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Coe College Student Research & Discovery Symposium
Coe College Student Research & Discovery Symposium
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Schedule
Poster Session: 9:00-10:30 AM | Stewart Memorial Library
Presentations Session 1: 10:45-11:45 AM | Hickok Hall 205, 207, 224, 305, 324, AV Theater
Lunch: $5 lunch in the Caf! Join your students and colleagues.
Presentations Session 2: 1:30 - 2:30 PM | Hickok Hall 205, 207, 224, 305, 324
Presentations Session 3: 2:45 -3:45 PM | Hickok Hall 205, 207, 224, 305, 324
Celebration & Recognition Hour with Invited Alumni: 4:00-5:00 PM Charlie's PUB
Justice Learning Initiative Reentry Simulation: 6:00-8:00 PM ARC 218/219
BIG BRAINS little words
Happening during the Celebration & Recognition Reception: BIG BRAINS, little words. This session is in the style of an open mic challenge where students explain their research, internship, or other academic experience in the simplest, clearest, and most fun way possible.
Student Art Feature: Leeane Mehring-Cruz
Student Art Feature: Leeane Mehring-Cruz
Golden Poison Frog
Oil, acrylic, and modeling paste on canvas
30’’x24’’
2025
Artist Statement
I use acrylic and oil paint along with texturizing materials such as glass beads, translucent medium, and modeling paste on canvas to paint endangered predators. The textures added to the oil paint are used to glamorize the skin or fur patterns on the animals, emphasizing beauty rather than fear. I used a monochromatic scheme of olive yellow as it correlates to the psychological representation of caution.
Biography
Leeanne Mehring-Cruz is from Dededo, Guam. She will be graduating in May 2026 from Coe College with her Bachelor’s in Arts (Studio art). Her large scale paintings explore color psychology and its use of yellow to elicit the feeling of caution. She does this by using predators that are endangered but vital to humans through the use of clothing, food, experimentation, and much more.
Invited Alumni
Invited Alumni
Emily Stochl (2013) is an independent journalist and the founder of Pre-Loved, a multimedia platform dedicated to the business and culture of vintage and secondhand fashion. She's been reporting on resale "since before it was cool" -- and her podcast — the industry's first weekly secondhand fashion interview show! — has built a devoted following of vintage dealers, thrifters, collectors, and circular fashion founders who turn to Pre-Loved's best-selling Substack newsletter for resale reporting and research they can't find anywhere else. Her coverage of circular fashion has appeared in Vogue Business, GQ, the BBC, Refinery29, WWD, and Glamour, and she has presented on circular fashion at the Global Fashion Agenda in Copenhagen, the UN's Conscious Fashion Campaign, and the Sustainable Fashion Forum.
Invited Alumni
Invited Alumni
Emma Lassen (2023) is currently working as a Language Arts teacher in the Cedar Rapids Community School District. She draws on her degrees in English, education, and social and criminal justice in order to provide high-quality educational experiences to students housed within a residential treatment facility. After graduating, Emma spent a year abroad as a Fulbright grantee teaching English to students in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She is currently wrapping up her final year in the classroom and will be attending law school in the fall. In her free time, Emma enjoys reading, writing, going for walks, and slowly improving her roller derby skills!
Poster Sessions Preview
Poster Sessions Preview
Please drop in to Stewart Memorial Library, main floor, between 9:00-10:30AM to see posters and chat with student researchers. Click thumbnails to see full poster.
Allyson Anderson (2026).
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My Internship at The Arc of East Central Iowa
Rita-Cascia Archibong (2026), Princess Lewis (2026), Joecyln Johnson (2026).
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Sara Farrell
Workplace Interpersonal Capitalization: Motives & Perceptions
Maria Bello (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
Belonging Across Cultures: How International Students and Domestic Students Engage on a College Campus
Chloe Bos (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Randolph Christensen
HoxA5 and HoxA13 expression during regeneration in Ambystoma mexicanum
Dailyn Chavarria (2026), Luke Doig (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Alexander Toftness
Do Humorous Lectures Influence Performance and Confidence in Coe Students
Valerie Devine (2026), Dikshita Pant (2028), August Shaw (2029), Tumla Shrestha (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Ben Chihak
Watch Out! Avoiding Fast-Moving Hazards in Realistic Virtual Environments
Joe Dufoe (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Ellen Lee
The Effects of Complaining in the Workplace
Krystal Esquivel (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Holly Smith (Catherine McAuley Center)
My Internship at Catherine McAuley Center
Maggie Furlong (2026), Sarah Giese (2026), Xavier Garcia (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Paul Storer
Bright Light Therapy as a Non-Pharmacologic Patient Wellness
Sarah Giese (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Jared Shaw (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
Understanding Ribosome Heterogeneity using Top-Down Proteomics
Brianna Gonzalez (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My Internship at Hand in Hand
Dianna Gonzalez (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My Internship at KidsPoint
Rebecca Havel (2027), AJ Jensen (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Drew Westberg
Community Targeted Prevention of Invasive Species
Mozes Hoy (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Jonathan Mitchell
New Cenomian Microvertebrate Fossils Found in Mussentuchit Member of Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah
Phaedra Isbell (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My Internship at St. Luke's Life Program
Cassie Jenecke (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Alexander Toftness
Religiosity, Religious Coping, and Mental Health Outcomes
Michellel Jones (2026), Natalee Kohl (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
Comparing Peer Leaders and Peer Mentors: Effectiveness and Self-Efficacy
Ian Kearney (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Drew Westberg
Financial Health Analysis of the Eastern Iowa Nonprofit Sector
Julie Kelnar (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Rose Hedges (Unity Point St. Lukes Hospitol)
Cryotherapy for Prevention / Reduction of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
Walker Law (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Carlos Yero (The Catholic University of America)
Kinematic Optimization of SHMS and HMS in Hydrogen Elastic Events for Deuteron Electro-Disintegration Studies at Jefferson Lab
Zachary Linder (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Thomas Humphries (University of Washington Bothell)
CT Image Reconstruction with Unrolled Iterative Networks
Andrew Livaudais (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Randolph Christensen
Evaluation of Eya2 and Sox9 Genes Expression in Ambystoma mexicanum Regenerating Limbs
Megan Maliziola (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Paul Storer
The Pleiotropic Effects of Tamoxifen on Cultured N9 Microglia
Ximen Markway (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Randolph Christensen
Gene Expression of MRE11 and ERB-B2 in Ambystoma Mexicanum
Parth Matanhelia (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Brittney Miller
Updating Diamond Sampling For Symmetric Matrices
Lennon McClanahan (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Stephen Hughes
IRIDIA: A General Model for Predicting IR Spectra in Solid Materials
Isaiah Morgan (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My internship at Immaculate Conception
Laura Neumark (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Drew Westberg
Employment Experiences and Disability Inclusion
Laurence Nnabuo (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Stephen Hughes
Comparison of Turning Methods in Robots
Tomoka Oshima (2028, Nagoya Gakuin University), André De Souza (2027, Nagoya Gakuin University)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Alissa Boguslaw
My Life as an Exchange Student at Coe College
Kyra Phillips (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Ellen Lee
Investigating attraction-leniency: Is justice really blind?
D'Kayla Reed (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Alissa Boguslaw
Inherited Narratives: Research on Collective Memory and Storytelling in Black Family Life
Natalie Reifsteck (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My Experience at Thrive Together
Carina Rico (2026), Madison Connolly (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Alexander Toftness
Correlation of Beliefs and Skills with Aphantasia
Jenna Rieder (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Oluwadamilola Opayemi
Adverse and Beneficial Interpersonal Communication Surrounding Medical Weight Loss
Maya Schweiger (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
Mercy Outpatient Psychiatry Internship Experience
Kylie Ulrich (2028), Kevin Arteaga (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Randolph Christensen
Analyzing Expression of KRT17, ALDH1a3, and Lamins (A/C + B1) During Axolotl Limb Regeneration via PCR and Sequencing
Fayeth Soto (2026), Carina Ric
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Randolph Christensen
The Genetics of Healing: Targeting Kazald1, FoxA2, and Sox2 in Axolotls
John Verde (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My Internship at Waypoint Services
Layla Vinson (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
Evaluating the inclusion of meaning and purpose exploration in First Year Seminar Courses
Fatima White (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Samantha Brown
My Internship at Kidspoint
Anne Sophie Uwase (2028)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Mario Affatigato
Rare-earth doped borates
Michael Wlochal (2027), Cody Krawczyk (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Michael Stobb
Collama, the AI Powered Student Assistant
Landon Wright (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Sara Farrell
Functional and Emotional Motives For Recreational Fishing Experiences and their Outcomes
Faith Yang (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Danny Daughtery, College Minister Director
My Internship at Salt Company
Ashley Zuber (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Oluwadamilola Opayemi
Family Members’ Incarceration, Face Threats, and Face Supporting Strategies
Kevin Arteaga (2026), Daniel Tshimanga (2027)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Randolph Christensen
Analyzing Presence of Keratin type 2 and 5 via gel electrophoresis and squencing in a regernating blastema
Tumla Shrestha (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Ellen Lee
Your Astrological Sign Tells Everything About You
Ivy Jo Staab (2026)
Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Kim Lanegran, Dr. Jen Ferguson, Dr. Rochelle Snyder.
Gentle Giants: The Stigmatization of Multi-Unit Housing in the Wellington Heights Historic District, an exploration of community experience
The Outstanding Portfolio Prize recognizes First Year Seminar portfolios that exhibit exceptional promise in a developing writer. Honored portfolios are those that take risks and showcase inventive thinking, characterized by creativity in thought, sharp insight, and rich development and application of ideas. Portfolios are nominated by faculty readers.
The Outstanding Portfolio Prize recognizes First Year Seminar portfolios that exhibit exceptional promise in a developing writer. Honored portfolios are those that take risks and showcase inventive thinking, characterized by creativity in thought, sharp insight, and rich development and application of ideas. Portfolios are nominated by faculty readers.
Outstanding Portfolio Prize Winners
Adan Qaisar
Mia Cruz
Arian Kantarevic
The Young Essay prize, established by Elisabeth Young in honor of her husband James P. Young, is open to all students, and recognizes superior works of nonfiction.
Young Essay Prize Winners:
Arianne Maxwell, "A Reflection on My Student Teaching Experience"
Taylor G. Brunson "How NIL Has Changed Recruiting Strategies in NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball and Its Adverse Effects with the Transfer Portal
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