USM Graduate Research Symposium recognizes oral, poster presentation winners

Top-performing graduate students were recently honored at The University of Southern Mississippi's annual Susan A. Siltanen Graduate Research Symposium at the Thad Cochran Center. The event featured more than 90 oral and poster presentations showcasing outstanding research of graduate students throughout the university.

Presentation winners were chosen based on the quality of delivery and visual aids, organization, fluency with the subject, and ability to answer questions. The winners, listed below, received cash awards and recognition at an awards luncheon following the symposium.

Oral Presentations:

ARTS AND HUMANITIES

1st Place: Javier  Fernández Agüera from Cádiz, Spain. Majoring in the Teaching of Languages. ‘Same-Sex Marriage: A Study in the Legal Aspects of Legal Terminology'

2nd Place: Margaret Bullerjahn from Green, Ohio. Majoring in Clinical Psychology. ‘Effects of Impulsivity and Perceived Poverty on Binge Drinking Behavior in At-Risk Adolescents'

3rd Place: Tyler Brandon from Long Beach, Mississippi. Majoring in Music Theory. ‘Analyzing Modulation using Overtonality'

LIFE, HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS

1st Place: Loren Stearman from Stillwater, Oklahoma. Majoring in Biological Sciences. ‘Hierarchical Spatial Patterns of Co-occurrence of Ecologically Similar Fishes in the Pascagoula River, Mississippi'

2nd Place: Ryan Lehman from Covington, Louisiana. Majoring in Biological Sciences. ‘Sawfish CSI: Using Environmental DNA Samples to Assist in Monitoring the Recovery of the Critically Endangered Smalltooth Sawfish in United States (U.S.) Waters'

3rd Place: Joshua Tropp from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Majoring in Polymer Science and Engineering. ‘Contemporary Polymer Sensing Technologies for Gulf Coast Water Quality Monitoring'

SOCIAL AND EDUCATION SCIENCES AND BUSINESS

1st Place: Hannah McDonald from Ovett, Mississippi. Majoring in Higher Education (Student Affairs.) ‘Impact of Technology Overuse on Current College Students'

2nd Place (tie): Brian Bauer from Issaquah, Washington. Majoring in Clinical Psychology. ‘Nudging People Away from Suicide'

2nd Place (tie): Sidney Smith from Gulfport, Mississippi. Majoring in Social Work. ‘Addiction Treatment Outcomes and Spirituality: What is the Relationship?'

Posters:

LIFE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

1st Place: Raymond Jones from Patterson, Louisiana. Majoring in Kinesiology. ‘Impact of Acute Sedentarism on Cerebrovascular Hemodynamics'

2nd Place: Daphney Stanford from Colleyville, Texas. Majoring in Exercise Science. ‘Using Lower Loads Attenuates the Cardiovascular Response to Blood Flow Restricted Handgrip Exercise'

3rd Place: Clint Henry Pablo from Tarlac, Philippines. Majoring in Microbiology. ‘Uptake and Catabolism of Plant-derived Quaternary Ammonium Compounds as a Key Adaptation to the Rhizosphere Lifestyle in Pseudomonas synxantha 2-79'

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS

1st Place: Jeremy Weigand from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Majoring in Polymer Science and Engineering. ‘Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Experimental Study of Thermoset Acrylate Networks Prepared via Stereolithography'

2nd Place: Durga Paudel from Pokhara, Nepal. Majoring in Computational Science (Physics). ‘Temperature-Induced Morphological Evolution of Voids in Amorphous Silicon: A First Principles Study'

3rd Place: Johnson Oguntuase from Ire-Ekiti, Nigeria. Majoring in Marine Science (Hydrographic Science). ‘A Performance Evaluation of Multiple GNSS-aided Inertial Navigation Systems'

SOCIAL AND EDUCATION SCIENCES AND BUSINESS/ARTS AND HUMANITIES

1st Place: Courtney Robinson from Port Huron, Michigan. Majoring in Higher Education. ‘Impressions of Viability: How Current Enrollment Management Personnel and Former Students Perceive the Implementation of a Chatbot Focused on Student Financial Communication'

2nd Place: Arien Faucett from Pascagoula, Mississippi. Majoring in Kinesiology. ‘A Discourse Analysis of Articles on the Baylor University Assault Scandal'

3rd Place: Hallie Jordan from Birmingham, Alabama. Majoring in Counseling Psychology. ‘Posttraumatic Stress and Marijuana Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Marijuana Protective Behavioral Strategies'