Undergraduate Research Day 2025
An exciting interdisciplinary showcase of the work of UD undergraduates, the annual Research Day event features presentations by students of their research, scholarly investigation, theses and projects. Awards will be given for best presentations.
First Place, Oral Presentation: Ethan Reyes, “SWEET Pea: Functional Characterization
of SWEET1 and SWEET10 Sugar Transporters in Pisum sativum”
Second Place, Oral Presentation: Antonio Rame, “Coevolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
and Drosophila melanogaster via a Chronic Oral Infection Model”
Third Place, Oral Presentation: Larissa Tuttle, “Prude or Prophet?: Towards a Rehabilitation
of Shame in Catholic Thought and Sacraments”
Honorable Mention, Oral Presentation: Thérèse Castillo, “Conversations at the Table:
The Catholic Approach to Gender and Sexuality”
First Place, Poster Presentation: Anna Karki, “Effects of Ketogenic Diet on the Heart
Metabolism”
Second Place, Poster Presentation: Maryam Zeaa, “Synthesis of Kobayashi Precursors
and Exploration of Aryne Insertions into Trimethyl Borate”
Third Place, Poster Presentation: Isabel Prieto, “Investigating the Growth and Distribution
of Bathypathes in the Pacific Remote Islands”
Honorable Mention, Poster Presentation: Peter Warner, “CoASH plays a Key Role in Insulin-Dependent
Activation of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase in the Heart”
Honorable Mention, Poster Presentation: Alecia Paul, “The Slow but Steady RuBisCO:
Utilizing a Recombinant RuBisCO to Inform Optimization"
12:00 - 1:20 p.m. | Oral Presentation Session #1
12:00 p.m. Luis Fernando Fuentes, “Is Philosophy Useless?”
12:10 p.m. Emma Wells, “St Elizabeth Ann Seton: Life and Conversion”
12:20 p.m. Ricardo Avila Sanchez, “Characterizing the T-Cell receptor 𝛃 Repertoire
of ARDS Using Immune Sequencing”
12:30 p.m. Jennifer Schmalz, “Investigating male pregnancy in Gulf Pipefish using
scanning electron microscopy to describe the anatomy of the brood pouch over the reproductive
cycle”
12:40 p.m. Binoya Bhatt, “Inferior Genes: Women of Color and the Question of Beauty”
12:50 p.m. Max Hastreiter, “The Pursuit of Meaning: A Phenomenological Analysis of
the Experience of Meaning”
1:00 p.m. Grace Bilnoski, “Doña Inés as an Angel: An Exploration of Women's Empowerment
in Catholic Doctrine and Don Juan Tenorio (1844) by José Zorrilla”
1:10 p.m. Theodore Nguyen, “Enzymatic Degradation of Jet Fuel Hydrocarbons by Pseudomonas aeruginosa”
Noon - 2:00 p.m. | Poster Presentation Session #1
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- Madison Meduna, “Optimizing and Tailoring Machine Learning Models to Predict pKa”
- Nathaniel del Puerto, “Biomolecular Modeling of Immune Sequences to Uncover Genomic Patterns in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome"
- Maryam Zeaa, “Synthesis of Kobayashi Precursors and Exploration of Aryne Insertions into Trimethyl Borate”
- Sara Cantu, “The Relationship between Attitude Towards Physical Activity, Academic Success, Life Satisfaction, Depression and Anxiety”
- Karli Puri, “Artificial Intelligence Analysis of Cellular Viability and Size in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome”
- Thomas Raglow, “Recovery of the Flower Mound, an Urban Prairie Ecosystem, following a Fire Disturbance”
- Rebecca Leonard, “Do you See Me? A Phenomenological Study of the Experience of Being Seen”
- Alecia Paul, “The Slow but Steady RuBisCO: Utilizing a Recombinant RuBisCO to Inform Optimization”
- Brooke McCall, “Alone Together: A Correlation Study on Social Media, Loneliness and Life Satisfaction”
- Sophia Hormillosa, “Total Eclipse of the Heart: A Phenomenologically-Inspired Reflexive Thematic Analysis of the Experience of Trauma”
- Lizeth Leyva, “Valvatida Sea Stars in the Deep Pacific: Abundance and Environmental Relationships”
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. | Oral Presentation Session #2
2:00 p.m. Antonio Rame, “Coevolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Drosophila melanogaster
via a Chronic Oral Infection Model”
2:10 p.m. Ethan Reyes, “SWEET Pea: Functional Characterization of SWEET1 and SWEET10
Sugar Transporters in Pisum sativum”
2:20 p.m. Nadia Guerrero, “ SWEET Pea: Investigating the Roles of SWEET1 and SWEET10
Sugar Transporters in Pisum sativum"
2:30 p.m. Heidi Hughes, “The Sustenance of Selfhood: Dickinson’s Renunciative Poetic
as Agentive Subjecthood”
2:40 p.m. Thérèse Castillo, “Conversations at the Table: The Catholic Approach to
Gender and Sexuality”
2:50 p.m. Mary Anne Panganiban, Sarah Dilley, Gala Gutirrez, and Saraih Mendoza, “Streaming
with Purpose: How Netflix Can Transform Social Interaction into Competitive Advantage”
2:00 - 4:00 p.m. | Poster Presentation Session #2
12. Nolia Alexander, “Decoding College Success: Exploring The Relationship Between
GPA, Learning Style, Major, and Anxiety”
13. Kathleen George, “Mechanistic Studies of Asymmetric Side-Capped Double Decker
Silsesquioxane Synthesis”
14. Noemi Del Campo, “Coevolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Drosophila melanogaster in a Chronic Infection Model and Investigation of the Red Queen Hypothesis”
15. Sara Ame, “Racial Disparities in Social Status: Students' Loneliness, Social Anxiety,
Self-Esteem, and Belonging”
16. Peter Warner, “CoASH plays a Key Role in Insulin-Dependent Activation of Pyruvate
Dehydrogenase in the Heart”
17. Anna Karki, “Effects of Ketogenic Diet on the Heart Metabolism”
18. Kimberly Burch, “The Effect of Casinos on Family Time”
19. Maximo Mengelle, “Being Authentic”
20. Michael Christov, “Social Media Addiction and its Relationship to Loneliness and
Life Satisfaction”
21. Isabel Prieto, “Investigating the Growth and Distribution of Bathypathes in the
Pacific Remote Islands”
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. | Oral Presentation Session #3
3:00 p.m. Patricio Martinez Rodriguez, “Self Help in Colonias: Communities Address
the Failures of State Policy”
3:10 p.m. Lucas Rodriguez, “Algorithmic randomness in harmonic analysis”
3:20 p.m. Larissa Tuttle, “Prude or Prophet?: Towards a Rehabilitation of Shame in
Catholic Thought and Sacraments”
3:30 p.m. Charles Dea, “Bots, Bandits, and Backgammon Graphics Engine”
3:40 p.m. Maria Cordero, “Coral Growth After Microfragmentation”
3:50 p.m. Sharanya Palit, “Searching for Exoplanets in Various Star Systems”
4:15 p.m. | Reception and Concluding Remarks
2025 Research Day Gallery
Previous Winners
2024 Research Day
First Place, Oral Presentation: Joann Nguyen
Second Place, Oral Presentation: Abigail Fritz
Third Place, Oral Presentation: Monique Bedolla
First Place Poster Presentation: Antonio Rame
Second Place Poster Presentation (tie): Kathleen George, Nathan Pham
Third Place, Poster Presentation: Kate Sullivan
Honorable Mention, Poster Presentation : Farah Atatrah, Hannah Mohr, Luisa De Vuono,
Michael Pecha
2023 Research Day
Best Oral Presentation: Emma Bergman