Award Winners
The following outstanding presentations, posters, and creations were awarded prizes at the
2017 Academic Symposium. Each student is listed along with their faculty mentor.
Fine Arts
1st: Kaela McKoy, "Sweet Lilly," Prof. Larkin Tysor
2nd: Megan Mahalik, "it is the beating," Prof. Larkin Tysor
3rd: Taylor Stewart, "Moments of Joy," Prof. Brian Bowman
Honorable Mention (Tie): Jessica Furlipa, "Annulus," Prof. Breck Smith
Honorable Mention (Tie): Julie Martin, "Hand Dissected," Prof. Breck Smith
Undergraduate Oral Presentations
1st: Ariane Smith, "Matthew 12:46-50 and Mark 3:31-35: Jesus’ Redefinition of Family," Dr. Kenneth Vandergriff, Christian Studies
2nd: Nathan Ameen, "Hamstring Strain of D1 Collegiate Football Player," Dr. Sarah Christie, Exercise Science
3rd: Austin Maynor, "Expanding the Southern Canon: The Case for Jim Wayne Miller," Dr. Gina Peterman, English
Honorable Mention: Lydia Huth, "The Room of Mirrors: Bellefleur and Women's Liberation," Dr. Sherry Truffin, English
Undergraduate Poster Presentations
1st (tie): Gabriel Haire and Gloribel Vanegas, "Identification and Characterization of Fluoroquinolone Resistant Bacteria from Swine," Dr. Michelle Thomas, Biology
1st (tie): Tiffany Sears, "Wrist-Worn Physical Activity Trackers Progressively Underestimate Steps with Increasing Walking Speeds," Dr. Jennifer Bunn, Exercise Science
3rd (tie): Houston Cole, "Synthesis of Heterodisubstituted Pyridines via Cyclization of Methyl Ketones, DMSO, and Ammonium Salts," Dr. Sarah Goforth, Chemistry
3rd (tie): Jacob Guthrie, "Determination of the Stoichiometry between an Anionic Surfactant and a Self-Assembled Aggregate," Dr. Jordan Womick, Chemistry
Graduate and Professional Oral Presentations
1st: Jackson Adamah, "Recovering Christological Ecclesiology," Dr. Cameron Jorgenson, Divinity
2nd: Sarah Lamb, Maria Lim, and Dallin Lindstrom, "Case Report: A Novel Presentation of Ringed Cranial Nerves," Dr. Howard Reisner, Osteopathic Medicine
3rd: Danny Koh, Victoria Lipinski, Kathryn Smid, and Kelsey Staudinger, "Complications of Synthetic Surgical Mesh," Dr. Bonnie Brenseke, Osteopathic Medicine
Honorable Mention: Chelsey Anderson, "Can tNASP be used for cancer screening tests?" Dr. Oleg Alekseev, Osteopathic Medicine
Graduate and Professional Poster Presentations
1st: Sri Ragavi Ashokkumar, "Erysolin as an inducer of antioxidants in cardiac cells," Dr. Yunbo Li, Pharmaceutical Sciences
2nd: Maryam Unnisa, "Flavonoid components of passion flower extract antagonize various neuroreceptors," Dr. Chris Breivogel, Pharmaceutical Sciences
3rd: Venkata Lakshmi and Anupama Puvvada, "Formulation, Optimization, and Evaluation of Caffeine Oral Disintegrating Tablets (ODT's), prepared from the direct compression method using natural excipients," Dr. Mali Gupta, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Honorable Mention (tie): Mamta Iyer, "Taste Masking of Isoniazid by Spray Drying Technique," Dr. Rahul Haware, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Honorable Mention (tie): Leah Cashwell, "Assessing the Performance of Abdominal Muscles During Prone Bridge Exercise in Older and Younger Adults," Dr. Jennifer Bunn, Physical Therapy
Virtual Symposium Video Presentations
1st: Courtney Cunningham, "Emergency Response: Sarin Gas Attack," Dr. John Mero, Political Science
2nd: Angela Devlin, "Violence in Virtual Reality Video Games: The Impact on Aggressive Behaviors of Adolescents," Dr. Katherine Van Allen, Psychology
3rd: Natalia Ricks, "Excessive Cell Phone Use Among Parents and the Repercussions Upon Child Development and Parent-Child Relationships," Dr. Katherine Van Allen, Psychology
Honorable Mention: Ryan Collinsworth, "Explaining Evil: The Person-Situation Debate," Dr. Guy Vitaglione, Psychology
