The College of Natural and Applied Sciences at Missouri State University provided two opportunities recently for undergraduate students to present their research during its annual Undergraduate Research Day and a regional conference for the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (specifically for students in the department of hospitality and restaurant administration). The events showcased 56 undergraduate research poster presentations by CNAS students, and 32 faculty served as mentors to these projects.
For more information, contact Dr. Tammy Jahnke, dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, at (417) 836-5249.
Each year, awards are given to the top projects from each department. They are listed below:
Undergraduate Research Day
- Biology: Ecology, conservation and wildlife: Kendell Loyd , first place, “Classical Conditioning in the Ozark Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon angusticlavius),” faculty adviser: Dr. Alicia Mathis
- Biology: Ecology, conservation and wildlife: Courtney Heuring, second place, “Embryonic Learning in Freshwater Snails? Support for the Null Hypothesis,” faculty adviser: Dr. Alicia Mathis
- Biology: Cellular, microbiology and genetics: Michelle Williams, Hyoeun Ahn, Courtney Hofstetter and Jeff Sletto; first place; “Potential Functional Connection Between Dynamin and the Coat Protein Clathrin;” faculty adviser: Dr. Kyoungtae Kim
- Biology: Cellular, microbiology and genetics: Ryan Cady and Evan Clark, second place, “Amylase, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide, Cortisol, Estradiol and Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Levels in Treximet Treated and Untreated Menstrual Migraine Patients,” faculty adviser: Dr. Paul Durham
- Chemistry: Juliano Silveira, first place, “Analysis of Conformation Change in DNA Double Helix by 8oxoG Single Base Modifications,” faculty adviser: Dr. Gary Meints
- Chemistry: Shalisa Oburn and Lisa Kirchner, second place, “Evaluation of Halogen Bonding for Crystal Engineering,” faculty adviser: Dr. Eric Bosch
- Engineering: Elliott Hankison, Jordan Keene, Nathan Minor and Wayne Spencer; first place, “Mechanical Design and Construction of a High-Potential Testing Station for Industrial Batteries,” faculty advisers: Drs. Robert Egbert and Kelvin Erickson
- Engineering: Kennedy Kiptanui, Daryl McConnell, Brad Mothersbaugh and Zach Yarger; second place; “Heating Oil By Focusing Solar Energy Using An Inward Facing Compound Parabolic Trough;” faculty advisers: Drs. Robert Egbert and Steve Watkins
- Geology, geography and planning: Joshua Elson, Brandon Ives, Mark Larson and Joe Talarico; first place; “Clastic Dikes within the Swan Creek Sandstone, Southwest Missouri;” faculty adviser: Dr. Charles Rovey II
- Geology, geography and planning: Mark Larson, second place, “Gravity and Magnetic Analysis of Plutons, Ring Plutons and Mafic Bodies in the St Francois Mountains, SE Missouri,” faculty adviser: Dr. Kevin Mickus
- Mathematics: Jeremy Berry, first place, “Subgroup Lattices of Genus One,” faculty adviser: Dr. Les Reid
- Mathematics: Alex Thomson, second place, “Krylov Subspaces and Adaptive Arnoldi Methods for Computing Pagerank,” faculty adviser: Dr. Jorge Rebaza
- Physics, astronomy and materials science: Adam Brandt, Steven Harrellson and Scott Maasen; first place; “Investigations of Fe-Doped Mesoporous Silica FDU-12 Treated Under Hydrothermal Conditions;” faculty adviser: Dr. Robert Mayanovic
- Physics, astronomy and materials science: Philip Crouse, second place, “Photometric Analysis of Nine Yellow Supergiant Stars,” faculty adviser: Dr. Robert Patterson
ICHRIE Central Federation Research Symposium Dean Jahnke presented awards to the following hospitality and restaurant administration students:
- Tyler Bahr, Kaley Esbeck, Melissa Dedmon and Jeff Driskill; “Cruise Ship Waste Management;” faculty sponsor: Dan Crafts
- Lindsey McQueary, Stephanie McGirl, Lauren Mattson and Jake Medford; “Challenges, Benefits and Strategies for Green Marketing;” faculty sponsor: Dan Crafts
- Kelsey Staiger, “Recent Trends and Barriers of the Online Gaming Market in the United States,” faculty sponsor: Melanie Grand