The Lumen Prize is the university’s premier undergraduate research award that comes with a $20,000 scholarship to support and celebrate their academic achievements and research proposals.
When the Class of 2025 walked across the stage in May inside Schar Center, 15 were Lumen Scholars, recipients of Elon University’s premier undergraduate research award that comes with a $20,000 scholarship to support and celebrate academic achievements and research proposals.
The name for the Lumen Prize comes from Elon’s historic motto, “Numen Lumen,” which are Latin words meaning “spiritual light” and “intellectual light.” The words, which are found on the Elon University seal, signify the highest purposes of an Elon education.
During their two years as Lumen Scholars, the graduates worked closely with mentors for their coursework, study abroad, research, internships, program development, and creative productions and performances.
Learn more about these scholars, their research, and where they are headed as “graduates the world needs.”
Majors: Applied Mathematics and Data Analytics
Project: Mathematical Modeling of COVID-19 Transmission with Focus on Asymptomatic Carriers and Vaccination Schedules
What’s Next: Beuerle will be attending North Carolina State University in the fall as a Ph.D candidate for Applied Mathematics.
Majors: Public Health Studies and Strategic Communications.
Project: Silenced and Sidelined: Examining the Intersectional Impact of Ableism and Racism on Maternal Health.
What’s Next: Clark has accepted a job as a marketing and digital operations associate at RVO Health.
Majors: Biology
Project: Interactions Between the Blood Brain Barrier and the Gut-Brain-Axis and its Impact on Brain Development and Behavior in Zebrafish
What’s Next: Conover was also awarded the NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program.
Majors: Environmental & Ecological Science and Cinema & Television Arts
Project: Soil Carbon Sequestration in Elon Forest: Role of Past Land Use, Forest Age, and Landscape and Soil Characteristics
What’s Next: Gibbons was named a semifinalist in the Fullbright U.S. Student Program.
Major: Public Health Studies and Political Science
Project: Policy & Discrimination: Service Provider Perspectives on Barriers to Healthcare Utilization of Latinx Immigrants in Post-ICE Alamance County
What’s Next: Conover was also awarded the NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program. She is also an Elon Year of Service Fellow.
Major: Psychology
Project: Intersections Between Christian Ideas of Hell and Religious Trauma
What’s Next: Lancashire will be pursuing her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of San Diego.
Corey McCall ’25
Major: Biology
Project: Assessing the Effects of Covid and the Covid Vaccine on the Cardiac Health of the General Population: A Heart Rate Variability Study
What’s Next: McCall will be attending the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Dental Medicine this fall.
Major: Chemistry
Project: Shedding Light on the Surface Composition of Aqueous Aerosols
Major: Statistics and Biology
Project: Increasing the Accuracy of Tree-Ring Data Processing to Improve Models for Predicting Future Climate
What’s Next: Reutinger was named a semifinalist for the Fullbright U.S. Student Program.
Major: Biology
Project: Centering the Black Community in the Pittsboro, N.C. Water Crisis
Major: Psychology and Biology
Project: Who Is Being Real Versus Who Is Not: Correlates, Cues, and Accuracy of Perceptions of Others’ Authenticity
What’s Next: Searle was awarded the Seena Granowsky Outstanding Student in Psychology Award, which is the highest student honor in the department.
Major: Biochemistry
Project: Intercropping as a Method to Reduce the Concentration of Toxic Metals in Cash Crops
Major: English and Political Science
Project: Abolition in the Modern U.S.: Media and Identity Influence on Perceptions of Prison Abolition
Major: Exercise Science
Project: Exploring the Power of Theacrine: Assessing the Impact of High Theacrine Doses on Hemodynamic Measures, Cognitive Measures, and Physiological Stress
What’s Next: Stoke was awarded the 2024 Undergraduate Research Award from North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities.
Major: Computer Science
Project: Improving Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer with Synthetic Data
What’s Next: Tan will join Red Ventures as an Associate Software Engineer.