2018 UMaine Student Symposium (UMSS) Award Recipients

More than 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students presented their work during the third annual University of Maine Student Symposium held at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on April 17.

The free public event, which was organized by UMaine Graduate Student Government and the Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) as part of Maine Impact Week, provided an opportunity for community members to meet student researchers and scholars, see their posters and exhibits, hear their presentations, and view short performances and art.

Awards and cash prizes were given to the symposium’s top scholars and presentations in several categories:

Graduate winners

  • Allied health: Silas Walsh and Melody Joliat, Fostering a Better Understanding of Chronic Pain Treatment Needs Through Community Engaged Research,advised by David Wihry
  • Arts: Rachel Church, Fall Semester 2017, First Year of Graduate School, advised by Susan Smith
  • Biomedical Sciences: Michael Wilczek, Human JC Polyomavirus Infection of Primary Astrocytes: A Model for a Deadly Disease,advised by Melissa Maginnis
  • Education and Human Development: John Caleb Speirs, Investigating Student Reasoning Patterns via Dual-Process Theory,advised by MacKenzie Stetzer
  • Engineering and Information Sciences: Hannah Allen,Testing and Validation of Emerging Hull Technologies for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines,advised by Andrew Goupee
  • Interdisciplinary Collaboratives: Emma S. Toth, Investigating the Instructional Transition of STEM Students from High School to First-Year College Courses,advised by Michelle Smith
  • Natural Sciences: Tyler Van Kirk, Abundance of Spiny-Headed Worms in Green Crabs,advised by Ian Bricknell
  • Natural Sciences:Dhirgam Humaidy, Synthesis and Reactivity of Gold (I) Tetrathiomolybdate Complexes, advised by Alice Bruce
  • Physical Sciences: Sabrina Sultana, Robust Magnetic Photocatalyst for Removal of Organic Pollutants from Drinking Water,advised by Carl Tripp
  • Social Sciences: Kate Pontbriand and Emily Blackwood, Seasonal Analysis of Four Coastal Archaeological Sites in Eastern Maine Using Mollusks,advised by Daniel Sandweiss

Undergraduate winners

  • Allied Health: Marisa Jolicoeur, Nyia Chituck, Darcey Fraser, Lindsay Nutter and Rebecca Dalrymple, Assessing Diet and Exercise in Pre-diabetics,advised by Patricia Poirier
  • Arts: Cara Doiron, Constructing Identity Through the Lens of Fashion,advised by Samantha Jones
  • Biomedical Sciences: Sarai Smith, Understanding the Role of Prophage in Mycobacterial Host Fitness and Gene Expression, advised by Sally Molloy
  • Biomedical Sciences:Ashley Soucy and Jeanne K. Dushane, IP3R-Mediated ER Ca2+ Release Drives JCPyV Infection,advised by Melissa Maginnis
  • Business: Alexis Lindsay, Maternity Leave in the U.S.,advised by Stefano Tijerina
  • Education and Human Development: Jordan Houdeshell, Differences in Language Through the Comparison of Mathematical Word Choice in Chile and Maine, advised by Julie DellaMattera
  • Engineering and Information Sciences: Gabriela Constantin, Selective Ring-Opening Reactions on Thermal Deoxygenation Oils,advised by Scott Eaton
  • Engineering and Information Sciences: Nicholas Aiken, VHF Near Field Antenna Design for Wireless Sensing Applications,advised by Mauricio da Cunha
  • Engineering and Information Sciences: Abigail Weigang, Selective Surface Modification of Paper Substrates for Controlled-Adhesion Diagnostic Devices,advised by Caitlin Howell
  • Interdisciplinary Collaboratives: Gabriela Adamus, Sarah Basquez, Hannah Connors, Morgan Jacobs and Genaya Loftis, A Collaborative Approach in Treatment of Selective Mutism in School Age Children, advised by Nancy Hall
  • Natural Sciences: Taylor Lanhan, Alicia Girardin, Jenny Woodbury, Erica Ogden, and Jo-Ellen Loring Jamieson, Sensory Integration Therapy in Individuals with Autism and the Incorporation of Speech-Language Pathology, advised by Nancy Hall
  • Natural Sciences: Faythe Goins, Environmental Impacts on Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting on Edisto Island, SC, advised by Kristina Cammen
  • Physical Sciences: Andrew Nolan, Discovery of Five Instabilities of Turner Glacier, St. Elias Mountains, Alaska, from 1984 to 2017, advised by Karl Kreutz
  • Physical Sciences: Tessali Morrison, Synthesis of Hydrogels Containing Quaternary Amine Polymers, advised by William Gramlich
  • Social Sciences: Brawley Benson, How Discourse Shapes Dam Decision Making: News Stories as Sites of Meaning, advised by Bridie McGreavy and Tyler Quiring
  • Social Sciences: Jessica Champagne, Maine Understanding Sensory Integration and Cognition (MUSIC) Project: Can Music Learning Improve Cognition in Older Adults, advised by Rebecca MacAulay