Contact: Carl Smith

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State recently recognized students’ faculty-guided research efforts during the spring Undergraduate Research Symposium.

The two-day event was part of the inaugural Mississippi State University Research Week and featured submissions from students representing campuswide colleges, departments and research centers.

Nearly 200 projects from four categories—arts and humanities; biological sciences and engineering; physical science and engineering; and social sciences—were judged, and four subcompetitions were held: the Community Engagement Research Track, Public Health Research Competition, Theta Tau Engineering Tomorrow Builder Award and Three Minute Thesis Competition. Approximately 72 faculty members, postdoctoral associates and graduate students judged the undergraduate projects.

“The research symposium showcases undergraduate students’ research activities and is for the MSU community to celebrate their engagement and hard work,” said Anastasia Elder, Shackouls Honors College associate dean and director of undergraduate research. “Participating in research is an exciting way for students to complement their academic studies, indulge their curiosity and allow deeper exploration in a field.”

The Shackouls Honors College is the symposium’s primary sponsor, and other partners include the Center for Community-Engaged Learning, Graduate School, Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Office of Research and Economic Development, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President and Student Association.

Undergraduate students recognized in the research symposium include:

ARTS AND HUMANITIES TOP-RATED PROJECTS

Jacob Pritchard, a senior philosophy major from Memphis, Tennessee, for “Novus Miles Christi: Spiritual Authority and Suffering in the Presbyterian Missionary Movement”

Alysia Williams, a senior architecture major from Kennesaw, Georgia, for “Affordable Multifamily Housing in Relation to Community Revitalization and Social Development: A Cross Analysis of Regional Housing in Urban Contexts”

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING TOP-RATED PROJECTS

Amber Cook, a senior biological engineering major from Nesbit, for “The Conservation of Brain Folding Mechanics”

Reese Dunne, a senior mechanical engineering major from Starkville, for “A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Approach to Investigate the Effects of Exercise on Quadricep Muscle Fiber Lengths”

Sophie Jones, a senior biological engineering major from Birmingham, Alabama, for “Advancement of Methods for Quantifying Osteogenesis in Static and Dynamic Culture”

Catherine Paul, a senior wildlife and fisheries science/wildlife science major from Southaven, for “Are Barn Owls Potential Biological Control Agents for Rodents in the Black Belt?”

Ashutosh Shah, a senior mechanical engineering major from Starkville, for “Invasive Aquatic Plant Species Identification on Nvidia Jetson Nano Using Computer Vision and Deep Learning”

Nicholas Stinson, a senior biochemistry major from Brandon, for “A Method for Quantifying Neurodegeneration Using a Drosophila Model of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1”

Gracie Teel, a senior biochemistry major from Nesbit, for “Effects of Dietary Supplementation of DL-Methionine and the Calcium Salt of DL-Methionine Hydroxy Analog Against the Diquat-Induced Oxidative Stress in Growing Pigs”

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING TOP-RATED PROJECTS

Satsha Burden, a senior aerospace engineering major from Tupelo, for “Aerodynamics of Winglets”

Minjae Cho, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Starkville, for “Development of Generative Adversarial Network Model for Multi-Phase Flow Prediction”

Devin Foeller, a senior aerospace engineering major from Southaven, for “NMEA Communicator Integration for Flight Simulator Training”

Katelyn Woodard, a senior chemical engineering major from Paducah, Kentucky, for “A Radical Library: Cataloging Radiation Yield of Acrylates Undergoing Electron-Beam Polymerization”

Timothy Wunrow, a senior industrial engineering major from Memphis, Tennessee, for “The Effect of Data Availability and Domain Adaptation for Part Certification in Metal-Based Additive Manufacturing”

SOCIAL SCIENCES TOP-RATED PROJECTS

Eleanor Holt, a senior psychology major from Birmingham, Alabama, for “Parenting and Emerging Adult Sexual Health: The Impact of Parental Religiosity and Relationship Quality on Risky Sexual Behavior”

Anna McLain, a senior educational psychology major from Hattiesburg, for “Evaluation of a Levels System to Address Food Refusal in Adolescences”

Josie Nasekos, a junior agricultural economics major from Clinton, for “Examining Water Expenditures Burden in the Southeastern U.S.”

Camden Patterson, a junior psychology major from Southaven, for “You Are What You Keep: Community-Based Evaluation of the Relationship Between Hoarding Symptoms and Interconnectedness with Items”

Amy Pham, a senior food science, nutrition and health promotion major from Hattiesburg, for “The Relationship between Gender and Race and Body Image Dissatisfaction in Mississippi”

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH TRACK WINNERS

Joshua Warnsley, a senior industrial engineering major from Decatur, for “The Nexus Between Community Socioeconomic Factors and Expected Behavioral Response to Upcoming Climate Disaster”

Anna McLain, a senior educational psychology major from Hattiesburg, for “Evaluation of a Levels System to Address Food Refusal in Adolescences”

Sophie Jones, a senior biological engineering major from Birmingham, Alabama, for “Advancement of Methods for Quantifying Osteogenesis in Static and Dynamic Culture”

PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH COMPETITION WINNERS

FIRST—Erin Dickinson, a senior food science and dietetics major from Orchard Lake, for “Alcohol Consumption and Sleep Quality Among College Students at Mississippi State University”

SECOND—Emily Tucker, a senior biochemistry major from Vienna, Virginia, for “Survival and Persistence of Listeria Monocytogenes Bug600 and ScottA After Exposure to High and Low Concentrations of First Generation Quaternary Ammonium Compound (Benzalkonium Chloride)”

THIRD—Rachel Kalchbrenner, a senior psychology major from Starkville, for “Backgrounds Come Back Around: Fragile Families and Early Adolescent Substance Abuse”

THREE MINUTE THESIS COMPETITION

GRAND CHAMPION—Sarah Dulaney, a senior microbiology major from Vicksburg, for “Investigating Differing COVID-19 Vaccine Attitudes Within Families”

RUNNER-UP—Satsha Burden, a senior aerospace engineering major from Tupelo, for “Aerodynamics of Winglets”

PEOPLE’S CHOICE—Riley Cutler, a senior biological sciences major from Herndon, Virginia, for “Effects of Glyphosate on Recombination Plasticity in C. Elegans”

THETA TAU TOMORROW BUILDER AWARD

Ashutosh Shah, a senior mechanical engineering major from Starkville, for “Invasive Aquatic Plant Species Identification on Nvidia Jetson Nano Using Computer Vision and Deep Learning”

For more about the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, visit www.honors.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.