Students Present Research at 24th Annual Undergraduate Symposium
Seventy-eight students were selected to present an original academic research project at Assumption’s 24th Annual Undergraduate Symposium, which was held April 23-24 on the Worcester Campus.
The undergraduate symposium showcases the academic research and scholarly achievements of Assumption students working in collaboration with dedicated faculty mentors. These collaborations represent a model for integrating teaching, original research, and the beneficial effects of peer review in promoting intellectual development and professional growth. The symposium provides the campus community with the opportunity to gain a greater appreciation of and applaud the individual and collective accomplishments of the institution’s faculty and students.
“The Undergraduate Symposium is a celebration of learning that provides students the opportunity to present their res
earch, empirical studies, and Honors projects,” said Louise Carroll Keeley, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The Symposium highlights the research and scholarly achievements of talented Assumption students working in collaboration with dedicated faculty mentors who together enjoy an intellectually engaging, active, and peer-reviewed teaching and learning experience. The Symposium is an occasion of great pride not only for our students and their families, but for the entire Assumption community.”
The following is a list of student projects presented during the Symposium (in order of presentation):
Child Maltreatment and Teen Dating Violence: Protective Factors and Revictimization (Shannon McMillan ’18)
The Association between Mindfulness, Emotional Responding, Stress, & Academic Performance (Tyshawn Thompson ’18)
The Impact Community Service Can Have on Classroom Learning (Julie Dunn ’18)
Effects of Foster Care on the Social Skill Development of Youth (Thea Hickey ’18)
The Optimal Training Program to Maximize Football Player Performance (Levi Fancher ’18)
Dancing with Down Syndrome: A Look at the Effects and Benefits of Dance Movement Therapy on the Emotional Well-Being and Overall Quality of Life for Individuals with Down Syndrome (Jenna Snyder ’18)
Fiction and Affect (Mariah Peck ’18)
Amore Ex Machina (Sean Sullivan ’18)
The Eucharistic Sacrament: The Culmination of Baptismal Initiation (Kimberly Sweeney, CCE)
Determining the Mode of Cell Growth during the Cell Cycle of Fission Yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe (Thomas Barringer ’19)
Diversity of UV Resistance in Halophilic Archaea (Rafael Hamawi ’18)
Characterization of the Role of Pigments in Photoreactivation in Halophilic Archaea (Christian Wesolowski ’19)
The Scientific Analysis of Artificial Reefs in Volusia County, Florida (Susanna Jacobsen ’18)
A Biblical Allegory to Represent Science as Corruption in Rappaccini’s Daughter (Kellie Duquette ’18)
Un estudio de la ética y los métodos de traducción con una traducción de Instrucciones para salvar el mundo por Rosa Montero (Jessica Ferronetti ’18)
The Meridian House Speech and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East Post-Cold War (Shant Eghian ’18)
Study Abroad and Your Academic Career (David Cifarelli ’19)
Rome as a Classroom (Olivia Corfey ’19, Alaina Kendrick ’19, Stephanie McGovern ’19, Timothy Power ’20, and Lauren Salerno ’20)
Keeping Women’s History Alive: Kate Toomey, Worcester City Councilor (Kasey Blodgett ’21)
The Life of Nancy Avila: An Oral History (Josh Corrigan ’21 and Zachary DiCarlo ’21)
Serving the Worcester Community: An Oral History about Public Service (Jeremiah Edwards ’21 and Megan Merna ’21)
An Oral History Interview with Ann Marie Shea (Feldano Francois ’20 and Andrew Moccia ’21)
A Life in the Library: Marie Mueller’s Oral History Interview (Raymond Furgal ’21 and George Lorin ’21)
Doctors Without Orders: An Analysis of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic in America (James Watson ’18)
Judicial Decision Making (Josie Assad ’18)
Levels of Administrative and Organizational Stress Among State Police (Joseph Bretta ’18)
Primary Education: Technology Takeover (Tyis Boykin ’18)
Measuring At-Risk Population’s Knowledge of Sexual Violence (Alison Carr ’18)
Characteristics of Pedestrian Fatalities during Motor Vehicle Accidents in Regard to Increased Distracted Driving and Walking (Alexander Cerbo ’18)
Navigating the Court System without Representation (Nicholas Crespo ’18)
Mammary Stromal Cells Present During Lactation Cause an Increase in Cellular Proliferation (Christina Forrest ’19)
The Interaction between Macrophages and Adipose Stromal Cells in Pregnancy Related Breast Cancer during Lactation Increases Inflammatory Cytokines Production (Noor Kawmi ’18)
Novel Approaches to Tackling Antibiotic Resistance (Emily Tomanelli ’18)
Correlations of Head Circumference, and Epilepsy Severity in Infants with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (Alexis Levine ’18)
Efficiency of Energy Transfer in Rayleigh-Benard Convection (Sean McGrath ’18)
Schubert Polynomial Multiplication (Sara Amato ’19)
The Role Case Managers Play in Their Clients’ Lives: An Analysis of Case Managers’ Viewpoints of Their Jobs and Their Clients (Ryan Dalli ’18)
Factors That Contribute to a Parent’s Inability to Comply with Their Child Support Orders (Angela Gentile ’18)
What Information or Behaviors do Prosecutors Want from Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault? (Raysa Guerrero ’18)
Court Cases: Getting In and Out (Cynthia Henderson ’18)
Police Officer Attitudes about the Policing of Opioid Use (Connor Henry ’18)
How Does Parental Education Affect Their Children? (Samantha Konan ’18)
Worcester Multi-Family House Market Price (ZhiChao Chen ’18)
Doing History: What I Learned as a Guest Curator for a Digital Humanities Project (Jonathan Bisceglia ’19)
Using Newspaper Advertisements to Examine Education in Colonial America (Mary Bohane ’18)
Coffee and the Colonies (Kurt Falter ’18)
Advertising an Influential Pamphlet: Politics and Print Culture in Early America (Zachary Karpowich ‘19)
Eighteenth-Century American Newspapers and an Assortment of Advertisements (Anna MacLean ’18)
Europe Transposed: German Settlers in Colonial America (Sean Sullivan ’18)
Technology in Policing (Korlu Jallah ’18)
How Has Intelligence and Case Management Software Influenced Perceptions of Police Work? (Alexander Lorusso ’18)
Internship Satisfaction: Internships for Choice Compared to Internships Required by Class (Shannon McMillan ’18)
Stress Training in Police Academies (Jamie Mickiewicz ’18)
Differences in Self-Representation by Client Gender (Aidan Murphy ’18)
The Opioid Crisis: Drug Offenders and Recidivism Patterns (Patrick Ward ’18)
Juvenile Delinquency and Rehabilitation in the Criminal Justice System (Matthew Yanczewski ’18)
Holmes and House: On Friendship and Addiction (Michela Lavin ’18)
Understanding Brain Development through Worms (Joselyne Alvarez ’19)
Optimization of 5-Hydroxytryptophol (Marissa Gifford ’18)
Characterization of a Protective Angiogenic Mechanism Triggered by the Heart Pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi (Brittany Goncalves ’18)
Identification of a Bacillus Species Isolated from a Doorknob Using Staining Techniques, Growth Characteristics, Genetics, and Respiration and Metabolic Assays (Alysha McGovern ’19 and Brittany Goncalves ’18)
Observing Interspecific Competition and Habitat Preference of Fern Species at Assumption (Susanna Jacobsen ’18 and Alexandra Olah ’18)
New Approach on Analyzing Efficiency and Size Trends in Evolving Computer Architecture (Noor Kawmi ’18)
Investigating the Immune Response of RAW 264.7 Macrophage Cells to Serratia marcescens Infection (Alyssa Masciarelli ’18 and Alora Piela ’18)
Genetic Screening of Bacillus thuringinesis Crystal Protein Cry14A for Resistance in
Free Living Namatode C. elegans (Eva Mlynarski ’18)
Investigating the Biodiversity of Isolated Soil Algae from a Range of Southern New Hampshire Peaks (Dominique Shepard ’18)
Path Formation in a Complex System (Jocelyne Tamayo ’18)
A Novel Cryptic Species of Green Algae from the California Desert (Melissa Taylor ’18)
The Ecophysiology of Soil Algae (Emily Tomanelli ’18)
Understanding the Role of Integrin Ligands in Spine-like Projection (SLP) Development (Nicholas Villani ’18)
Exploring the Relationships between Social, Motor, Emotional, and Sensory Development in Childhood (Lindsay Gomes ’18)
Cyberbullying as a Form of Dehumanization (Julia Merchant ’19)
Emotional Expressiveness in Families at Risk for Postpartum Depression (Holly Olson ’18)