The annual Michael and Sally McCracken Student Research Symposium showcased the creativity and impact of student scholarship across disciplines, highlighting exceptional undergraduate and graduate research. This year’s event recognized a wide range of accomplishments, from innovative scientific discoveries to excellence in teaching, service and communication.

 

Top Honors

The prestigious Boller Award, presented to the symposium’s top undergraduate researcher, was awarded to Saba Anjum (Biochemistry). Finalists included Michael Wrucke (Psychology), William Cunningham (Engineering), and Matthew Loritz (Nutritional Sciences), each demonstrating remarkable research excellence.

Senior Scholars

The following students were recognized as Senior Scholars for their outstanding academic and research achievements:

Madison Adam (Biology); Spencer Lanyon (Biology); Saba Anjum (Chemistry); Carlota Castelltort Pintó (Computer Science); Daisy Yvette Carrillo (Environmental & Geological Sciences); Arianna LeBlanc (Mathematics & Engineering); An Nguyen (Nutritional Sciences); Judah Crawford (Physics and Astronomy); Brooke Drenowatz (Psychology); Kaitlin Pena (Psychology – Child Development); Kevin Bien (Psychology – Neuroscience).

Graduate Student Awards

Graduate students were recognized for excellence across multiple areas:

• DCSE Dean’s Graduate Student Teaching Awards: Aeron Pennington (Biology); Nathaniel McKinney (Chemistry & Biochemistry); Abi Welch and Madison Crowns (Environmental & Geological Sciences); Benjamin Reader (Mathematics); Anthony Gerg (Physics & Astronomy); Mona Al-Bizri (Psychology)

• Graduate Student Research & Creative Activities Award:
  Finalist – Katie Harnen (Nutritional Sciences)
  Runner-up (not pictured) – Cokie Nerz (Psychology)

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• Graduate Student Teaching Award:
  Finalist – Abi Welch (Environmental & Geological Sciences)
  Runner-up – Aeron Pennington (Biology)

• Graduate Student Service Award:
  Finalist – Mikay Reuter (Biology)
  Runner-up – Anthony Gerg (Physics)

Graduate Excellence Awards

• Davis College Graduate Outstanding Thesis Award: Ugur Topkiran (Physics & Astronomy)

• Davis College Graduate Outstanding Dissertation Award: April Horton (Physics & Astronomy)

• Davis College Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award: Anton Naumov (Physics & Astronomy)

Poster Competition Winners

Students presented cutting-edge research across disciplines, with top poster awards including:

Biology

• Undergraduate: Madison Adam et al. – Investigating the Effects of Peptide Mimics on the Binding Interaction between BRCA1 and PALB2
• Graduate: Maddie Perkins et al. – Targeting ferroptosis in Alzheimer’s disease

Chemistry & Biochemistry

• Undergraduate: Kayla Brownell et al. – Europium-doped Cerium Oxide Nanotubes for Bioimaging
• Graduate: Josie Nguyen et al. – Salt-Induced Diffusiophoresis of a Cationic Micelle

Computer Science

• Undergraduate: Tam Nguyen & Robin Chataut – TAED: A Trust-Aware Explainable Defense for Phishing Detection

Engineering

• Undergraduate: Zac Schmitt & London Bachelet – Polymer-Sand Bricks as a Sustainable Building Alternative

Environmental & Geological Sciences

• Environmental Sciences:
• Graduate: Katherine Davis & Victoria Bennett – Bat activity and resource use in South Africa

• Geological Sciences:
• Undergraduate: Arianna Simmons & Esayas Gebremicheal – Landslide Susceptibility in Texas
• Graduate: Quinton Mindrup & Richard Hanson – Volcanic complex mapping in the Sierra Nevada

Mathematics

• Undergraduate: Isaac Hernandez & Nelis Potgieter – Empirical Likelihood Inference

Nutritional Sciences

• Undergraduate: Matthew Loritz et al. – Prebiotic beverages and metabolic response
• Graduate: Katie Harnen et al. – L-Arginine and GLP-1 release

Physics & Astronomy

• Undergraduate: Alyssa Dickens & Anton Naumov – Carbon nanotube optimization
• Graduate: Jonah Otto & Peter Frinchaboy – Galactic formation through stellar populations

Psychology

• Undergraduate: Adrienne Drickamer et al. – Neural mechanisms of reward behavior
• Graduate: Logan Gunderson et al. – Diet quality and behavior in food insecurity models

Interdisciplinary

• Samantha Shah, Peyton Green, Kayla N. Green – SuperFrog Science outreach initiative

Science Communication (SCICOM) Awards

The Magnus Rittby Departmental SCICOM Awards recognized students excelling in communicating complex research to broader audiences. Nominees represented disciplines across Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Nutritional Sciences, Physics, Psychology, and Interdisciplinary research.

SCICOM Overall Winners

• Undergraduate Winner: Alyssa Dickens & Anton Naumov – Optimization of the Breakdown of Carbon Nanotubes into GQDs
• Graduate Winner: Quinton Mindrup & Richard Hanson – Mapping a Devonian volcanic complex in the Sierra Nevada