2020 U海角社区 Student Symposium announces award winners
In a virtual platform, 270 students showcased 131 research and creative works at the 2020 U海角社区 Student Symposium held on October 2.
The fifth annual symposium provided an opportunity for the public to view student research and scholarly work 鈥 all online due to COVID-19.
The free public event was organized by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, the Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR), Student Government, and the Graduate Student Government as part of 海角社区 Impact Week.
Nearly 85 volunteer judges scored projects in 10 categories encompassing all fields of study at U海角社区. The top students were awarded at the close of the virtual ceremony.
Special award
Dr. Susan J. Hunter Presidential Research Impact Award: Daniel P. Regan (graduate), 鈥淥ptimizing Liquid-Gated Membranes for Bioaerosol Capture and Release,鈥 advised by Caitlin Howell; Teagan LaPiere (undergraduate), 鈥淯nderstanding Veteran Suicides: Differences in Combat Deployed and non-Combat Deployed Risk of Suicide,鈥 advised by Mollie Ruben
Graduate winners
Allied health: Rachel Coleman, 鈥淰olunteer Participation of Older Adults: A Comparison Between Volunteers in the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and American Time Use Survey,鈥 advised by Jennifer Crittenden
Arts: Rachel Church, 鈥淲hen I live at Home Again: Changing Domesticity,鈥 advised by Susan Smith
Biomedical Sciences: Ashley Soucy, 鈥淩ab27a in Exosome Function in Perivascular Adipose Tissue,鈥 advised by Lucy Liaw
Biomedical Sciences: Avery Bond, 鈥淛C Polyomavirus Infectivity is Reduced by Inhibition of Calcium Signaling Pathways,鈥 advised by Melissa Maginnis
Engineering and Information Sciences: Daniel P Regan, 鈥淥ptimizing Liquid-Gated Membranes for Bioaerosol Capture and Release,鈥 advised by Caitlin Howell
Interdisciplinary Research: Meredith Lewis, 鈥淢ethodology for the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Colonial Waterbird Population Studies,鈥 advised by Cynthia Loftin
Natural Sciences: Nicole Ramberg-Pihl, 鈥淣orthern Crayfish Have a Larger Impact on Macroinvertebrate Community Composition and Basal Resources than Endangered Juvenile Atlantic salmon,鈥 advised by Hamish Greig and Steve Coghlan
Physical Sciences: Elnaz Jamalzade, 鈥淐atalytic Carbon-Carbon Bond Coupling for Producing Bio Jet Fuel from Mixed Organic Acids,鈥 advised by Thomas J. Schwartz
Social Sciences: Angelica Boeve, 鈥淒oes Sleep Contribute to Dual-Task Gait Disturbances Beyond Executive Attention in Older Adults?,鈥 advised by Rebecca MacAulay
Undergraduate winners
Allied Health: Sophia Palangas, 鈥淎ssessing Health Related Quality of Life, Language Impairment, and Psychosocial Factors in Post-stroke Aphasia,鈥 advised by Christopher Grindrod
Arts: Olivia Bradstreet, 鈥淧aper, Pulp, and Practice: Investigating Connections Through Process Art,鈥 advised by Ronald Nadeau
Biomedical Sciences: Remi Geohegan, 鈥淚mpacts of ERK Activation on JC polyomavirus Infection,鈥 advised by Melissa Maginnis
Business: Samuel Varga, 鈥淥n the Accuracy of IPO Underpricing in Different Sectors of the Stock Market,鈥 advised by Grant Miles
Education and Human Development: Emmaline Richardson, 鈥淭he Co-Parent Co-Op,鈥 advised by Daniel Puhlman
Engineering and Information Sciences: Basel White, “The Applications of Edge Detection to the Tissue Segmentation of Greyscale聽Mammograms,” advised by Andre Khalil
Interdisciplinary Research: David Plouff, 鈥淭hermal Expansion and Residual Strain Effects in AIN Thin Film Sensor Materials,鈥 advised by Robert Lad
Natural Sciences: Claudia Desjardins, 鈥淩etroviral Strain Diversity and Spatial Distribution in Wild Turkeys to Assess Agricultural Spillover,鈥 advised by Pauline Kamath
Physical Sciences: Abram Karam, 鈥淪econd-Order Derivatives of Nonsmooth Functions with Applications in Engineering,鈥 advised by Peter Stechlinski
Social Sciences: Teagan LaPiere, 鈥淯nderstanding Veteran Suicides: Difference in Combat Deployed and non-Combat Deployed Risk of Suicide,鈥 advised by Mollie Ruben
Attendees of the symposium, including students, faculty, staff, judges, sponsors and the general public are invited to take a short survey about the event. Feedback is important to symposium organizers and will be used to improve future events. Enter your email address at the end of the survey for a chance to win a prize. Your email will not be associated with your responses. The survey is .