The following graduate students received grants from JMU’s Office of Research and Scholarship to present their work at professional conferences during the 2025-2026 academic year.

Art, Design and Art History

Iorver Ikeseh received a grant to present, "Canvas of Voices: A Mural Arts Mentorship Program at The Blake School" for the McGuire Visiting Artist Fellow, hosted by The Blake School, Hopkins, MN, October 2025. 

Assessment and Measurement

Jonathan Henriques received a grant to present, "Optimizing Test Sequencing: The Effects of Assessment Order on Student Effort and Performance" at the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Trumbull, CT, October 2025.

Riley Herr received a grant to present, "From Guessing to Carelessness: Examinee Effort and Its Impact in Assessment Contexts) is “Disengaged Responses, Distorted Risks: Evaluating Effort on Student Risk Assessments”  as well as "Expanding the Scope of Test-Taking Engagement Research) is “Peers, Perceptions, and Putting Forth Effort: The Role of Normative Beliefs in Low-Stakes Testing” at the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), Los Angeles, CA, April 2026.

Anna Garst received a grant to present, "Advancing Mental Health Equity through Out-of-School Time Programming at the Boys and Girls Club" at the The 4th UCSI Piano Pedagogy Conference, New Orleans, LA, November, 2025.

Laila Issayeva received a grant to present, "The Engagement Dip: Examining Effort and Achievement in Low-Stakes Testing", at the NCME: National Council of Measurement in Education, Los Angeles, CA, April 2026.

Kaijie Liu received a grant to present, "Can GenAI Score Ethical Reasoning Essays? Evaluating Copilot with Interrater Agreement and Rasch Modeling", at the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Trumbull , CT, October 2025.

Mara McFadden received a grant to present, "Test-taking Effort Over Time: Implications for Value-Added Assessment in Higher Education" at the NCME: National Council of Measurement in Education, Los Angeles, CA, April 2026.

Juste Mehou received a grant to present, "Toward a Complete Picture of Effort: Integrating Self-Report with the Disengagement IRTree Model." at the NCME: National Council of Measurement in Education, Los Angeles, CA, April 2026.

Autumn Wild received a grant to present, "Beyond the Score: Exploring DIF Detection Methods on a Medical Board Exam" for National Council on Measurement in Education 2026 Annual Meeting at the National Council on Measurement in Education, Los Angeles, CA, April 2026.

Biology

Ian Barry received a grant to present, "Automating locomotor data extraction from visually challenging videos of wild chimpanzee terrestrial quadrupedalism", at the American Association of Biological Anthropologists, Denver, CO, March 2026.

Helen St. John received a grant to present, "Impact of radio telemetry tags on monarch butterfly flight, behavior, and survival" at the American Museum of Natural History Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, New York, NY, October 2025.

Lauren Young received a grant to present, "Soil quality responses to tree plantings in Virginia pasturelands" at the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Mobile, AL, March 2026.

Clinical and School Psychology

Natasha Chait received a grant to present, "Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicidality Among SOGD Youth: Findings from the 2023 YRBS" at the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA, November, 2025.

Nisa Khaldun received a grant to present, "Parental, Peer, and Cultural Influences on Self-Worth" at the Society for Research on Adolescence 2026 Biennial Meeting, Toronto, Canada, April 2026.

Cameron Piper received a grant to present, "Early Relational Skills Associated with Romantic Competence and the Moderating Effect of Gender" at the Society for Research on Adolescence 2026 Biennial Meeting, Toronto, Canada, April 2026.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Emily Plowright received a grant to present, "Neurodiversity in Counseling: A Humanistic Approach to Affirming and Strength-Based Practices" at the Association for Humanistic Counseling (AHC) 2026 Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, November, 2025

College Student Personnel Administration

Charlotte Malacane received a grant to present, "Leading with authentic hope in tumultuous times and discouraging days" at the American College Personnel Association Conference 2026, Baltimore, MD, March 2026

Lydia Storey received a grant to present, "Leading with Authentic Hope in Tumultuous Times and Discouraging Days" at the National Communication Association's 111th Annual  Convention, Denver, CO, November 2025.

Communication and Advocacy

Paige D’Agostino received a grant to present, "Growth and Abscission of an Individual Opinion" at the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburgh, PA, April 2026.

Anitha Dushimirimana recieved a grant to present, "Addressing Stigma and Underutilization of Mental Health Services in Rwanda: The Role of Media and Social Norms" at the National Communication Association's 111 Annual Convention, Denver, CO, November 2025.

Baylea Gunkel received a grant to present, "Voice of Resistance: A Rhetorical Analysis of Personal Testimony in the Documentary Crip Camp" at the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburgh, PA, April 2026.

Reese Martin received a grant to present, "Emerging Frames for Representing Communication Theory to Graduate Students" at the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburgh, PA, April 2026.

Ezekiel Olaniyan received a grant to present, "Rejected by the Algorithm: Mental Health Consequences for Young Black Men in Job Applications in the United States" at the Southern States Communication Association 96th Annual Convention, Birmingham, AL, April 2026.

Oghenetega Ologbo received a grant to present, "Domestic Violence: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of its Impact on the Self-esteem and Behavioral Patterns of Women in Nigeria and the U.S." at the National Communication Association's 111 Annual Convention, Denver, CO, November 2025.

Megan Rodak received a grant to present, "EThe Re-Emergence of the Debate over Audre Lorde’s “Master’s Tools” Challenge for These Times" at the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburgh, PA, April 2026.

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Zahra Fekri received a grant to present, "Identifying the Individual Factors that Predict Hearing Aid Benefits for Integration into AI Models: A Systematic Review" at the American Academy of Audiology Annual Confrence, San Antonio, TX, April, 2026.

Jesus Gomez received a grant to present, "Fall Risk in Underserved Populations" at the American Academy of Audiology Annual Confrence, at the 18th Annual American Balance Society Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ, February, 2026.

Counseling and Supervision

Lydia Larimore received a grant to present, "BRAINS in Action: Culturally Responsive Peer Mentorship as a Neurodevelopmental and Equity Strategy for Underrepresented Children" at the Association for Humanistic Counseling Conference 2026, New Orleans, LA, May, 2026.

Madison Moore received a grant to present, "BRAINS in Action: Culturally Responsive Peer Mentorship as a Neurodevelopmental and Equity Strategy for Underrepresented Children" at the Association for Humanistic Counseling Conference 2026, New Orleans, LA, May, 2026.

English

Audrey Carranza received a grant to present, "Origins of the Wester Vampire: A Close Reading of Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" as the Foundation of the New Vampire" at the RMMLA 78th Annual Conference: English Nineteenth Century Literature, Spokane, WA, October, 2025.

History

Kira Quintin received a grant to present, "Burn the Ships: Resistance as an Exercise of Agency Among Teenage Reformatory Ship Inmates in Victorian Liverpool" as the James A. Barnes Graduate Student History Conference, Philadelphia, PA, March, 2026.

Music 

Joshua Brancaleone (DMA) received a grant to perform, "The Bluestone Contemporary Ensemble" at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 59th Annual Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria, June, 2026.

Chyh Leng Low (DMA) received a grant to present, "Rethinking Prokofiev's Early Piano Works: A Pedagogical Bridge to Modernist Repertoire" at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 59th Annual Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September, 2025.

Psychological Sciences 

Caitlyn Hewitt received a grant to present, "Persistent patterns: How mathematics pre-service teachers ask questions during simulated rehearsals" at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, April, 2026.

Jada Willse received a grant to present, "AI Knowledge and Test-Taking Effort: Examining Student Behavior in Low-Stakes Assessments " at the Northeastern Educational Research Association (NERA), Trumbell, CT, October, 2025.

School Psychology

Ursula Vogt received a grant to present, "Best Practices in Internship and Practicum: Part I: Intern Insights: From Selection to Success; Part II: Expanding and Enhancing Services through Collaborative Internship Experiences " at the Virginia Academy of School Psychologists 2025 Conference, Blacksburg, VA, October, 2025.

Speech Language Pathology

Katie Kalenichenko received a grant to present, "Infant Communication Patterns in Triadic Relationships Across Socioeconomic Strata" at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, DC, November, 2025.

Strategic Leadership Studies

Zerrouk Bessa received a grant to present, "Association between Best Governance Practices and Free and Charitable Clinics performance in VA" at the The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), Indianapolis, IN, November, 2025.

Mohammad Rahman received a grant to present, "How Financial Literacy Education Can Help Low-Income High School Students Access College" at the Graduate Student Symposium Organizing Committee at William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, February, 2026.

Barnabas Suva received a grant to present, "Exploring the Role of Ethical Reasoning in Nonprofit Board and Leadership Decision-Making and The Role of Independent Board Size on the Financial Performance of Nonprofit Organizations" at the The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), Williamsburg, VA, Indianapolis, IN, November, 2025.

Yu Wang received a grant to present, "Examine the effect of compassionate leadership on charitable giving between faith-based and secular nonprofit organizations" at the The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), Williamsburg, VA, Indianapolis, IN, November, 2025.