Course-Based Projects
Gianna Fanelli, Ciera Jarrett, Sara Joralemon,
Illegal Poaching on Queen Conch Populations in Belize
Mentor: Dr. Linda Walters (Department of Biology)
Sarah Holland
Lotus Blossoms & Dragon Ladies: East Asian Women in American Cinema
Mentor: Dr. Anne Bubriski (Department of Women’s and Gender Studies)
Elise Howard, Amaya Beres, Leah Rittenburg
Plants in Traditional Cajun Cuisine – A Look at How Food Migrates the Globe
Mentor: Dr. Rani Vajravelu (Department of Biology)
Rachel Kane
De novo assembly and characterization of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) transcriptome: an RNA-seq Study
Mentor: Dr. Anna Savage (Department of Biology)
Rebeka Rocco
Campus Police Legitimacy: Student’s Perspectives
Mentor: Dr. Amy Donley (Department of Sociology)
Muhammed Shelleh, Allison Malay, Anthony Luna, Julia Carlin, Neha Munagala,
Effects of Intercropping Red Russian Kale (Brassica napus var. pabularia) with Household Herbs
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Elliott (Department of Biology)
Arts and Humanitities
Taylor Jenko
Enhancement of Critical Foreign Language Curricula through Technology
Mentor: Dr. Alla Kourova (Department of Modern Languages and Literatures)
Madison Clyburn
Displays of Medici Wealth and Authority: The Acts of the Apostles and Valois Fêtes Tapestry Cycles
Mentor: Dr. Margaret Zaho (School of Visual Art and Design)
Engineering, Computer Science, and Optics and Photonics
Adedoyin Adepegba
Noise Sensitivity Analysis for Deep Belief Networks Using Probabilistic Spin Logic Devices
Mentor: Dr. Ronald DeMara (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Lianne Brito
Performance of Steel Grain Silos and Rural Communities to Windstorms
Mentor: Dr. Christine Wittich (Department of Civil Engineering)
Madison Manley
Synaptic Behavior of a Memristor in a Neuromorphic Circuit
Mentor: Dr. Tania Roy (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Sharon Park
Effects of Powder Feedstock on the Microstructure, Relative Density and Mechanical Properties in the Selective Laser Melting Process
Mentor: Dr. Yongho Sohn (Department of Materials Science and Engineering)
Adil Riahi
Optimizing a Concentrated Solar Power Plant
Mentor: Dr. Shawn Putnam (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Dana Rowley
Production and Characterization of Frozen Films for Cancer Research
Mentor: Dr. Stephen Florczyk (Department of Materials Science and Engineering)
Maria Bower
Timescales of Global Tidal Flooding
Mentor: Dr. Thomas Wahl (Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering)
Samantha Brunson
Corticomuscular Coherence of Active and Passive Recumbent Stepping
Mentor: Dr. Helen Huang (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
Thomas Hawkins
An Analysis of Public Misconception of Municipal Water Fluoridation Relating to Oral and Public Health
Mentor: Dr. Steven Duranceau (Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering)
Stephanie Macassi
Electrode Development and Stimulation of Human Dermal Fibroblasts for Wound Healing
Mentor: Dr. Kaitlyn Crawford
Dana Mikkelsen, Samuel Kleiner
To Eject a Drop From a Dampened, Damped Beam
Mentor: Dr. Andrew Dickerson (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
Kelsey Perez
The impact of wave energy conversion on coastal erosion
Mentor: Dr. Talea Mayo (Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering)
Health Sciences
Patrick Healy
Acute Care Nurses Perceptions on the Use of Behavioral Pain Assessment Tools
Mentor: Dr. Kelly Allred (Department of Nursing)
Randy Panzarino
Impact of Stuttering on Communication Attitude Among Adults who Stutter and their Life Partner
Mentor: Dr. Martine Vanryckeghem (School of Communication Sciences and Disorders)
Cassandra Allen
An Exploration of Emergency Care Utilization among College Students at UCF
Mentor: Dr. Brittny James (Department of Health Sciences)
Jacob Kluesener
Understanding the Healthcare Experiences of Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (Daca) Recipients
Mentor: Dr. Laura Gonzalez (Department of Health Sciences)
Uzoamaka Mbionwu
Using Immersive and Interactive Stimulation to Enhance Pediatric Care
Mentor: Dr. Erin Brown (Department of Health Sciences)
Life Sciences
Raquel Arthuzo
Characterization of Fc-Driven NK Cell Expansion and Phenotype Shaping
Mentor: Dr. Alicja Copik (Department of Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences)
Bryan Demosthene
Molecular Crowding Affects Gelsolin-Mediated Actin Filament Severing
Mentor: Dr. Hyeran Kang (Department of Physics)
Sanya Georgieva
Using hiPSCs and Human-on-a-chip System to model AD in vitro
Mentor: Dr. James Hickman (Department of Chemistry)
Tori Golston
Exploring the Effects of Seagrass Wrack on Mangrove Soil Conditions
Mentor: Dr. Melinda Donnelly (Department of Biology)
Haley Lehew
Protein Disulfide Isomerase Disrupts and Detoxifies Aggregates of Amyloid Beta Peptide
Mentor: Dr. Kenneth Teter (Department of Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences)
Sara Linehan
What makes a graveyard? A Longitudinal Study on the Zombie Ants of Central Florida
Mentor: Dr. Charissa de Bekker (Department of Biology)
Lindsay Martin
The Effects of Temperature on the Immune Function of Diaphorina citri and its Ability to Vector Haunglongbing
Mentor: Dr. Kenneth Fedorka (Department of Biology)
Leah Rittenburg
Differences Between Genetic Lineages of Two Marine Leech Species in Host Preference and Correlation with Fibropapillomatosis and Chelonid Herpesvirus 5 in Sea Turtles
Mentor: Dr. Anna Savage, Dr. Kate Mansfield (Department of Biology)
Tamar Yishay
Split Probe Detection of Influenza A Virus for Improved Diagnostics in a Point of Care System
Mentor: Dr. Yulia Gerasimova (Department of Chemistry)
Ashley Boggs
Karenia brevis Effects on Soil Microbial Metabolism in a Coastal Wetland Soil
Mentor: Dr. Lisa Chambers (Department of Biology)
Noah Fabiano
Swabs as a Noninvasive Alternative to Tissue Samples for Detection of the Protistan Pathogen Perkinsea in anurans
Mentor: Dr. Anna Savage, Dr. Matthew Atkinson (Department of Biology)
Adrian Hernandez
A Potential Inhibitor to the Human MCL-1 Protein and Its Role as a Potential Anticancer Agent
Mentor: Dr. Kersten Schroeder (Department of Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences)
Ayman Khatib
Frabin, a RhoGEF, Promotes Pancreatic Cancer Progression
Mentor: Dr. Ratna Chakrabarti (Department of Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences)
Jessica Phagan
Tracking Mosquito Ditching Restoration Success in Mosquito Lagoon Using GIS
Mentor: Dr. Giovanna McClenachan, Dr. Melinda Donnelly, Dr. Linda Walters (Department of Biology)
Christine Sarkis
Optimizing Next Generation DNA Metabarcoding Methods to Characterize Sea Turtle Diet
Mentor: Dr. Anna Forsman, Dr. Erin Seney (Department of Biology)
Adam Searles
Assessing the Effects of Oyster Reef Restoration on Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in Mosquito Lagoon, FL
Mentor: Dr. Geoffrey Cook (Department of Biology)
Sandeep Sreerama
Effect of Glioblastoma Multiforme Exosomal Cargo on Human Neural Stem Cell NANOGP8 Expression
Mentor: Dr. Kiminobu Sugaya (Department of Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences)
Bridget Vincent
Determining the relationship of Micropogonias species in the Indian River Lagoon
Mentor: Dr. Eric Hoffman, Dr. Geoffrey Cook (Department of Biology)
Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Alan Conrad
Detailed Study of the Oxidation Mechanism of Model Biofuels
Mentor: Dr. Denisia Popolan-Vaida (Department of Chemistry)
Gillian Gomer
Interpreting Particle Motion in Low-Gravity, Asteroidal Conditions with Image Processing and Analysis
Mentor: Dr. Adrienne Dove (Department of Physics)
Sabrina Mai
A Rigorous Analysis on Miller and Volz’s Edge-Based Compartmental Model
Mentor: Dr. Zhisheng Shuai (Department of Mathematics)
Jillian Morgan
Determining the Variance of Hair Features for Forensic Examination
Mentor: Dr. Candice Bridge (Department of Chemistry)
Bianca Olivieri
Identification of Drug Metabolites in Urinalysis using Direct Analysis in Real Time – Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (DART-TOFMS)
Mentor: Dr. Candice Bridge (Department of Chemistry)
Samuel Turner
Chemometric Analyses for Electrochemical Signal Amplification for the Detection of Cancer Biomarker
Mentor: Dr. Karin Chumbimuni-Torres (Department of Chemistry)
Angelica Balcarcel
Differentiation Between ZIKA Lineages Using Electrochemical Biosensors Based on Nucleic Acid Detection
Mentor: Dr. Karin Chumbimuni-Torres (Department of Chemistry)
Sophia Bertot
Double Stranded DNA Cleavage via Deoxyribozyme Construct
Mentor: Dr. Dmitry Kolpashchikov (Department of Chemistry)
Sonali Joshi
Metallization of the Si(001) Surface: An Atomistic Study using a Neural Network Potential
Mentor: Dr. Talat Rahman (Department of Physics)
Ahmad Khater
Evaluating Copper Uptake through Nanotechnology-Assisted Delivery to Combat Bacterial Spot Disease in Tomato Plants
Mentor: Dr. Laurene Tetard (Department of Physics), Swadeshmukul Santra (Department of Chemistry)
Lorianne Shultz
Mechanochemically Synthesized Cobalt Oxide-based Particles as Efficient Catalysts for Nitrophenol Reduction
Mentor: Dr. Titel Jurca (Department of Chemistry)
Zon Thwin
Development of Antimicrobial and Fluorescent Zns:Mn Nanoparticles
Mentor: Dr. Swadeshmukul Santra (Department of Chemistry)
Social Sciences
Giovanna Alves
Can crime shows help you get away with crime?
Mentor: Dr. Peter Hancock, Dr. Daniel McConnell (Department of Psychology)
Andrew Cecol, Sakshi Sarkar
Use of Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imagery (MRI) Through Amira Software to Analyze How Ts21 Alters Craniofacial Anatomy
Mentor: Dr. John Starbuck (Department of Anthropology)
Jenna Dovydaitis
Chemical Weapons Usage Targeting the Kurds: Medical and Political Consequences
Mentor: Dr. Güneş Tezcür (Department of Political Science)
Gabriela Flores- Cruz
Postures in Mobile Device Usage: Effect on Cognitive Bias
Mentor: Dr. Valerie Sims (Department of Psychology)
Madison Kjosa
The Influence of Family Communication Styles on Campus Experience in College-Aged Children
Mentor: Dr. Harry Weger (Nicholson School of Communication and Media)
Jordan Sasser
Perceived Intentionality via Virtual Agent’s Kinematics
Mentor: Dr. Daniel McConnell, Peter Hancock (Department of Psychology)
Carly Grimison
Tooth Eruption Patterns in Children with Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
Mentor: Dr. John Starbuck (Department of Anthropology)
Caleb Hernandez
Experiences of Young Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Latinx People in Healthcare
Mentor: Dr. Joanna Mishtal (Department of Anthropology)
Michelle Labbe
Discriminatory Function Analysis use in Carpals from Maya Sites in Belize from Pre-Classic to Spanish Colonial Period
Mentor: Dr. Lana Williams (Department of Anthropology)
Roberta Napoleon
“Imperfect Love” : The Effect of Borderline Personality Symptoms on Relationship Satisfaction
Mentor: Dr. Grace White (Department of Psychology)
Jennifer Patterson
“Being Social”: Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits on Social Media Success
Mentor: Dr. Grace White (Department of Psychology)
Megan Small
Towards a Contemporary Understanding of Suicide Risk in Jails
Mentor: Dr. Jill Viglione (Department of Criminal Justice)
Audience Choice
Jailene Correa, Talya Kohan-Shohet, Sarah Kingsbury
Assessing the Affects of Socioeconomic Statu on the Management of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Mentor: Dr. Michael Rovito (Health Sciences)
Alexander D’angelo,
Flying Under the Radar: A Study on Mosquito Landing Kinematics and Kinetics Alexis Khalil
Mentor: Dr. Andrew Dickerson (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
Jasmine Rodriguez, Daniela Velez
The “Freshman 15” and the Risk of Adult 33 Onset Type 2 DM
Mentor: Dr. Michael Rovito (Health Sciences)
Peer Choice
Julissa Burgos
Isolation and Characterization of Heme Protein Involved in N-Nitroglycine Biosynthesis
Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Caranto (Chemistry)
Frederick Chinwuba, Tala Trabulsi, Quynh-Dan Nguyen, Nadia Jafir
An Assessment of Qualitative Features in Down Syndrome Faces
Mentor: Dr. John Starbuck (Anthropology)
Mehul Patel, Cesar Ortiz, Paul Delery
Generation of Electricity from Ionic Fluid Flow 161 Due to Electrical Double Layer Formation
Mentor: Dr. Fudong Liu (Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering), Dr. Xiaofeng Feng (Physics)