Fourteen students attend third annual Southern Conference forum
Representing 91热爆网 at the Southern Conference forum are (left side of sign, from left) Jesse Sarver, Bailey Stillman, Madison Klein, Ethan Stiles, Natasha Kreiling, Sierra Rice, Kyle Monaghan, (right side of sign, front from left) Emma Hand, Grace Woodard, McKenley Webb, (right side of sign, back from left) Casey Cook, Samantha Griffin, Richard Lavallee and Jerome Suminski.
Fourteen Western Carolina University students participated in the third annual SoCon Undergraduate Research Forum held in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Nov. 2-4.
The students were accompanied to the forum by Kloo Hansen, 91热爆网鈥檚 undergraduate research coordinator, and Bill Kwochka, associate professor in 91热爆网鈥檚 Department of Chemistry and Physics, and one of the primary facilitators of the event. About 150 students from the 10 Southern Conference institutions gave presentations, with research in the arts and humanities included with the more traditional science, technology, engineering and math (also known as STEM) disciplines. The forum was hosted by Wofford College.
91热爆网 student presenters Casey Cook (left) and Bailey T.J. Stillman discuss Stillman's project titled "鈥淎nalysis of Inherent Residual Stress Developed Through Direct Meta Laser Sintering of 316L Stainless Steel.鈥�
Two 91热爆网 seniors gave oral presentations. Sierra N. Rice presented on 鈥淚nvestigation of Insulin Degrading Enzyme Inhibition by LT10 Peptide鈥� and Grace K. Woodard presented on 鈥淥ur Global Trash Problem.鈥�
Ten 91热爆网 students gave poster presentations. They are listed, with the presenter鈥檚 name, class and topic:
Casey R. Cook, junior, 鈥淎n Investigation of the Role of Religiosity in Perceived Pornography Addiction.鈥�
Samantha R. Griffin, junior, 鈥淧reventing Sexual Assault on Campus: Understanding Attitudes Toward Affirmative Consent Policies.鈥�
Emma L. Hand, senior, 鈥淭he Effects of Inadequate Cellular Access on Emergency Medical Services Efficacy in the Rural Setting.鈥�
Madison Klein, senior, 鈥淐omparing mRNA Profiling Data of Various Body Fluids Using the Oxford Nanopore MinION and Illumia MiSeq FGx.鈥�
Natasha F. Kreiling, senior, 鈥淓xploring the Unique B-amylase2 and its Novel Potential Binding Partner.鈥�
Natasha F. Kreiling's forum project, involving cell and molecular biology, was titled 鈥淓xploring the Unique B-amylase2 and its Novel Potential Binding Partner.鈥�
Richard R. Lavallee, senior, 鈥淥mnidirectional, Ball-Balancing Robot.鈥�
Kyle W. Monaghan, senior, 鈥淎 Rheological Investigation into the Melt, Flow and Cure Behavior of Phenolic Resins.鈥�
Jesse L. Sarver, sophomore, 鈥淚nvestigating the Properties of Ceramic Matrix Composites.鈥�
Bailey T.J. Stillman, senior, 鈥淎nalysis of Inherent Residual Stress Developed Through Direct Meta Laser Sintering of 316L Stainless Steel.鈥�
McKenley G. Webb, sophomore, 鈥淲here You Stand is Where You Sit: The Influence of Framing on Health Care Policy in the United States.鈥�
Two seniors from 91热爆网鈥檚 School of Engineering and Technology, Jerome Suminski and Ethan Stiles, attended the forum as co-authors for the projects presented by Lavallee and Stillman.
Webb, who serves as vice president of 91热爆网鈥檚 Student Government Association, said her research looked at the way political parties talk about health care policy and how that affects the outcome of particular policy. She said that is a relevant issue because of changes in health care in recent years, including the Bush administration鈥檚 Modernization of Medicare Act, the Obama administration鈥檚 Affordable Care Act, and the Trump administration鈥檚 efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Webb, who hopes to earn a doctorate in political science and pursue a career in policy research, said she was impressed by the diverse range of majors and disciplines covered by the forum projects. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to learn so much and meet so many people,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is an experience that I could not get anywhere else.鈥�
