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2018 Event

2018 Event Results

 2018 Abstract Book

 2018 Program Book

The 22nd Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURēCA) took place April 16-20, 2018 in Hodges Library. Students from across the university entered their undergraduate research, senior design projects, clinical projects, and creative achievements for judging. Over 800 students presented 626 projects. 99 projects received recognition at the EURēCA Awards night.

Each undergraduate college selects and awards their top students. College awards ranged from first place to honorable mention. The top students on Monday night and Wednesday night also received ORE Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards for Undergraduate Research funded by the Office of Research and Engagement. These awards are presented across research areas and highlight the best of the best in undergraduate research and creative achievement on our campus. In nine categories, students were awarded 10 gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze awards. These Awards of Excellence provide prizes in the following amounts: $500 for gold awards, $300 for silver awards, and $200 for bronze awards.

Two additional university-wide awards were presented.

Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines, presented awards to three of the top EURēCA entries. Award winners were Augustus White from the College of Arts & Sciences, Mustapha Williams from the College of Architecture and Design, and Sarah Henson from the College of Social Work.

The William Franklin Harris III Undergraduate Research Award is named for a former Vice Chancellor of Research and highlights a student for innovation and excellence in research. The winner of the William Franklin Harris III Undergraduate Award for 2018 was Kimberly Bress from the College of Arts & Sciences.

Office of Research & Engagement Gold Awards
Student Project Title Faculty Mentor College
Logan Houston Geographical Location Drives the Population Structure of the Native Asian Cornus Kousa Population Trigiano, Robert N Agricultural Science and Natural Resources
Mustapha Williams Urban Identity Akerman, Jennifer Alford Architecture and Design
Kimberly Bress EFFECTS OF SOCIAL DOMINANCE ON DEFEAT-INDUCED NEURAL ACTIVITY IN A VENTRAL HIPPOCAMPUS-TO-BASOLATERAL AMYGDALA CIRCUIT Cooper, Matthew A Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Austin Smith Increasing Vaccination Rates Among College-Aged Males Bland, Tami Nursing
Adelaide Davis Teaching Children About the Importance of Honey Bees Lowe, Sarah School of Art, Arts & Sciences
Augustus White The Medicaid Expansion: Modeling of Important Factors in State Decision Making Cahill, Katie Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Haley Boles The Department of Environmental Quality’s Role in Impression Management During the Flint Water Crisis Cable, Sherry Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Sarah Henson The Population Characteristics of Children Served by a School-Based Interprofessional Clinic Choi, Sunha Social Work
Megan Pitz Analyzing memcapacitive capabilities of lipid and polymer bilayers for use in smart materials Sarles, Stephen Andrew Tickle College of Engineering
Matthew Herald X-Means Clustering Implementing the Gap Statistic for Multiple Positron Emission Particle Tracking Ruggles, Arthur E Tickle College of Engineering
Office of Research & Engagement Silver Awards
Student Project Title Faculty Mentor College
Benjamin Cruz Determining and Modeling the Residence Time Distribution of Biomass Particles in a Benchscale Bubbling Fluidized Bed Reactor Abdoulmoumine, Nour Agricultural Science and Natural Resources
Brandon Carpenter An Overview and Analysis of the Impacts of Extreme Heat on the Aviation Industry Holcomb, Mary C Haslam College of Business
Lauren Patterson The Pricing Impact of Decreasing Competitiveness of the Health Insurance Market Harris, Matt Haslam College of Business
Brandon Barker Prospects for High Energy Followup Studies of Gravitational Wave Transients Endeve, Eirik Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Taylor Stevenson Nucleosynthesis in Core-Collapse Supernovae Hix, William Raphael Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Avanti Rangnekar Who Benefits from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s Screening Mammography Recommendation: Identifying a Relationship Between the False Positive and Demographic Characteristics Cahill, Katie Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Madison Newsom Generalizing across speaker and gender during early word learning: Evidence from a statistical learning paradigm Hay, Jessica Sari Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Aya Barnes Environmental Racism: Flint Water Crisis Bohon, Stephanie A Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Abigail Geater Macrolevel Preventive Indicators of Maternal Incarceration Rates in Tennessee Choi, Sunha Social Work
Daniel Rutstrom Optimizing Europium Concentration in Cs4SrI6 and Cs4CaI6 Scintillators Zhuravleva, Mariya Tickle College of Engineering
Office of Research & Engagement Bronze Awards
Student Project Title Faculty Mentor College
Delaney Fisher, Ronald Franz Identification of brain regions involved in neuronal plasticity in a female mouse model of Rett Syndrome Krishnan, Keerthi Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Abigail Jarratt Synechococcus as an HOOH-Consuming Helper for Prochlorococcus Zinser, Erik Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Charles Barnes GCN2-mediated stress response in nitrogen starved Arabidopsis seedlings Vonarnim, Albrecht G Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Karen Carcello Communication Difficulties in Stroke Survivors with Aphasia: A Literature Review McLennon, Susan Margaret Nursing
Cameron Spooner Pinpoint Travel App Lowe, Sarah School of Art, Arts & Sciences
Dana Conzemius Gender Role Beliefs and Emotion Dysregulation as Risk Factors for Dating Abuse Perpetration Among College Men in Southern Appalachia Stuart, Gregory Lyal Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences
Ashlie Seibers Child Welfare Professionals’ Attitudes and Knowledgeability on serving LGBTQ+ Youth Choi, Sunha Social Work
Brandon Rowell, Christopher Walker, John Carothers, Michael Roulier Exploring Au-Ni Alloys for Magnetic-Plasmonic Applications Rack, Philip D Tickle College of Engineering
Agricultural Science and Natural Resources
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Logan Houston Geographical Location Drives the Population Structure of the Native Asian Cornus Kousa Population Trigiano, Robert N Agricultural Science and Natural Resources First Place
Benjamin Cruz Determining and Modeling the Residence Time Distribution of Biomass Particles in a Benchscale Bubbling Fluidized Bed Reactor Abdoulmoumine, Nour Agricultural Science and Natural Resources Second Place
Ashley Bloom BG-4, A Novel Peptide from Momordica Charnaita, Induces Apoptosis in Ovarian Cancer Cells Dia, Vermont Punongba Agricultural Science and Natural Resources Third Place
Angel Chaffin Potential Pathogens of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis Sativa) Gwinn, Kimberly D Agricultural Science and Natural Resources Honorable Mention
Ciara Sheets Enumerating and Differentiating Zoospore Types of Batrachochytium Salamandrivorans Using Flow Cytometry Miller, Deb Agricultural Science and Natural Resources Honorable Mention
Zhihong Wang Sorghum Starch Ultrasonication Project Dia, Vermont Punongba Agricultural Science and Natural Resources Honorable Mention
Zoe Resmondo Oral Tactile Sensitivity and Processing Luckett, Curtis Robert Agricultural Science and Natural Resources Honorable Mention

 

College of Architecture and Design
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Mustapha Williams Urban Identity Akerman, Jennifer Alford Architecture and Design First Place
Meredith Graves in shadows of disaster: architectural timestamps of earthquake processes Akerman, Jennifer Alford Architecture and Design Second Place
Jeremiah Corbett, Rachel Elbon,

Sierra Holder

MAX Rose, James Richard Architecture and Design Third Place
Brian Nachtrab, Isabella West Renzo Piano’s Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago – In Section Goeritz, Hansjoerg Architecture and Design Honorable Mention
Destin Manous, Zachary Orig Renzo Piano’s Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago – In Section Davis, Marleen Kay Architecture and Design Honorable Mention
Katherine Hill, Lauren  Perry The New York Times Building Davis, Marleen Kay Architecture and Design Honorable Mention

 

Honors English 298, Arts & Sciences
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Joelle Jarjoura Teacher and Student Perceptions of Online Versus Traditional Courses Dean, Lance M Arts & Sciences, English 298 First Prize
Robert Spurling Carbon Contamination in Electron Microscopy Dean, Lance M Arts & Sciences, English 298 Second Prize
Zoe Carter Exigence and Justifications of Altruistic Lies in Medicine: Brouwers, Marcel Arts & Sciences, English 298 Third Prize
Allison Clark Perception of Toxic Masculinity Amongst College-Aged Men Nicks, Robin Jean Gray Arts & Sciences, English 298 Student Choice Award
Bryce Wade The Effects of Biodiversity on Ecosystem Health and the Global Implications of Biodiversity Loss Barrow, Robin Arts & Sciences, English 298 Student Choice Award
Evan Mahaffey From the Cradle to College: How Parenting Styles Affect Student Academic Performance Nicks, Robin Jean Gray Arts & Sciences, English 298 Student Choice Award
Justin Pritchett The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Doctor-Patient Relationship Newburn, Harry Fredrick Arts & Sciences, English 298 Student Choice Award

 

Haslam College of Business
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Brandon Carpenter An Overview and Analysis of the Impacts of Extreme Heat on the Aviation Industry Holcomb, Mary C Haslam College of Business First Place
Lauren Patterson The Pricing Impact of Decreasing Competitiveness of the Health Insurance Market Harris, Matt Haslam College of Business Second Place
Rahim Tejani Cracking The Bullwhip Effect Mollenkopf, Diane A Haslam College of Business Third Place
Francis Murphy Supplier Network Mapping for Sustainability Dispersion Tate, Wendy Haslam College of Business Honorable Mention
Joseph Trice Financial Alignment on Physician Performance Bichescu, Bogdan Cristian Haslam College of Business Honorable Mention
Kristen Purcell State Aid: How Economic Development Trumps Tax Revenue Luna, Leann Haslam College of Business Honorable Mention

 

College of Communication and Information
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Elle Johnson Implementing Social Support Towards the Nutritional Needs of College Freshmen Miller, Laura Communication and Information First Place

 

Education, Health and Human Sciences
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Janelle Chavarria The Effect of Dietary Fiber on Satiation Raynor, Hollie Anne Education, Health, and Human Sciences First Place
Brandon Clendenin Use of Consumer Physical Activity Monitors for Estimating Energy Expenditure in Youth Crouter, Scott E Education, Health, and Human Sciences Second Place
Sonja Lipman Contact with the Criminal Justice System, Social Support, and Depressive Symptoms in Women Johnson, Elizabeth Inez Education, Health, and Human Sciences Third Place

 

Arts & Sciences, Humanities
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Brooke Hoffner Edna Pontellier’s Water Awakening and African Divinity Lasirenn Jennings, Dr La Vinia Delois Humanities, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Emily Liske The Holy Brick of Birth-giving: A Reassessment of Ancient Near East Birth Bricks and Their Medical Role in Delivery Darby, Erin Danielle Humanities, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Margaret Goodwill Home is Where the Art Is: How Progressive-Era Women used Fine Art and Folk Crafts to Spark Economic & Cultural Development in Knoxville, TN Sacco, Lynn Ann Humanities, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Mallory Donoghue Why Evelyn Hazen Sabotaged Her Own Reputation: Gender dimensions of the judiciary through the lens of a 1920s-1930s Knoxville Breach of Promise Suit Sacco, Lynn Ann Humanities, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Meera Patel A Recipe for Disaster: The Athenian Plague and the Peloponnesian War Van de Moortel, Aleydis Humanities, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention

 

College of Arts & Sciences, Natural Sciences
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Anna Young The Development of a rapid and reagent-free autobioluminescent yeast assay for the detection of dioxin-like compounds Ripp, Steven Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Annie Loewen Sex differences in the effects of social status on defeat-induced social avoidance in Syrian hamsters Cooper, Matthew A Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Audrey Parker Fun with Foraminifera in the K-12 Classroom Sumrall, Colin D Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Luke Blentlinger Experiments with Magnetic Susceptibility of Lake Sediments Horn, Sally P Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Samantha Cahill Spatial Analysis of Mountaintop Mining’s Impact on Water Quality and Macroinvertebrates Giam, Xingli Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Rena Abdurehman Dissection of a  General Chloroplast Targeting Motif Using In Vivo Imaging of Transit Peptide-YFP Fusion Proteins in Plant Cells Bruce, Barry D Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Charles Barnes GCN2-mediated stress response in nitrogen starved Arabidopsis seedlings Vonarnim, Albrecht G Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Abigail Jarratt Synechococcus as an HOOH-Consuming Helper for Prochlorococcus Zinser, Erik Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Brandon Barker Prospects for High Energy Followup Studies of Gravitational Wave Transients Endeve, Eirik Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Kimberly Bress EFFECTS OF SOCIAL DOMINANCE ON DEFEAT-INDUCED NEURAL ACTIVITY IN A VENTRAL HIPPOCAMPUS-TO-BASOLATERAL AMYGDALA CIRCUIT Cooper, Matthew A Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Alexis Case Post-fire ectomycorrhizal associations with Pinus sp. in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Year one Hughes, Karen W Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Bill Pham Computational Study of Ligand-dependent Oligomerization of Ribonucleotide Reductase Shen, Tongye Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Christopher Smith Growth of Pentremites and implications for blastoid ontogeny Sumrall, Colin D Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Hannah Alloway Etheostoma Duryi Keck, Ben Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Jacqueline Richards Role of Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein in Intercellular Communication Burch-Smith, Tessa Maureen Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Logan Qualls Assissing Old and New Data to Digitally Reconstruct Morphology Sumrall, Colin D Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Olivia Maples The Effects of Relationships on ANS function and Wellness Baldwin, Debora Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Emma Reed Potential Contamination Risk in Tennessee Aquifers from Oil and Gas Drilling Tran, Liem Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Wade Seifert Discovery of competitive and allosteric inhibitors for KRAS using high-thoughput virtual screening strategies. Smith, Micholas Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Delaney Fisher, Ronald Franz Identification of brain regions involved in neuronal plasticity in a female mouse model of Rett Syndrome Krishnan, Keerthi Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Taylor Stevenson Nucleosynthesis in Core-Collapse Supernovae Hix, William Raphael Natural Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention

 

College of Arts & Sciences, Social Sciences
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Shichie Kuribayashi,

Nicholas Coles

Do facial expressions influence affective experience? A meta-analysis Larsen, Jeff T Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Reagan Yessler The Livability of Shakespeare’s London Foresta, Ronald Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Dana Conzemius Gender Role Beliefs and Emotion Dysregulation as Risk Factors for Dating Abuse Perpetration Among College Men in Southern Appalachia Stuart, Gregory Lyal Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Haley Boles The Department of Environmental Quality’s Role in Impression Management During the Flint Water Crisis Cable, Sherry Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Augustus White The Medicaid Expansion: Modeling of Important Factors in State Decision Making Cahill, Katie Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Award
Alexis Hall Tennessee Junior 4-H Camp Curriculum: Creating, Implementing, and Evaluating Educational Programming Using Research-Based Practices in Youth Development and Instructional Design Richards, Jennifer Kathryn Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
James Smith The Spatial Migration Patterns of younger versus older adults and educated versus non-educated adults in Tennessee Nagle, Nicholas Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Aya Barnes Environmental Racism: Flint Water Crisis Bohon, Stephanie A Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Madison Newsom Generalizing across speaker and gender during early word learning: Evidence from a statistical learning paradigm Hay, Jessica Sari Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention
Avanti Rangnekar Who Benefits from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s Screening Mammography Recommendation: Identifying a Relationship Between the False Positive and Demographic Characteristics Cahill, Katie Social Sciences, Arts & Sciences Honorable Mention

 

College of Nursing
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Anelia Rizzo,

Kayla Batts,

Lajerica Bates, Megan Seal

Using the Picture Exchange Communication System to Improve Communication in Children with Autism Thompson, Kathleen Nursing First Place – EBP
Carolynn Clemons, Megan Hodge,

Sean Lenihan

Interventions to Increase Nursing Retention: An Evidence-Based review of existing literature Koszalinski, Rebecca Nursing Second Place – EBP
Kimberly Phung,

Jordan Gause, Lindsay Garner, Sarah Vance

Hand Hygiene Compliance from Nurses to Reduce Hospital Acquired Infections in Pediatric Patients McLennon, Susan Nursing Third Place -EBP
Austin Smith Increasing Vaccination Rates Among College-Aged Males Bland, Tami Nursing First Place – Research
Avie Joyce,

Stefanie Schumacher

Role of healthcare providers in combating sex trafficking in Knoxville, Tennessee Hurt, Maria Nursing Second Place – Research
Karen Carcello Communication Difficulties in Stroke Survivors with Aphasia: A Literature Review McLennon, Susan Nursing Third Place – Research

 

School of Art, College of Arts & Sciences
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Caleb Jones Pit Pass Lowe, Sarah School of Art, Arts & Sciences Art Award
Haley Carter Uranium Storage Powering the Future Staples, Carolyn I School of Art, Arts & Sciences Art Award
Rachel Gorman Kid & Kin Lowe, Sarah School of Art, Arts & Sciences Art Award
Sierra Plese Protypo Lowe, Sarah School of Art, Arts & Sciences Art Award
Vadim Bondarenko The Power of an Atom, Digital Interactive Experience at the Y-12 New Hope Center Staples, Carolyn I School of Art, Arts & Sciences Art Award
Cameron Spooner Pinpoint Travel App Lowe, Sarah School of Art, Arts & Sciences Art Award
Adelaide Davis Teaching Children About the Importance of Honey Bees Lowe, Sarah School of Art, Arts & Sciences Art Award
Thomas Murr Interactive Data Visualization Staples, Carolyn I School of Art, Arts & Sciences Student Choice Award
J. Tyler McCammon Visualizing Outreach at Y-12 Staples, Carolyn I School of Art, Arts & Sciences Student Choice Award

 

College of Social Work
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Sarah Henson The Population Characteristics of Children Served by a School-Based Interprofessional Clinic Choi, Sunha Social Work First Place
Abigail Geater Macrolevel Preventive Indicators of Maternal Incarceration Rates in Tennessee Choi, Sunha Social Work Second Place
Ashlie Seibers Child Welfare Professionals’ Attitudes and Knowledgeability on serving LGBTQ+ Youth Choi, Sunha Social Work Third Place

 

Tickle College of Engineering
Engineering Research
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Megan Pitz Analyzing memcapacitive capabilities of lipid and polymer bilayers for use in smart materials Sarles, Stephen Andrew Tickle College of Engineering First Place – Research
Matthew Herald X-Means Clustering Implementing the Gap Statistic for Multiple Positron Emission Particle Tracking Ruggles, Arthur E Tickle College of Engineering Second Place – Research
Daniel Rutstrom Optimizing Europium Concentration in Cs4SrI6 and Cs4CaI6 Scintillators Zhuravleva, Mariya Tickle College of Engineering Third Place – Research
Jessica Ossyra, Aaron Crigger Fabrication of dense UO3 pellets for neutron detection applications Meek, Thomas T Tickle College of Engineering Honorable Mention – Research
Bahar Meshkat Robust and Cost Efficient Method for Fabrication of Tungsten Tips for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Khomami, Bamin Tickle College of Engineering Honorable Mention – Research
Katelyn Bolinsky Device Characterization of Gallium Nitride Solar Inverters Costinett, Daniel Jes Tickle College of Engineering Honorable Mention – Research
Leah Stephens The Effects of Pressure on Chemical Interactions with Shale Rock During Hydraulic Fracturing Palomino, Angel Tickle College of Engineering Honorable Mention – Research
Engineering Design
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Matthew Dischner, Christopher Keller Mobile Device for Height Measurement of Research Cotton Wilkerson, John B Tickle College of Engineering First Place – Design
Brandon Rowell, Christopher Walker, John Carothers, Michael Roulier Exploring Au-Ni Alloys for Magnetic-Plasmonic Applications Rack, Philip D Tickle College of Engineering Second Place – Design
Robert Nickel, Benjamin Barnhill, Nicholas Kearse, Sara Martin,

William Kobler, William Putthoff

The Effects of Vortex Oxidizer Injection on Hybrid Rocket Fuel Regression Lyne, Evans Tickle College of Engineering Third Place – Design
Caitlin Duggan, Christina Cox,

Grant Hanthorn, Quentin Eustace

Formulations for Three-way Catalyst Supports in the CeZrLaO System Keffer, David J Tickle College of Engineering Honorable Mention – Design

 

School of Music, College of Arts & Sciences
Student(s) Project Title Faculty Mentor College Award
Natalie Gregg,

Seth Hall,

Alex Hall,

Peter Kim,

Ryan Ramsey

Quintet, Mvt. I (August Klughardt) Apaza, Aaron School of Music, Arts & Sciences First Place
Lee Brandt Lonely House from Street Scene (Kurt Weill) Skoog, Andrew School of Music, Arts & Sciences Second Place
Anjali Shinde Andante Pastoral et Scherzettino (Paul Taffanel) Binder, Shelley School of Music, Arts & Sciences Third Place