Thank you to all the students who participated in the 2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium and to all the research mentors, staff, family, and friends who supported the event. The Office of Undergraduate Research is proud to showcase the awards for outstanding presentations and honorable mentions for each panel below:
Current Moment: Multidisciplinary Approaches to COVID-19 and its Impacts
Effects of Different Types of Face Masks on Speech-in-Speech Recognition in School-Aged Children (Outstanding)
Lisa Lemajeur, Junior, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, AHS
Kelsey Libert, Junior, Speech and Hearing Science, AHS
(Research Mentor: Mary M. Flaherty, Department of Speech and Hearing Science)
2020 vs. The Writing Tutor: Online Learning, Collaboration, and the Writer's Responsibility (Honorable Mention)
Kat Williams, Junior, Media and Cinema Studies, COM
(Research Mentor: Carolyn Wisniewski, Center for Writing Studies)
Data and Information
Exploration of the Latent Structure of Personnel Selection Assessment Response Data (Outstanding)
Rebecca Chen, Junior, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Susu Zhang, Department of Psychology & Department of Statistics)
Killing to Win: Pre-Election Violence as a Political Strategy to Win Elections (Outstanding)
Hrishikesh Deshmukh, Sophomore, Computer Science, ENG
(Research Mentor: Tolgahan Dilgin, Department of Political Science)
Pan-Cancer Survival Classification with Clinicopathologic and Targeted Gene Expression Features (Outstanding)
Patrick Yu, Freshman, Computer Science, ENG
(Research Mentor: Jimmy Guo, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard Medical School)
The Times They Are a-Changin’: Analysis of the Demographics of Rolling Stone Magazine Covers Through Time (Honorable Mention)
Miriam Sadkhin, Sophomore, Advertising, COM
Hanyu Zhao, Sophomore, Information Sciences, SIS
(Research Mentor: Michael Twidale, School of Information Sciences)
Design Thinking and Innovation
Detection of Various Biochemicals in Tear Fluid (Outstanding)
Manushi Shah, Sophomore, Chemistry, LAS
(Research Mentor: Paul Braun, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering)
Swelling Thin Layers of Plant Tissue Analogs (Honorable Mention)
Milena Nutrobkina, Senior, Chemical Engineering, LAS
(Research Mentor: Shelby Hutchens, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering)
Environment and Sustainability
Mapping Governance in Protected Area Communities: An Institutional Map of Organizations Who Influence Protected Area Management in the Denali Region of Alaska (Outstanding)
Gillian Rowe, Senior, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, ACES
(Research Mentor: Carena van Riper, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences)
A Regulatory Timeline of Seawater Desalination in California (Honorable Mention)
Julia Marsaglia, Junior, Earth, Society and Environmental Sustainability, LAS
(Research Mentor: Brian O’Neill, Department of Sociology)
Food Systems
An Investigation into the Potential of Horticultural and Nature-Based Interventions for Well-Being and the Methods to Evaluate Their Effects (Outstanding)
Liz Guenther, Junior, Social Work, SSW
(Research Mentor: Rachel Garthe, School of Social Work)
Caring of Caregivers Organically (CoCO) Health Education Program (Honorable Mention)
Sarika Kumar, Freshman, Molecular and Cellular Biology, LAS
Health and Wellness: Society
Human Trafficking in the United States: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Reduce the Number of Unidentified Cases in a Healthcare Environment (Outstanding)
Tracy Wohlever, Senior, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, AHS
(Research Mentor: Valeria Bonatti, Global Studies)
Increased Risk of Childhood Obesity With A Rise In Media Usage (Honorable Mention)
Avery Adamany, Senior, Integrative Biology, LAS
Emily Williams, Senior, Community Health, AHS
Caitlin Daza, Senior, Human Development and Family Studies, ACES
(Research Mentor: Brenda Koester, Department of Human Development & Family Studies)
Health and Wellness: The Body
Relationship Between Strategic Attention and Inhibition in Older Adults with Varying Hearing Ability (Outstanding)
Chloe Maghinang, Sophomore, Speech and Hearing Science, AHS
(Research Mentor: Dr. Raksha Mudar, Department of Speech and Hearing Science)
Fall Frequency & Fall Concern in Non-ambulatory Adults with Spinal Cord Injury (Honorable Mention)
Emma Blomberg, Junior, Kinesiology, AHS
(Research Mentor: Laura Rice, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health)
Humanities and The Arts
Reggaeton’s Resistance: Bad Bunny & the Aesthetics & Politics of Perreo (Outstanding)
Issy Marquez, Senior, English, LAS
(Research Mentor: Sandra Ruiz, Department of Latina/Latino Studies and Department of English)
A Restaging of Lynn Nottage's "Sweat" at Champaign's Murphy's Pub (Honorable Mention)
Ryan Yapp, Senior, Theatre, FAA
(Research Mentor: Kirsten Pullen, Department of Theatre)
Learning and Human Development
The Role of Disciplinary Expertise in Shaping Undergraduate Tutor’s Confidence in Writing Center Sessions (Outstanding)
Eva Cornman, Junior, Molecular and Cellular Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Carolyn Wisniewski, Center for Writing Studies)
The Intersection of History Curriculums & Perceptions of America (Honorable Mention)
Abigail Greetis, Freshman, Elementary Education, EDU
(Research Mentor: Jon Hale, Education Policy, Organization and Leadership)
Infant Distress to Limitations and Parental Depression (Honorable Mention)
Courtney Esker, Junior, Human Development and Family Studies, ACES
(Research Mentor: Nancy McElwain, Department of Human Development and Family Studies)
Life: Molecules, Microbes, and Cellular Processes
The Effects of MYD88 S209R on Cell Death (Outstanding)
Christopher Jones, Senior, Community Health, AHS
(Research Mentor: Sufia Bakshi, National Institutes of Health)
Experience is the Best Teacher: How the Deadly Human Pathogen Bacillus anthracis Learned to Overcome Human Immune Responses through Interactions with Soil Amoebae (Outstanding)
Annie Cheung, Senior, Molecular and Cellular Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Tamilselvam Batcha, Department of Microbiology)
Trojan War: Strategy of Deadly Bacillus anthracis Pathogen to Conquer Host Immune Cells (Honorable Mention)
Yiting Song, Junior, Food Science and Human Nutrition, ACES
(Research Mentor: Tamilselvam Batcha, Department of Microbiology)
Life: Plants and Animals 1
Does the Dilution Effect Operate in the Human Microbiome?: A Review of Microbial Diversity Studies and Human Health Outcomes (Outstanding)
Fahren Zackery, Senior, Integrative Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Brian Allan, Department of Entomology)
Identification of Genes to Improve Crop Yield (Honorable Mention)
Meghan Blaszynski, Junior, Integrative Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Steven Burgess, Department of Plant Biology)
Tomato Variety Influences Herbivore Induced Plant Volatiles (Honorable Mention)
Erinn Dady, Senior, Earth, Society and Environmental Sustainability, LAS
(Research Mentor: Esther Ngumbi, Department of Entomology)
Life: Plants and Animals 2
Effects of Mowing on Forage Availability and Quality During the Summer (Outstanding)
Michelle Johnson, Senior, Animal Sciences, ACES
(Research Mentor: Daniel Shike, Animal Sciences)
Population Variation in Brain Size in Three-Spined Stickleback Fish (Honorable Mention)
Eric Arredondo, Junior, Integrative Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Alison Bell, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior)
Media and Culture
The Study of Gen Z's Interaction With Social Commerce Advertisements (Outstanding)
Grace Tessitore, Junior, Advertising, COM
Kenna Hansen, Senior, Advertising, COM
Evan Hawkins, Senior, Advertising, COM
(Research Mentor: Michelle Nelson, Department of Advertising)
Studying the Potential Politicization of Public Health Crises In American News Media (Honorable Mention)
Jefferson Mathews, Sophomore, Statistics, LAS
Maya Mosley, Senior, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Jodi Schneider, School of Information Sciences)
Numbers and Computation
Using MODFLOW Modeling to Investigate Unexplained Chloride Fluctuations in Will County's Shallow Dolomite Municipal Wells (Outstanding)
Valerie Smykalov, Sophomore, Geology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Cecilia Cullen, Illinois State Water Survey)
Charging Station Location Study to Support Electric Vehicle Evacuation Preparedness (Honorable Mention)
Simon Balisi, Junior, Industrial Engineering, ENG
(Research Mentor: Denissa Sari Darmawi Purba, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
Politics, Policy, and Society
Who Does the Rule of Law Rule Out? Examining Access to Justice for Victims in Post-Conflict Societies (Outstanding)
Jessica Angel, Senior, Political Science, LAS
(Research Mentor: Jessica Alexandra Angel, Department of Political Science)
Exploring the Relationship Between Perceived Supports, Barriers, and Race in Bystander Intervention for Racial Microaggressions (Honorable Mention)
Lauren Batiste, Junior, Statistics, LAS
Keziah Buabeng, Senior, Agricultural and Consumer Economics, ACES
(Research Mentor: Andrea Kunze, Department of Educational Psychology)
Science and Technology
Electrophysiological Analysis of Microglia and Neuron Co-cultures (Outstanding)
Jason Liu, Junior, Molecular and Cellular Biology, LAS
Parker Meyer, Junior, Molecular and Cellular Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Karla Ramos-Cruz, Department of Bioengineering)
Nonlinear Wave Mixing in Phononic Materials with Periodic Rough Contacts (Outstanding)
Songyuan Cui, Junior, Mechanical Engineering, ENG
(Research Mentor: Ganesh Patil, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering)
Sub-chronic Exposure to Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate and Its Effects on the Colon of Adult Female Mice (Honorable Mention)
Alyssa Ramir, Senior, Animal Sciences, ACES
(Research Mentor: Romana Nowak, Department of Animal Sciences)
Social Science and Human Behavior 1
A Longitudinal Investigation of Impulsivity and Drinking Behavior Associated with Sensitivity to the Emotional Rewards of Alcohol (Outstanding)
Elizabeth Garrity, Senior, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Walter James Venerable III, Department of Psychology)
Childhood Trauma Stress-System Sensitization and Pregnancy (Honorable Mention)
Rosalie Ruhlmann, Senior, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Heidemarie Laurent, Department of Psychology)
Social Science and Human Behavior 2
Posters for Prevention: A Case Study of Chicago Public Schools' Mass Messaging Campaign Against Child Sexual Abuse (Outstanding)
Ella Dennis, Freshman, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Aggie Rieger, Department of Psychology)
Does Neuroticism Moderate the Association of Schizotypy and Negative Affect in Daily Life? (Honorable Mention)
Laura Hernandez, Senior, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor: Thomas Kwapil, Department of Psychology)
