Muhlenberg athletes are spending the summer of 2026 enjoying fantastic experiences on campus, in their hometowns, across the country, and even around the world.

Sophomore men's lacrosse player Parker Kusko researched the public perception of geoengineering in a 10-week program at Lehigh University. 

This summer, I participated in Lehigh University's STEM-SI undergraduate research program, which is a 10-week research intensive program focused on STEM-related disciplines. My research mentor for the summer was Professor Christopher Borick, who was formerly Director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, and is now a professor of political science at Lehigh University. My research included an intensive look into geoengineering and its perception in society.

I decided to participate in the STEM-SI program this summer because it would allow me to look into to political science concepts outside of the classroom and better see how they are directly impacting society. Geoengineering can be a controversial topic because of its relationship to climate change.

I greatly enjoyed working under Professor Borick's direction this summer, as he was able to introduce me to some of the impactful work that he conducted at the Institute of Public Opinion. It was obvious to me from our first discussion that Professor Borick has a strong passion for political science and communicates that through his mentorship of students. This made for an enjoyable summer experience while furthering my knowledge of environmental topics and their political relationships.

I hope to go to law school after Muhlenberg to specialize in environmental law, and this summer's research experience showed me the importance of the environment and the political complexities associated with it.

In addition to having the opportunity to work directly with Professor Borick, I also would like to thank Professor Mohsin Hashim from Muhlenberg's department of political science, as I was able to use some of the concepts I learned this spring in one of his political science courses and apply them to my studies this summer.

One cool thing about working at Lehigh University this summer was getting to spend time on a different college campus and being introduced to undergraduate students from all over the world. Although we worked on different research projects, we would regularly talk about our projects in some of the professional development workshops offered as part of the STEM-SI program. I got the opportunity to meet people from Nepal, India, Ghana, and several other countries and had the chance to see them succeed in their respective laboratories.  

In addition, as part of the STEM-SI Research Day Expo at the end of the program, I was able to present my research and poster, titled "The Public's Perception on Geoengineering" to judges and other students and was awarded the best poster in the energy/environment technical category.