Strike a Spark Conference 2021
The Center for Undergraduate Research held its 2021 Strike a Spark Conference on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity on April 21, 2021. The presentations highlighted the efforts of our students who engaged in research, scholarship and creative expression last year.
Results
Graduate
- 1st Place - Emily Behm (Graduate Student), “The Disproportionality of Minority Students in Special Education in Urban Settings”
- 2nd Place - Colleen Moyer (Graduate Student), “You Can't Recover if You're Gone . . . MAT and Harm Reduction”
Undergraduate
Creative Works
- 1st Place - James Sible, Michael Sanchez, Jhony Perez, and Tyler Urban, “The Fabulous Baking Co: Website and Content Management Suite”
- 2nd Place - Shauna Fahad, “It's Virtually Showtime! Theatre Performance During a Pandemic”
Oral Presentations
- 1st Place - Chloe Faris, “Investigating the Role Bacteria Play in AMD Passive Remediation Systems”
- 2nd Place - Joseph Pagano, “Measuring Customer Satisfaction amidst COVID-19: Observations on Telehealth and Social Work Practice”
- 3rd Place - Sarah Moehring and Makenzie Cree, “The Effects of Alprazolam on Wound Healing and Regeneration in Planaria”
Poster Presentations
College of Science and Technology - Class Project
- 1st Place - Larry Wiles, “Soil-Based Bacterial Colonies: A Potential Source of Novel Antibiotics to Combat Antibiotic Resistance”
- 2nd Place - Thomas Forsythe, Julietta Maffeo, Ryan Marietta, and Najah Kadhim, “Subsonic Open-Loop Wind Tunnel”
- 3rd Place - Sarah Benson, “Fast Fashion and its Impact on the Environment: Can Brands Make a Cost-Effective Change?”
- Honorable Mention - McKayla Kling and Abigale King, “The Uncovering of Antibiotic Producing in Soil Samples in South-Western Pennsylvania”
College of Science and Technology - Individual Project
- 1st Place - Samantha Richard, “Characterization and Antibiotic Screening of Soil Fungi”
- 2nd Place - Raelynne Grabill, “Understanding Bacterial Communication and Group Behavior to Combat the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis”
- 3rd Place - Ian Wolfe, “Conformational Studies on a Novel Paraburkholderia Isolate”
- Honorable Mention
- Lauryn Avery, “The Effects of Glyphosate on Chicken Embryo Development”
- Ashley McIntosh, “Investigating the Antibiotic Properties of Ganoderma lucidum Extract”
College of Education and Liberal Arts - Class Project
- 1st Place - Erin Patrick, “Maple Syrup Urine Disease”
- 2nd Place - Caden Moran, “Flora Williams Biography: A Singing Suffragette”
- 3rd Place - Kendall Clevenger, “Uncovering the Lives of the Way Makers: Suffragettes”
- Honorable Mention
- Krista Wycinsky, “Down Syndrome”
- Skyra Heckman, “Child Abuse: Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974”
College of Education and Liberal Arts - Individual Project
- 1st Place - Hannah Wyman, “The Problem with ‘Yellow Fever’ & The Sexual Fetishism of Asian American Women in Film”
Poster Presentations
Disney: Funny for the Whole Family. Andrew Amati.
The Effects of Coping Humor. Danica Barnes.
The Importance of Veterinary Humor. Briana Beck.
Fast Fashion and its Impact on the Environment: Can Brands Make a Cost-Effective Change?
Sarah Benson.
Humor in Poetry: Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”. Yamna Boukaabar.
The Use of Art for Rehabilitation in Correctional Facilities. Brittany Brommer.
Uncovering the Lives of the Way Makers: Suffragettes. Kendall Clevenger.
Why There is a Lack of Participation Among Students During Group Projects. Kaitlyn
Collins.
Queer Representation in Comedic Television. Cole Cooper.
The Ongoing Evolutions of Humor: How Modern-Day Humor Gets Progressively Darker. Alex
Dalton.
Treacher Collins Syndrome. MacKenzie Darst.
Artificial Wombs: Filling a Microbial Gap in Knowledge. Savannah Davis. | Poster
Is Social Media A Friend or A Foe? Maria Dovshek.
The Role of Humor in "Catch-22". Klaidon Drury.
Piglets Philosophy. Zachary Evans.
“For Us, By Us”: Humor Theory, Black Agency, and Cultural significance in The Boondocks.
Sierra Everett.
Multiple Lenses of a Character. Jahneek Fant.
Subsonic Open-Loop Wind Tunnel. Thomas Forsythe, Julietta Maffeo, Ryan Marietta, Najah Kadhim.
Family Matters: A Historical Analysis of Philomena Montagna's Life. Elizabeth Grassi.
The Harmful Use of Humor on Tumblr. Alayna Guzzi.
Maintaining a Positive Educational Environment through the Use of Humor. Darrek Harshberger.
Destigmatize the Dykes. Delaney Harvey.
White-Nose Syndrome in North American Bats. Melanie Harvey.
Dave Chappelle: An Open Letter to Racism in America. Andrew Havens.
The Perfect Strategy. William Hebda.
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974. Skyra Heckman.
Who is Snoopy the Beagle? Sarah Holveck.
Treacher Collins Syndrome. Brianna Howland.
The Roles of Female Characters in Ancient Roman Comedies. Adela Howsare-Palacios.
Human Endurance in Battlestar Galactica. Declan Johnson.
Humor as a Humanizing Force in Medical Staff-Patient Interactions. Kylie Kurtz.
The Humor in A Heist with Markiplier. Brook Lint.
The Story of Sandy Cheeks. Alicia Lucas.
The Real Life Meaning Behind Scooby Doo. Alexa Malloy.
Who is More Stressed and Anxious During the Pandemic? Emma McSurdy.
Riddance of Recidivism. Courtney Meyer.
Flora Williams Biography: A Singing Suffragette. Caden Moran.
Subversive Humor in Jeff Dunham Beside Himself. Joshua Panaro.
Maple Syrup Urine Disease. Erin Patrick.
Pierre Robin Sequence. Lindsay Pegg.
Applying Sociological Perspectives to Family Traditions: Hunting. Brittney Roberts.
Humor Theories Represented by the Marvel Cinematic Universe Girlfriends. Nicholle Schuerman.
Social Class and Humor Theory: Gallagher Style. Emma Shearer.
Scooby-Doo: The Ghost Hunting Great Dane. Cameryn Simpson.
ALVIN!!!: Who Are You? Evan Simpson.
Humor and Satire in Feminist Memes. Emily Sloan.
Sitcom Mediate the Race and Identity of African Americans Using Humor: The Fresh Prince
of Bel-Air. De Andra Thompson.
Sea Slug Switch. Michaela Tubbs.
James K. Polk, the Most Underrated President in American History. Caitlyn Urban.
Donald Duck and the Original Ducks. Breanna Vanderhoof.
The Concept of Jack Sparrow: Humor and History. Carson Venuti.
Laughing Through Pain: Humor Therapy. Kelsay Waite.
Who is Mickey Mouse. Marisa Walters.
60-Second Humor: the Division and Unification of TikTok Users. Carly Whitfield.
The Father of Counterculture Comedy: Dark and Observational Humor in the Works of
George Carlin. Alex Wigle.
Soil-Based Bacterial Colonies: A Potential Source of Novel Antibiotics to Combat Antibiotic
Resistance. Larry Wiles.
Fighting Covid One Joke at a Time. Cora Wilkins.
"Mono" and the More Serious Autoimmune Diseases It May Cause. Shaylie Augustine.
The Effects of Glyphosate on Chicken Embryo Development. Lauryn Avery.
Using jQuery to Simplify Code. Morgen Fraser.
Was the housing market hurt or helped during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Britney Galik.
Ending of a Life Through Pictures - Vincent Van Gogh. Sharena Groover.
Copper and its Impact on Humanity. Wren Gutshall.
The Facts and Controversies of the Great Vowel Shift. Mary Klopcic.
The Influence of COVID-19 Infection and Death Rates on School Re-Opening Plans. Amanda
LeSuer.
Investigating the Antibiotic Properties of Ganoderma lucidum Extract. Ashley McIntosh.
The Effects of Alprazolam on Wound Healing and Regeneration in Planaria. Sarah Moehring,
Makenzie Cree.
Mental Health and COVID-19: Living in a Pandemic. Rebecca Regeth, Marley Goff, Madeleine
McKenna.
The Electrochemical Detection of Trace Metals in Commercially Available Dog Food Via
Voltammetric Methods. Tyler Shaffer.
Characterization and Antibiotic Screening of Soil Fungi. Samantha Richard, Michelle
M. Valkanas.
Conformational Studies on a Novel Paraburkholderia Isolate. Ian Wolfe.
How Privilege in Early Journalism Affected and Continues to Affect Female Journalists
of Today. Hannah Wyman.
The Problem with “Yellow Fever” & the Sexual Fetishism of Asian American Women in
Film. Hannah Wyman.
Weaponizing White Women's Femininity: Accusations Against Black Men. Sarah Crayton
Electoral Reform and Voter Turnout in American Presidential Elections. Chris Lisle
Staging Change: The Influence of Theatre on Policy and Politics. Jeromy S. Mackey
American Populism in Speeches: From Bryan to Trump to Sanders. Jeromy Mackey
Pedagogical Approach to Arduino Learning. Julietta Maffeo
Robotics in Hospitality: Meet Jarvis. Nadia Mason
Psychosocial factors related to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: A Systematic Review. Dillon Shash
Influence of Behavior Change via Dopamine in Fruit flies. Lanieta Waqanivalu
Using Dance Performance to Portray Addiction. Rachel Wells
Effects of the environment on the medicinal properties of Echinacea spp. Rebecca B. Wright
Performances and Creative Works
"pHoolproof" Auto-Irrigation System. Jeremy Castrodad, Jordan Grossmann.
It's Virtually Showtime! Theatre Performance During a Pandemic. Shauna Fahad.
Poetry of the Pandemic. Bryce Frye
Poetry of the Pandemic. Chris Girardi
Poetry of the Pandemic. Poetry: Ciera Jones
Poetry of the Pandemic. Poetry: Derek Kirk
The Fabulous Baking Co: Website and Content Management Suite. James Sible, Michael
Sanchez, Jhony Perez, Tyler Urban, Pratibha Menon.
WasteNot a food waste reduction app. Jacob Yockey, Samuel Homer, Eric Shager, Jared Middleton.
Oral Presentations
Education and Prevention of Opioid Misuse in Students and Families. Jillian Bartman,
Taylor Childers, Phoebe Gorges.
Bikers for Domestic Violence Justice. Roxanne Bedilion.
The Disproportionality of Students who are Minorities in Special Education in Urban
Settings. Emily Behm.
Interdisciplinary Case Study Presentation. Erica Gaster, Toni Kane, Lindsey Moore,
Branda White.
Collaboration in Rural Communities: A Reversed Case Study. Sarah Heitzenrator, Emily
Nelson, Ashley Parnell.
HRSA Case Presentation. Lyric King, Linda Porter, Denise Parker, Emily Brune.
You Can't Recover if You're Gone...MAT and Harm Reduction. Colleen Moyer.
Case Study: Chad. Andrea Stimmell, Alexa Bernhardt, Lacie Valiante.
Stress: A fact of life or physiological response we can mediate? Abigail Walters.
Reverse Case Study: Joseph. Paige Weber, Tiffany Kon, Christina Johnson.
Diversity in the Workplace. Taylor Beneke.
Investigating the Role Bacteria Play in AMD Passive Remediation Systems. Chloe Faris.
Surveying Mexican Literature to Expand Cultural Understanding. Ryan (Tony) Machorro-Robinson.
The Effectiveness of Treatments for Chronic Back Pain. Susan Mazanetz.
Good Morning Yoga: Springtime Movement! Makayla Munchinski.
Measuring customer satisfaction amidst COVID-19: Observations on telehealth and social
work practice. Joseph Pagano.