The 10^th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium will take place this Thursday, May 21, 2020. The virtual format will include research work conducted by 18 chermistry and biochemsitry majors.

The presentations will be a mix of live-stream, pre-recprded and Zoom events.  Zoom events require an RSVP by Wednesday, May 20 at noon. See the virtual Symposium navigation guide for details.

Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Presentations

Stacey Andreeva – Chemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Carl Brozek
Session 5: The Bonds that Make Us
Title: Metal-Ligand Bond Dynamics in Metal-Organic Frameworks Confirmed by Variable
Temperature Vibrational Spectroscopy

Dylan Bardgett – Chemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Dave Johnson | Danielle Hamann
Session 6: Interact & React
Title: The Reactions Between Iron and Selenium

Zack Basham – Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): David Garcia
Session: Pre-recorded Poster Presentation
Title: Influence of a prion protein on the TOR pathway in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Lejla Biberic – Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Amber Rolland | James Prell
Session: Pre-recorded Poster Presentation
Title: Determining detergent dependence of Cytolysin A oligomeric state through native mass
spectrometry

Anabel Chang – Biochemistry
Co-Presenter(s): Maya Pande
Session: Pre-recorded Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor(s): Andrew Marcus
Title: Characterizing the Conformational Fluctuations of DNA Under Physiological and SaltStabilized Conditions

Emmalyn Leonard – Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Cristopher Niell | Philip Parker
Session 5: The Wonders of the Brain
Title: Determining the role of the pulvinar in visual attentional control

Tristan McKibben – Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): J. Josh Snodgrass
Session 5.5: McNair Scholars Presentations
Title: The Evolution of Coronaviruses: Cross-Species Transfers and Mechanisms of Infections

Parker Morris – Chemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Amanda Cook | Kiana Kawamura
Session: Pre-recorded Poster Presentation
Title: Rational Design and Synthesis for Nickel Catalyzed Hydrosilylation

Matthew Nardoci – Biochemistry/Biology
Co-Presenter(s): Jewlyssa Pedregon
Faculty Mentor(s): Santiago Jaramillo
Session: Pre-recorded Poster Presentation
Title: Characterization of sound-evoked responses of photo-identified auditory striatal neurons

Jake Olsen – Chemistry and Mathematics
Faculty Mentor(s): Marina Guenza | Jake Searcy
Session 1: It’s a Science Thing
Title: The Atomistic Reconstruction of Coarse-Grained Polymeric Systems via Machine Learning
Techniques

Maya Pande – Biochemistry, Political Science
Co-Presenter(s): Anabel Chang
Faculty Mentor(s): Andrew Marcus
Session: Pre-recorded Poster Presentation
Title: Characterizing the Conformational Fluctuations of DNA Under Physiological and SaltStabilized Conditions

Madelyn Scott – Chemistry, Physics
Faculty Mentor(s): Kelly Wilson | Cathy Wong
Session 2: Cells R Us
Title: Quantifying the spatial morphology of organic films through polarization-dependent
imaging

Nathan Stovall – Chemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Shannon Boettcher | Raina Krivina
Session 5: The Bonds that Make Us
Title: Ultrathin Iridium Oxide Catalyst on a Conductive Support for the Oxygen Evolution
Reaction in Acid

Eric Strand – Biology/Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Joshua Barker
Session: Pre-recorded Poster Presentation
Title: Rational Design of s-Indacene-cored Small Molecule Organic Semiconductors as a
Paradigm to Tune Electronic Characteristics

Ian Torrence – Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Sean Fontenot
Session 2: Cells R Us
Title: Sensors and Materials for In-field Aqueous Analysis of Nitrate and Other Ions

Dan Tudorica – Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Arden Perkins
Session 3: The Substance of Us
Title: The role of the Chemoreceptor Zinc-Binding Domain in bacterial signal transduction

Nicole Wales – Chemistry and Physics
Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Lonergan | Zack Crawford
Session 5: The Bonds that Make Us
Title: Quantification of Point Defects in Perovskite Solar Cells

Daria Wonderlick – Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s): Mike Harms
Session 5: The Bonds that Make Us
Title: Ensembles link RNA thermodynamics and molecular evolution