ALLENDALE, Mich. — Five Grand Valley State student-athletes–Pablo Garcia, Moritz Hesse, Mackenzie Ford, Brianna Rhodea, and Koby Fraaza–had the opportunity to present research they have been working on for more than a year on Wednesday, April 8, sharing it on a large stage in front of professors, students and members of the community.
Grand Valley State has provided Student Scholars Day as an avenue for both undergraduate and graduate students to pursue research opportunities under the mentorship of faculty members, while building academic skills. This began in 1996 as an initiative within the Science and Mathematics programs and since then it has expanded into a campuswide celebration of student research.
This marked the 30th anniversary of Student Scholars Day and was the largest since the pandemic and the second-largest in its history. There were more than 570 students that presented and had over 160 faculty mentors.
Pablo Garcia, a senior on the swim and dive team, competes in the breaststroke and individual medley events. He conducted research on detecting near-Earth asteroids using a space antenna that is currently under construction to expand the existing catalog. His research was carried out numerically through simulations.
When asked how he balanced competing and research, Garcia said, "I balance it by keeping a rigid schedule and not giving myself time to procrastinate. I chose this topic because I became interested in asteroids when I first read about the Chelyabinsk meteor that hit Siberia."
Moritz Hesse, a junior on the swim and dive team, competes in the backstroke, freestyle and butterfly events. His research focused on assessing whether verbal feedback can improve interlimb asymmetry. He conducted three trials consisting of a pushup, countermovement jump (CMJ) and quiet stand. After analyzing the asymmetry results, he provided participants with feedback and had them complete another trial to determine whether they improved.
Hesse discussed how he navigates the demands of research and competition by saying, "The research project started in April 2025, so I worked on it for a full year. The amount of work I had to put into it each week was fairly low. My team and I mainly worked on it on Tuesdays and Fridays, so it was a bit tight with practice on those days, but aside from that, it didn't put too much extra stress on me. Since I am an exercise science major, the topic was a perfect fit. Another reason I chose to work on this project was to gain exposure in the field of research. One thing that stood out to me was how tedious the research process can be, especially the IRB process. It was surprising how thorough and precise you have to be."
Mackenzie Ford, a senior on the women's soccer team, plays on the defensive side of the ball. Her research, titled "Sleep Deep: The Role of Magnesium Intake in Sleep Duration Among Adults 18-40," explored how magnesium, through diet or supplementation, affects sleep quality and duration in healthy adults. She analyzed 20 peer-reviewed studies to evaluate evidence linking magnesium intake with sleep outcomes and highlighted its potential as a cost-effective strategy to improve sleep and overall well-being.
Ford commented on how she balanced competition and research priorities, stating, "Balancing academics, athletics and research required strong time management and effective communication with my research group early in the process. Coordinating schedules, setting clear deadlines and staying organized helped ensure that everyone contributed efficiently and that the project progressed smoothly alongside my athletic commitments."
Brianna Rhodea, a junior sprinter and hurdler, conducted research on Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as fruit flies. She worked with her group to use flies as a model organism to study the mechanisms of renal stone formation. Drosophila have a simplified renal system, making them a complementary model for this research. They have four Malpighian tubules that function similarly to nephrons in the human kidney, which are responsible for filtering blood. Previous studies have shown that flies form calcium oxalate renal stones in these tubules when fed a sodium oxalate-supplemented diet. The lab aims to explore both dietary and genetic causes of renal stones to better understand how they form.
Rhodea said her mentor was a significant help in balancing research, athletics and academics, noting that her mentor was also a volleyball player at Grand Valley during her undergraduate career. She added that her coach has been flexible, allowing her to travel for conferences and providing extra time to work on experiments. Much of her research is conducted during the summer while she is in the offseason, as it can be difficult to spend more than a few hours in the lab at a time during the academic year due to class and practice schedules.
"This project has taught me the ups and downs of research," Rhodea said. "Not everything works the way you expect, so I have learned to reevaluate my questions, go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong so I can fix it."
The final student-athlete to present for the Lakers is Koby Fraaza, a redshirt senior who competes in distance events. He worked on a research project evaluating the impact of reducing media glucose and fetal bovine serum (FBS) on endothelial cell viability, apoptosis and cell cycle position in mouse brain endothelial cells. The results of this research established a baseline for future investigation into the effects of AT-1 receptor stimulation on endothelial cell proliferation and apoptosis.
When reflecting on balancing academics, athletics, and research, Fraaza explained, "I structured my day around the nonnegotiable things I needed to accomplish and completed whatever else I could in the in-between time. I found putting too much weight on less important things reduces the quality of what really matters.
"I have found that experimental research is much like an athletic competition: you can have ideas about what will happen or what might work, but when things don't go as planned, what matters most is how you adapt and respond," Fraaza added.
