Thank you to all the students who participated in the 2025 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 below:
Performances & Exhibits
Our World, Captioned: Empowering Accessibility With Low-Cost Devices and Custom Speech Models (Outstanding)
Himnish Jain, Senior, Computer Science, ENG
Eisha Peyyeti, Senior, Computer Science, ENG
(Research Mentor(s): Lawrence Angrave, Computer Science & Colin Lualdi, Physics)
Oral Presentations
Poor Decision-Making or Cognitive Overload? Exploring Cognitive Load as a Mediating Factor Between Poverty and Child Maltreatment (Outstanding)
Maddie Brown, Senior, Social Work, SSW
Ethan Kye, Senior, Social Work, SSW
(Research Mentor(s): Alexis Krones, Social Work & William Schneider, Social Work)
The TikTok Ban and Gen-Z: How “Losing a Good Friend” Resulted in “Feeling Human Again” (Outstanding)
Ella Hiles, Sophomore, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): V. N. Vimal Rao, Statistics & Cavan Bonner, Psychology)
Determining Possible Racial and Ethnic Barriers to Local GSAs – First-Hand Accounts From GSA Participants (Outstanding)
Fynn Levery, Senior, Social Work, SSW
(Research Mentor(s): Rachel Garthe, Social Work & Chris Fleming, Social Work)
Parent-Led Fundraising Organizations’ Impact on Chicago Public Elementary Schools (Outstanding)
Lucille Owen, Sophomore, Learning & Education Studies, EDU
(Research Mentor(s): Paul Bruno, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership)
Epistasis Constrains Evolution in Human H1N1 Influenza A Virus Neuraminidase (Outstanding)
Lucia Rodriguez, Senior, Chemistry, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Nicholas Wu, Biochemistry & Ruipeng Lei, Biochemistry)
Student Protest During Donald Trump’s Second Term (Outstanding)
Josephine Thannert, Senior, Global Studies, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Joseph Coyle, Anthropology)
The Interstates Project: The American Mirage, Our Nation's Mother Road, and the Death of the American Highway (Outstanding)
William Hohe, Senior, Photography, FAA
Charlotte Watson, Senior, Graphic Design, FAA
(Research Mentor(s): Melissa Pokorny, Art & Design & Luke Batten, Art & Design & Jena Marble, Graphic Design)
Uman Tok: Tailoring Hope, Renewing Futures in Sierra Leone (Outstanding)
Nathan Gonzalez, Sophomore, Journalism, COM
Elena Cleary, Senior, Agricultural Communications, ACES
Nour Longi, Senior, Journalism, COM
Piper Pascarella, Junior, Journalism, COM
Faith Lee, Senior, Journalism, COM
Maggie Knutte, Senior, Journalism, COM
(Research Mentor(s): Charles ‘Stretch’ Ledford, Journalism & Alison Davis, Journalism)
Predicting What We See: Exploring Statistical Regularities in Face and Object Perception (Honorable Mention)
Kaiyue Jin, Senior, Psychology, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Diane Beck, Psychology & Zhenan Shao, Psychology)
Efficiency Droop Contributors in Indium Gallium Nitride Green Light-Emitting Diodes (Honorable Mention)
Jason Li, Junior, Physics, ENG
(Research Mentor(s): Can Bayram, Electrical & Computer Engineering)
The Italian Expositions: National Identity and Cultural Modernism on Display During the Fin de Siècle (Honorable Mention)
Justin Wytmar, Senior, History, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Mark Micale, History)
Poster Presentations
Cultivating Healing: The Role of Green Spaces in Childhood Trauma Recovery (Outstanding)
Victoria Benavides, Senior, Social Work, SSW
(Research Mentor(s): Andrea Faber Taylor, Crop Sciences)
Analyzing the Impact of a Science Learning Simulation on Student Collaboration (Outstanding)
Arunima Suri, Sophomore, CS + Education, EDU
Jacob Sobel, Senior, Learning & Education Studies, EDU
Ellen Min, Freshman, Brain & Cognitive Science, LAS
Navomi Byju, Junior, Computer Science, ENG
Helen Ryding, Junior, Computer Science, ENG
(Research Mentor(s): Jina Kang, Curriculum and Instruction & Robin Jephthah Rajarathinam, Curriculum and Instruction)
Assessing the Role of FFA2 and FFA3 in Maintaining Ileal Function and Integrity (Outstanding)
Ashley Equihua, Senior, Nutrition & Health, ACES
(Research Mentor(s): Nupur Pandya, University of Illinois, Chicago & Brian Layden, University of Illinois, Chicago)
Strategic Surrenders: When and Why States Cooperate in Extradition (Outstanding)
Calvin Franke, Sophomore, Political Science, LAS
Serina Farah, Sophomore, Political Science, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Myung Jung Kim, Political Science)
Square-Stepping Exercise in Older Adults: The Impact of Exercise Conditions on Intensity (Outstanding)
Charles Gentle, Freshman, Kinesiology, AHS
(Research Mentor(s): Emerson Sebastiao, Health & Kinesiology)
Review of Mental Health Services Offered in Home-Visiting Programs Located in Indiana and Iowa (Outstanding)
Lizbeth Pintor, Junior, Social Work, SSW
Karishma Mehta, Junior, Computer Science + Economics, LAS
Dhriti Patel, Sophomore, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, AHS
Sofia Soriano, Senior, Social Work, SSW
(Research Mentor(s): Karen Tabb Dina, School of Social Work)
Life Beneath the Surface: Uncovering the Symbiotic Relationship Between Mudpuppies & Salamander Mussels Using eDNA (Outstanding)
Savanna Palmer, Junior, Integrative Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Mark Davis, Illinois Natural History Survey)
Novel Murine Diet Model That Recapitulates the Key Features of Human MetALD (Outstanding)
Arnab Roy, Junior, Biochemistry, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Diptatanu Das, Biochemistry & Auinash Kalsotra, Biochemistry)
Qualitative Review on the Access, Acceptance and Attitude Towards Sustainability in Zambia (Honorable Mention)
Christopher Alvarado, Sophomore, Agricultural & Biological Engineering, ACES
(Research Mentor(s): Ann-Perry Witmer, Agricultural & Biological Engineering)
Tracking Altered Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Localization of Proteins in Hepatocytes During Development and Disease (Honorable Mention)
Anuprova Bhowmik, Sophomore, CS + Chemistry, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Auinash Kalsotra, Biochemistry & Diptatanu Das, Biochemistry)
The Role of the Poll: Polling (Dis)Trust and Increased Voter Turnout (Honorable Mention)
Kenneth Dolin, Senior, Political Science, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Thomas Rudolph, Political Science & Avital Livy, Political Science)
Optimizing MALDI Matrix Application for Improved Alzheimer’s Disease Analysis (Honorable Mention)
Brian Rettig, Senior, Biology, LAS
(Research Mentor(s): Timothy Trinklein, Chemistry & Jonathan Sweedler, Chemistry)
Developing a Fall Detection and Management System for Wheelchair Users (Honorable Mention)
Becky Shamberg, Senior, Bioengineering, ENG
(Research Mentor(s): Andie Tangonan, Health & Kinesiology & Laura Rice, Health & Kinesiology)
Advancing AI-Driven FDK (Fusarium Damaged Kernel) Detection: From Feature Extraction to Disease Risk Prediction (Honorable Mention)
Seung Wook Yoon, Freshman, CS + Crop Sciences, ACES
(Research Mentor(s): Jessica Rutkoski, Crop Sciences & Sunoj Shajahan, Agricultural & Biological Engineering)
2025 Image of Research Winners
Discover the captivating submissions and winners of the 2025 Image of Research competition by visiting: 2025 Image of Research Winners.
