Open Menu Open Search

Celebration of Learning 2026

May 6, 2026

celebration of learning

The annual Celebration of Learning showcases work by students, faculty and staff at Augustana.

This year's celebration on May 6, 2026, includes poster presentations, interactive sessions, panel presentations and special events.

Schedule overview -

Featured presenters:

  • Aliza G. Salinas-Cervantes ‘26 and Dr. Tim J. Muir (Biology): "Summer Student Research Fellowship: Tracking Residual-Yolk Energy in Hatchling Turtles from the Slough”; 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Olin Auditorium.
  • Dr. Randall Hall (Music): “Τελεῖσθαι: Contemporary Music as Ritual Practice”; 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Olin Auditorium.

Special events include:

STEM|Q Center grand opening: noon, Hanson 202. Come see the newest academic resource on campus. Whether you’re balancing equations, building the next prototype, or diving into data, the STEM|Q Center is the ultimate space to connect and create.  Check out the new space, see impressive student projects, and meet the team.Bonus: We’ll have plenty of food, featuring liquid nitrogen ice cream! Don’t miss out on the science (and the snacks).

NeurdFest: Engaging Elementary and College Students in Brain Awareness: Faculty Dr. Rupa Gordon, Dr. Scott Gehler, Dr. Ian Harrington and Dr. Shara Stough; students Kiana Breuer, Ella Check, Cristina Costa, Gabriella Davies, Trevion Gilford, Diana Gonzalez-Palacio, Emily Guadarrama, Dianna Hester, Ximena Osorio Rodriguez. Event is in Evald 017, 018, 021, and 027; 9-11 a.m. (This event not open to the public.)

Business Plan Competition: Students Paloma Martinez Palomarez, Mikayla Kelly, Bruk Wedmem, Minh Nguyen, My Ha, Quinxie Doan, Samyam Bista and Collin Byrne. (This event not open to the public.)

Kinesiology Fitness Clinic: Kinesiology 300 students (Lindberg labs, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.)

Open house: Natural History Collections and College History: Exploring Mosses and the Stories Behind Our Collections,  Dr. Jason Koontz, (Herbarium, Hanson 324, 1:30-2:30 p.m.)

Exhibit: Finding the Women of Classical Antiquity through Weaving, Dr. Kirsten Day and the students of CLAS 240/340 Women in Classical Antiquity, (Tredway Library, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.)

Demonstration: SiPM-based Next Generation Neutron Detector Prototype, Dr. Nathan Frank and students: Lili Leatherman, Luke Dalzell, Amber Olson, Pritisha Malla, Lee Ngedwa and Khana Ha. (Hanson 118)

Kat-Jean Glusick, Kaitlyn Goss-Peirce (Librarian), Micaela Terronez (Librarian) and Madeline Kusar (Special Collections Assistant): Workshop: So You Wanna be a Citizen Archivist: Unraveling Hidden Stories One Record at a Time (Special Collections Reading Room at Tredway Library, 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. and 1-2:15 p.m.

First, pizza, then screening of "The Alabama Solution," an Oscar-nominated documentary that follows the story of incarcerated men who defied the odds to expose a cover-up in America's deadliest prison system. Followed by panel discussion. Augustana Prison Education Program and Student Prison Education Club. (Olin Auditorium, 6-8:30 p.m.)    

Poster presentation sessions will be held in the Gävle Room, Gerber Center, in two sessions: 9-10 a.m. and 1-2:15 p.m.

Oral presentations are hosted in various campus locations, in four sessions: 10-11:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m., 1-2:15 p.m. and 2:30-3:45 p.m.

Oral presentations

Poster presentations and exhibits 

Honors and achievements

Summer Student Research Fellowship: Tracking Residual-Yolk Energy in Hatchling Turtles from the Slough

Presented by Aliza G. Salinas-Cervantes ‘26 and Dr. Tim J. Muir (Biology), 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Olin Auditorium.

Description: For many STEM students, a faculty-mentored research project is a signature experience in their college career. But why is that the case? What makes these experiences valuable, and how can STEM students find them? In this presentation, we will discuss the process and results of one faculty-mentored student research project and highlight ways that Augustana supports these experiences. 

After hatching in late summer, painted turtles remain dormant in their subterranean nests and do not eat until the following spring — a fast of seven months! Their only fuel comes from leftover yolk energy, much of which is still in the yolk sac when they hatch. To better understand how hatchling turtles manage their energy, we tracked the fate of residual-yolk energy throughout their dormancy and found that turtles quickly move it into other body stores rather than gradually deplete it over the winter. We also found that the quick assimilation of energy is itself energetically costly. That up-front cost may be necessary as cold-induced inhibition of nutrient absorption from the yolk could make that energy otherwise unavailable in the winter.

Τελεῖσθαι: Contemporary Music as Ritual Practice

Presented by Dr. Randall Hall (Music), 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Olin Auditorium

Description: In this session, Augustana Professor of Music Randall Hall performs some of his recent music, including his piece Τελεῖσθαι, as an example of his work creating contemporary theurgic music. Drawing on sources ranging from Neoplatonic philosophy to the work of Vedic scholar Fritz Staal, Hall identifies ritual principles that can be translated into musical structures. By embedding these ritual — or theurgic — elements into contemporary music for saxophone and electronics, the performance is elevated to a ritual act.

→ Return to top