2026 Symposium Award Winners
The following outstanding presentations, posters, and creative works were awarded prizes at the 16th Annual Wiggins Memorial Library Academic Symposium on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. Each student is listed along with their faculty mentor. If the presentation was recorded, a link to the video recording is provided.
High Merit Winners scored within the top 10% of their category. Merit Winners scored within the top 25% of their category. All of these winners names will be published in the 2025-26 edition of Accolades and all will receive a prize seal for their certificate. Join us in congratulating these winners!
Online Video Presentations (Undergraduate)
Merit
- Michael McCoy, “Narrative From Nowhere: A Prisoner’s Search for Home” (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sherry Truffin)
- Christopher Shipley, “One Confused Brother: Garth Frierson’s Take on Chris Jaynes and His Muddled State of Double-Consciousness in Mat Johnson’s Pym” (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sherry Truffin)
High Merit
Online Video Presentations (Graduate)
High Merit
Art Exhibits
Merit
- Kayla Caulk, "Tiny - A Macro Image in Buies Creek" (Faculty Mentor: Professor Brian Bowman)
- Susannah Young, "Where the Paint Goes" (Faculty Mentor: Breck Smith)
High Merit
Oral Presentations (Undergraduate)
Merit
- Tanner Campbell, Tayler Cline, Mario Del-Angel, Noah Jackson, Christopher Rogers, "Culvert Inspection Project" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kim Fowler)
- Maggie Holden, "Is AI a better friend than you?: Replacement of Human Relationships with AI Chatbots" (Faculty Mentor: Professor Brian Bowman)
- Natalie Jamison, "More to be Dunn: Assets, Challenges, and the Future of a Rural Community" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Justin Nelson)
- Hyunchul Lee, "Enhanced Padding Method for Playfair Cryptosysem" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sidong Zhang)
- Jillian Malham, "Ruling the Self, Restraining the State: Positive and Negative Liberty in Ancient and Contemporary Thought" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ethan Alexander-Davey)
- Christopher Mowry, "Stories From Stone: A Case Study of Blowing Rock, North Carolina" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Justin Nelson)
- Alena Suarez, "Chemical and Incendiary Warfare in Vietnam: The Weapons, the American Public's Response, and the Consequences" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jaclyn Stanke)
High Merit
- Samuel Bohlen, "Unraveling the Microbial Potential of Regenerative Agriculture: A Comparative Study Between Farming Techniques" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michelle Suhan Thomas)
- Daphne Dew, "“No Hues of Pencil or of Language Can Portray:” Spoken vs. Written Language in Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sherry Truffin) *Her two other presentations also had award level scores.
- Jayden Grier, "Fake Brotherhood: The Black Soldiers' Experience with Racism in Vietnam" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jaclyn Stanke)
Oral Presentations (Graduate)
Merit
- Sarena Gresko, William Green, "Arnica Ethanolic Extract Activates Nrf2 and Inhibits Akt and ERK Signaling to Alleviate Postoperative Pain" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lei Wei)
- Bailey Wells, Emily Wernsing, "Ibogaine Treatment for TBI and Associated PTSD" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Agnello)
High Merit
Poster Presentations (Undergraduate)
Merit
- Riley Parker, "Cell Phone Use in the Classroom" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Terrie Hampton-Jones)
- Laura Trivett, "Development of a Novel Diels-Alder Reaction for the Organic Teaching Labs" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elizabeth Blue)
High Merit
- Andrew Gray, Jackson Carter, "How Does Inflation Affect Bank Performance?" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew Kelly )
- Addie Simon, "The Chaos and Courage of Life After School: Navigating College, Work, and Independence for Individuals with Autism and ADHD" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jen Lowry)
Poster Presentations (Graduate)
Merit
- Vikasini Reddy Chinthala, "TAOK1 as a Regulator of Vascular Function" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victor Pulgar)
- Olivia Knaus, Garrett Farringer, "A Case Study: Mesenteric Lipoma with a Review of Contributing Factors" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Adam Foster, Dr. Alan Proia)
- Jentzen Loeffler, "Integrating Therapeutic Exercise and FES to Improve Balance in a Patient with Brown-Sequard Syndrome" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robin Baker)
- Megan Stewart, "Exploring Isotretinoin as a Repurposed Therapeutic Agent in HepG2 Liver Cancer Cells" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah Liu)
- Kaitlyn Stocks, "A Patient with a Rapidly Progressive Pustular Eruption after Treatment of a Cyst" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Phuong Daniels)
- Jessica Wayment, "Backwards Treadmill Walking with FES as an Intervention in Stroke Recovery" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robin Baker)
High Merit
- Desiree Byrd, Maria Echeverri, Alyson Kidd, "An Overview of Appendiceal Mucinous Neoplasms: Histopathological and Clinical Implications" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alan Proia, Dr. David Green)
- Hannah Ruiz, Madison Lawrence, "A Case Study: Hydronephrosis with a Review of Possible Causes" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bonnie Brenseke, Dr. Terence Mitchell)
- Riya Nitesh Shah, "Building a Diverse Health Workforce: A Demographic Analysis of a Rural FQHC Medical Scribe Pipeline" (Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jan Lee Santos )
