Springfield, Ohio – Three Wittenberg students were recognized for excellence in an undergraduate poster and paper competition at a joint meeting of the East Lakes and West Lakes Divisions of the American Association of Geography at Northern Illinois University in October.

Alec Biehl, class of 2014 from Medina, Ohio, Daniel Tuke, class of 2014 from Rochester, NY, and Kathryn Mauch, class of 2014 from Oakwood, Ohio, earned research awards for finishing in the top three in either a poster or paper competition during the conference. They were among 15 Wittenberg students and three faculty members in attendance, serving as panel chairs and discussing papers or posters about a research trip to the Republic of Georgia in June 2012 and applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to enrollment and alumni management at Wittenberg and fair housing in Springfield.

“This summer Wittenberg students had a wonderful opportunity to be on a research/service trip to the Republic of Georgia that sits on the Black Sea,” said Olga Medvedkov, professor of geography. “Only in a small liberal school like Wittenberg can undergrads be exposed to such unique and comprehensive experiential learning, where they start from field research and service and culminate with presentations at a profession conference.

“And this is not an isolated event. Starting for 1999, Professor Gerry Hudson and I have taken students to Russia five times with the same theme of experiential learning, engagement and professional outcome.”

Prizes were given for poster presentations and papers to undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. level students. There were 160 students participating in the conference.

Wittenberg students who participated in the conference are studying in a wide range of fields, including geography, Russian and Eurasian studies, economics, history, English and political science. In addition to Biehl, Tuke and Mauch, participants included Peter Jensen, class of 2012 from Indianapolis, Ind. (now a graduate student at Indiana University); Devon Lenz, class of 2013 from Springfield, Ohio; Robert Everett, class of 2014 from Cincinnati, Ohio; Michael Hofer, class of 2014 from Newark, Ohio; Katie Hunt, class of 2014 from Indianapolis, Ind.; Nathan Rathbun, class of 2014 from Naples, Fla.; Jack Ruble, class of 2014 Woodbridge, Ill., Audrey Zielenbach, class of 2014 from Columbus, Ohio; Olivia Igel, class of 2015 from Reynoldsburg, Ohio; Whitney Koelling, class of 2015 from Indianapolis, Ind.; William Lackey, class of 2015 from Glen Ridge, NJ; Andrew Miller, class of 2015 from Dulles, Va.; Erekle Shubitidze, class of 2015 from Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.

Written By: Ryan Maurer