2014 Undergraduate Research Conference
The winners have been announced for the 2014 Undergraduate Research Conference, which was held on Friday, April 25th at the Barnhardt Student Activities Center. In total, 158 students presented their research projects to judges; 43 participated in oral presentations and 115 presented posters. Conference organizers and judges commended all participants for the high quality research represented in the conference.
Twenty-two Departmental Awards were presented for 1st, and in many cases 2nd and third place as well as honorable mention. In the Atkins Library Undergraduate Research Awards, five students were each awarded $1,000 prizes, and numerous students were presented certificates for honorable mention.
“Presenting at a research conference is a great resume item for students,” said Dr. Missy Eppes, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences and chair of the conference committee. “It provides wonderful experience in communicating all of the hard work that students have completed. Our winners, and all of the participating students, should be very proud of the projects they presented.”
Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who presented their research work! Our thanks as well to the judges, faculty liaisons, and our keynote speakers – Dr. Gloria Elliott, Director of the BioStability Lab at UNC Charlotte, and Dr. Dan Morrill, Professor in the Department of History at UNC Charlotte.
The URC now has three formal sponsors for the conference: Atkins Library, Academic Affairs, and the Levine Scholars program. As part of the Levine program, the conference now includes a Sustainability award. Special thanks goes to the Charlotte Research Institute for their support of the Atkins Library Research Awards.
2014 Undergraduate Research Conference Departmental Winners
| Department | Name(s) | Project Title |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropology | Kyle Hickman | Comparison of the Definition of Life Satisfaction between the Queer Community and the Heterosexual Community |
| Bioinformatics and Genomics | Gage Leighton and Tatiana Konnova | Conformational analysis in the specific DNA-recognition Subdomain of Sleeping Beauty Transposase |
| Biology | Ellen Humbel | Role of Light Wavelength in the Circadian Entrainment of the Starlet Sea Anemone, Nematostella vectensis |
| Chemistry | Jennifer Kassel | The Effects of Long Alkyl Chains on the Morphology, Light Absorption, and Charge-Carrier Dynamics in Porphyrin-Based Organic Solar Cells |
| Civil and Environmental Engineering | Megan Razick | Renewable Energy Sources and Technology |
| Communication Studies | Kendall Cook | Does Size Matter: Examining the Relationship Between Class Size and Student Evaluations |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering | Audrow Nash | Establishing and Maintaining Formations of Mini Quadrotors |
| Engineering Technology and Construction Management | Misa Vo | Energy Harvesting from Electromagnetic Field Surrounding a Current Carrying Conductor |
| English | Toynia Edmond | The Mother Daughter Finally Gets a Voice through the Works of Rita Dove’s “Mother Love” and Thylias Moss’ “Slave Moth” |
| Geography and Earth Sciences | Christopher Godwin | Airborne LiDAR to evaluate impacts of neighborhood development on the urban forest |
| Global International and Area Studies | Meritt Foreman | Lockwood Neighborhood Transition: Gentrification and Inequality |
| History | Andrew Washeck | Lands of their Fathers: Factors Contributing to the Radicalization of Zimbabwe’s Land Reforms in 1997 |
| Kinesiology | Kyle Brown | Effects of Dioxin on the Wnt Signaling Pathway in Liver Tissue |
| Mathematics and Statistics | Jingjing Zhao and Djiba Kourouma | Measuring 2008 Financial Crisis with CoVaR |
| Mechanical Engineering | Thomas Barnette | Internal Design, Direct Physical Pollution, and Carbon Footprint determine Environmentally Safer “Light Bulb” |
| Mechanical Engineering Technology | Brett Cockerham | Does Size Matter: Examining the Relationship Between Class Size and Student Evaluations |
| Middle, Secondary and K-12 Education | Kristina Drye | Education Access and Equity in Urban Schools: A Focus on Course Enrollment Patterns in K-12 Settings |
| Music | Lanson Wells | Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s Legacy: The Baryton Trios of Franz Joseph Haydn |
| Physics and Optical Science | Luke Hardy | Rapid Thulium Fiber Laser Lithotripsy at Pulse Rates up to 500 Hz using a Stone Basket |
| Political Science | Andrew Washeck | State of the Settlers: The Impact of Kenya and Zimbabwe’s White Populations on their Respective Land Reforms |
| Psychology | Leanne Barry | Impact of Supervisor Traits on Subordinates |
| Reading and Elementary Education | Jaquelyn Saya | Birth Order and Locus of Control: An Empirical Investigation with Elementary Students |
2014 Atkins Library Undergraduate Research Award Winners
| Atkins Award Category | Project Title |
|---|---|
| Arts/Architecture/Humanities | |
| WINNER: Lanson Wells | Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s Legacy: The Baryton Trios of Franz Joseph Haydn |
| HONORABLE MENTION: Austin Philemon | Resounding History: A Portrait of 19th Century Marvin, North Carolina through Organ Music |
| Biological Sciences/Health Sciences | |
| WINNER: Heidi Heimer | Cardiac Responses to Prolonged Hyperoxia Vs. Hypoxia |
| HONORABLE MENTION: Xueying Wang | Stream Restoration Structures Affect Benthic Macroinvertebrate Populations |
| Math/Computer Sciences | |
| WINNER: George Kane | Development of a Pitch Attitude Controller for a Model Aircraft |
| Physical sciences | |
| WINNER: Carolynne Hultquist | Machine Learning for Post-fire Burn Severity Assessment in Diseased Forests |
| HONORABLE MENTIONS: Misa Vo Christopher Godwin | Energy Harvesting from Electromagnetic Field Surrounding a Current Carrying Conductor Airborne LiDAR to Evaluate Impacts of Neighborhood Development on the Urban Forest |
| Social Sciences/Education | |
| WINNER: Jessica Taylor | Self-Compassion as a Protective Factor in the Relationship Between Internalization of Media Appearance Ideals and Disordered Eating-Related Processes |
| HONORABLE MENTION: Jaquelyn Saya | Birth Order and Locus of Control: An Empirical Investigation with Elementary Students |
Sustainability Awards
| 1st PLACE: | Nicole Ng (Civil and Environmental Engineering) |
| 2nd PLACE: | Paul Redd (English) |
| 3rd PLACE: | Kailene Pelkowski (Sociology) |
Honors College Awards
Honors College Award Recipients with Dr. Malin Pereira (c), Exec. Dir., Honors College
| STEM | 1st PLACE: Heidi Heimer | 2nd PLACE: Amanda Burmeister |
| Humanities, Social Sciences, Art, Education | 1st PLACE: Kaitlyn Chapman | 2nd PLACE: Jessica Taylor |