Austin College hosts its fifth annual Student Scholarship Conference on March 24 and 25, showcasing student-faculty collaborative projects and independent student projects. “The conference celebrates our students’ outstanding academic endeavors, research projects, and creative works,” said conference co-chair Aaron Block, associate professor of computer science.
Sponsored by the Robert & Joyce Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching and the Center for Research, Experiential, Artistic, and Transformative Education (CREATE), the Austin College Student Scholarship Conference brings together the intellectual stimulation of an academic pursuit and the thrill of creative expression, explained Renee Countryman, associate professor of psychology and conference co-chair.
Ranging from oral presentations of individual academic theses to poster presentations to creative works in art, music, and theatre, the work of more than 150 students will be highlighted during the two-day event.
Student participants are listed below, along with the academic area of their presentation. Students making oral presentations of their work are listed separately, following this listing.
Christopher Abad-Jacobi of Magnolia, Texas, Chemistry;
Daniel Jacob Ahle of Plano, Texas, Biology;
Madison “Madi” Lee Aliff of Placerville, California, Biology;
Sophie Grace Anderson of Houston, Texas, Physics;
Elijah C. Andes of Santa Fe , New Mexico, Art;
Lindsay Apgar of Harker Heights, Texas, Biology;
Matthew Austin Bagley of Houston, Texas, Psychology;
Matthew Austin Bagley of Coppell, Texas, Psychology;
Allison “Ali” P. Boehmer of Nixa, Missouri, Political Science;
Ethan Andew Brem of Farmersville,Texas, Biology;
Bailey Carrell of San Antonio, Texas, Improv Troupe;
Megan Chiu of Wylie, Texas, Recital;
Angie Chung of Carrollton, Texas, Theatre Author;
Katie Collins of Dallas, Texas, Biology;
Christopher Cooper of Midland, Texas, Theatre;
Chrissy Croninger of Gainesville, Texas, Art;
Brandon Dang of Frisco, Texas, Biology;
Andrew Dawson of Murphy, Texas, Recital;
Jacob Dowell of Little Rock, Arkansas, Improv Troupe;
Aubry Foose of Austin, Texas, English;
Yue Fu of Zhejiang, CHINA, Chemistry;
Maria Gil of Dallas, Texas, Theatre Author;
Truitt Glover of San Antonio, Texas, Theatre;
Truitt Glover of Corpus Christi, Texas, Theatre;
Emma Grundy of Wichita Falls, Texas, Improv Troupe and Theatre;
Dylan Guthrie of Howe, Texas, Recital;
Jessica Hayden of Dallas, Texas, Theatre Author;
Ashley Hicks of Sherman, Texas, Recital;
Katherine “Katie” Higgins of The Woodlands, Texas, Art;
Caroline Hodge of Carrollton, Texas, Improv Troupe;
Ryan Hood of Melissa, Texas, Mathematics;
Jiandu Hu of Guangzhou, CHINA, Chemistry;
Safa Khawaja of Fort Worth, Texas, Art;
Riley Kippes of Flower Mound, Texas, Theatre Author;
Brandt Lawson of Garland, Texas, Theatre Author;
Brian Lazarow of Carmeron, Texas, Theatre Author and Theatre;
Sol “Adam” Lehman of Iowa Park, Texas, Theatre Author;
Ben Lehrman of Dallas, Texas, Mathematics;
Carlye Lide of Wills Point, Texas, Physics;
Kirk Lipsitz of Dallas, Texas, Art;
Kirk Lipsitz of Waco, Texas, Art;
Jesus “Daniel” Loya of Sherman, Texas, Chemistry;
Brandon Mai of Garland, Texas, Theatre Author;
Jenny Maique of Irving, Texas, Chemistry;
Erin Martin of Dallas, Texas, Art;
Kennedy Mazara Jr of Denton, Texas, Psychology;
Kristin McCamy of San Antonio, Texas, Psychology;
Kenia Mejia of Garland, Texas, Psychology;
Jameson Moore of San Geronimo, Texas, Improv Troupe;
Jameson Moore of Pipe Creek, Texas, Improv Troupe;
Robbie Moore of Garland, Texas, Improv Troupe and Chemistry;
Marie Mortensen of Lucas, Texas, Chemistry;
Evan Murphy of Jacksonville, Texas, Theatre Author;
Anna Nevels of Allen, Texas, Chemistry;
Tam Nguyen of North Richland Hills, Texas, Chemistry;
Oluwafunmto “Funmto” Toluwalase Ogunbanwo of Ikeja, Lagos, NIGERIA Psychology;
Jack Perkins of Savoy, Texas, Theatre Author;
Mark “Nick” Nicholas Pernik of Kingwood, Texas, Psychology;
Kylie Peterson of Plano, Texas, Biology;
Shelby Poe of Whitewright, Texas, Chemistry;
Emma Polini of Westfield, New Jersey, Art;
Charles Rambo of Colleyville, Texas, Physics;
Brooke “Laurel” Reiche of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Art;
Rohan Rereddy of Garland, Texas, Biochemistry;
Zoe Rice of Haslet, Texas, Recital;
Antonio Saavedra of Plano, Texas, Recital;
Azlin Saldivar of Austin, Texas, Biochemistry and Psychology;
Callin A. Schone of Norman, Oklahoma, Physics;
Noah Selz of Dallas, Texas, Art;
Jason Shin of Southlake, Texas, Biology and Art;
Halle Smith of Houston, Texas, Art;
Sarah Smith of Stephenville, Texas, Biology and Improv Troupe;
Hayden Soika of Flower Mound, Texas, Theatre;
Jordan Tanner of Cibolo, Texas, Biology;
Ben Thomas of Plano, Texas, Psychology;
Nithya Thomas of Plano, Texas, Biology;
Rachel Diane Thompson of Coppell, Texas, Art;
Emma Thornburg of Madison, Wisconsin, Biology;
Rebekah Urban of Whitesboro, Texas, Psychology;
Kathryn Van Dinh of Austin, Texas, Improv Troupe;
Sarah Williams of McKinney, Texas, Theatre Author;
Evan Wyatt of Fairview, Texas, Physics
Carolyn Yao of Frisco, Texas, Art and Theatre Author;
Congling “Brittany” Zhang of Xian City, CHINA, Theatre Author; and
Reid Zimmerman of Denton, Texas, Improv Troupe.
The following students offered oral presentations of their research or participated in panel discussions regarding their research topics.
Elijah C. Andes of Santa Fe, New Mexico, “Perspectives in Investigative Poetry;”
Matthew Austin Bagley of Coppell, Texas. “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion and “East vs West Approach to Mental Health” Panel Discussion;
Matthew Austin Bagley of Houston, Texas, “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion and “East vs West Approach to Mental Health” Panel Discussion;
Marissa Collins of Anna, Texas, “Translation of Aoko Matsuda’s ‘Am I a Doctor?’;”
Cyndi Coon of Indianapolis, Indiana, “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion and “East vs West Approach to Mental Health” Panel Discussion;
Erinn FitzGerald of Georgetown, Texas, “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion;
Brady Flanery of Whitesboro, Texas, “You May All Go to Hell, and I Will Go to Texas;”
Amy Glazier of McKinney, Texas, “Exploring Photometric Methods for Identifying Emission-Line B-Type Stars;”
Callie Graham of Shreveport, Louisiana, “Gendered Writing: Female Journalists and the Complexity of the Women’s Section;”
Sydney Jackson of Arlington, Texas, “Fire Ant and Milkweed Interactions with Pollinators;”
Siena Krueger of Allen, Texas, “Effects of a high-fat diet on adiponectin in pre-hibernatory Callospermophilus lateralis;”
Minhua Li of Fuzhou, Fuijan, CHINA, “Restoration of Blackland Prairie: Quantification of Relative Verrucomicrobia and Total Bacteria Abundance at the Sneed Prairie Restoration;”
Alex Lux of Houston, Texas, “Myth and Memory at the Dallas Centennial;”
Jenny Maique of Irving, Texas, “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion;
Alejandro Moran of Sherman, Texas, “Relating the Alexander and Jones Polynomials through New Polynomial Knot Invariants;”
Francisco Neal of Tesuque, New Mexico, “Investigating a Novel Role for Calcium as a Regulator of GPH1 Expression in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae;”
Katrina Ngo of McKinney, Texas, “Changing the Paradigm: Barbara McClintock and the Discovery of Transposons;”
Oluwafunmto “Funmto” Toluwalase Ogunbanwo of Ikeja, Lagos, NIGERIA, “East vs West Approach to Mental Health” Panel Discussion;
Chris Patton of Bellaire, Texas, “Revolution Y: Examining Parallels Between the Development of the Cuban Black Market and the Emergence of Informal Media Within Cuba;”
Emma Polini of Westfield, New Jersey, “A Continual Stain: Channeling Creativity through Chaos;”
Rebecca Rogers of Boerne, Texas, “Women, Labor, and Clientelism: The Legacy of Eva Perón;”
Ian Ruth of Pearland, Texas, “Factors that Impact Jury Decision Making;”
Dilan Shah of McKinney, Texas, “Plantinum coordinated compounds bind DNA and alter cellular viability presenting the potential for use as novel anticancer therapeutics;”
Chelsea Smith of Sherman, Texas, “East vs West Approach to Mental Health” Panel Discussion and “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion;
Aaron Thomas of Rowlett, Texas. “East vs West Approach to Mental Health” Panel Discussion;
Virginia “Henny” Trifiro of Austin, Texas, “Effects of Virginity Status on Sexual Attitudes and Perceptions of Self;”
Rebekah Urban of Whitesboro, Texas, “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion;
Aardhra Venkatachalam of Flower Mound, Texas, “Injuries in Musicians;”
Blair Whalen of The Woodlands, Texas, “Mental Health in the Community” Panel Discussion and “East vs West Approach to Mental Health” Panel Discussion; and
William Whitehurst of Austin, Texas, “Happiness in Nothing: Postwar Japan as Manifest in the Psychological Novel.”
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 40 percent of students representing ethnic minorities. A residential student body of approximately 1,275 students and a faculty of more than 100 allow a 13:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. The College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.