At Willamette, faculty excellence and rigorous scholarship are central to academic life. With summer around the corner, the shift from teaching to fieldwork, data analysis, research, and writing is just beginning.
Willamette professors are scholar-teachers who push the boundaries of knowledge, bringing cutting-edge discoveries directly from the laboratory, library, and field back into the classroom. Faculty research also fuels collaborative research with students, where undergraduates get hands-on research opportunities typically reserved for graduate study. That student research is celebrated each spring at Willamette’s annual Student Scholarship Recognition Day.
To celebrate this ongoing dedication to inquiry and discovery, we look back at a selection of faculty research published over the last year.
Mathematical Insights into Voting and Decision-Making
Mathematics Professors Erin McNicholas and Kathryn Nyman, alongside collaborators Karl-Dieter Crisman and Michael Orrison, were featured in the October 2025 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, the world's most widely read magazine for professional mathematicians. Their article, “Voting on Relations Using Pairs Information,” applies advanced mathematical tools — such as linear algebra and graph theory — to examine voting and decision-making systems.
Notably, this published project is an extension of earlier research conducted with students through the Willamette Mathematics Consortium for Undergraduate Research, underscoring the university’s dedication to faculty-student collaboration.
Read the publication: https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202509/rnoti-p979.pdf
Phylogenetics within Camassia: Unlocking Botanical Mysteries
Biology Professor Emeritus Susan R. Kephart co-authored a comprehensive study published in the journal PeerJ examining the complex evolution and difficult taxonomy of the plant genus Camassia (camas). Professor Kephart designed experiments using an advanced DNA analysis tool called RADseq. This high-tech genetic method allowed her team to map out exactly how different populations of camas plants are related to one another.Her research successfully cleared up years of scientific confusion about how to properly categorize these plants and provided critical insights into how geographical, ecological, and reproductive traits drive plant diversification. By clarifying species boundaries, this genomic breakthrough offers vital information for modern ecological conservation, ensuring land managers can utilize locally appropriate plant species in habitat restoration efforts.
Read the article: https://peerj.com/articles/20438/
Understanding the Wellbeing of Sexual Minority Students
Psychology Professor Courtney Stevens has published a co-authored research paper investigating the psychological wellbeing of sexual minority young adults. Researchers analyzed survey data from 51,713 college students collected during the Spring 2022 National College Health Assessment. To evaluate mental and emotional health, the study used a tool called the Diener Flourishing Scale, which measures factors like having a sense of purpose, feeling supported by others, and practicing self-compassion. The researchers found that, compared to heterosexual students, all sexual minority groups exhibited lower odds of psychological wellbeing. Specifically, bisexual, questioning, and asexual college students reported decreased odds across all measured wellbeing domains, even after adjusting for individual and socioenvironmental characteristics, including mental health experiences. This critical study highlights an urgent need for greater resources to uplift the holistic wellbeing of sexual minority young adults.
Read the article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-025-00988-z
Psychedelic Renaissance and the Lingering Shadow of Eugenics
In a new essay, Willamette Law Professor Laura Appleman examines the history of psychedelics from the nineteenth century to today, arguing that the revival of psychedelic research and therapy repeats familiar patterns of who gets access and who gets excluded. Appleman explores how the line between “medicine” and “drug” has been used to reinforce social hierarchies, and warns that today’s corporate and tech-driven psychedelic movement risks reproducing those same inequities, under the guise of therapeutic innovation and human optimization.
Read the essay: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5633110
