2024

2024 USRSC Award Winners

Oral Presentations –

Humanities Session
1st Prize:  Speaking Of and Speaking Too: An Ethical Approach to Suffering
Israel White
Faculty Mentor: Rev. Dr. Jill Snodgrass (Theology)

Fine Arts Session
1st Prize: Hacking Instantaneous: Process-Based Creative Explorations in an Everyday Medium
Isabella Guerrero
Faculty Mentor: Jon Malis (Photography)

Natural & Applied Sciences
1st Prize:  The Effects of Zinc on Arabidopsis Lyrata
Markus Dudley
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maren Blohm (Biology)

2nd Prize:  Basilar Artery Stenosis in Children with Moyamoya Disease
Daniel Reilly
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Tangrea (Biology)

3rd Prize:  The Efficacy of Dinaciclib Treatment to Double Resistant ER-Positive Breast Cancer and miRNA-222 
Cecilia Mota, Chloe Kuminkoski
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Armina Kazi (Biology)

Social Sciences Session 1
1st Prize: Understanding the Correlation Between Social Media Use Motivations, Relationship Expectations, and Relationship Satisfaction Among Emerging Adults
Cali Barton, Aidan Hunter, Diba Ramezan
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rachel Grover (Psychology)

2nd Prize:  Sleeping for success: Subjective well-being and sleep among university students
Emma Fogle
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Theresa DiDonato (Psychology)

3rd Prize:  “I’m Sexy and I Know It”: Sexual Self-Concepts and Adolescent Dating Patterns
Andrea Maldonado, Tory Tafe, Emily Mozgai
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rachel Grover (Psychology)

Social Sciences Session 2
1st Prize:  Assessing the Relationship between Judicial Ethics and Court Efficiency
Emma Alexander
Faculty Mentor: Matthew Beverlin (Political Science/Pre-Law)

2nd Prize:  Leadership Qualified: The Common Career of Speakers of the House, 1899-2024
Elizabeth Gilmore
Faculty Mentor: Douglas B. Harris (Political Science)

3rd Prize:  Descriptive Study of Sleep Patterns and Knowledge among Department of Juvenile Services Staff 
Lily Bistline, Erin Vermette
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Amy Wolfson and Dr. Marianna Carlucci (Psychology)

Poster Presentations –

Education Session 1
1st Prize:  Multisensory Instruction to Increase Phonics Achievement
Matilda Davis
Faculty Mentor: Stacy Williams (Education)

2nd Prize: Increasing Low Readers Passage Fluency
Sajel Patel
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mullieri, M.A. (Education)

3rd Prize: Improving Decoding Skills in Elementary Students
Emily Lehberger
Faculty Mentor: Stacy Williams (Education)

Education Session 2
1st Prize:  The Implementation of Nonsense Word Instruction in Improving Decoding Abilities
Lauren Hayes
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mullieri, M.A. (Education)

2nd Prize: Using Multi-sensory Education to Teach 5th Grade Special Education Students the Silent -E Rule
Jordan Durkin
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mullieri, M.A. (Education) and Stacy Williams (Education)

3rd Prize: Increasing Vocabulary Understanding in Elementary Mathematics Classrooms
Megan Cutter
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mullieri, M.A. (Education) and Stacy Williams (Education)

Natural & Applied Sciences
1st Prize:Youth Sleep-Wake Experience in Juvenile Justice Facilities: A Descriptive Analysis
Diba Ramezan
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Craig Myrum (Biology)

2nd Prize: Studying Binding in TPGS-750-M Micelles Using Competition Reactions
Benick Mbaya
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Courtney Hastings (Chemistry)

3rd Prize: Targeted Modification of Lsh in Human Glioblastoma Cells
Grace Acle
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Theresa Geiman (Biology)

Social Sciences
1st Prize: The Varying Perceptions of Happiness
Hayden Beach, Erin Rooney
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Theresa DiDonato (Psychology)

2nd Prize: Professor Well-Being
Abena Ansah, Isabella Barnette, Hannah Matrangola
Faculty Mentor: Theresa Didonato (Psychology)

3rd Prize: Subjective well-being and values: Their connection and how it differs among United States regions
Derek Martin, Gaddi Rodriguez, Charlie Sayers, Amelia Silberger
Faculty Mentor: Theresa Didonato (Psychology)