Undergraduate Research Symposium draws more than 500 people

LAWRENCE — More than 500 students, faculty, staff and guests attended the University of Kansas’ 19th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium earlier this month to hear student presenters share the results of their research and creative projects. The event took place in the Kansas Union, where 147 students representing more than 35 departments from across campus presented their projects.

“We continue to be impressed not only by the number of students taking part in the Undergraduate Research Symposium, but more importantly, by the high quality of student presentations,” said John Augusto, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research.

Student presenters prepared for the symposium by attending workshops with staff from the Center for Undergraduate Research and working closely with their research mentors to refine their oral presentations, poster presentations and artists’ talks.  

KU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium is sponsored by the Center for Undergraduate Research and the KU Office of Research.  The full list of student presenters can be found on the Center’s website.

ACE Talks
The ACE Talks were the keynote presentations for the day. These talks showcased students presenting their research and creative projects in an (A)ccesible, (C)reative, and (E)ngaging way. Students applied to give an ACE Research Talk by submitting an abstract of their work and a short video of themselves talking about their project. ACE Talk presenters each received $500 in addition to the featured speaking slot.  The 2016 ACE Talk winners were:

• Jesse Burbank, Quinter, “Space, Sex, and Race: Public Space as the Setting of Social Conflict in the Desegregation of K.C.’s Swope Park Pool, 1951-1955,” mentored by Sheyda Jahanbani, history
• Joshua Marple, Auburn, “An Alternative Eye Tracking System, mentored by Jonathan Brumberg, speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders, electrical engineering & computer science
• Jennifer Stern, Lawrence, “Recurrent Evolution of Venomous Spines in Cartilaginous Fishes,” mentored by Leo Smith, ecology & evolutionary biology

Outstanding Presentation Awards
Volunteer judges selected 28 presentations to receive Outstanding Presentation Awards, listed below. Award recipients were recognized at the Symposium Banquet later that day and received a monetary award.

The 2016 Outstanding Presentation Award winners are listed by name, hometown, project title, mentor and mentor’s department:

Cornelius Baker, Wichita, “Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Groups and Their Perception of Mental Illness,” mentored by Stephen Ilardi, psychology

Mackenzie Bloom, Superior, Colorado, “Quantifying Stem Cell Number in Mouse Colon Tissue,” mentored by Kristi Neufeld, molecular biosciences

Sydney Bolin, Wichita, “Microplastic Ingestion in Aquatic Invertebrates, A Method for Detection,” mentored by James Thorp, ecology & evolutionary biology

Karthik Bonam, Kotagudem, Telangana, India, “Investigating the Effects of Video Games on Attention,” mentored by Evangelia Chrysikou, psychology

Patrick Connelly, Olathe, “How Mimetic Expressions in Japanese are Comprehended by Adult Native Speakers,” mentored by Utako Minai & Alison Gabriele, linguistics

Crystal Dawson, Haslet, Texas, “Investigating the Effects of Video Games on Attention,” mentored by Evangelia Chrysikou, psychology

Sarah Eckstein, Park City, Utah, “Investigating the Effects of Video Games on Attention,” mentored by Evangelia Chrysikou, psychology

Will Fleming, Leawood, “Delay Discounting on the Miskitu Coast,” mentored by David Jarmolowicz, applied behavioral science, and Laura Herlihy, Latin American & Caribbean studies

Eilish Gibson, Perry, “Nuclear Interactions in the CMS Detector,” mentored by Phil Baringer, physics & astronomy

Matthew Gibson, Kansas City, Missouri, “Connecting the Breeding System to Mating Patterns in Macaronesian Tolpis Using Next-Generation Genomics,” mentored by Mark Mort, ecology & evolutionary biology

Terrence Harris, Lansing, “Race, Poverty, and the Legitimacy of ‘Stop-and-Frisk,’” mentored by Chris Crandall, psychology

Madeline Hoffman, Leawood, “A Fine Frenzy: Youtube, Art Culture, and Intellectual Property Law,” mentored by Jonathan Lamb, English

Hayley Hume, Derby, “Investigating the Effects of Video Games on Attention,” mentored by Evangelia Chrysikou, psychology

Nicole Humphrey, Lawrence, “Local Government and Social Equity: The Role of Chief Administrative Officers,” mentored by Shannon Portillo, School of Public Affairs and Administration

Heidi Johnson, Salina, “In Pursuit of Happiness,” mentored by Meg Jamieson & Madison Davis Lacy, film & media studies

Ashlie Koehn, Burns, “Testing the Porter Hypothesis in Transition Economies,” mentored by Dietrich Earnhart, economics

Alex Kong, Lawrence, “Establishing Kinetic Profiles and Degradation Pathways for the Tetracycline Destructases,” mentored by Tim Wencewicz, Washington University in St. Louis

Rebecca Kurtz, Overland Park, “They did what? A Systematic Review of Music Intervention Reporting in Healthcare Research,” mentored by Deanna Hanson-Abromeit, music education & music therapy

Vikram Lakhanpal, Olathe, “Process for Electro-Depositing Cobalt onto Carbon Substrates for Carbon Nanotube Growth for PEM Fuel Cells,” mentored by Trung Van Nguyen, chemical & petroleum engineering

Dongyu Li, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, “Mother or Spouse? Filial Piety, Romance, and the Meaning of Love,” mentored by Glenn Adams, psychology

Emmaline Lorenzo, Leawood, “Non-Resonant Two-Photon Excitation of p-Hydroxyphenacyl Diethyl Phosphate,” mentored by Christopher Elles, chemistry

Dina Lyne, Minneapolis, “Calcium-Based Microspheres Containing PLGA for Sintering into 3D Scaffolds,” mentored by Michael Detamore, chemical & petroleum engineering

Kristen Manion, Lawrence, “Diversity of fungi on grasshoppers in urban and rural environments is similar in species richness and community structure,” mentored by Benjamin Sikes, environmental studies

Nicholas Martinez, Lawrence, “Generation and Crystallization of Human Cytochrome P450 Enzymes Involved in Cancer Therapeutic Activation,” mentored by Emily Scott, medicinal chemistry

Austen McGuire, Overland Park, “The Utility of Attachment Priming as an Intervention Among Youth with Traumatic Experiences”, mentored by Omri Gillath, psychology, and Yo Jackson, psychology & applied behavioral science

Alyssa Ott, Dallas “They did what? A Systematic Review of Music Intervention Reporting in Healthcare Research,” mentored by Deanna Hanson-Abromeit, music education & music therapy

Shelbi Polasik, Olathe, “They did what? A Systematic Review of Music Intervention Reporting in Healthcare Research,” mentored by Deanna Hanson-Abromeit, music education & music therapy

Trent Sanders, Anchorage, Alaska, “Our ‘Life of’: A Literacy Autobiography,” mentored by Phillip Drake, English

Addison Schile, Topeka, “On the Breakdown of Linear Response: An Investigation of the Dipole Flip Model Through the Lens of Gaussian Statistics,” mentored by Ward Thompson, chemistry

Marah Schlingensiepen, Topeka, “Prisoners' Perceptions of Justice,” mentored by Shannon Portillo, School of Public Affairs and Administration

Kevin Tenny, Leawood, “Process for Electro-Depositing Cobalt onto Carbon Substrates for Carbon Nanotube Growth for PEM Fuel Cells,” mentored by Trung Van Nguyen, chemical & petroleum engineering

Jamie Venzian, Kansas City, Missouri, “They did what? A Systematic Review of Music Intervention Reporting in Healthcare Research,” mentored by Deanna Hanson-Abromeit, music education & music therapy

Nadia Vossoughi, Lawrence, “Racial Prejudice in Age Perception of Black Adolescent Girls,” mentored by Chris Crandall, psychology

Madeleine Wilmsen, St. Louis, “The influence of the number of syllables in a word on the speech-to-song illusion,” mentored by Michael Vitevitch, psychology

Kayla Wilson, Olathe, “Control of tissue specific growth in the larval trachea of Drosophila melanogaster,” mentored by Robert Ward, molecular biosciences.