Student researchers travel with faculty every semester to academic and association conferences around the state, and many Austin College students and faculty have been on the road recently.
Texas Genetics Society
Dr. David Aiello, associate professor of biology, attended the Texas Genetics Society annual meeting at Texas A&M University with eight of his students: Aarthi Kannan ’19, Keara Malone ’19, Sarah Smith ’19, Pranavya Manickavelu ’20, Shreya Uppala ’20, Mandy Eckhardt ’21, Paul Mpunga ’21, and Sita Ramasamy ’21. The students all presented research at the meeting. Keara Malone received the award for best undergraduate oral presentation for her work.
Distinguished scientists Dr. Bruce Beutler, professor and director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UTSW Medical Center and awardee of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Dr. Brendan Lee, professor and chair of the Molecular and Human Genetics Program in the Baylor College of Medicine, and recipient of the society’s 2019 Barbara Bowman Distinguished Texas Geneticist Award, were among the speakers students heard.
See full information on the Austin College Genetics Society presenters and comments on the benefits of student involvement at the conference.
Economic Scholars Program, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank
Each spring, Austin College and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas present an economics and finance research conference to foster the involvement of undergraduate students in all facets of research. Since 2007, students from colleges across the U.S. and Canada have gathered to present student-initiated or student-faculty coauthored works and discuss the benefits and challenges of research.
All oral and poster session presentations are evaluated by the Peer Review Board, with invitations to present extended upon acceptance. The Peer Review Board is populated by invitation to students who have served as discussants or presenters in previous years. Discussants and session chairs are selected by application.
The Austin College participants were Alison Boehmer ’19, Peer Review Board and discussant; Joseph Khalaf ’19, Peer Review Board; Seth Howard ’20, presenter: “Predicting the NFL Playoffs: Understanding What Variables Contribute to NFL Teams’ Winning Percentage”; Wes Nichols ’19, presenter: “Contextualizing Income in Models of Subjective Well-Being”; Katherine Seibert ’20, discussant; Oliwier Owczarek ’21, discussant; Zebastian Alzamora ’19, discussant; Marcus Slonaker ’21, discussant; Kaitlyn Riley ’19, session chair; and Yilu Zhang ’19 attendee.
Dr. Mikidadu Mohammed, economics, is the Austin College faculty coordinator for the event. He attended the event along with the students and other department faculty.
Conference for the Advancement of Women
Dr. Karla McCain, professor of chemistry and associate dean of institutional effectiveness, traveled in April to the Annual Conference for the Advancement of Women, hosted by the Texas Tech Women’s and Gender Studies program.
She was accompanied by Austin College students Katie Collins ’19, Maddie Messerle ’21, Valery Piachonkina ’22, and Delice Dembe ’22 who made a panel presentation, “Gender Roles and Social Capital,” at the conference.
Headline speakers included Jamia Wilson, executive director and publisher of Feminist Press at the City University of New York, discussing “How to Advance Social Justice Through Storytelling” and Mily Treviño-Sauceda, executive director and co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, who told of her organization’s work to promote farming women and to assist them in cases of assault.
Treviño-Sauceda also discussed the issue of women in field work experiencing sexual assault.
The conference included more than 80 students who presented their research, including the Austin College women above.
Southwestern Psychological Association
Eleven students accompanied Austin College psychology faculty Dr. Renee Countryman and Dr. Matt Findley to the Southwestern Psychological Association meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last month.
As pictured, the group included, left to right, front row: Findley, Katelyn Kuehnhold ’20, Amanda Bernal ’19, Evan Powell ’21, and Michael Suresh ’19; and back row: Makayla Dunlap ’21, Amelia Hardy ’19, Countryman, Azlin Saldivar ’19, Ben Schmidt ’19, Nick Marshall ’20, Brianna Richmond ’19, and Matt Li ’21.
The students’ research presentations follow.
Amelia Hardy* & Renee Countryman. (2019). Autonomous and Controlled Motivation for Eating Disorder Recovery. Oral Presentation.
Michael Suresh* & Hank Gorman. (2019). How Incubation Effects Creative Performance on Analytical Writing Essays. Poster.
Matt Li*, Evan Powell*, & Michele Helfrich. The Impact of Candidate Gender, Messaging Style, and Attire on Voter Evaluations. Poster.
Ben Schmidt* & Alyssa Dietz. (2019). Self-Disclosure on Social Media and Its Effect on Treatment-Seeking in Emerging Adults. Poster.
Azlin Saldivar* & Matthew Findley. (2019). Contact Experience and Attitudes toward Transgender People. Oral Presentation.
Amanda Bernal* & Matthew Findley. (2019). The Influence of Racial Prejudice on Parental Support of Interracial Romantic Relationships. Poster.
Makayla Dunlap*, Matt Li, Yusuf Khan, & Matthew Findley. (2019). The Effect of Temperature on Perceived Social Exclusion. Poster.
Brianna Richmond*, Andrew Maienschein, Joann Mathew, & Matthew Findley. (2019). The Importance of Romantic Satisfaction to Well-Being among Unmarried, Working Adults. Poster.
Katelyn Kuehnhold*, Nicholas Marshall, & Lisa Brown. (2019). Ethnic Identity Perceptions of Interethnic Couples. Poster.
Nicholas Marshall*, Katelyn Kuehnhold, & Lisa Brown. (2019). Irony of the Protestant Work Ethic: Who’s Working and is it Ethical? Poster.
Brianna Richmond & Lisa Brown. (2019). Conforming to a Group: Effects of Gender Identity and Peer/Authoritative Influence. Poster.
Student research is an important element of learning at Austin College. Each spring, the College holds the Austin College Student Scholarship Conference, which includes research presentations as well as performances and exhibitions of creative work.