April 22, 2025

by Lauren Ferguson

Ramapo College of New Jersey students seized the opportunity to showcase their extensive  research on topics ranging from the potential bioremediation of the Hudson River to the impact that less play has on children in front of faculty, family, friends and fellow students during the college’s thirteenth annual Scholars’ Day Monday.

The packed event – held in Friends Hall on Ramapo’s picturesque Mahwah campus – gave students the chance to present on months of hands-on work, as the encouraging, experienced faculty that mentored them looked on.

“I am so proud of her. I am so impressed with her work. As you can see, it is really professional and very informative,” social work professor and play therapist Dr. Colleen Martinez said as she stood by her student, Katherine Andino ‘25 and the poster she created to explain her project.

Andino, a social work major, conducted a scoping review of how restricting play impacts children. She said she found that play has positive effects on a child’s psychological, physical, social and academic development, but it is now being restricted by things like busy schedules and internet access leading to mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

The results of her research showed that “physicians, educators and mental health professionals should be promoting play, because it is such a vital tool,” said Andino, who wants to work in child welfare following graduation.

Katherine Andino ’25 and Prof. Colleen Martinez

Faculty advisor Martinez also mentored nine other students who presented their work at the event.

“I really love the idea of helping our students to learn what academia beyond college is like, beyond graduate school,” Martinez said when asked what inspired her to mentor so many students. “These kinds of things happen at our professional conferences, and for Ramapo students to have this experience here, it’s staged, structured and supportive. But to give them that academic conference experience, is really a great opportunity.”

Ramapo College president Cindy Jebb said Scholars’ Day recognizes two key groups driving academic excellence and student success at Ramapo: students and faculty. Participating students have received transformative, interdisciplinary education because faculty have provided mentorship and access to research and publication opportunities, she said.

“Students, your contributions to the sciences, and the arts, and the social sciences, all help meet the needs of an increasingly complex, global society,” Jebb told the students. “You are not only contributing to the discipline, your field, your school of thought, you are making the case for the essential value of public liberal arts education. And you are raising Ramapo’s reputation on a national scale.”

Scholars’ Day had a record number of submissions this year, with 60 posters presented. Scholars hailed from Ramapo’s Anisfield of Business, School of Contemporary Arts, School of Social Science and Human Services, and School of Theoretical and Applied Sciences.

Many students relished the opportunity to show off their dynamic projects.

“It is so nice to actually get to talk about our research,” said data science major Julianne Gerritsen ‘26, who along with computer science major Justin Haskoor ‘26 studied how the prevalence of cigarette smoking among American adults is affected by disparities in income, education and mental health status.”This one little graph took me hours,” she explained. “So to be able to present it means a lot.”

Julianne Gerritsen ’26

Likewise, biology major Andrew McWha ‘25, who plans to go into research and development said, “being able to actually apply what I learned throughout my four years of college really means a lot to me. I can’t put it into words. All the hard work has come to this.”

McWha – along with partners and fellow biology majors Ekaprana Ramesh ‘25 and Adriana Gedeon ‘26 – studied the potential bioremediation of the Hudson River, or the potential for microorganisms to break down toxic materials like heavy metals and return them to a non-harmful substance. Through their research, they discovered three types of bacteria with the potential for bioremediation. The project was supported by the McKeon Research Grant from the Hudson River Environmental Society.

Ekaprana Ramesh ’25 and Andrew McWha ’25

Communication arts major Joseph Bennis ‘25 created a campaign to help people understand the complex link between ADHD and substance abuse disorders – to raise awareness so people can have healthier relationships with substances.

Bennis said he was diagnosed with ADHD at 13, then a substance abuse disorder at 17. To present on the subject “is really empowering, because it is something I am really passionate about,” he said.Dr. Joyce Shim, vice provost for academic and faculty affairs at Ramapo, said Ramapo has four academic pillars – experiential, international, intercultural and interdisciplinary. The hands-on research that students did with faculty represents experiential learning, she explained, and the posters are interdisciplinary, intercultural and international. “When scholars day comes it is really the manifestation of how our academic pillars are coming to fruition,” she said.

Vice Provost Shim addresses the Scholars’ Day attendees

The event featured some of the most exemplary faculty-mentored student creativity and scholarly activities undertaken in 2024-25. A complete list of posters, oral presentations and accompanying abstracts presented can be found here.