2012 CoAS Research Day Winners

April 4, 2012 — Research Day 2012 Student scholars in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences presented their research at the annual College of Arts and Sciences Research Day on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 in Behrakis Grand Hall. Over 130 students presented on topics ranging from the environmental factors controlling terrapin nesting to effective interrogation strategies for juvenile offenders.

For the first time ever, CoAS Research Day also featured a special round of research talks from the 2011 first place winners in all categories:

Physics alumna Amanda White, 2011 undergraduate sciences winner, presented her research from the American Museum of Natural History, where she analyzes comet samples from NASA’s Stardust mission in order to better understand the three-dimensional distribution of particles in impact tracks.

Mathematics teaching assistant Avinash Dalal, 2011 graduate sciences winner, discussed his work in Drexel’s Department of Mathematics, where he explores the expansion of the product of certain polynomials called k-Schur Functions.

Psychology senior Amiee Hildenbrand, 2011 undergraduate humanities winner, shared her research from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she is currently helping to develop a web-based program that aims to prevent persistent traumatic stress and promote emotional recovery in children after acute medical trauma.

Finally, clinical psychology graduate student Lauren Greenberg, 2011 graduate humanities winner, presented her research on how certain ways of thinking and reacting to stressful life events can influence affectivity in collegiate athletes, which she studied as part of her master’s thesis at Drexel University.

View the research day talks »

The College of Arts and Sciences thanks all students, faculty and staff who participated in this year’s event, and extends a big “congratulations” to the top place winners in all categories! Photos from Research Day are posted on the CoAS Facebook page.

View the full list of presenters and abstracts here. [PDF]

Undergraduate Sciences

1^st Place	Sarah Michelson Major: Biological Sciences Field of Presentation: Biological Sciences Advisor: Dr. Daniel Marenda Co-Author: Siddhita Mhatre Title: Development and Validation of an Aged Alzheimer's Disease Model in Drosophila melanogaster
2^nd Place	John Falcone Major: Biology Field of Presentation: Biological Sciences Advisor: Dr. Mauricio Reginato Co-Author: Thomas Lynch Title: The Role of O-GlcNAc transferase in regulating breast cancer metabolism via modulation of the mTOR/HIF-1 pathway
3^rd Place	Stefanie Farrell & Allison Tipton Major: Biology Field of Presentation: Biological Sciences Advisor: Dr. Harold Avery Co-Authors: Allison Tipton, Abigail Dominy, Harold Avery Title: The Importance of Color Contrast to Turtles in Aquatic Environments

Undergraduate Humanities

1^st Place	Frank Bruckerl Major: Communication Field of Presentation: History Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Seitz Title: When Black Magic Met Science in the Pennsylvania Province: The Untold Story of Philip Roman and Sons
2^nd Place	Connor Hackert Major: History and Politics/BS-JD Field of Presentation: History, Political Science Advisor: Dr. Scott Knowles Title: Examining Equality: Analyzing the Gray Area in Reconstruction-Era Civil Rights Litigation: The Impact of U.S. v. Newcomer on the National and Pennsylvania Civil Rights Movement
3^rd Place	Tim Lehman Major: History Field of Presentation: History Advisor: Dr. Kathryn Steen Title: Philadelphia’s Railroad Economy and the Rise of the Pennsylvania Railroad Following the American Civil War

Graduate Sciences

1^st Place	Derya Meral Major: Physics Field of Presentation: Physics Advisor: Dr. Brigita Urbanc Title: Early Assembly Events of N-terminally Truncated Forms of Amyloid b-Protein
2^nd Place	Julianne Winters Major: Environmental Science Field of Presentation: Biological Sciences Advisor: Dr. Harold Avery Co-Authors: Nicole Wood, Walter Bien, James Spotila, Edward Standora, David Rostal, Harold Avery Title: Between the Bay and a Hard Place: The Stress Response of Nesting Diamondback Terrapins due to Bulkheading in Barnegat Bay, NJ
3^rd Place	Runcong Liu Major: Physics Field of Presentation: Physics Advisor: Dr. Brigita Urbanc Title: Investigation of the interaction between CTCF and DNA using AFM imaging

Graduate Humanities

1^st Place	Elizabeth Culnan Major: Psychology Field of Presentation: Psychology Advisor: Dr. Jacqueline D. Kloss Co-Authors: Stephanie Brooks-Holliday, Brian Daly, Richa Aggarwal, Jacqueline Kloss Title: Insufficient Sleep and Weight Status in High School Students: Should we be Focusing on the Extremes?
2^nd Place	Shauna Henley Major: Biology/CNHP Field of Presentation: Communication Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Quinlan Co-Author: Susan Stein Title: Identifying Food Safety Risks for Minority Racial/Ethnic Consumers’
3^rd Place	Alison Novak Major: Culture and Communication Field of Presentation: Communication Advisor: Dr. Ernest A. Hakanen Co-Author: Ernest Hakanen Title: Mather Work Incentive Posters and the Rhetoric of Scientific Management in the 1920s

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