Honors Students Participate in Summer Research

This past summer, many Honors students conducted research, both on-campus and off-campus, under the mentorship and guidance of faculty members in their respective disciplines. In August, 32 Honors students presented their research at research symposia hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) and the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) offices . This year’s symposia included virtual presentations, as well as in-person poster presentations in Bird Library. The research projects included diverse fields of study, including majors in STEM, social sciences, and humanities. Please see below for the list of all Honors students who presented at this year’s symposia, the titles of their research projects and their faculty mentors.

Most of the summer research participants received funding from the Honors Program, the SOURCE, LSAMP and Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE). LSAMP supports students from underrepresented communities who are pursuing undergraduate degrees in STEM fields. This year, Honors students Valkyrie Hardy (Neuroscience) and Michelle Shanguhyia (Medical Chemistry and Forensic Science) received LSAMP support. WiSE promotes the recruitment and advancement of women in STEM fields. Honors students Catherine Campbell (Medicinal Chemistry and Physics), Elizabeth Cultra (Environmental Engineering), and Michelle Shanguhyia (Medicinal Chemistry and Forensic Science) received WiSE support for their summer research.

Congratulations to all the student researchers and their mentors!

List of 2021 Summer Research Participants

First	Last	Title of Project / Field of Study	Faculty Mentor(s)	Funding Type	Symposium
Samantha	Armstrong	Histone demethylases JMJ16 and JMJ18 negatively regulates Systemic Acquired Resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana	Prof. Ramesh Raina	SOURCE	SOURCE
Claire	Bandet	Switchgrass as a Biofuel	Prof. Mark Ritchie	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Alana	Barker	Defining Immersive Theatre: Past, Present, and Future Implications	Prof. Don Buschmann	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Catherine	Campbell	Characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein	Prof. Alaji Bah	Honors Program Award/WiSE	SOURCE
Britnie	Carpentier	The thermal response of Elastin-like Polypeptides	Prof. Shikha Nangia	SOURCE	SOURCE
Nancy	Cham	Improving extraction and quantitation methods of mitragynine in urine samples	Prof. Ulrich Englich	SOURCE	SOURCE
Matthew	Cufari	Eccentric Tidal Disruption Events	Prof. Eric Coughlin	SOURCE	SOURCE
Elizabeth	Cultra	Using Real Time Data for Engineering Education	Prof. Cliff Davidson	Honors Program Award/WiSE	SOURCE
Elena	Figler	Evaluating the Effects of Carbon Dioxide and Nutrient Treatments on Native and Invasive Yellowstone Grasses	Prof. Katie Becklin	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Kinley	Gaudette	Parents’ Voices: Lead Poisoning in Syracuse	Prof. Maureen Thompson	SOURCE	SOURCE
Valkyrie	Hardy	Neuroscience	Prof. Natalie Russo	LSAMP	LSAMP
Christopher	Harvey	Harmful Algal Bloom and Nutrient Relationships in Skaneateles Lake	Prof. Charles Driscoll	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Abigail	Johnson	Investigating in utero vitamin D supplementation to prevent Rett syndrome phenotypes in Mecp2-mutant mice	Prof. Jessica MacDonald	SOURCE	SOURCE
Kaylie	Klotz	Understanding the Kinetics of the Post-Synthetic Halide Exchange of Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite 2D Nanoplatelets	Prof. Mathew Maye, Chemistry	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Donyell	Logan	An In-Depth Approach towards the Synthesis and Characterization of Alkaline Earth Metal Tetraarylborates	Prof. Karin Ruhlandt, Chemistry	SOURCE	SOURCE
Sam	McClintic	Characterizing Tree Demography, Microclimate, and Soil Conditions of Adirondack Timberlines	Prof. Liviu Movileanu & Prof. Martin Dovciak	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Jenna	Merry	The Salton Sea	Prof. Hannibal Newsom	SOURCE	SOURCE
Cheyene	Muenzel	A.I. and Autopsy: Determining Cause of Death Using Machine Learning	Prof. Jonathan Adelman	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Tenzin	Norzin	Diversification of Copulatory Courtship Behavior in Genus Drosophila	Prof. Scott Pitnick	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Nina	Piazza	The SLA Researcher’s Dilemma: Assessing Proficiency	Prof. Amanda Brown	SOURCE	SOURCE
Anastacia	Puertas	Modern Utility Fashion	Prof. Alex Mendez-Giner	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Aparajita	Rao	Current and Previous Restricted and Repetitive Behavior as a Predictor of Anxiety in Young Autistic People	Prof. Natalie Russo	SOURCE	SOURCE
Mary	Ross	The Role of DAF-12/NHR in Regulating C. Elegans Environment Sensing through osm-9/TRPV	Prof. Sarah Hall	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
April	Santana	Vaccine Hesitancy	Prof. Glyn Morgan	SOURCE	SOURCE
Maggie	Sardino	History of Pioneer Homes	Prof. Elizabeth Kamell	SOURCE	SOURCE
Michelle	Shanguhyia	Lentiviral Transduction: Creating Stable HEK293 Cell Lines to Produce Serotonin Proteins for Drug Research	Prof. Rachel Steinhardt	SOURCE/WiSE/LSAMP	SOURCE/LSAMP
Thomas	Shaw	A cross-sectional study of trauma and adult attachment security: A mid-study progress report	Prof. Brittany Jakubiak	Honors Program Award	SOURCE
Erin	Sheffield	Policy Solutions for Bridging the Digital Divide in Syracuse	Prof. Austin Zwick	SOURCE	SOURCE
Dina	Silvestri	Are Genes known to be Involved in Schizophrenia Involved in Early Life Neural Cell Differentiation	Prof. Richard Kopp	SOURCE	SOURCE
Joanna	Vines	Parents’ Voices: Lead Poisoning in Syracuse	Prof. Maureen Thompson	SOURCE	SOURCE
Iona	Volynets	The Ethics of the COVID-19 Pandemic	Prof. Glyn Morgan	SOURCE	SOURCE
Elizabeth	Wall	Synthesis of post-spinel compounds for calcium ion battery cathodes	Prof. Ian Hosein	Honors Program Award	SOURCE