2022 Top Scholars and Finalists

Undergraduate Research Conference

Download the 2022 Undergraduate Research Conference program.

View the 2022 Undergraduate Research Conference presentations in .

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ

Top Scholar

Linh Le
"Factors That Impact the Net Expense Ratio of ETFs"
Faculty sponsor: Emiliano Giudici, Economics and Finance

Finalists

  • David Bennett, Olivia Escobedo, Deaven Ivy, Bo Yanas and Zach Yanas
    "Telepresence: Remote Technologies Allow You to be Here, Even When You Are There"
    Faculty sponsor: Gina Harden, Management & Marketing

     
  • Bailey Allen, Tanner Davie, Robert Austin Drake, Larsen Lewallen and Ty Nicholson
    "Twitter Marketing Research"
    Faculty sponsor: Wenjing Li, Management & Marketing

     
  • Carleigh Garrett
    "Bridges to Business Campaign Proposal"
    Faculty sponsor: Marlene Kahla, Management & Marketing

     
  • Carleigh Garrett
    "Marketing of Services Team Project on Student Center Chick-Fil-A"
    Faculty sponsor: Marlene Kahla, Management & Marketing

     
  • Grant Lebkowsky
    "An Investigation into Why Student Organization Attendance is down at Non-Football Sporting Events at Stephen F. Austin"
    Faculty sponsor: Wenjing Li, Management & Marketing

     
  • Rick Lowry
    "Real Estate as an Investment"
    Faculty sponsor: Carol Wright, Business Communication and Legal Studies

     
  • Lexi Mireles
    "Nike Research Project"
    Faculty sponsor: Wenjing Li, Management & Marketing
     

James I. Perkins College of Education

Top Scholar

Garrett Parker Jones
"A Comparison Of Running Economy Across Seven Carbon-Plated Racing Shoes"
Faculty sponsor: Dustin Joubert, Kinesiology and Health Science

Finalists

  • Kelley Bridges
    "Clash of Two Cultures"
    Faculty sponsor: Todd Barrios, School of Human Sciences

     
  • Zarea Collins
    "El Salvador's Food Clock"
    Faculty sponsor: Justin Pelham, School of Human Sciences

     
  • Joy Crissmon
    "Tracing Roots: An Exploration of the African Diaspora Through Dance"
    Faculty sponsor:  Heather Samuelson, Kinesiology and Health Science

     
  • Holly Gibson
    "Organic Chemistry through Dance"
    Faculty sponsor: Amanda Moore, Kinesiology and Health Science

     
  • Ava Green and Esther Hernandez
    "Examining Student Performance Using Quantitative and Qualitative Data to Inform Instruction: A New Way to Ensure Teaching Effectiveness while Building on a Student's Cultural Capital & Funds of Knowledge"
    Faculty sponsor: Marisol Diaz, Education Studies

     
  • Ashlyn Lafleur
    "Native Knowledge 360° Essential Understandings Framework: Reflections Using the Five Level Evaluation Model"
    Faculty sponsor: Sarah Straub, Education Studies

     
  • Mackenzie Pendarvis and Danyelle Richardson
    "Returning What Was Lost: Reengaging and Reconnecting Students through Community Engagement"
    Faculty sponsors: Gina Fe Causin and Donna Fickes, School of Human Sciences

     
  • Brooke Pulliam
    "Organizing a Local Job Fair During the Pandemic: Challenges and Takeaways"
    Faculty sponsors: Gina Fe Causin and Donna Fickes, School of Human Sciences

     

College of Fine Arts

Top Scholar

Samantha Altamirano
"A Reimagining of The Seven Sins"
Faculty sponsor: Eden Collins, School of Art

Finalists

  • Jenna Alley
    "I’ve Lost Respect for Bertolt Brecht: A Look into the Disappearance of the Original Production of Pioneers in Ingolstadt by Marieluise Fleißer"
    Faculty sponsor: Richard Jones, School of Theatre

     
  • Megan Bynum
    "The Gilded Cage"
    Faculty sponsor: Eden Collins, School of Art

     
  • Lynna Levin
    "1860's Clothing in America"
    Faculty sponsor: Angela Bacarisse, School of Theatre

     
  • Brooke Olivarez
    "A Modern Take on Baroque Reed-Making"
    Faculty sponsor: Jamie Weaver, School of Music

     
  • Brendan Ryan
    "Connecting Old Techniques with New Ideas"
    Faculty sponsor: Lauren Selden, School of Art

     
  • Gabrielle Treviño
    "The Influence of Mexican Folklorico and The Costumes Thereof"
    Faculty sponsor: Angela Bacarisse, School of Theatre

     

Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture

Top Scholar

Siena Stassi
"Microplastic in Surface and Sediments of Rural-Urban Streams in East Texas: Distribution, Abundance, and Diversity"
Faculty sponsors: Carmen Montana Schalk, Biology; Sheryll Jerez, Environmental Science

Finalists

  • Veda Allen
    "Comparative Calling Phenology of Anurans Across Latitudinal Gradients"
    Faculty sponsor: Christopher Schalk, Forestry

     
  • Katherine Barker, Brooke Maxfield, Sophie Scott and Mckynna Swinson
    "The Impact of Vaping on Indoor Air Quality"
    Faculty sponsor: Sheryll Jerez, Environmental Science
     
  • Tristan Brownjohn
    "Body Condition and Relative Abundance of Four Turtle Species across a Gradient of Ecological Integrity"
    Faculty sponsor: Christopher Schalk, Forestry
     
  • Abby Buckner and Blake Carter
    "Latency to Initial Detection for Mammalian Species in a Mixed Hardwood-Pine Forest"
    Faculty sponsors: Jessica Glasscock and Christopher Schalk, Forestry
     
  • Remigio Casanova, Stephanie Huerta, Lukia Kalugin, Garrison Layne and Valerie Pacheco
    "A Comparative Assessment Between Forests and Urban Lawns"
    Faculty sponsors: Sheryll Jerez, Environmental Science; Kenneth Farrish, Forestry

     
  • Rachel Cornelius
    "Barred Owl Occurrence Influenced by Forestry Wildlife Treatments and Stand Age of Bottomland Hardwood Forests"
    Faculty sponsor: K. Rebecca Kidd, Forestry
     
  • Brendan Holmes, Luke Keene and Summer Pritchett
    "Influence of Plant Growth Regulators on L.A. Hybrid Lily Growth and Development"
    Faculty sponsor: Michael Maurer, Agriculture
     

College of Liberal and Applied Arts

Top Scholar

Samantha Brownell, Cecilia Garner, Dusti Johnson, Andrea Musick and Micaela Ramoz
"East Texas Coalition For Change"
Faculty sponsor: Kristin Bailey-Wallace, School of Social Work

Finalists

  • Rae Bynum
    "Tuneless Song"
    Faculty sponsor: Sara Henning, English and Creative Writing

  • Shelby Farmer and Ryan Wallace
    "Demonstrating Statistics Principles, Honing SPSS Skills with 1.05 million New York City Arrests"
    Faculty sponsor: Scott Drury, Psychology

  • Raegan Hoyer - Best Freshman Paper
    "The Reporter Who lost the War: An In-depth Look at Walter Cronkite's Report on the Tet Offensive and its Long-Term Effects"
    Faculty sponsor: Philip Catton, History

     
  • Alasia Johnson
    "Social Impacts of Religion"
    Faculty sponsor: James Morris, School of Social Work

     
  • Clayton Jones
    "Forgotten Stories of the New London School Tragedy"
    Faculty sponsor: Perky Beisel, History

     
  • Savannah Peterson
    "The Impact of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and WAAC Branch No. 1 During World War II"
    Faculty sponsor: Carolyn White, History

     
  • Sandra Maloy
    "Adaptive Coping for COVID-Related Stress"
    Faculty sponsors: Dianne Dentice, Anthropology, Geography, and Sociology; Joyce Johnston, Division of Multidisciplinary Studies; Sharon Rice, Kinesiology & Health Science;  Sarah Savoy, Psychology

     
  • Caitlyn Shrewsbury
    "Waging Peace: Female Legislators and a State’s Propensity for War"
    Faculty sponsor: Charles Gregory, Government

     

College of Sciences and Mathematics

Top Scholar

Kyla S. Gray
"Geologic and Geomorphological Interpretation of the Mare Orientale Impact Basin Region of Earth’s Moon"
Faculty sponsor: Melinda Shaw Faulkner, Geology

Finalists

  • Veda Allen
    "Acoustic Responses to Human-made Noise in Bottlenose Dolphins"
    Faculty sponsor: Jason Bruck, Biology
     
  • Zachary Hutchens
    "Urbanization Increases Isolation of a Threatened Fish Species in East Texas streams: A 20-year Perspective"
    Faculty sponsor: Carmen Montana Schalk, Biology

     
  • Courtney Plummer
    "Aquatic Macroinvertebrates as Sentinels of Changes in Local Stream Conditions in East Texas"
    Faculty sponsor: Carmen Montana Schalk, Biology

     
  • Rachel Rucker
    "Machine Learning in Support of Student Success"
    Faculty sponsors: Vinh Dang, Keith Hubbard and Dipak Singh, Mathematics and Statistics

     
  • Laken Simington
    "Quantification of Kaempferol Conjugates in Watercress Juice and Methanol Extract: A study using HPLC and Protein Binding"
    Faculty sponsor:  Bidisha Sengupta, Chemistry and Biochemistry

     
  • Madison Thornhill, My Tran, Bingbing Xiao
    "Modeling, Cloning, and Expression of the J domain of C. elegans Rme-8 Protein"
    Faculty sponsor: Odutayo Odunuga, Chemistry and Biochemistry

     
  • Trace Washburn
    "Bomb Calorimetry: A New Method of CEC Determination"
    Faculty sponsor: Alyx Frantzen, Chemistry and Biochemistry

     

Regional Colleges

Top Scholar

Haley Farmer
"Contributing Factors to Self-Perception Issues in Technically Trained Dancers"
Faculty sponsor: Andrea R. Hathcote, Tyler Junior College

Finalists

  • Christopher Conneen
    "Observing Trophic Interactions Between Keystone Species and Ecosystem Engineers"
    Faculty sponsor: Andrea R. Hathcote, Tyler Junior College
     
  • Micah Leary
    "Near Death Experiences: Life After 'Death' and Credibility: A Mixed Method Design"
    Faculty sponsor: Andrea R. Hathcote, Tyler Junior College
     
  • Olivia Lester
    "Influence of Infant Attachment on Introversion and Extroversion: A Quantitative Approach"
    Faculty sponsor: Andrea R. Hathcote, Tyler Junior College