Schedule at a Glance Speaker Index Room 1 Room 2 Room 3 Room 4 Room 5 Room 6 Room 7 Room 8 Room 9 Room 10 Room 11 Posters Special Events
A research poster displaying the findings of whether dancing hula, a traditional Hawaiian practice, can be used as a preventative intervention for mental health deterioration within members of the Hawaiian community. The research study took place during the summer of 2021 (May-August) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic on the island of O’ahu. Results were made based on survey data (qualitative and quantitative) that assessed the mental health of both hula dancers and non-hula dancers using the CES-D and SWLS scale over the span of 3 months.
Faculty Sponsor: Meredy Goldberg Edelson
Discipline: Psychology
Agriculture is key to human survival. It is used for food, animal feed, textiles, shelter, and other necessities . Pesticides have become a key figure in agriculture over the last century by helping to prevent crop destruction. Agricultural pesticides target weeds, insects and fungi. Their chemistry differs greatly from one another, as well as their methods for killing their specific targets. While pesticides are extremely important, they come with their downsides. They are often toxic to humans and dangerous for the environment. However, there are solutions to these drawbacks: crop rotation, education on proper use, etc.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-01
Increasing soil pH is a growing concern for farmers – as well as environmentalists – all over the globe. Although the pH of soil naturally fluctuates, ebbing and flowing over the course of time from elements like rainfall and plant decomposition, in recent years, it has begun increasing at harmful rates due to climate change and rising use of agricultural fertilizers. Many plants cannot survive when soil is too acidic, which hurts crop production. Additionally, when soil becomes more acidic, Al3+ ions can leach into soil which is toxic to plants. However a promising solution has arisen in liming, the practice of tilling calcium carbonate, or limestone, into farming soil. Unfortunately, this practice does not exist without downfalls of it’s own, because tilling is also an ecologically destructive process, one which disrupts soil chemistry. This poster will explore the balance we must find between the two.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-01
Over time, artworks lose their color due to age and damage. Due to this, the general interpretation of the works through its colors and feelings are affected. Project REVIGO was an initiative created to zero in on the color discrepancies of some of Van Gogh’s paintings. It created digital reconstructions of the piece with projections of original colors that were based on chemical reconstructions of paints Van Gogh was known to use. Non-invasive strategies were used to analyze and identify the work’s chemical components, which were then used to create digital duplicates of the paintings with color reconstructions in place. By doing so, viewers can get a glimpse into how these works were originally meant to look.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-02
What causes the classic airy, fluffy bread that everyone knows and loves? The answer lies in gluten, a rubbery substance that is created when flour is mixed with water. Gluten contains two proteins, gliadin and glutenin, that bond together to create a network that gives bread its structure and shape. Celiac disease is caused by the body’s immune system mistaking these proteins for foreign pathogens. When making bread, yeast, a single-celled organism, is added to the dough, which feeds on sugars and releases carbon dioxide (Hill). Understanding the structure of gluten can help create alternative baked goods that people with celiac disease can tolerate.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-01
Acid rain is an environmental problem caused by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide that react with water molecules in the atmosphere. These reactions are represented by the following equations: SO3+ H2O→ H2SO4 and 2NO2+ H2O →2HNO3. These compounds have low pH and are acidic. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are released with the burning of fossil fuels or in exhaust from vehicles. The negative effects of acid rain are increasing with time and are very hard to reverse, whilst also being completely avoidable.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-01
THC and other derivatives of cannabis have a variety of effects on a consumer. This poster will focus on the effect cannabinoids have on the brain and the physical sensations that can occur. In addition it will discuss some of the various medicinal uses and properties along with how other common medications could react with cannabis. With the legalization of marijuana in some states it is important for people to understand possible reactions and effects that can accompany consumption and might affect long term users.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-02
What causes the classic airy, fluffy bread that everyone knows and loves? The answer lies in gluten, a rubbery substance that is created when flour is mixed with water. Gluten contains two proteins, gliadin and glutenin, that bond together to create a network that gives bread its structure and shape. Celiac disease is caused by the body’s immune system mistaking these proteins for foreign pathogens. When making bread, yeast, a single-celled organism, is added to the dough, which feeds on sugars and releases carbon dioxide (Hill). Understanding the structure of gluten can help create alternative baked goods that people with celiac disease can tolerate.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-02
In this project, we will explore the category of plastics known as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). For this, we will show the chemical makeup of PFAS, and how their chemistry has affected their characteristics. We will discuss the impact of PFAS on the human body, their history, and active or past legislation to control them. We will also share possible methods to protect from PFAS contamination, as well as efforts to restrict their usage. A key goal is to raise awareness of the ubiquitous nature of PFAS, the companies who use them, and the products in which they are found.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-02
The world we live in today is constantly promoting certain vitamins to fix nutrient deficits. This leads to a lot of misinformation and general misunderstanding of how and why vitamin supplements can work. While it is most beneficial to obtain vitamins through one’s diet, vitamin supplements are a necessity for many. Through our research, we observed vitamins through the lens of chemistry via polarity and solubility. This approach allowed us to connect real world concepts of today given the popularity of product promotion on social media platforms to well studied concepts within chemistry.
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel Hinton
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-02
Acid rain is a meteorological and environmental phenomenon caused by the interaction of sulfur, nitrogen, and other chemical agents in the atmosphere with water vapor through acid deposition. Acid rain poses a serious problem for culturally important landmarks via chemical weathering, for ecosystems via the acidification of soil, groundwater, surface bodies of water, and human health. While occurring in nature, acid rain became a major issue due to pollution from 20th century industrial activities. Human activity has contributed to increases in acid rain, and human activity can be adjusted to reduce its severity.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Meyer
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-03
THC and other derivatives of cannabis have a variety of effects on a consumer. This poster will focus on the effect cannabinoids have on the brain and the physical sensations that can occur. In addition it will discuss some of the various medicinal uses and properties along with how other common medications could react with cannabis. With the legalization of marijuana in some states it is important for people to understand possible reactions and effects that can accompany consumption and might affect long term users.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Meyer
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-03
The initiation of grenades were first used in war and military as a defense. They were made up of gunpowder and later developed into grenades made up of distinct chemicals. We will be talking about the chemical interactions that cause an explosion in three types of grenades: stun, hand, and smoke. Improper use of non-lethal grenades have yielded injuries, but because of their classification, there are little measures in place as opposed to their lethal counterparts. This negligence of precaution has led to a debate between improper use, and unethical combat tools.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Meyer
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-03
The Maillard Reaction is a chemical reaction that is responsible for the browning of foods which helps release pleasant aromas and produce delightful tastes. This reaction occurs, when sugars and amino acids combine to form new molecules. Not only is this identifiable in the foods that you cook in your own home, but companies often use this reaction to reproduce popular smells, textures, and flavors in a more preservable form. Chefs and their restaurants also benefit from the chemistry of the reaction to attract customers to their signature dining experience. The Maillard reaction, allows for the food world to constantly and creatively provide unique tastes and flavors that may have not been produced without this chemistry.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Meyer
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-03
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, have become widespread in modern society, often being viewed as a “magic pill” for a variety of conditions. This is because they can be extremely effective in treating psychiatric conditions, often with minimal side effects. However, there are many gaps in our understanding of why these drugs work and how effective they are at treating specific disorders. The purpose of this research is to describe the biochemical processes that take place when SSRIs are introduced to the brain and how they are able to effectively treat the psychological and physiological symptoms of psychiatric disorders.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Meyer
Discipline: Chemistry 116Y-03
The growth of social networks has allowed information to spread rapidly through a population, in response marketers have used this to efficiently spread information about their products. The social influence maximization (SIM) problem finds seed nodes to initialize information in order to maximize its spread. This initial stage of the project explored different techniques to transform social network datasets into graphs, generate and visualize random networks. Using metrics common to graph theory, we ensured that the topography of our generated social networks and our real social networks were similar, with the goal of aiding future research into the SIM problem.
Faculty Sponsor: Haiyan Cheng
Discipline: Computer Science
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was utilized to locate and identify the Parsonage foundations of the former Oregon Indian Manual Labor Training School. The data collection was done over an 18 x 17 m grid at the Willamette Heritage Center. Collected data was processed using Radan 7 Geoprocessing Software. Anomalies were identified in the GPR data and examined. Excavation would need to be employed to identify the anomaly with certainty. Evidence of past building structures was not detected by GPR. Limitations of the study such as obstructions to data collection may have influenced the completeness of the data and the conclusions.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Pike
Discipline: Environmental Science
This project uses the methodology of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to identify anomalies at the Willamette Heritage Center to locate the original location of the Parsonage House. To do this, a group of students set up a 17x18 meter grid at the location to conduct a GPR scan.Potential anomalies presented in the data included a rectangular shape and a circular shape. These anomalies were used in placing test pits at the location site in order to determine the final excavation location.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Pike
Discipline: Environmental Science
This project intends to determine the original location of the Methodist Parsonage house at the Willamette Heritage Center through ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey. When the structure was in use, the land was used for the Oregon Manual Mission Labor School and later, the Oregon Institute. Parallel transects of 50 centimeters were collected and processed using Radan 7 software to identify anomalies that may potentially locate subsurface cultural features. The notable anomalies feature what are likely water pipelines on the south side of our grid and curved railroad track on the north side. There are also multiple unknown anomalies that may hold cultural or historical significance to the story of the land. An excavation of the site is planned to be performed with reference to the GPR analysis to determine what is left over from the parsonage house.
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Pike
Discipline: Environmental Science
Faculty Sponsor: Rosa León Zayas
Summer '21 REU presentation from UGA
The current project applies Linguistic Inquiry Word Count analysis to the lyrics corpus written and sung by Nobel Laureate singer-songwriter Bob Dylan to examine word use changes across his career. We extend research by Whissell (2008) and Czechowski et al. (2015) by including co-written and covered songs, and examining emotional, motivational, and religious themes previously underexplored. We also divide Dylan’s work into more granular thematic periods informed by biographical and creative developments. Among other predictions, we hypothesized an increase in religious themes foretelling his conversion to Christianity, and affective and motivational changes suggested by socioemotional selectivity and lifespan theories.
Faculty Sponsor: Erik Noftle
Discipline: Psychology
Study abroad places students in a new environmental context, enabling opportunities for non-normative personality development. Selection effects and motivations have both been associated with choosing to study abroad. Previous studies have observed personality changes in line with the Maturity Principle. Desires, expectations, and perceptions have been considered as mechanisms for actual personality change, yet current literature has not yet united all four change types in one study. The present study seeks to replicate previous findings concerning Big Five personality change and compare expected, desired, perceived, and actual change while considering the effects of psychological and cultural adjustment during study abroad.
Faculty Sponsor: Erik Noftle
Discipline: Psychology
The current study examined the influence of fear and written perspective on false memory. To test this, individuals were given a story to read. They were then exposed to misinformation and tested on details of the story. Analysis compared the amount of false memories accepted across conditions. Overall, we found no significant differences between groups, but this was possibly due to lack of power. This study would be worth replicating with a larger sample, as these results could contribute to literature on the importance of suggestion in influencing memory as well as how one frames said suggestions.
Faculty Sponsor: Jeremy Miller
Discipline: Psychology