2021 UMaine Student Symposium announces award winners

In a virtual platform, 569 students showcased 338 research and creative works at the 2021 UMaine Student Symposium held on April 16.

The sixth annual symposium provided an opportunity for the public to view student research and scholarly work – all online due to COVID-19.

The free public event was organized by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, the Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR), Student Government, and the Graduate Student Government as part of Maine Impact Week.

Nearly 223 volunteer judges scored projects in 10 categories encompassing all fields of study at UMaine. The top students were awarded at the close of the virtual ceremony.

Special award

Dr. Susan J. Hunter Presidential Research Impact Award:  Christine Hale (graduate), “Nociceptive sensitization in larval and adult Drosophila”, advised by  Dr. Geoffrey Ganter;  Sahvannah Michaud (undergraduate), “The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Working Memory, and Perceived Stress in Older Adults”, advised by Dr. Rebecca MacAulay

Graduate winners

Allied health: Rocky Coastlines, “Operationalizing Person-centered Care in Long Term Care Settings: Initial Literature Review Findings,” advised by Jennifer Crittenden
Arts: Anna Soule, “Whites Only,” advised by Owen Smith
Biomedical Sciences: Avery Bond, “Repurposed Therapeutics for Treatment of JC Polyomavirus Infection,” advised by Melissa Maginnis
Education: Camden Bock, “Arguing Within and Beside a Pyramid: How Can Virtual-Reality be Used to Learn Geometry?,” advised by Justin Dimmel.
Engineering and Information Sciences: Daniel P Regan, “Investigation of Bioaerosol Catch-and-Release Dynamics via Liquid Net Filtration,” advised by Caitlin Howell
Interdisciplinary Research: Sahar Roozbahani, “One-step Hydrothermal Synthesis With in Situ Milling of Biologically Relevant Hydroxyapatite,” advised by Michael Mason
Natural Sciences: Griffin Dill, “The Ecology of the Blacklegged Tick in an Emergent Area for Tickborne Disease,” advised by Allison Gardner
Physical Sciences: Pradnya Rao, “Colloidal Interactions to Generate Latex Coated Pigment for Paper Coating Applications,” advised by Carl Tripp
Social Sciences: Morgan Stosic, “A Lens Model Approach to the Nonverbal Expression of Fatigue” advised by Mollie Ruben

Undergraduate winners

Allied health: Elena Kolesnikova, “In Women of Childbearing Age with Cervical Ectopy (Cervical Erosion), How Does Cryotherapy Compared to Vaccination Affect the Incidence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV)?,” advised by Valerie Herbert
Arts: Caitlyn Sharples, “Ease Meditations ,” advised by Jon Ippolito
Biomedical Sciences: Lydia Caron, “Localizing Neural Activity within Murine Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue (scWAT),” advised by Leonard Kass
Business: Jazlyn Dumas, “The Importance of a Checkmark: An Investigation into the Perceptions of Social Media Verification and its Effects on Consumer Trust,” advised by Stefano Tijerina
Education: Tom Adams, “An Analysis of Citizenship Education Efforts in Maine Middle Schools,” advised by Rebecca Buchanan.
Engineering and Information Sciences: Josh Hamilton, “Tuning CNF Fibril Orientation for Tissue Integration Applications,” advised by Karissa Tilbury
Interdisciplinary Research: Nicholas Sherman, “The Use of Augmented Reality to Monitor Coastal Erosion,” advised by Michael Scott
Natural Sciences: Anna Briley, “Transcriptomic Variation Underlying Pollution Resistance in Fish,” advised by Nishad Jayasundura
Physical Sciences: Peng Cheng, “Surface Modification of Cellulose Nanofibrils Using Water Soluable Monomers and Subsequent Surface Polymer Characterization,” advised by William Gramlich
Social Sciences: Aaron Dustin, “Mediation of the Religion Prejudice Link,” advised by Jordan LaBouff