Research and Scholarship Symposium
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16th Annual Lourdes University Research & Scholarship Symposium
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The 2024 application will be available in February 2024. For questions, please contact Cheryl Gomez, cgomez@lourdes.edu.
View the 2023 Research & Scholarship Symposium Program
Poster Presentations
CHL 302
Caelan Cunningham, Caleb Dugan,* and Jovon Vann
Cyclization of Citronella into Isopulegol Using Green Chemistry Principles
PSY 225
Sydney Duran, Deion Kurtz, and Taylor Reed
The Mental Health of Athletic & Non-Athlete Students
Karlie Heilman, Jordin Rawski, and D’Mahjia Williams
The Effects of Exercise on Cognitive Ability
Tamara Heiss, Lydia Landoll, Kess Mounts, and Emmy Rodger*
Anxiety Responses to Fear Stimuli
Marissa Ragland, Richera Brown, Noah Kasper, and Brynn McGarvey
Did Your Parents Contribute to Your Frustration?
Oral Presentations
REH 101
4:00 – 4:30 pm
Joshua Hare,* Noah Loth,* and Michael Stibal,* BUSINESS
Turning Capstone into Real World Learning
5:15 – 5:45 pm
Chelsea Klotz, DIGITAL & MEDIA STUDIES
The Real Gotham: Origin Story
5:45 – 6:15 pm
Chelsea Klotz, ENGLISH
The Real Gotham
REH 102
4:00 – 4:30 pm
Milena Applegate, PUBLIC HEALTH
Nutrition & Exercise Benefits for Non-Athlete Students at Lourdes University
4:30 – 5:00 pm
Jovon Vann, BIOLOGY
Why is Hypertension More Prevalent in African Americans?
5:15 – 5:45 pm Roshanmarj Buan,* BIOLOGY
Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model to Study Naltrexone Pretreatment Effects on Food Addictions & Nicotine Dependence
5:45 – 6:15 pm
Dalton Strickland, PUBLIC HEALTH
Environmental Factors That Influence the Development of Oral Facial Clefts
REH 104
4:00 – 4:30 pm
Rayne Wilcox-Wick, PSYCHOLOGY
The Experiences & Attitudes Toward Suicide Prevention in Schools
4:30 – 5:00 pm Katilyn Chadwell,* PSYCHOLOGY
The Family Influence on Career Decision Making & the Overall Satisfaction of College Students
5:15 – 5:45 pm
Darius Passley-Bennett, PSYCHOLOGY
Attractiveness & the Halo Effect
5:45 – 6:15 pm
Hayleigh Grega,* PSYCHOLOGY
Parenting Styles & Their Effect on Adult Romantic Relationships
6:15 – 6:45 pm
Emily Johnson,* PSYCHOLOGY
The Invisible Crisis: College Student-Athlete Mental Health, Stigma, & Need for Change
Poster Presentations
CHL 302:
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LAB II
Instructor: Sr. Barbara Stallman, Ph.D.
Cyclization of Citronella into Isopulegol Using Green Chemistry Principles
Caelan Cunningham, Caleb Dugan, and Jovon Vann
The natural product citronellal was cyclized to the natural product isopulegol using an acid/solid support catalyst. This synthesis was accomplished using green chemistry procedures, which seek to minimize or eliminate the use or generation of any hazardous substances in order to protect the environment. Several solid supports that comprise part of the heterogeneous catalyst used for the cyclization reaction were examined. The solid supports included either montmorillonite clay (MK-10), silica, or zeolites. The sources of the protons used to activate the solid supports were either a phosphate buffering system at pH 2.1 or dilute hydrochloric acid at pH 2.1. The reaction was stirred for one to two hours at either room temperature or at 35OC. Isopulegol was isolated from the reaction mixture first by vacuum filtering the suspension, extracting the isopulegol from the filtrate using ethyl acetate, and then evaporating off ethyl acetate, leaving behind the isopulegol. The percent yield of the product was determined, and the identity of the product was confirmed using FT-IR. The results of the various reaction conditions were examined to determine the best reaction conditions leading to the highest yield of isopulegol.
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PSY 225:
RESEARCH & STATISTICS II
Instructor: Matthew Lancaster, Ph.D.
The Mental Health of Athletic and Non-Athlete Students
Sydney Duran, Deion Kurtz, and Taylor Reed
Students have a number of stressors that can affect their levels of anxiety and social isolation. This may be even more true for student-athletes who must juggle academics, social demands, employment, and family issues, in addition to the substantial commitment that is college athletics. The number one mental health issue among students is anxiety; next is isolation/loneliness; then depression, with 1 in 5 students having had suicidal thoughts in the past month of taking the survey (The Jed Foundation, 2020). According to Weigand et al. (2013), a survey sent to former and current college athletes found that depression was higher in current athletes than former athletes. For this project, researchers asked student-athletes and non-athlete college students about the symptoms of anxiety and depression they had experienced over the last 2 months. It is expected that studentathletes will show higher rates of depressive symptoms, while anxiety symptoms will be similar for both types of students.
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The Effects of Exercise on Cognitive Ability
Karlie Heilman, Jordin Rawski, and D’Mahjia Williams
Cognitive activity seems to be improved by physical exercise. Current research on this topic suggests that exercise can improve cognitive activity. Exercise triggers hippocampal neurogenesis (Raichlen & Alexander, 2017), which is important for memory and learning. Children who have more access to exercise areas, such as physical education or sports, seem to have a higher capacity for mental development (Drozdowska, et al., 2022). This project focuses on whether there are immediate effects to cognitive ability after exercise. Student-athletes and non-athlete students will complete a cognitive test and then an exercise called the pacer test, which has graded levels of physical activity. Afterward, they will complete a different version of the same cognitive test. It is expected that student-athletes will score higher on the cognitive tests overall. It is also expected that participants will score better on the post-test after exercising.
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Anxiety Responses to Fear Stimuli
Tamara Heiss, Lydia Landoll, Kessa Mounts, and Emmy Rodger
It is important to know if people have different fears based on where they grow up, as this knowledge can help with treatment. Previous studies suggest that growing up in a rural or urban environment has an impact on a person’s level of anxiety and fear. However, because there are differences in the results of some studies, the current study will provide clearer results. The intention of this study is to provide beneficial information that will provide a foundation for growth and help for future generations. College students will be given a self-reporting questionnaire and then view two videos of fearful situations. Before, during, and after the videos, student heartrates will be measured. The hypothesis is that certain factors in a rural or urban environment contribute to anxiety in young adults.
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Did Your Parents Contribute to Your Frustration?
Marissa Ragland, Richera Brown, Noah Kasper, and Brynn McGarvey
This project investigates the relationship between parenting styles and their influence on behaviors in frustrating scenarios. Past research has shown that low levels of parental warmth is related to poorer outcomes for children (e.g. Lloraca et al., 2017). However, there is a lack of research exploring the effects of parenting styles on emotional self-control. Participants will answer simple questions revealing how much control and empathy they were shown growing up. They will then attempt to solve an either simple or frustrationinducing anagram while being observed by the researchers. Following the assessment, the participants will rate their level of frustration. The data will be scored to see if any relationships are found. It is expected that those whose parents score high in warmth and control will show fewer signs of frustration than others.
Oral Presentations
BUS 490-HONOR:
CAPSTONE BUSINESS POLICY
Instructor: Jonathan Farrell, M.B.A.
Turning Capstone into Real World Learning
Joshua Hare, Noah Loth, and Michael Stibal Honors
The Capsim business simulation is an important part of the BUS 490 course, providing “learning-by-doing” opportunities to students. Capsim integrates material from previous classes such as marketing, accounting, and finance, requiring students to draw on their awareness of various environmental influences to solve business problems. Success in the simulation requires accomplishing operational and technical tasks while engaging in coordination, cooperation, and adaptive actions to make effective decisions. This group presentation describes the overall performance of three separate teams during the Capsim simulation. The primary goal of this presentation is to provide an in-depth analysis and comparison of each group’s business strategies and decisions and their subsequent impact on overall performance.
Individual Capstone Presentations
Nutrition and Exercise Benefits for Non-Athlete Students at Lourdes University
Milena Applegate, Public Health
This project explores different types of exercises and nutritional information that should be added to Lourdes University. There are many resources and much information for student athletes at Lourdes that focus on physical activity, along with nutritional sources that benefit the student body as a whole. This project recommends that all students be given resources and information to shape them as persons and prepare them for the future. Some of the resources would include a program is designed for the individual person, with possible additions of cooking classes or meal-prepping classes. All students deserve to understand how to improve their physical health as well as their mental health. This project demonstrates different ways physical activity and nutrition affect students’ health. At Lourdes University, installing a program that helps students understand how to fuel and move their body could be beneficial to the entire student body.
Advisors: Kristen Williams, Ph.D.; Kristin Moline, Ed.D.; Rhonda Smith, M.S.
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Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model to Study Naltrexone Pretreatment Effects on Food Addictions and Nicotine Dependence
Roshanmarj Buan,* Biology
Caenorhabditis elegans is a useful model in studying various conditions and diseases relating to many animals, especially those in humans. Alcohol, smoking, and food addictions are huge problems in today’s society, as they can lead to more problematic conditions and diseases possibly leading to death. Naltrexone is a drug treatment generally used to treat those with alcohol addiction, but its effects on treating smoking and food addictions are unknown. To determine the effects of naltrexone in reducing susceptibility to smoking and food addictions, a chemotaxis assay of wild type (WT) and daf-18 C. elegans was performed after exposing them to alcohol, nicotine, salt, and sugar, and pretreating them with naltrexone. The chemotaxis index was calculated and used to analyze untreated and pretreated C. elegans’ behavior toward each of the chemical stimulants. The results show that naltrexone produces a negative chemotaxis effect in C. elegans, making them less susceptible to incline toward the chemical stimulants. These results suggest that naltrexone may be a potential medication for humans in developing resistance towards the harmful effects of alcohol, nicotine, salt, and sugar.
Advisors: Kristen Williams, Ph.D.; Sandra Beach, Ph.D.; Sr. Barbara Stallman, Ph.D.
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The Family Influence on Career Decision Making and the Overall Satisfaction of College Students
Katilyn Chadwell,* Psychology
Choosing a college major or future career is a huge decision that many young adults have to face. While this choice can be tough on first-generation or continuing-generation college students, many parents want to see their child succeed in life, so they often play a role in influencing their child’s big life decisions. As a child reaches college-age, parents tend to influence the child to choose the same or similar career path as them or a career path of which they approve. Understanding family influence on career and major selection is important because, as humans, people are subjected to influence. When it comes to a student deciding their major, research has shown that parents exercise the most influence on the student’s major selection; their encouragement is vital (Pearson & Dellman-Jenkins, 1997). A survey was conducted to ask demographic questions, career choice questions, major choice questions, parents’ influence questions, and parents’ support questions. The survey asked questions about the student’s overall happiness with their choices, their academic success, and finally their academic satisfaction. It is expected that first-generation students will be less happy, compared to continuing-generation students, because they will receive less familial support.
Advisors: Matthew Lancaster, Ph.D.
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Parenting Styles & Their Effect on Adult Romantic Relationships
Hayleigh Grega,* Psychology
This study was conducted on parenting styles’ effect on adult romantic relationships. The parenting styles being tested include authoritative, which encourages personal responsibility and independent thinking; authoritarian, which relies on punishment to control children; permissive, which is being warm with children but reluctant to enforce any rules; and uninvolved, which is having little parental warmth and not enforcing any rules (Dewar, G., 2010). The findings in the literature review lead to the hypothesis that adults raised with positive parenting styles have greater relationships than those raised with negative parenting styles. The sample of this study consisted of 50 adults who experience romantic attraction. An online survey, Google Forms, was the sampling method used to conduct data. Participants were invited to participate in the study via email invitation for Lourdes University students and via a link to the survey on social media platforms Instagram and Facebook. Participants were first asked to identify the parenting style they believed their primary caregiver to have raised them with. Then, they were asked 2 multiple choice questions about their identity, 16 survey items using a 5-point Likert scale, 8 scenario responses, and 3 extended responses to report their romantic history.
Advisors: Kristen K. Williams, Ph.D.
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The Invisible Crisis: College Student-Athlete Mental Health, Stigma, & Need for Change
Emily Johnson,* Psychology
No one is surprised when an athlete is on crutches for a sprained ankle or in a cast for a broken arm; however, illnesses such as depression and anxiety cannot always be seen by anyone else but can be just as limiting. A major factor in student-athlete mental health is the stigma it holds within the world of sports: athletes are told to be mentally strong and put their team first. This long-standing culture has made mental health concerns seem like mental weakness for athletes. While the athletic world has started conversations regarding mental health, student- athlete mental health is understudied. Most of the research on the mental health of college student-athletes is done using NCAA athletes and does not include NAIA athletes. It is essential that research expands into this population and that these athletes are accounted for when discussing and advocating for college student-athlete mental health. The present study investigates the rates of mental health symptoms, personal beliefs regarding stigma, social support, and mental health resources. Data will be collected using two online surveys, one for student- athletes and one for non-athlete students. It is hypothesized that athletes will report lower mental health symptoms but higher stigma.
Advisors: Matthew Lancaster, Ph.D.
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The Real Gotham: Origin Story
Chelsea Klotz, Digital & Media Studies
This retrospective reflection on my time as a college student during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the BLM Riots, the Johnny Depp trial, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade attempts to determine if ignorance on social justice issues is a result of a decrease in human empathy or because media has sacrificed the integrity of these experiences for the sake of entertainment and media consumerism.
Advisors: Krysta Sá, M.F.A.
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The Real Gotham
Chelsea Klotz, English
Like the Joker once said (in reference to himself ), Gotham City is “an idea… A philosophy… [immortal]…” (Copus, Gotham). The fictional city is a dark reflection of the crime- ridden underbelly of New York City, where characters such as Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn are all manifestations of the rules and ideologies of this world, by-products of the violent, insane, and corrupt environment which they inhabit. This essay applies critical cultural literary theory (and correlated race theory and feminist schools of thought) to argue that it is not only the fictional characters of Gotham that evolve within this canon, but also the city itself, as the culture from which detective and crime stories emerge. The first part of this study focuses on Matt Reeve’s The Batman and the origin of detective story heroes, followed by the second part about Todd Phillips’s Joker, which demonstrates the symbolism and cultural impact of iconic characters and ideas. The analysis concludes with part three and the Harley Quinn character, who provides insight into how the detective story genre and the cultural manifestation of Gotham City are destined to continue evolving.
Advisors: Katherine P. Beutel, Ph.D.
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Attractiveness & the Halo Effect
Darius Passley-Bennett, Psychology
The purpose of this research is to see how the halo effect influences the perception of participants and how attractiveness influences whether an individual is perceived positively, negatively, or neutrally. Past research shows the concept of the halo effect and how attractiveness may influence the perceptions people form of others (e.g. Han et al 2018). Participants filled out a survey that rated the traits of fictitious people based on their picture and a short bio that includes a positive, negative, or neutral trait. The hypotheses are as follows: in general, the attractive subjects will receive better ratings for traits compared to unattractive subjects regardless of trait association (i.e. attractive neutral trait vs unattractive positive trait). Unattractive negative individuals will be the most negatively rated subject group compared to attractive positive, which will be rated most positive. Female participants will rate negative subjects in a more extreme manner. Both males and females will rate negative subjects around the middle for neutral traits.
Advisors: Matthew Lancaster, Ph.D.
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Environmental Factors That Influence the Development of Oral Facial Clefts
Dalton Strickland, Public Health
Oral facial clefts (OFCs) affect roughly 1 in 600 children and predispose them to a lifetime of functional and esthetic issues. This makes OFCs one of the most common birth defects in the world, affecting every socioeconomic level. This project provides an intensive explanation on the background of cleft lip and palates, including the developmental timeline, risk factors that make an individual more likely to be born with a cleft, how clefts impact patients, and known studies that have been completed and the associated results. Special attention was placed on maternal radiation exposure during early pregnancy and how that increases the likelihood of OFC formation in the fetus. A suggested method of testing for this hypothesis and the expected outcome is also included.
Advisors: Rosemary Chaban, D.D.S.; Kristen Williams, Ph.D.; Kristin Moline, Ed.D.
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Why Is Hypertension More Prevalent in African Americans?
Jovon Vann, Biology
African-American people in the United States are disproportionately likely to have uncontrolled hypertension (HTN), which has severe effects on their health, over people from other racial/ethnic groups. African-Americans are also frequently underrepresented in cardiovascular clinical trials, which makes it difficult to accurately apply the findings of many which makes it difficult to accurately apply the findings of many outcome studies to this demographic. This paper presents a summary and analysis of the evidence that is currently available, with a focus on the risk factors, symptoms, consequences, and treatment of hypertension in this frequently challenging-to-treat population. The review’s objectives are to increase awareness of the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms and to pinpoint the best strategy for providing the optimal care possible for patients who identify as African- American.
Advisors: Kristen Williams, Ph.D.; Sr. Barbara Stallman, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Wise, Ph.D.
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The Experiences & Attitudes Toward Suicide Prevention in Schools
Rayne Wilcox-Wick, Psychology
Past research has been done on the experience and attitudes toward suicide prevention programs in schools and how they affect the relationships between staff and students. The purpose of the current study is to examine what more needs to be done to provide help and resources inside schools and what resources or preventative measures parents, guardians, and students want to be placed inside classrooms for children and teens. This research will help show the importance of suicide prevention and the help that is needed for students who have suicidal thoughts, suicidal ideation, and mental health issues. The researcher surveyed 29 parents or guardians, as well as 47 students and former students who are 18 years of age or older. The two surveys were sent out on social media, where the participants took part by choice. A yes or no question was the first given question on both surveys, explaining the topics of the questions and that participants could exit the survey at any time if they desired. Results show that parents and guardians want more done inside of the schools for suicide prevention to care for the students.
Advisors: Kristen K. Williams, Ph.D.
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Special Thanks
Committee Members and Organizers
- Elizabeth Anderson
- Cheryl Gomez
- Theresa Holup
- Matthew Lancaster
- Carla Leow
- Cynthia Molitor, Chair
- Juliana Sample
Advisors and Instructors
- Sandra Beach
- Katherine P. Beutel
- Rosemary Chabin
- Jonathan Farrell
- Matthew Lancaster
- Kristin Moline
- Krysta Sá
- Rhonda Smith
- Sr. Barbara Stallman
- Kristen Williams
- Kristen K. Williams
- Elizabeth Wise
* Honors Student