Maple Scholars

Research Program

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Spend your summer doing research that matters

Maple Scholars is Goshen College’s flagship undergraduate research program: an eight-week, fully funded summer fellowship built on one idea: that undergraduates are capable of real scholarship when they’re paired with the right mentor and given the time and resources to do it.  The Maple scholars the program has enabled students to explore the relationship between math and music, test the stress levels of drunk honeybees and develop curriculum for a criminal justice course at the county jail and much more.

Each scholar is paired with a faculty member who works as colleague and supervisor at once, not a professor grading from a distance. Scholars live together for the eight weeks, forming a working cohort that meets every Friday to present findings and defend them in front of peers. Every project ends the same way, presented publicly to the college and beyond. Some projects are finished in a single summer; others become two or three years of sustained work between a student and a faculty partner. Either way, it’s the same process: high-achieving students doing original research as full partners with Goshen faculty.

Previous maple scholars

  • Groundwater Withdrawals

    Kevin Liddell, physics major from South Bend, Indiana, Drew Hackman, a 2024 graduate and physics major from Bethesda, Maryland, and Paul Reimer, professor of physics, observed water storage and conducted a clustering study of regions grouped by greater and lesser changes in water storage during a window of COVID-19 economic impact, identifying the common features of the ensuing clusters.

  • Spanish Literature

    Adriana Martinez Diaz De Leon, a 2022 graduate and psychology major from Goshen, and Cristóbal Garza González are selecting several creative works by US Latinx and Latin American writers to develop a six-lesson unit to be taught in Hispanic and Latinx culture and literature courses. Through this project, they are hoping to find connections between current Latinx literary expressions and the experiences of students at Goshen College.

  • Sculpture for Mennonite Mission Network

    Emma Zuercher, a 2023 graduate and sign language interpreting major and art minor from Apple Creek, Ohio, and John Mishler designed and built a sculpture commissioned by the Mennonite Mission Network. The sculpture replaced a light pole and reflects the rich Anabaptist history and the mission statement of the Mission Network.

  • Roommates and Room Matchings

    Josiah Miller,  math and secondary education double major from Cedar Springs, Michigan, studied game theory with David Housman, professor of mathematics and chair of the department, studying algorithms to solve the “roommate problem,” a classic game theory problem where the goal is to find stable matching for an even-sized set.

    The summer’s schedule

    Week one: arrival and mentor pairing. You move onto campus with the cohort and pair with your faculty mentor, who serves as both colleague and supervisor. Together you frame the question you will spend the summer on.
    Weeks two through seven: independent research and Friday colloquiums. Every Friday the cohort gathers, each scholar presents the week’s work, and you answer the room’s questions, so you are never heads-down alone for long.
    Week eight: the public presentation. The same work you have defended week by week is now presented to an audience beyond the cohort.

    • As a three-time Maple Scholar, I can attest to the world-class research that takes place at Goshen College each summer. While much of my work revolved around historical research resulting in narrative documentaries, I was always excited to join our Friday colloquiums to learn about topics like machine learning, antibacterial propolis, water sanitation, game theory and the history of the Spanish flu among the Amish Community. This well-resourced program pushes students to do the kind of research that would otherwise be impossible within a normal classroom setting.

      Silas George Immanuel '25

      AI / Content Producer at Goshen College

    • I am most looking forward to the actual collection of propolis. It’ll be interesting to see how propolis is gathered and used within the hive before bringing it into the lab.

      Ashley Garcia Coto '26

      Researched the medical benefits of propolis

      Common questions about Maple Scholars

      Start with a conversation

      Andy Ammons, professor of biology at Goshen College, directs the Maple Scholars research program. He oversees the full slate of summer research projects, working with faculty and students across disciplines to shape each one. He also mentors a student research project of his own every summer, investigating topics like the antibacterial properties of propolis and mosquito genetics. He is available as a resource for students on campus who are interested in advanced research opportunities.

      Hit the request information button to have him reach out to you.

      Request information