Congratulations to the category winners and runners-up from WVU's 6th annual Spring Undergraduate Research Symposium. Thank you to all of our presenters for allowing us to return to an interactive, in-person format!
Left to right, top row: Ashley Moyer, Becca Hyde, Jessica Benevides, group photo with Dylan Upperman, Savannah Reese, Julia Lopez, and Carolina Rascon. Second row: Karissa Gautier, Amina Boukhris with Jessica Benevides, Kaylee Watly, Kennedi Lewellyn. Third row: Maria Maddy, Adelaide McDonald, Victoria Nist, Abigail Paul, Tyler Seidel, Jackie Arnold, and William Turman. Not pictured: Kenny Zheng, Olga Hawranick, and Alexandra Bunn.
PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTATIONS
- Winners: Maria Elena and Becca Hyde presented Why Don’t You Smile More? Mentor: Yoav Kaddar. Maria is a musical theatre and dance major from Peterson, WV and is an Honors Foundations student. Becca is a musical theatre and dance major from Huntington Beach, CA and is an Honors Foundations student.
ORAL PRESENATIONS
Biological Sciences & Engineering (7 presentations)
- Winner: Jackie Arnold presented Enzyme Immobilization within a Hyaluronic Acid Matrix for Biosensor Applications. Mentor: Cerasela Dinu. Jackie is a chemical engineering major from Morgantown, WV and completed the Honors Foundations and Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) program. Jackie conducted this research with support through the Beckman Scholars Program.
Social and Health Sciences (6 presentations)
- Winner: Victoria Nist presented The Expression of Melanocortin Receptors and Attractin in the Bovine Ovary. Mentor: Heather Chaney. Victoria is an animal & nutritional sciences and psychology major from Massillon, OH. Victoria conducted this research with support through WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
Arts & Humanities (7 presentations)
- Winners: Alexandra Bunn, Dylan Upperman, Savannah Reese, Julia Lopez, and Carolina Rascon presented Telling Our Stories: Exploring Geographical and Cultural Connections through Virtual Maps. Mentor: Maria Perez. Alexandra is an interdisciplinary studies major from South Charleston, WV. Alexandra is an Honors EXCEL student. Dylan is an environmental, soil, and water science major from North Canton, OH. Savannah is a geography major from Charleston, WV. Julia is a history major from Clarksburg, WV. Carolina is the Regents Bachelor of Arts program and from Morgantown, WV.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Arts & Humanities (13 presentations)
- Winner: William Turman presented Rank Choice Voting in Mayoral Elections: A Synthetic Control Analysis. Mentor: Bryan McCannon. William is an economics major from Barboursville, WV and is an Honors Foundations student. William conducted this research with support through WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
Biological Sciences (24 presentations)
- Winner-tie: Karissa Gautier presented Examining the impact of pubertal stress and adult hormone exposure on the PVN transcriptom. Mentor: Kathleen Morrison. Karissa is a neuroscience major from Weirton, WV and completed the Honors Foundations program. Karissa conducted this research with support through WVU's SURE program.
- Winner-tie: Ashlee Moyer presented How Visual Experience Affects Motor Behavior in Larval Zebrafish. Mentor: Eric Horstick. Ashlee is a biology major with an emphasis in neuroscience, is from Morgantown, WV, and is an Honors Foundations student. Ashlee conducted this research with support through WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
Environmental & Agricultural Sciences (22 presentations)
- Winner-tie: Abigail Paul presented Extraction of Rare Earth Elements using Biochar. Mentor: Oishi Sanyal. Abigail is a chemical engineering major from Jim Thorpe, PA and completed the Honors Foundations and Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) program.
- Winner-tie: Kaylee Walty presented How the Pinnule Spacing of Crinoids Has Contributed to Their Ability to Survive. Mentor: James Lamsdell. Kaylee is a geology major from Falling Waters, WV. Kaylee conducted this research with support through the Honors EXCEL program.
Health Sciences (23 presentations)
- Winner: Kennedi Lewellyn presented Therapeutic Evaluation of recAP for Sepsis-Associated Pathology. Mentor: Candice Brown. Kennedi is a biology major from Buckhannon, WV. Kennedi conducted this research with support through WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
- Runner Up: Briana Karem presented Impact of Limited Resources During Pregnancy on Maternal Behavior. Mentor: Kathleen Morrison. Briana is a neuroscience major from Uniontown, PA.
Physical Sciences & Engineering (27 presentations)
- Winner: Tyler Seidel presented Machine Learning Aided Data Analysis for Large Qualitative Data Sets. Mentor: Abhik Roy. Tyler is a computer engineering major from Avondale, PA.
- 1st Runner Up: Kenny Zheng presented Synthesis and Boracarboxylation of 3-Buten-1-Benzoate and an Indometacin Derived Compound. Mentor: Brian Popp. Kenny is a chemistry major from Charles Town, WV and is an Honors Foundations student. Kenny conducted this research with support through WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
- 2nd Runner Up: Olga Hawranick presented Patterns of River Sinuosity in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge. Mentor: Charlie Shobe. Olga is a Mathematics major from Fairmont, WV and completed the Honors Foundations and Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) program.
Social & Behavioral Sciences (27 presentations)
- Winner: Jessica Benevides presented Identifying Parent Responses Possibly Maintaining Challenging Behavior of Children with Prenatal Opioid Exposure. Mentor: Claire St. Peter. Jessica is a psychology major from Plymouth, MA.
- 1st Runner Up: Adelaide McDonald presented The Effectiveness of Community Connect Grants on Internet Access in West Virginia. Mentor: Brad Humphreys. Adelaide is an anthropology and economics major from Georgetown, PA and is an Honors EXCEL student.
- 2nd Runner Up: Amina Boukhris presented Variations of Functional Analyses to Identify Escape as a Reinforcer. Mentor: Claire St Peter. Amina is a psychology and biology major from Via Santo Garovaglio, Como, Italy.
