Hannah Horn is the winner of the 2026 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize in the Undergraduate Upper-level category, awarded to the winning project completed in a 200- to 400-level course.
Hannah is a junior Cybercrime and Homeland Security major with a double minor in Criminal Justice and Criminology. She submitted to the competition her project titled, “Money Laundering through Online Gambling,” completed in the course CJ 231: Environmental Criminology, taught by Dr. Ismail Onat. In choosing a research topic, Hannah explains in her description of research, “My curiosity about money laundering through gambling began from a desire to understand how digital platforms, such as online casinos, introduce new risks to these conventional systems. At the beginning of the project, I recognized that the subject was extensive and impactful but had very little research regarding it.”
For her research, Hannah drew on a range of tools and resources available through the Weinberg Memorial Library, including Royal Search, research guides, and the A-Z Databases list. In her description of the research process, Hannah discusses using the ProQuest Criminal Justice database to locate academic literature on both traditional and emerging money laundering methods, and she supplemented this with JSTOR and EBSCO’s Academic Search Premier to gather literature on regulatory frameworks and organized crime. Because Hannah’s topic sits at the intersection of criminology, cybersecurity, international law, and financial regulation, she describes using the Library’s unified search system to map citations and trace scholarly conversations across disciplines. She also consulted reports from the Financial Action Task Force and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which grounded her research in real-world investigative practice.
Throughout this process, Hannah strengthened her ability to evaluate source quality. She explains, “The library’s resources helped me to distinguish assertions from research grounded in evidence and helped to ensure that all the sources I used were credible and scholarly. I also learned to focus my research on peer-reviewed journals, official documents, and legal examinations, considering the reliability of their publication, research methods, sample size, and the availability of data.” She continues, “These thorough assessments embody the trait of discernment by distinguishing trustworthy information from deceptive or biased origins. This process required patience, contemplation, and a need for open-mindedness when presented with facts and information.”
Exploring this subject led her to consider the social and human dimensions of financial crime. Hannah writes:
Online casino sites […] commonly act as conduits for criminal organizations to exploit vulnerable groups, disrupt economies, and weaken confidence in the financial systems used. Researching this subject prompted me to embrace the concept of cura personalis, meaning acknowledging the human aspect behind what might seem like a purely financial framework. I gained an understanding of how illegal activities impact innocent people and communities, especially in nations with fragile regulatory environments and economies.
Hannah’s paper offers a robust analysis of online casinos as environments that enable money laundering, tracing the legal history of anti-money laundering legislation, applying criminological frameworks, and culminating in an original intervention proposal: an Integrated Account-Centric Anti-Money Laundering System. Her work is both analytically rigorous and practically grounded, demonstrating the kind of critical thinking that defines excellent upper-level research.
The Honorable Mention awards in the Undergraduate Upper-level category were presented to Corinne R. Langowski, a senior Communication Sciences and Disorders major, for her project titled, “Predicting Developmental Outcomes in Toddlers with Early Language Delay Using the Preschool Language Scale – Fifth Edition,” completed in the course CSD 412: Introduction to Research Methods, taught by Dr. Joseph Motzko; and Faith E. Montagnino, a senior English major with Philosophy and Writing minors, for her University Honors project titled, “The Wound as Method: Pain, Language, and Feminist Knowledge in Confessional and Post-Confessional Poetry,” completed in WRTG 489H: Honors Project II, mentored by Dr. Billie Tadros.
Aaron T. Redis is the winner of the 2026 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize in the Graduate category.
Aaron is in the Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program. He submitted to the competition his project titled, “Seeing Trauma Differently: Evaluating the Efficacy of EMDR Across Varying Abilities and Contexts,” in the course COUN 521: Physical and Psychosocial Aspects of Disability, taught by Dr. Samantha Herrick. Aaron first notes in his description of research that getting started on a research project is often the hardest step. Deciding to research the broader topic of trauma, he utilized the Library’s resources including Publication Finder and Royal Search and came upon Eye Movement Desensitization / Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy as his research topic for this project. About the scope of his research, Aaron notes, “I initially wanted to center the research on providing this therapeutic modality for individuals with physical disabilities. However, I quickly learned there was a significant gap in the scholarly literature, as I could only locate sources on EMDR for individuals with intellectual disabilities.”
This discovery led Aaron to focus his research on EMDR accessibility overall, relying on key sources to further refine the scope of his project, including in one case a playlist on virtual EMDR which he found through the Library’s search systems and which helped “inform [his] research on adapting EMDR strategies for broader accessibility.” In his description of research, Aaron describes the need to “draw meaningful conclusions” from the information available on a given topic, especially when there may not be direct evidence available on a particular aspect of the topic being researched. This is especially important in evidence-based fields such as clinical counseling practice. His use of a log for his sources, in which he recorded notes on pieces of evidence he found valuable or interesting, was a tool that helped him do this.
Aaron speaks about this process as “research by serendipity,” a phrase he uses in his description of research to describe how the synthesis of existing research may reveal gaps, but one can still build upon those works in a meaningful way to contribute further to the scholarly conversation. He goes on to reflect on his experience in graduate studies of “expecting [a project] to turn out one way, but the further we go along, we see it turn into something better than we may have expected.” He continues, “This taught me the value of being flexible and seeing that sometimes we grow in the process, even if it feels overwhelming or uncertain.”
In his description of research, Aaron reflects on the Jesuit values he identified in his research process for this project. He notes how through the process he learned that “Education is so much more than knowledge” and that “it is also about developing character and leadership,” which is how Aaron put magis into practice in this project. In addition, Aaron’s research discovery that EMDR interventions need to be adapted to individual client needs looks at a person holistically, which is the embodiment of cura personalis. On this, he reflects on what he’s learned about EMDR when he shares, “There is something to be said for a client trusting us with the heaviest parts of their lived experience; we must honor this by encouraging them to care for themselves in and out of the session, and sometimes slowing down or stopping EMDR is the best way to do so.”
Lastly, Aaron speaks about how “deep reflection strongly influenced [his] research process” as he strove for continual improvement in the execution of this research project. He connects this to contemplation in action and notes that “Being able to sift through the research and come back to and draw meaningful conclusions matters a lot and determines how much someone takes away from the process.” Through this, Aaron illustrates how the research process impacts both the researcher and those whom the research will serve.
Lucas Camacho is the winner of the 2026 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize in the Undergraduate Foundational category, awarded to the winning project completed in a 100-level course.
Lucas is a first-year Kinesiology major on a Pre-Med/Pre-PA track who submitted to the competition his paper titled, “Building Habits that Last a Lifetime,” completed in Prof. Dawn D’Aries Zera’s WRTG 107: Composition course. Tasked with researching an argumentative contemporary issue related to his major, Lucas’s goal was to write about wearable fitness trackers. Getting started posed a challenge for Lucas, who shares in his description of research, “I was not sure how to transform that idea into a well-researched and supported argument. I kept telling myself I had to find the ‘perfect’ source to get started. This mindset kept me stuck […] Everything changed when I attended a class session instructed by Donna Witek, Librarian, at the Weinberg Memorial Library. This session gave me the direction needed to put me on the right track for success in this assignment.”
In the information literacy class session, Lucas learned how to effectively use the Library search tools to locate specific materials needed to support his argument. He notes that he had never used many of the tools introduced in this information literacy class, but that the information presented in that class made him “confident about the process and how the information was organized.” Lucas began his research with Royal Search, the Library’s main search tool, which searches all of the Library’s databases, electronic resources, and print and media collections for books, articles, and more. Lucas shares that he immediately started applying the skills he learned in the information literacy class and mentions using features such as the filters provided by the platform to locate scientific, peer-reviewed literature relevant to his research topic, which he accessed through Library-indexed resources including PubMed, JAMA Network Open, The BMJ, Frontiers in Physiology, and The Lancet Digital Health. Lucas experienced success in combining multiple keywords using Boolean operators such as AND and OR to narrow or broaden his searches as needed. He notes, “Gathering evidence started to become a bit easier with each search, and I was able to start building my claim. Seeing the variety of studies that are connected to my topic helped me understand the scope of scholarship involved in academic research.”
Lucas details his use of reading the abstracts of discovered studies to ensure that they would be supportive of the claims he was making in his essay, and that this allowed him to conduct research more efficiently. He goes on to reflect on the research process as a whole saying, “The guidance from Professor Donna Witek helped me grow as a student. I developed a clear understanding of how to do academic research with intention instead of just guessing my way through it. This topic taught me how to find sources, but more importantly, how to think more patiently and critically.” Lucas also described a common challenge when conducting research and the ways he persisted through it using what he learned; he writes: “When I felt like my research process hit a wall, I remembered that Donna told us that research should be treated as a continuous process instead of just a one-time search. Sometimes the search did not bring up high-quality results, and it became frustrating. I was able to stay calm and focused when I remembered this research mindset. This was not just about collecting sources; it was about building the foundation and context of a truly compelling subject for me.”
Lucas further reflected on the role the Ignatian characteristic contemplation in action played in his research when he writes:
Research provided me a chance to reflect on my thinking and fortify my skills, which will serve me further after this assignment. My argument highlighted the importance of building long-term habits. Ironically enough, the research process ended up teaching me the same lesson: progress comes from being consistent in habits. I became more confident in my academic ability based on the skills acquired to search intentionally, evaluate studies, and think critically. The same approach of consistent work, adjustment, and reflection applied to assignments and challenges beyond this one.
The Honorable Mention awards in the Undergraduate Foundational category were presented to Nursing major Emma McMahon, for her project titled, “Prioritizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Over Pharmacotherapy,” and to Communication Sciences and Disorders major Abigail Wall, for her project titled, “Does Telehealth Improve Access to Healthcare or Compromise the Quality of it?,” both completed in WRTG 107: Composition for Prof. Dawn D’Aries Zera.
Currently celebrating its 16th year, the Weinberg Memorial Library inaugurated the Library Research Prize in 2011 to recognize excellence in research projects that show evidence of significant knowledge of the methods of research and the information gathering process, and use of library resources, tools, and services. In 2017, the prize was named for Professor Emerita Bonnie W. Oldham, who founded the prize at the University in 2011. The Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize was fully endowed in 2019 and consists of a prize of $500 awarded to winning projects in each of the three categories: Undergraduate Foundational (100-level projects), Undergraduate Upper-level (200- to 400-level projects), and Graduate.
Prize winners were honored at an Awards Ceremony & Reception on Friday, May 22, 2026 in the Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library.
Information about the Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize can be found on the website: http://www.scranton.edu/libraryresearchprize
Congratulations to all of our honorees!
Special thanks to Kate Cummings, Colleen Farry, and Ian O’Hara for their contributions to this article.
