive evolution of the Internet.

Considering how connected most people are to technology, Watkins thinks it is important to know and understand how the Internet is used and how it is evolving.

Spring Undergraduate Research Forum and National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Watkins is a senior and working with Hatcher to publish a paper on the research.