Undergraduate Honors Students

Session 1, Friday 12:30, Tidewater Room

John Babbitts, "Decoding the Aleut Faith: Translating Aleut Orthodox Texts of Russian Colonial-Era Alaska"

Advisor: Dr. Jack Martin

Linguistics 

This presentation looks into the nuances of translating Atkan Aleut religious texts into English by analyzing the grammatical function of possession, which looks identical to the use of adjectives and other descriptions. The Orthodox missionary Lavrenty Salamatov wrote the aforementioned texts in 1860, making them the last works to be translated by a Russian missionary into Atkan Aleut before the American purchase of Alaska in 1867. Salamatov produced a 21 page Russian Orthodox prayer book, and the Gospel according to St. Mark into Atkan Aleut, using the Cyrillic alphabet. This project transliterated the texts into Atkan Aleut in the Latin alphabet, as well as transcribed and translated to English. While the Gospel according to St. Mark has been translated to English, the prayer book has been preserved solely in the Aleut language, and the English translation will be provided to the community as a bilingual text for purposes of educational incorporation. Other topics discussed will include word choice, religious constraints in translation, and a general grammatical overview of Atkan Aleut.

John Babbitts is a senior majoring in Linguistics and History at William & Mary. His research interests include language revitalization, translation studies, and paleography. His thesis addresses language revitalization, indigenous languages and religious texts.

Katherine Casagrande, "Institution Revolution: How Italy Changed Mental Healthcare and Why America Should Be Next"

Advisor: Dr. Chris Howard

Government

American mental institutions have improved since the era of asylums, but they still feature inhumane and dignity-violating practices used against patients. Italy’s 1978 ban on mental institutions with Law 180 makes those practices illegal by making sure the institutions don’t exist in the first place. My research asks what lessons American policymakers can draw from the Italian model invented by Franco Basaglia to improve conditions in institutions or even lead to banning them. Unlike existing scholarship which focuses on one nation at a time, my research uses a cross-cultural lens to compare and contrast the systems. I have found that the Italian system exhibits strengths in its replacement of asylums with outpatient resources and the prioritization of human dignity during treatment—two elements which can possibly be transferred and incorporated into American policy. My findings indicate that the American system is not in line with promoting human rights and that reform is necessary. The Basagliana model provides a useful source of inspiration when considering what legal measures can be taken to accomplish reform.

Katherine Casagrande is a senior majoring in Philosophy and Government at William & Mary. Her research concerns the ethics of mental institutions and total domination. Her thesis addresses the 1978 Italian mental health reform and applies its successes to an American context.

Kaitlyn Crowley, "Road Data and Corresponding Analysis of Travel Time to Markets in the Face of Climate Change"

Advisor: Dr. Dan Runfola

Data Science

Roads exist as a physical and theoretical connection between people and places around the globe. In addition to providing a route from one point to another, roads are also an indicator of access to markets and of poverty. When people have access to roads to travel to urban centers, which serve as core market locations, they are better equipped to support themselves financially and access information about the world at large. Analyzing road networks is especially important in the face of the increasing impacts of climate change. However, current road datasets, particularly the Global Roads Open Access Data Set, are out of date or incomplete. This study explores the relationship between climate change and access to markets in Nepal. We seek to identify isolated communities that are likely to experience detrimental outcomes associated with environmental threats, such as increasing temperatures and unpredictable precipitation. To implement this analysis, we first construct a novel pipeline to retrieve and analyze transportation information from Open Street Map (OSM). The output of this pipeline is a gridded product that includes information, for each grid cell, on the total travel distance and time to the closest market. By comparing this transportation data with future environmental change projections, we identify communities that are both geographically isolated and at risk due to impending climatic shifts.

Kaitlyn Crowley is a senior majoring in Data Science and Sociology at William & Mary. Her research areas include climate change, environmental justice, education access, and deep learning applications in these areas. Her thesis addresses the relationship between climate change and market access in Nepal.

Cecilia Deasy, "Shades of Green:  Fragmentation in Contemporary Sustainable Design"

Advisor: Dr. Sibel Zandi-Sayek

Art History

Originating in the 1960s and 1970s and blossoming in the last two decades, the field of sustainable design grew out of a need to afford future generations the ability to shape their built environment in a globalizing world. Sustainable design projects run a wide gamut, from creating energy efficient buildings, to configuring ecologically appropriate landscapes, to harnessing a region's geographical and social assets. This broad scope is further complicated by sociopolitical and cultural assumptions that firms and clients make about project locality, be it the so-called 'Global North/South' divide or idealized notions of urbanity and rurality. These assumptions—and less subjective factors like climate and resource availability—play an important role in determining project materials and management style. This study aims to assess four distinctive types of contemporary sustainable design practices that developed in response to growing professional specialization and deepening sociopolitical and cultural assumptions of a neoliberal market culture. It explores projects that respectively prioritize: (1) Quantitative environmental performance, (2) Qualitative environmental performance, (3) Cross-cultural adaptability of design, and (4) Scalability of design. These case studies contextualize each practice and bring them into dialogue with one another. In doing so, this study reveals how lessons learned in one context can be put to use in others, and calls for better integration of disparate knowledge that has emerged within sustainable design over the past two decades.

Lia Deasy is a senior majoring in Art History of the Built Environment and Environmental Science at William & Mary. Her research areas include contemporary sustainable design, urban planning, and environmental justice. Her thesis discusses sustainable design specialization since the turn of the century and what it means for future practice.

Nicole Eubanks, "Sign Language and Constructing Categories: Exploring the Cognitive Link"

Advisor: Dr. Kate Harrigan

Linguistics

Language and categorization are intrinsically linked. Infants must be able to notice similarities across objects and build categories defined by those similarities in order to understand nouns. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that the presence of language can help direct the attention of infants to similarities across objects, aiding them in the task of forming categories (Waxman & Markow, 1995; Fulkerson & Walkman, 2007; Ferry et al., 2010; Ferry et al., 2013; Novack et al., 2021). In young infants, this link is broadened. During the first few months of life, it is not just language that acts as a categorization aid; environmental stimuli that are similar to language in specific ways can also support categorization (Ferry et al., 2013). While much research has been done to investigate this phenomenon in the mode of oral language and auditory stimuli, less is known in the domain of manual language and visual stimuli. This current work aims to help close that gap, presenting two studies that expand upon what we know about the relationship between sign language and categorization. The first study examines the saliency for adults of facial expression and manual movements, revealing that facial expression is highly salient, more so than manual movements; this finding suggests that grammatical facial expression might be a key cue that helps infants distinguish between sign language and other visual stimuli. The second study directly investigates the effect of the presence of grammatical facial expression on infant ability to form categories.

Nicole Eubanks is a recent William & Mary graduate who majored in linguistics. Her research interests include infant language acquisition and the interplay between language learning and other cognitive skills. Her thesis investigates how infants distinguish between sign language and non-language manual gestures.

Dolly Lebow, "Fisherfolk and Family: An Examination of Fishing Regulation and Kinship in Tidewater, Virginia"

Advisor: Dr. Andrea Wright

Anthropology

Despite the abundance of fish in Virginia rivers for thousands of years, the prominent loss of spawning habitat, overfishing, and water quality degradation have caused a steep decline in River Herring and American Shad (Ogburn et al. 2016). The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) has attempted to combat these issues through increased fishing regulation and assessment of River Herring and American Shad populations, and the Virginia government implemented bans on fishing for shad and herring in 1994 and 2012 respectively. Many fishermen of the Tidewater area, whose livelihoods have rested upon fishing for these species for many generations, have a different perspective on fisheries management and who should be responsible stewards of depleting populations. The present study draws on the narratives of two generational fishermen who have deep family histories intertwined with fishing, giving them unique insight into the effects of fishing regulation on individuals. Compiling my ethnographic research, a thorough analysis of fisheries anthropology, and a rich interpretation of my interviews, I argue that a more holistic approach to fisheries management can help connect research institutions such as VIMS, and individual fishermen. The significance of this research is vast, and strives to contribute to conversations surrounding human degradation of the environment while centering individual livelihood. Scientific inquiry can be bolstered by the consideration of other ways of knowing, and a variety of fishing knowledges– and this thesis attempts to help bridge that gap. 

Dolly Lebow is a Senior majoring in Anthropology and History at William & Mary. Her research areas include studies of kinship, fisheries, and regulation through an ethnographic lends. Her thesis addresses the aforementioned topics, highlighting the intersection of the livelihoods of fishermen and fishing regulation.

Olivia Ritchey, "Personality, Depression, and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury:   A Cross-Cultural Examination of College Students"

Advisor: Dr. Adrian Bravo

Psychological Sciences

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a prevalent form of behavioral dysregulation among adolescents and young adults worldwide. Depression is a common diagnosis in those who seek self-harm treatment and has been identified as a risk factor for self-injury. This study expanded the collection of knowledge on NSSI by examining the influence of personality-related traits (specifically impulsivity and emotion-regulation) on the relationship between depression and self-injurious behavior among college students. Furthermore, we aimed to examine whether the connections between these variables differ across cultures as well as over time. To test study aims, we recruited college students from six countries (USA, Argentina, Spain, Canada, England, and South Africa) to fill out 3 surveys (3 months apart) assessing depression, emotion-regulation, impulsivity, and NSSI behaviors. Data analysis is ongoing (analyses will be completed by the time of the symposium); however, a moderated-mediation model is proposed, positing that depression relates to NSSI through emotion dysregulation and that the link between depression and emotion dysregulation link is moderated (i.e., strengthened) by impulsivity-like traits. We will also explore whether findings remain stable across cultures and in what areas discrepancies may appear. Findings may suggest potential for improved risk assessment in the clinical treatment of nonsuicidal self-injury, self-destructive behaviors, and depression along with culturally informed treatment approaches. 

Olivia Ritchey is a senior majoring in Psychological Sciences and minoring in Public Health at William & Mary. Their research in clinical psychology has focused on self-regulation, maladaptive coping, emotional development, and self-destructive behaviors. Their thesis examines how depression relates to self-injury and how impulsiveness and emotion regulation difficulties influence that relationship across cultures. Olivia has presented their previous studies at conferences across the east coast.

Yi Shao, "Faith as Eternal Strivings: Kierkegaard's Answer to Religious Despair"

Advisor: Dr. Timothy Costelloe

Philosophy

This thesis explores the themes of despair, faith, and religious striving in Kierkegaard’s later works which explicitly discuss the notion of ethical and religious stages in developing faith. Notably, Kierkegaard argues that authentic Christian faith requires a transcendental “leap.” I argue that Kierkegaard’s ethical and religious stages are different paradigms employing alternative different narratives, where the ethical reflects the rationalist tradition of morality accessible to human understanding, while the religious is constructed with unintelligible paradoxes intervened directly by God. The pursuit of Christian faith, signified by the critical “leap” from the ethical to religious, should not be summarized as a simple paradigm-shift, however, as the concrete social morality being overridden by higher ethics, or interpreted as an eschatological trust, characterized as a complete dependence on God. Instead, I argue that Kierkegaard articulates a liminal stage marked by individuals’ endless religious strivings that stands between the ethical and religious. In the pursuit of moral perfection through reason within the ethical paradigm, individuals experience anxiety and despair due to their inability to achieve the ideal, and face the temptation of being unethical. The existence of the religious paradigm accentuates the frustration and despair by bringing the individual into a private and absolute relation with God. Between two paradigms, individuals become conscious of their sin, and strive constantly for divine forgiveness.

Yi Shao is a senior with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Psychology at William & Mary. His research areas include Philosophy of Mind, Moral Psychology, and History of Philosophy. His thesis specifically addresses the themes of despair, faith, and religious strivings in the later works of Soren Kierkegaard.

Jungmin Shin, "Harnessing the Power of Virtual Reality for Organic Chemistry Education"

Advisor: Dr. Dana Lashley

Chemistry

Understanding organic chemistry concepts heavily relies on visualization of the geometry of molecules and spatial arrangement of molecules during mechanisms. 2D textbook depictions have their limitations in visualizing the three-dimensionality of organic chemistry. Student learning outcomes could be greatly improved from 3D visualizations of these topics. This project explores the potential of an emerging technology, Virtual Reality (VR), being incorporated as a teaching resource for organic chemistry. The Diels-Alder reaction is a fundamental Nobel-Prize winning reaction taught in Organic Chemistry II. Experience has proven that students often struggle to visualize the transition state of this reaction and to predict the correct organic products, both in terms of regiochemistry and stereochemistry. Hence, we chose to develop a VR organic chemistry learning exercise for the Diels-Alder reaction, which might enhance students’ understanding of the reaction compared to traditional teaching by taking advantage of the immersive and interactive experiences created by VR and applying gamification. We seek to evaluate if learning in VR can increase student engagement, enhance the students’ understanding of 3-dimensionality of molecules and mechanistic outcomes, and reinforce concepts discussed in the lectures and lab. Should our findings indicate that the use of VR enhances the learning experience in organic chemistry, we seek to implement VR in the organic chemistry teaching labs (CHEM 206L and CHEM 253L) in the future.

Jungmin Shin is a senior majoring in Biochemistry at William & Mary. His research areas include organic chemistry and chemistry education. His thesis incorporates Virtual Reality into organic chemistry teaching. 

Travis Slocumb, "God and True Being: Loving in Freedom"

Advisor: Dr. Alex Angelov

Religious Studies

This work will seek to outline a metaphysic of love in apocalyptic/Barthian Christian theology by using Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology. Apocalyptic/Barthian Christianity is a school of thought within Protestant theology which was spearheaded by Karl Barth. The core tenet is the centrality of Jesus Christ to all forms of knowledge. God chose to reveal himself through the history of Christ, and thus it is theology’s goal to redirect all of its truth valuations to this revelation. Christ’s death was the most important, because God separated himself from himself in the greatest act of pain for any created being—God’s love is best understood through his own decision to become humiliated and suffer for the sake of humanity. The essay begins in the realm of abstract contemplation of God’s triune form. Father, son, and holy spirit are defined entirely by their relationship with each other. Love begins in God, because it is defined through God’s relationship with himself. Humans can only mirror this relationship in their pursuit of authentic love, they cannot foster it. Heidegger’s phenomenology comes into play when trying to find more concretely how this love manifests itself in relationships. Heidegger posited that human being is itself existence. We are defined primarily by our actions and relationships. The most important factor of our existence is the way we exist with other people. It is the goal of this essay to take Heidegger’s framework of being and combine it with Barthian theology to show that true being is encountered in relationships which mirror the trinity.

Travis Slocumb is a senior majoring in Religious Studies and minoring in Philosophy at William & Mary. His research areas include Reformed theology, particularly contemporary 'apocalyptic' scholarship, and the work of Karl Barth. His thesis addresses a metaphysic of love which can be defined through Reformed theology and Martin Heidegger's phenomenology. He is primarily drawing from Barth's 'Church Dogmatics' and Heidegger's 'Being and Time' to write the essay.

Anna Wilkinson, "Seba's Snakes: Exploring the Shifting Relationship between Science and Art in 18th-Century Europe"

Advisor: Dr. Alan Braddock

Art History

Before photographs, the most reliable method for communicating new scientific discoveries was through art. Natural history illustration became particularly commercialized during the 18th century, as global exploration opened European eyes to the natural wonders of the world. One of the most prolific names in 18th-century natural science was Albertus Seba, a wealthy Dutch apothecary whose impressive collection of exotic specimens made him an international celebrity. My thesis analyzes his seminal publication, A Careful Description and Exceedingly Artistic Expression in Pictures of the Exceedingly Rich Treasury of Nature Throughout the Entire History of Natural Science (commonly shortened to Seba’s Thesaurus). This text features descriptions of each specimen in Seba’s collection accompanied by elaborate illustrations which are world-renowned for their beauty and intricacy. I focus on the Thesaurus’s second volume featuring snakes, a class of species which Seba particularly admired for their diversity and widespread range. Seba rejected the popular opinion that snakes were ugly and sinful creatures and instead argued that they exemplified God’s creativity. Seba’s Thesaurus provides a unique lens to understand the commodification of scientific knowledge and the interplay of scientific accuracy, aesthetics, and cultural appeal in early natural history illustration.

Anna Wilkinson is a senior majoring in Biology and Art History at William & Mary. She is passionate about exploring the synergy between art and science. Her thesis studies a seminal work in natural history illustration that exemplifies the relationship between economics, aesthetics, and science in the 17th and 18th centuries. Her previous research experiences include an internship at the American Museum of Natural History and an assistantship at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Session 2, Friday, 2:00, Tidewater

Nicholas Ayoub, "Flowers and Cities (gallery space)"

Advisor: Dr. Michael Gaynes

Studio Art

How does the integration of technology and art, as informed by personal narratives and experiences in diverse American cities, contribute to our understanding of the socio-economic challenges faced by the youth? In particular, how do these artistic expressions reflect the impact of corporations on urban landscapes, the influence of political entities on individual rights, and the sentiments of young individuals regarding the future? Through interviews in New York City, Patterson, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Washington D.C., and Williamsburg, the study explores how individuals perceive and are influenced by their urban environments. Using AI technology, the gathered narratives are transformed into accessible art forms, including film, digital art, and sculptures. Various artistic techniques, such as rammed earth forms, concrete burnout forms, intentional metal rusting, and tapestry crafting, are employed to translate these narratives into tangible sculptures. The project's outcome is a comprehensive presentation that weaves together film, digital art, and sculptures to tell a narrative about the socio-economic fabric of the United States from the viewpoint of its youth. Themes include the influence of corporations on cities, the impact of political entities on individual rights, and the sentiments expressed by interviewees regarding the future. This interdisciplinary exploration offers insights into the dynamic relationship between technology, art, and personal narratives, shedding light on the socio-economic challenges faced by young individuals in different American cities.

Nicholas Ayoub is a dedicated individual with a passion for merging art, architecture, and technology, currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with Honors Distinction as a double major in Art and Art History with a specialization in Architecture. 

Nicole Ganti, "Algo está cambiando": Organización Barrial Tupac Amaru's Politics of Indigeneity"

Advisor: Dr. Richard Turits

History

This thesis offers an analysis of how indigenous identity is constructed by Organización Barrial Tupac Amaru in their political organizing over the last twenty years. Like many other social organizations during the 1990's and early 2000's, Tupac Amaru involved itself in political project aligned with the new political left's goals of rejecting neoliberalism, but what separated this group was its inherent indigenous focus. This group's identity is particular powerful because it is attached to historic racializing in Argentina and associated with other economic inequalities. Tupac Amaru's cultural productions and the development of their neighborhood in San Salvador, Jujuy illustrate how the group has tied indigenous identity with a political and economic agenda, and the arrest of their leader Milagro Sala shows an attempt by conservative elements to stigmatize Tupac Amaru's cultural politics that connects Argentina's economic social hierarchy with race. 

Nicki Ganti is a senior double majoring in History and Latin American Studies. Her research areas include historical memory, human rights, transitional justice, and Latin American politics. Her thesis follows the historical development of Organización Barrial Tupac Amaru and its leader Milagro Sala. 

Maggie Kettelberger, "Observing the Relationship Between Neural Progenitor Cell Fate and Mitochondrial Morphology Using Dynamin-related Protein 1"

Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Bestman

Neuroscience 

Premature neurogenesis during development can have detrimental effects on brain function that can lead to microcephaly or other disorders. The stem cells in the brain responsible for this differentiation are the radial glial neural progenitor cells (NPCs). These polarized NPCs can undergo asymmetric or symmetric division to either create a daughter neuron or two NPCs respectively. A lack of symmetrical division early on in development means the pool of NPCs is depleted too quickly, and there will ultimately be less neurons available to form the complex networks required by the brain. From other stem cells in the body, it has been discovered that the mitochondria have influence over the fate of the cell, but this relationship has not yet been confirmed in NPCs. The mitochondrial network in NPCs is a dynamic system where the organelles are constantly undergoing fission and fusion, and in stem cells with larger and more continuous networks, symmetric division is favored. To observe the connection between NPC fate and mitochondrial morphology and movement, electroporation and in vivo confocal imaging were used in Xenopus laevis over multiple days. Dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP-1) is responsible for pinching the mitochondrial membrane in the process of fission and can be used to alter the morphology of mitochondria. When inhibited, fission no longer occurs and the mitochondria grow as they continue to fuse. If the observed relationship between stem cells and mitochondria is maintained in the brain, the NPCs will be biased towards symmetric division when DRP-1 is inhibited.

Maggie Kettelberger is a senior majoring in neuroscience and minoring in data science at William & Mary. She has been involved in molecular neuroscience and biology research with an interest in data analysis and has had the opportunity to share her research at conferences such as Society for Neuroscience as an undergraduate. Her thesis addresses the fate of neural stem cells and mitochondrial networks during neurodevelopment.

Benjamin Lee, "Revising Hobbesian Social Contract Theory: Accounting for Anthropology"

Advisor: Dr. Christopher Freiman

Philosophy

Social contract theory continues to be a leading theoretical framework in political philosophy. It argues that an individual's moral and political obligations are generated by, and dependent upon, an agreement or contract between that individual and the other individuals within their society. Notable scholars who have championed this theory include Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Rawls, and Gauthier. This thesis focuses on reviewing Hobbes’ social contract theory, by revising an already revised account provided by Gregory Kavka. Once this revision is complete, it will be argued that Hobbes’ account of social contract is in line with, and thus bolstered by, the anthropological evidence of today. This process will compare and contrast Hobbes’ account with those of Locke and Rousseau. Finally, this thesis will consider the ramifications of Hobbes’ theory and the anthropological evidence. The most notable of these considerations will be that the vast majority of governments should be evaluated along utilitarian lines of reasoning.

Benjamin Lee is a senior double majoring in Philosophy and Public Policy at William & Mary. His research interests focus on political and moral philosophy. His thesis investigates how anthropology and other descriptive fields can inform our understanding of social contract theory, particularly Hobbesian social contract theory. 

Diego Morandi Zerpa, "Modeling the Role of Transient Potassium Currents in Shaping the Activity of the PreBötzinger Complex"

Advisor: Dr. Greg Conradi Smith

Co-author: C. Del Negro

Neuroscience

Neurons of the prebötzinger complex (preBötC) comprise the respiratory central pattern generator. These cells produce the rhythm for normal breathing. Crucial to the functioning of the network is the interplay between dozens of different ionic currents throughout multiple cell types in the preBötC. Past research has discovered the presence of transient potassium currents, or A-type currents (I-A), in rhythmogenic preBötC neurons. However, their role in shaping the activity of the preBötC is yet to be explored using in silico models of neural firing. For my research, I am modeling the preBötC using Hodgkin-Huxley-style equations that incorporate A-type current, hoping to better understand how I-A molds the breathing rhythm. Preliminary simulations of neural activity using the Connor-Stevens action potential model affirm the canonical role of A-type current as a voltage-dependent potassium current that delays excitation and lowers the initial rate of neuronal firing. In the future, I will assess the effect of I-A with in silico models of the preBötC and simulate I-A activity in dendrites of rhythmogenic neurons. By understanding both the function of A-type current in the preBötC and the extent of its importance in shaping the breathing rhythm, more research may be directed towards the consequences of improper I-A activity and the role of I-A in breathing disorders.  

Diego Morandi Zerpa is a senior majoring in neuroscience at William & Mary. Prior to his work in neuroscience, Diego conducted research in synthetic biology as a member of WIlliam & Mary’s iGEM team. Now in the Computational Biology Lab, his research explores how transient potassium currents shape the activity of respiratory neurons.

Daniel Posthumus, "Starting Early: Returns on Kindergarten Attendance in Indonesia"

Advisor: Dr. Ranjan Shrestha

Economics

I evaluate the medium- and long-term impacts of attending kindergarten on educational outcomes for Indonesian youth. A significant amount of scholarly work has highlighted early childhood as a particularly sensitive and critical period, during which human capital investments have greater effects on later-life outcomes than equivalent investments made later in life. Accordingly, public programs such as Head Start aim to invest in under-privileged children early in life to close later-life outcome gaps. While economists have extensively studied the effects of targeted programs in developed countries, less is known about the impact of early childhood interventions in developing countries—a gap in the literature that I aim to fill with this article. Using the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), I track children of kindergarten age (4-6) in 1997 until 2014, the year of the most recent IFLS survey wave. I use regressions with sibling fixed-effects to control for unobserved household characteristics that would affect the human capital investment decision-making of that household; for example, the value placed on education by parents or the distance to the nearest school. I find evidence of fadeout, a common concept in the early childhood literature: there are short- and medium-term statistically significant effects of attending kindergarten on outcomes such as school attendance and primary school completion, although these effects fade out when our time horizons expand to long-term effects. 

Daniel Posthumus is a senior at the College of William & Mary studying economics and government. His research interests include developmental economics, human rights, and political economy. His thesis addresses developmental microeconomics in Indonesia, focusing on human capital investments in the form of kindergarten attendance. He traveled to Indonesia this past summer with his thesis advisor Professor Ranjan Shrestha to prepare for his thesis.

Carina Rosenberg, "Beneath the Mask: Relational Mobility and Loneliness Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic"

Advisor: Dr. Joanna Schug

Psychological Sciences

The present study investigates the relationship between relational mobility and loneliness, focusing on three distinct periods: pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and post-pandemic. Relational mobility, defined as how easy it is to make or break relationships in a given society (Yuki & Schug, 2012), is hypothesized to affect both the quality of these connections and the risk of social isolation, introducing a socioecological paradox: while higher relational mobility might theoretically facilitate more high-quality connections, it could also heighten the risk of social isolation (Heu et al., 2021). In this study, we seek to explain the interaction between relational mobility and loneliness before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a survey-based methodology, we analyzed how relational mobility and loneliness fluctuated across these timeframes. Contrary to existing literature, our preliminary findings reveal a consistent positive correlation between higher relational mobility and increased loneliness across all periods, with varying effect sizes in each time period. Furthermore, relational mobility was found to mediate the impact of the pandemic period on loneliness. These results offer new insights into the dynamics of relational mobility and loneliness in the context of a global crisis, contributing to the broader understanding of socioecological factors’ effect on individuals’ experience of the world in contemporary society.

Carina Rosenberg is a senior majoring in psychological sciences and economics. Her research interests include socioecological approach to understanding human behavior, emerging donors and creditors in the international development finance landscape, and the origins of intellectual property law in the United States. Her thesis investigates perceptions of relational mobility and loneliness among American university students before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Calvin Sloan, "Subculture and Symbolic Violence in Richmond Virginia’s Underground Music Community"

Advisor: Dr. Andrea Wright

Anthropology

This project seeks to examine the ways in which The Richmond DIY music community represents the conscious construction of culture and subculture through the use of a variety of symbols and practices. Practices such as moshing and the construction of niche music subgenres are components of a loose governing ideology I refer to as “punk ethics.” By examining the practices and aesthetic trends of underground punk and metal, I hope to gain a better understanding of how art and music communities operate in the internet age. My research uses methods that help to place the current Richmond scene into its greater historical context as a part of the global DIY movement. This ethnographic approach includes interviews with community members and my own firsthand observations of music venues and other subcultural spaces. This research is part of my undergraduate honors project at the College of William & Mary.

Calvin Sloan is a senior at William & Mary studying anthropology with a minor in music. His research interests include cultural anthropology with a focus on ethnomusicology and modern subculture. His thesis deals with underground music communities in Richmond, Virginia and the surrounding area.

Caitlin Sughrue, "Quantifying Blue Carbon Sequestration Potential of the Two Dominant Temperate Seagrass Species in the Lower Chesapeake Bay"

Advisor: Dr. Chris Patrick and Randolph Chambers

Co-authors: A. C. Hall, G. Molino, S. Wittyngham, M. Kirwan

Biology

Seagrass meadows provide key ecosystem services including improving water quality, stabilizing sediment, and storing carbon. Carbon storage in seagrass meadows can occur short-term by the uptake of carbon dioxide via photosynthesis or long-term by trapping and burying organic matter in the sediments. Rising summer temperatures in the lower Chesapeake Bay has led to a shift in dominant seagrass species from Zostera marina to Ruppia maritima, a species more tolerant to warmer waters. Carbon storage differs by dominant species within a seagrass meadow, although quantification only exists for a few key species, including Zostera marina. The carbon sequestration potential of seagrass meadows dominated by Ruppia are unknown but thought to be lower than those of Zostera due to differences in plant morphology and life history. Here, we quantify the carbon sequestration of Zostera and Ruppia dominated meadows in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Over 150 sediment cores were collected from seagrass meadows of varying age for both species and processed for percent organic matter. Preliminary results suggest that meadows dominated by Ruppia sequester less carbon than Zostera, leading to a lower carbon storage potential for modern seagrass meadows in the Chesapeake Bay. This difference becomes more pronounced with meadow age. Our study quantifies the carbon storage potential of an understudied seagrass species and takes a first step towards understanding the implications of species identity on the carbon sequestration potential of seagrass ecosystems.

Caitlin Sughrue is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Marine Science. Her research interests include the impact of community shifts on ecosystem services. Her thesis focuses on blue carbon sequestration in seagrass meadows in the Chesapeake Bay.

Sophia Vandevander, "Sewing for Sentiment: The Evolution of Christening Robes in Victorian-Era England and America"

Advisor: Dr. Alan Braddock

Art History

For hundreds of years, babies have donned ceremonial garments to be baptized, or christened, as per Christian tradition. Though the ceremony and its core ideals have not significantly transformed over time, the customs that surround them have morphed with changing social norms. The greatest transformation, however, relates to the social importance of christening robes, which was ultimately driven by the influences of Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and her contributions to Victorian-era fashion. The creation and subsequent use of the christening gown made for Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901) paved the way for the cultivation of babies’ fashion in England and America, which developed an aesthetic catered to the public by fashion magazines. The emergence of ready-made christening robes further developed this aesthetic and made it accessible to families from various social and economic backgrounds. This thesis aims to show that the social values and ideals that emerged from the Victorian era (1837-1901) were responsible for the importance of christening robes and how they were crucial to the presentation of babies to society.

Sophia Vandevander is a senior majoring in Art History at William & Mary. Her research areas include material culture, genealogical studies, and Holocaust memory. Her thesis addresses children's material culture, fashion, and Victorian-era society.

Jonathan Wilkins, "Developing Politics While Detained: Examining Juvenile Incarceration as a Politically Socializing Agent"

Advisor: Dr. Mackenzie Israel-Trummel

Government

Incarceration has historically complicated how many people post-release experience government and politics. From being denied the right to vote to disabling their voice in politics, people in positions of power have not always had ex-convicts’ best interest. Many scholars have examined how those with a prison history are barred from various political avenues. However, the scholarship largely focuses on how those incarcerated in adulthood view their political environment and omits its difference with juvenile incarceration. My thesis explores how those formerly incarcerated in their youth experience government and politics compared to those formerly incarcerated in adulthood. I argue that since youth are introduced to an anti-democratic system at a younger age, they are more likely to maintain negative sentiments about government and politics versus those incarcerated later in life.

Jonathan Wilkins is a senior majoring in Government and History at William & Mary. His research areas include government, politics, criminal justice, and the carceral state. His thesis explores incarceration's impacts on democratic participation.

Madeleine Assaad, "Investigating Viral Impact on Nitrogen Cycling Through Phage-host Interactions in Soil Microcosms"

Advisor: Dr. Kurt Williamson

Biology 

Fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen into plant-available ammonium and nitrate by soil bacteria is an essential component of the nitrogen cycle. Viruses infecting bacteria (bacteriophages) impact bacterial activity and may affect these processes, yet their role in nitrogen cycling is largely unknown. To investigate the potential impact of phages on nitrogen cycling, we designed a series of microcosm experiments with soil denitrifier Bacillus subtilis and its phage, HA. First, to determine baseline B. subtilis nitrate metabolism, we performed microcosm experiments in broth with nitrate as the sole nitrogen source. By measuring broth nitrate concentrations over time, we found that B. subtilis uses nitrate in low-oxygen conditions. Adding phage to B. subtilis cultures in subsequent microcosms resulted in a 5-fold decrease in broth nitrate concentrations over two weeks. In preparation for synthetic soil microcosm experiments, we enumerated viable bacteria in soil mix after one and two sterilizations. While a single sterilization was insufficient to prevent B. subtilis spore growth, CFUs were reduced by 75% after a second sterilization. Future plans include generating doubly-sterilized soil microcosms, inoculation with B. subtilis and HA, and collection of time series data to analyze changes in nitrate concentrations, CFUs, and PFUs. Current predictions of phage impacts on nitrogen cycling are highly speculative. This project will be among the first generating definitive data on their role, ultimately promoting a greater understanding of nutrient cycling in microbial communities.

Madeleine Assaad is a senior majoring in Biology at William & Mary. Her research interests include virology, microbial ecology, and environmental microbiology. Her undergraduate honors thesis focuses on bacteriophages and their impact on nitrogen cycling in soils. 

Miranda Bate, "Acetone metabolism and the Acetone Carboxylase Operon in Helicobacter pylori"

Advisor: Dr. Mark Forsyth

Biology

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that colonizes the human gastric mucosa and is a leading cause of gastric cancer and peptic ulcers. Acetone, a chemical molecule known as a ketone body, may accumulate in the human stomach during starvation conditions. Due to the ancient association between H. pylori and the human stomach, and the frequency of starvation during human evolution, we speculate that the ability of H. pylori to metabolize acetone as a source of carbon provided an advantage to the survival of this bacterium. Acetone carboxylase is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of acetone in H. pylori and is encoded by the operon, a cluster of three genes, acxABC. The expression of this operon is regulated by each of the three of H. pylori’s two component systems (TCSs) and one of the known orphan response regulators. acxA encodes a subunit of acetone carboxylase which catalyzes the conversion of acetone to acetoacetate during acetone metabolism which ultimately produces acetyl CoA for the TCA cycle. The extensive regulation of acxA and increased colonization of murine stomachs due to acetone carboxylase suggests the critical importance of acetone carboxylase to H. pylori. We hypothesize that acetone increases acxA expression in H. pylori allowing the bacterium to utilize acetone as an alternative source of carbon. My research aims to investigate acetone metabolism in H. pylori and elucidate the effect of acetone on acxA expression. Research into genes, such as acxA, that are critical for H. pylori colonization may aid in developing novel therapeutics.

Miranda Bate is a Senior Honors student majoring in Biology. Her research areas include Two Component Systems and gene expression in the bacterial pathogen Helicobacter pylori. Her thesis investigates acetone metabolism in H. pylori.

Amber Cantú, "Modeling Group 3 Medulloblastoma: Describing the Interconnected Pathway of the Most Common Pediatric Brain Cancer"

Advisor: Dr. Randolph Coleman

Neuroscience / Chemistry 

Group 3 Medulloblastoma is one of the most common pediatric brain cancers. Affecting children normally under the age of 10, this cancer has the worst prognosis of the medulloblastoma group. Current treatments use radiation to afflict the cancer, however no cure has been found. This project aims to model one of the many pathways that are currently being investigated in Group 3 Medulloblastomas which may be used to synthesize future treatments. Specifically, showing the interconnections between various precursors of BCL-xL, an antiapoptotic protein, and how modulation of these factors influences the progression of the disease. Scientific databases were used to find previous research articles that were analyzed for qualitative and quantitative information. In silico modeling and simulating biochemical processes were performed by CellDesigner and COPASI, respectively. These methods were used to represent and quantify the overall pathway. It was found that BCL-xL inhibits the formation of the BAX pore and is modulated by NRL and its precursors OTX2 and CRX as well as the IL-6 pathway. This project hopes to show that increased concentrations of intracellular OTX2, NRL, and intercellular IL-6 lead to increased BCL-xL concentrations and promote BCL-xL binding with the BAX pore subunits, inhibiting apoptosis. This pathway supports previous hypotheses for Group 3 Medulloblastoma cancer cell progression by modeling the biochemical pathway that prevent cell death. Future treatments may be aimed at shunting the progression of the cancer by inhibiting precursors to BCL-xL. 

Amber Cantú is a senior majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry at William & Mary. Her research focuses on computational modeling of disease pathways. Her thesis looks at the numerous proteins involved in the progression of Group 3 Medulloblastoma, one of the most common pediatric brain cancers. She hopes to provide an overview of the disease and quantitatively show how different treatment options shunt the growth of the cancer. 

Abigail DeCesare, "An Investigation of the Habitat Preferences of Aeschynomene virginica and a GIS Model of Potential Occurrences in Virginia"

Advisor: Dr. Doug DeBerry

Biology

This project aimed to better understand the habitat preferences of the threatened species Aeschynomene virginica (sensitive joint-vetch) in order to inform the development of conservation strategies for this plant. Data were collected on a population of Ae. virginica near Jamestown Settlement. Salinity, tidal patterns, soil composition, canopy cover, surrounding vegetation, and herbivory were examined, and the results were compared to existing literature. Ae. virginica was found in soil with less organic matter and a greater proportion of sand compared to the surrounding marsh. The sand is thought to have originated from sediment that was eroded out of a nearby stream channel receiving runoff from an upslope storm drain, indicating that habitat for this species may be created by disturbances like stormwater runoff. Canopy and vegetation data were in agreement with existing research in demonstrating that Ae. virginica thrives in open areas with low competition. The data were also used in the construction of a GIS model designed to locate likely habitat for Ae. virginica in the state of Virginia. This project highlights habitat qualities and areas of Virginia where conservationists should look to locate Ae. virginica.

Abby DeCesare is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry at William & Mary. Her research interests are conservation, ecology, and botany, with a particular focus on plant ecology. Her thesis investigates the habitat of a protected plant in Virginia and is designed to inform future conservation efforts for the plant. She has also authored a paper on native and invasive turtle populations in Lake Matoaka that will be published in a scientific journal this spring.

Alexander Ferentinos, "A Combination of Environmental and Landscape Variables Drive Movement and Habitat use in Two Anaxyrus sp. in the Eastern Coastal Plain"

Advisor: Dr. Matthais Leu

Biology

Amphibians are one of the most endangered taxa of animals, threatened by stressors such as disease and habitat loss. To prevent habitat loss, an understanding of a species’ movements is required. In this study, we examined the movement patterns of two species of toads inhabiting Eastern deciduous forest during the non-breeding season, the American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus) and the Fowler’s Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri). Based on data collected in 2017, 2018, and 2023, I estimated the mean migration distance of toads from their breeding location, the environmental variables (such as rain, temperature, humidity) that related to distance traveled, the site fidelity of toads, and what kinds of habitat toads select for. Site fidelity is defined as whether an organism returns to a specific location more than would be expected by chance. Additionally, I also explored differences in two tracking methods, which were the more expensive and reliable radiotelemetry and the more inexpensive harmonic direction finding (HDF) method. Our initial findings are that both species exhibit site fidelity, radiotelemetry and HDF detected similarly large distances, and both methods tracked individuals for a similar amount of time. My research will provide crucial information to conserve these two species and frog species in general.

Alex Ferentinos is a senior majoring in Biology and Environmental Science. His research areas include conservation and animal movement. His thesis addresses the question of non-breeding movements in two species of local toads.

Taylor Fischer, "'Thirst for the Blood of America': Propaganda and Violence during the American Revolution"

Advisor: Dr. Nicole Dressler

History

This honors thesis explores patriot propaganda created during the American Revolution to investigate how printers depicted violence. I am particularly interested in the significant role of enslaved and indigenous people in print culture and propaganda. I am analyzing how patriot propagandists used violence as a tool and how these narratives enhanced the patriot cause. Many scholars’ studies of violence and propaganda, including that of Holger Hoock and Patricia Bradley, allude to how narratives of violence incited fear, mobilized support, and formulated identity. I center violent propaganda to gain a greater understanding of the rhetorical power of fear upon groups that experienced and carried out violence. Drawing on newspapers, pamphlets, political cartoons, and broadsides, this study investigates the critical themes to identify how propagandists utilized violence as a motif. I argue that printers used imagery of violence to portray Black and indigenous people as extraordinarily brutal. Patriot propagandists utilized perceived British alliances with these two groups to mark British forces as violent outsiders. The first two chapters concentrate on individualized conceptions of violence, such as scalping and expand to societal concerns, such as slave insurrections. The third chapter analyzes how patriot leaders integrated these narratives into founding documents and ideologies. My study complicates the existing historiography by examining the role of marginalized people in patriot propaganda and how their violent racialization shaped America’s national identity.

Taylor Fischer is a senior majoring in History at William & Mary. Her research areas include early America, African American History, Indigenous history, print culture, and public history. Her thesis addresses propaganda and violence during the American Revolution. 

Hudson Fortney, "English in Taiwan: Neoliberalism, Racialization, and the Urban/Rural Divide in Language Education, Attitudes, and Policy"

Advisor: Dr. Andrea Wright

Anthropology 

In September of 2021, the government of Taiwan implemented the Bilingual 2030 policy which plans, as the name suggests, to make the next generation of the island into bilingual speakers of Mandarin Chinese and English, transforming its professional sector as such in order to encourage international economic cooperation in Taiwan. The policy also aims to “[help] Taiwan’s workforce connect with the world,” and will be carried out mainly through an overhaul of the island’s education system (National Development Council of the Republic of China). The study of English has been mandated in Taiwan long before Bilingual 2030, the recent policy has only intensified it. During my time in Taipei as a student of Mandarin and on the rural northern coast as an intern, I encountered many different and varying manifestations of the English language and its education. This research investigates the uneven realities which come out of such a situation, such as the racialization of English, those who can speak it, and those who can teach it; the effects of and on environmental factors like infrastructure, physical embodiments of language, and the urban/rural divide; and various actors’ opinions and actions towards these neoliberal policies. It draws on ethnographic observation in the capital of Taipei and in various rural localities within New Taipei City, open ended interviews with both Taiwanese and foreign English teachers and Taiwanese English students, and my own experiences interning at an educational non-profit organization on Taiwan’s northern coast. 

Hudson Fortney is a senior majoring in Anthropology and Chinese Language and Culture at William & Mary. His research interests include (cross cultural) education, environmental anthropology, linguistic justice, queer theory, and racialization. His thesis looks at English as a second language education, language policy and planning, and language attitudes in Taiwan. Hudson is passionate about public education and non-profit work, and plans to continue studying and working in these fields.

Madeleine Harris, "Neurogenesis: Impact of Mitochondrial Activity on Neural Progenitor Cell Differentiation via TFAM Upregulation"

Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Bestman

Neuroscience

Neurogenesis is the process of neuron formation from division and differentiation of brain stem cells, also known as neural progenitor cells (NPC). This project explores neurogenesis through upregulation of the gene for mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) in Xenopus laevis. In vivo imaging is done over a three-day period and analyzed to compare the NPC vs neuron levels in TFAM upregulated tadpoles compared to control tadpoles. TFAM is a nuclear encoded gene that acts in the mitochondria on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) compaction and transcription initiation. TFAM promotes the expression of several mtDNA genes, including those that lead to the subunits of oxidative phosphorylation, thus making it involved in mitochondrial ATP production. The project hypothesizes that increased mitochondrial activity via upregulating TFAM leads to premature differentiation of NPCs into neurons rather than dividing into more NPCs. The process of NPC differentiation is fairly understood, but still lacks knowledge of some key mechanisms. Several studies have implicated mitochondrial activity and biogenesis in neurogenesis. The role of TFAM in mtDNA copy number and mitochondrial biogenesis is highly disputed, with a range of conflicting evidence. Understanding mechanisms of neurogenesis is important to combating neurodevelopmental disorders like microcephaly. Thus, this project aims to get a clearer understanding of TFAM’s role and the mitochondrial role in neurogenesis.

Madeleine Harris is a senior majoring in neuroscience and minoring in biochemistry at William & Mary. She is especially interested in molecular neuroscience, and her thesis is on understanding neurogenesis at a molecular level. She is also interested in science communication and has articles published by The Flat Hat, the Pulitzer Center, and the National Association of Science Writers.

Mia Houdek, "Significance of lysine acetylation in ArsR of Helicobacter pylori"

Advisor: Dr. Mark Forsyth

Biology 

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterial pathogen that has co-evolved with humans for thousands of years. This pathogen infects the mucus layer within the stomach and may subsequently cause peptic ulcer disease or gastric cancer. To survive in the acidic environment of the stomach, H. pylori produces the enzyme urease, which then converts host urea to ammonia to mitigate acidity. The expression of urease is regulated by a mechanism known as a Two-Component System (TCS). Two proteins, a histidine kinase, ArsS, and a response regulator, ArsR, work together through a series of phosphorylation events to activate genes that assist with H. pylori survival in the stomach. This project focuses on potential lysine acetylation of highly conserved lysine residues in ArsR that we hypothesize affect its function as a transcription factor and thus affect H. pylori colonization of the stomach.

Mia Houdek is a senior from Richmond, Virginia majoring in Biology at William & Mary. Her research focuses on the bacterial gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. Her thesis investigates the potential presence of lysine acetylation in the ArsR protein of the Two-Component System (TCS) of H. pylori and its subsequent effects on gene transcription. 

Ian Krajna, "The role of FadA in acetone metabolism in H. pylori"

Advisor: Dr. Mark Forsyth

Biology 

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that infects the stomach and is the most common source of gastric cancer.  H. pylori has colonized the human stomach for tens of thousands of years, thus this relationship has endured years of starvation conditions in humans. In such conditions, the human physiology switches from using dietary sugars such as glucose as primary energy sources to breaking down stored fatty acids which produce ketone bodies such as acetone as an energy source. H. pylori needs carbon/energy sources to survive as well.  We hypothesize that H. pylori benefits from an inherent ability to metabolize acetone as it is concentrated in the stomach during starvation conditions. FadA and ScoA/ScoB are genes that encode enzymes (that help transform acetone into Acetyl-CoA, a molecule that can be used to create ATP - a type of free energy. These genes are regulated by three two component systems (TCS), a system that allows the bacteria to sense and respond to the environment. We hypothesize that acetone acts as a signaling molecule, binding to a TCS, and increasing the transcription of the FadA, ScoA, and ScoB genes, ultimately synthesizing more of the proteins that convert host acetone into a  Acetyl- CoA molecule that can be used as a carbon and energy source for this pathogenic bacterium. We test this hypothesis by quantifying mRNA levels which represent the extent of transcription of FadA, ScoA, and ScoB in environments with standard physiological concentrations of acetone and higher concentrations of acetone to simulate the “starvation conditions”. 

Ian Krajna is a senior majoring in Biology at William & Mary. Ian Krajna's microbiology research aims to contribute to the understanding of H. pylori's pathogenicity and possible inroads into novel therapeutics. 

Yun Ma, "A Unified Synthesis of Onychine, Eupolauridine, and 1-Azafluoranthene via Cyloaddition/Cycloreversion of a Shared Precursor"

Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Scheerer

Co-Author: V. Lehman

Chemistry 

Onychine, eupolauridine, and 1-azafluoranthene are three structurally related polycyclic alkaloids. Each of these molecules possesses unique biological activity and has potential pharmaceutical applications. This project aims to develop a concise and efficient unified synthesis of all three molecules from a shared 1,2,4-triazine precursor through a key inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder/retro-Diels-Alder reaction. The total synthesis of onychine, and progress toward the synthesis of eupolauridine and 1-azafluoranthene will be described. 

Yun Ma is a senior majoring in chemistry, whose research mainly focuses on organic synthesis. His thesis will elaborate the total synthesis of onychine, and progress toward the synthesis of eupolauridine and 1-azafluoranthene.

Celeste Phillips, "DNA Methylation and the Regulatory RNA HPnc4160 in Helicobacter pylori"

Advisor: Dr. Mark Forsyth

Biology 

Beyond the medical relevance of the gastric pathogen H. pylori, this bacterium is an important model of bacterial transcriptional regulation. hsdM1, a H. pylori DNA methyltransferase gene, exists in an operon downstream of the restriction endonuclease gene hsdR1 whose expression is dictated by phase variation mediated by a repetitive DNA sequence. Using qRT-PCR, I demonstrated that phase off hsdR1 mutants have drastically reduced expression of hsdM1. Our lab identified DNA methylation sites in H. pylori strain 26695 using a hsdM1 deletion mutant to determine the DNA motif methylated by this enzyme. Traditional epigenetic theory holds that methyl groups physically block RNA polymerase access to a promoter and reduce transcription. However, through qRT-PCR, I have shown that transcript levels of putative HsdM1 gene targets do not change in hsdR1 phase variation mutants, suggesting there may be additional complexity to this system. Our methylome determination also revealed a RCGDAD motif methylated at a high level throughout the H. pylori genome by an unknown methyltransferase. Two of these methylated motifs are near the 5’ end of a gene encoding the regulatory RNA HPnc4160, which regulates H. pylori virulence genes. I generated H. pylori mutants that cannot be methylated at one or both sites. My qRT-PCR results show that there is virtually no expression of HPnc4160 when the downstream site cannot be methylated. This suggests that methylation of this gene, and therefore expression of the responsible DNA methyltransferase, may be important factors in H. pylori pathogenesis.

Celeste Phillips is a senior majoring in Biology and Environmental Science at William & Mary. Her research interests include bacterial gene regulation and regulatory RNAs. Her thesis investigates the effects of DNA methylation and the regulatory RNA HPnc4160 on gene expression in the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. In the future, Celeste hopes to continue microbiology research and one day become a professor in the field.

Julia Rashid, "Exercise-Induced Production of BDNF Exhibits Neuroprotective Effects"

Advisor: Dr. Randolph Coleman

Neuroscience 

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an endogenously produced neurotrophin that modulates neuronal survival, plasticity, differentiation, and health of synapses in the central nervous system. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD), disrupt these vital processes, marked by progressive loss of neuronal structure or function and the abnormal accumulation of specific proteins detrimental to brain health. The diminished expression of BDNF can further exacerbate these dysfunctions in neurodegenerative diseases. These diseases require effective therapies to manage the challenges faced by those affected. One prominent therapy involves the use of BDNF. Notably, physical exercise emerges as a protective intervention, exhibiting synaptic and neural protection, with BDNF serving a key role in facilitating exercise-induced improvements in cognitive function. This paper explores the mechanisms by which exercise upregulates BDNF production and its impacts on the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. 

Julia Rashid is a senior at William & Mary, where she is double majoring in Neuroscience and Hispanic Studies. Neurodegenerative diseases and molecular biology are her research interests. Her thesis discusses the neuroprotective effects of exercised-induced production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Jacob Schapiro, "Donning the Yellow Hat: the Blurring of Religious Identities in the Italian Inquisition"

Advisor: Dr. Lu Ann Homza

History 

For my honors thesis, I am examining records from the Italian Inquisition. I traveled to Florence last summer and met with Dr. Mancuso, a scholar of Italian-Jewish history. With his help, I located a record, now online, from the Florentine Inquisition, about an affair between a Jewish man and a Christian woman. I have also been examining a series of processes, or investigations, from Venice, concerning Jewish-Christian relations. Those documents detail the mutability of religious identity, and the lengths that the authorities went to to police religious boundaries. The documents from the Florentine Inquisition are digitized, while those from the Venetian Inquisition come from a collected volume. I plan to use the various cases that I have to conduct microhistories, taking the details I have to explore the society that produced, and then prosecuted, these people. Some of my research questions are: How might the authorities, both Christian and Jewish, have reacted to the transgression of religious boundaries, sexual or otherwise? Why might people have switched their religious identities? What were the reactions of those who dealt with these ‘religious renegades?' So far, my documents demonstrate a fairly large degree of societal contact between Jews and Christians in this era, with the complicity—or at least, knowledge—of neighbors and other associates. In response, the authorities usually investigate further, but do not always arrest someone. Perhaps those in power, though they would not admit it, were willing to turn a blind eye to certain crimes.

Jacob Schapiro is a senior majoring in History and minoring in Religious Studies at William & Mary. His research areas include Jewish-Christian relations in early modern Europe. He has published his poetry in the WM Gallery. At school, he is a part of the Fencing Club, Quizbowl, History Club, and Hillel. 

Claudia Smith, "Building Brilliance: Developing an iOS App for Insight and Analysis with Britescope's Multi-Dimensional Capabilities"

Advisor: Dr. Ran Yang

Physics 

Millions of intubations are performed in the United States each year. This life-saving procedure, in which a tube is used to secure a patient’s airway and provide oxygen flow is a cumbersome process that takes dozens of experiences for care-providers to master. In the pre-hospital setting, paramedics face uniquely difficult situations which lead to success rates as low as 40%. BriteScope’s goal is to provide an intubation solution with a streamlined video laryngoscope hardware component and an AI-enhanced software component. In this talk, the software solution is proposed. Based on feedback from dozens of interviews with emergency medicine experts, an iOS application is being developed to target two key pain points: insufficient training and time-consuming documentation procedures. By interfacing with BriteScope’s hardware, the app provides real-time, enhanced video streaming to guide clinicians through intubations. The software automatically saves video and audio feed, improving on the time-consuming manual transfer demanded by current, unconnected hardware and software solutions. The app provides a centralized location for providers to view videos and documentation. User-interface designs, front-end implementation, and memory-efficient back-end data-handling achieved with Figma, Swift, and Swift UI will be discussed. A cloud-based approach is also proposed for the storage and protection of the sensitive patient data captured by the device. Additionally, considerations for integrating BriteScope with current medical system workflows will be presented.

Claudia Smith is a senior majoring in physics with an engineering physics and applied design concentration and a minor in mathematics. Her research areas include software development, user interface and experience design, and AI in emergency medicine and healthcare. Her honor's thesis proposes a software solution for a challenging medical procedure. 

Emma Smith, "Labeling Density and Power Dependence of Blinking-Based Multiplexing: Optimizing A New Tool for Single-Molecule Imaging"

Advisor: Dr. Kristin Wustholz

Co-authors: G. DeSalvo, S. Haile

Chemistry 

Multicolor super-resolved imaging is a powerful technique for visualizing biological structures with unprecedented levels of detail. However, in order to differentiate various fluorophores, they must exhibit distinct emission spectra, thus limiting the set of available probes and adding to experimental demands. To overcome these issues, the Wustholz lab has developed blinking-based multiplexing (BBM), a novel method for differentiating spectrally overlapped emitters such as rhodamine 6G (R6G) and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QD) based solely on their characteristic blinking behavior. Blinking is defined as fluctuations in emission intensity of fluorophores while undergoing continuous photoexcitation via a laser. We previously demonstrated BBM to be effective on a glass substrate at ~1 µW excitation power using emitter concentrations of ~1 nM, but the impact of imaging conditions on classification accuracy are unknown. Here, we investigate the impact of excitation power and labeling density on BBM performance for QD and R6G emitters using a confocal microscope. We demonstrate that excitation power can be tuned to optimize classification accuracy from ~83% at 0.8 µW to ~93% at 1.2 µW. To mimic typical imaging conditions, we evaluated BBM at increased labeling densities. Although classification accuracies of ~93% are maintained, differentiation may be artificially enhanced by aggregation of QD at high concentrations. These observations motivate ongoing super-resolved imaging experiments with different fluorophores and higher labeling densities using BBM. 

Emma Smith is a senior majoring in Chemistry at William & Mary. Her research areas include physical chemistry, single-molecule studies, and laser spectroscopy. Her thesis addresses the optimization of a novel technique for performing multicolor super-resolved imaging called blinking-based multiplexing (BBM). 

Megha Vasudevan, "We need action”: Transitivity and pronouns in politicians’ legitimacy stance towards police brutality and protests for racial justice"

Advisor: Dr. Iyabo F. Osiapem

Linguistics

In May 2020, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were two African American people killed by police officers in acts of police brutality. Thus, in 2020, issues of race and police brutality became very salient, and there were nation-wide protests for racial justice. Utilizing the linguistic framework stance, I examine the political stances of Donald Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D). Both Biden and Trump were running for President of the United States in 2020, and I analyze their tweets on the social media platform Twitter (currently known as X). I use discourse analysis to analyze two topics—the violent acts of police brutality and the nation-wide protests. Specifically, I conduct a transitivity and pronoun analysis to examine what ideological stance Biden and Trump take to legitimize or delegitimize the acts of police brutality and the protests. In my analysis, I examine how Trump and Biden represent the specific events of police brutality and the protests using either material process clauses (clauses representing an action) or relational clauses (clauses representing a relationship), and what their usage of us vs them pronouns entails. This analysis shows how politicians build and address communities in online spaces and take up ideological positions by choosing specific clause structures and pronouns. Through this study, I seek to offer a clearer understanding of discursive practices that presidential candidates employ to legitimize their ideologies in election years on social media during major national issues.

Megha Vasudevan is a senior double majoring in Linguistics and English. She has been part of the Discourse Analysis @ William & Mary Linguistics lab for the last 2.5 years. Her areas of interest include sociolinguistics and how language functions in society. She has previously done fieldwork on the emotional attitude of college students towards their migraines. Her thesis addresses how politicians take up ideological positions about major national issues on social media. 

Jingzhi Zhao, "A Modeling Project on Opioids’ Effects on Mice Respiration"

Advisor: Dr. Christopher Del Negro

Linguistics: Neuroscience

Opioids have long been used as a pain killer in many medical conditions; however, its use is sometimes accompanied by respiratory depressive side effects. To potentially shed light on controlling the risk of opioid usage and reducing the respiratory side effects, this project aim to further investigate the underlying mechanism of how opioids interact with breathing neuron populations in mice through computational modeling. 

Previous studies found that the opioid interaction is driven by minimum potassium flows, which is not enough to cause hyperpolarization and depress breathing on its own. However, respiratory depressions still happen after opioid use, indicating the potential influence of neuronal connectivity. Moreover, evidenced by previous experiments, neurons within the preBotC (the breathing center in brain stem) can be categorized into opioid and non-opioid receptors, where the opioid receptors make up at maximum 30% of the whole population. 

Asking the question of how this small proportion of opioid receptors can slow down the activity of the entire breathing system, we attempt to build a computational model of the two neuron populations and test out the numerical range of the activity parameters and neuronal weights that allows proper coupling between the two populations. Once the complete model is build and tested, it could guide further explorations of the opioids mechanisms on respiration in experimental conditions. 

Jingzhi Zhao is a senior majoring in Neuroscience at William & Mary. Her research project lies in the field of respiratory neuroscience, where she studies how opioids effects respiration in a computational model.

Orhan Acikgoz, "Potential Use of Molecular Logic Gates for the Tuning of Dynamic Range in Fluorescent Probes"

Advisor: Dr. Christopher Abelt

Chemistry 

Panel: Honors 4, Thursday, 12:00 PM, James Room

The first molecular logic gates were created in the 90s; integrating such Fogic gates into fluorescent chemosensors allowed for the detection of different types of ions in solution. In this study, we have developed a novel usage of molecular logic gates by having two of the same type of binding sites. The two binding sites on a fluorophore that both detect Na+ ions led to an increase in the detection limit compared with the chemosensor with a single binding site. Since the two sodium binding sites create an AND logic gate, two sodium ions are needed to generate a fluorescence response whereas the other one only requires a single ion. Tuning the chemosensor dynamic range is an important problem that must be overcome for developing useful chemosensors, and our technique can be used to shift the dynamic range without the need for novel ligands and binding sites.

Orhan Acikgoz is a senior chemistry major at William & Mary. His area of interest focuses on fluorescent compounds and their properties. His thesis explores the potential of integrating molecular logic gates for the tuning of the detection limit of chemosensors.

Cypress Ambrose, "Protecting the Eastern Diamondback Terrapin: A Discussion of Bycatch Reduction Device Use"

Advisor: Dr. Randoph Chambers

Biology 

Panel: Honors 1, Thursday, 9:30 AM, Tidewater Room

The diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only estuarine turtle native to Virginia, and is considered to be a species of environmental concern. Terrapins frequently become trapped and drown as bycatch in crab pots used in the commercial and recreational blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fishery. Many states on the east coast, including Maryland, North Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Florida, have introduced and passed legislation to reduce the capture and drowning of terrapins in these traps. A wealth of evidence supports the use of inexpensive bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) that can be attached to the entrances of these traps, which leads to a marked decrease in terrapin bycatch while not reducing crab catch dramatically. Virginia is the only mid-Atlantic state with a prominent crabbing fishery to not implement legislation requiring the use of BRDs, owing largely to pushback from a strong lobby of commercial crabbers. To examine potential alternates to BRDs, we designed a prototype of a “terrapin release hatch,” which was constructed to allow terrapins to escape traps and to retain crabs. Based on results of an eight-week study completed in Yorktown, Virginia, the prototype was unsuccessful, and further tests will be required to develop a functional terrapin release hatch. An important focus moving forward will be the ongoing absence of legislation surrounding BRDs in Virginia, and the possible pursuit of federal legislation concerning terrapin conservation via BRD use, to ensure that all crabbers in all states are held to the same standard.

Cypress Ambrose is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry at William & Mary. She aspires to continue her education in veterinary school after graduation. Her thesis involves field study, conservation, and comparison of legislation.  

Kevin Aviles, "Meditation, Education, and Transformation:  An Empirical Test of Students’ Experiences in a Meditation and Wellness Course"

Advisor: Dr. Adrian Bravo

Psychological Sciences

Panel: Honors 5, Thursday, 3:30 PM, Tidewater Room

This thesis will interrogate the relationship between French museums, activists, and the government as it relates to postcolonial restitution of cultural heritage, often stolen from its country of origin under uncertain or exploitative circumstances. I will seek to understand 1) how museums address colonialism and restitution in their public rhetoric, 2) the legal and geopolitical barriers to restitution, and 3) the role of activists. I will consider each object as an entity, acknowledging that its existence in a French museum has changed its fundamental meaning in a uniquely colonialist manner. Activists thus formulate their responses and arguments for restitution in the dual context of the object’s original meaning and its new meaning in French museums. I hypothesize that restitution is currently driven by the wishes of those in power, but that France is currently experiencing a watershed moment in the restitution debate. As public awareness of repatriation grows, I argue elite control over cultural objects and museums will wane, ushering in a “great return” of objects and a shift in power of the global cultural landscape.

Kevin Aviles is a senior double majoring in Psychology & Neuroscience at William & Mary. His research areas and thesis address the interplay between meditation, education, and psychological wellbeing. 

Julia Bowers, "Ceramics of Chthonic Cults: A Comparative Analysis of Pottery from Mediterranean Chthonic Sanctuaries"

Advisor: Dr. Jessica Paga

Classical Studies

Panel: Honors 8, Friday, 2:00 PM, James Room

This thesis examines the ritual practices of chthonic cults across the ancient Mediterranean by studying the ceramic evidence from each site. The sites that are discussed are Atsipadhes Korakias and Ayios Yeoryios sto Vouno (Crete and Kythera), Eleusis and the City Eleusinion (Greece), Pyrgi (Italy), Abydos (Egypt), and Tavira (Iberia). These sites cover a broad geographical range of the ancient Mediterranean and reflect the religious practices of different cultures, including the Minoans, Greeks, Egyptians, Etruscans, and Romans. By examining sites across a broad geographic range, I show the interconnected nature of the ancient Mediterranean and the influences different peoples had on one another. I also look at a variety of geographic locations and ritual practices to consider how these cultures interacted within their ritual settings and the shared religious customs of the ancient Mediterranean. In particular, I consider the form, function, and decoration of ceramic vessels from each cult site. Ceramic vessels are significant because they offer evidence for ritual activity that otherwise does not survive in the archaeological record. By examining the pottery from these sanctuaries, I analyze the shared or different ritual practices at each site and look at how these customs influenced each other through patterns of exchange. The evidence from each sanctuary is significant for understanding the diversity of cultural practices in the ancient Mediterranean and understanding the cultural and political interactions between different subcultures in the broader region.

Julia Bowers is a senior majoring in Classical Studies with a concentration in Classical Archaeology at William & Mary. Her research interests include ancient pottery, Etruscan Studies, and trade in the ancient Mediterranean. Her thesis examines contact between different cultures in the Mediterranean through the pottery of cult sites.

Luisa Castro-Meirelles, "Flow Velocity Positively Affects Primary Productivity on a Reef Community in Bermuda"

Advisor: Dr. Randy Chambers

Biology

Panel: Honors 1, Thursday, 9:30 AM, Tidewater 

Primary productivity, or the daily amount of photosynthesis completed over an area, drives all important ecological processes on coral reefs. It is through the organic growth from primary production that benthic autotrophs provide for the heterotrophic organisms higher in the food web. Additionally, primary production provides the energy needed to drive calcification, which in turn maintains the physical structure of the reef. Certain environmental parameters, particularly light availability, coral and algal cover, and water flow velocity affect primary productivity. In experimental flume studies and at organismal scales, flow velocity and productivity are positively correlated. No reports from the current scientific literature however, describe the relationship between in situ productivity and flow velocity at the community scale. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between flow velocity and productivity on a reef community located on Bermuda’s northern rim. Using a combination of flow and oxygen sensors deployed in the field for  several days at a time, this study reveals a positive linear relationship between daily productivity and daily flow velocity for an in-situ community on Bermuda’s northern rim reef. This trend further corroborates the theories that primary productivity is limited by the mass transfer of nutrients to the benthos and the flux of excess oxygen away from the benthos.

Luisa Castro-Meirelles is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Marine Science at William & Mary. Her research exists at the crossroads of these two disciplines focusing on the ecology of coral reef communities. Specifically, she examines the effect of flow velocity on reef productivity in her thesis. She is in the process of drafting her most recent ecological research for publication. 

Jacob Conrod, "Knox as an Edwardian Prophet: Continuity in Rhetoric and Iconography between the Edwardian and Scottish Reformations, 1547-15"

Advisor: Dr. Nicholas Popper

History 

Panel: Honors 4, Thursday, 12:00 PM, James Room 

This honors thesis in history will seek to explore the relationship between John Knox and the Scottish Reformation of the 1560s and the Edwardian Reformation in England from 1547-1553. Through analysis of Knox’s works and letters, official documents, proclamations, and popular publications from the Edwardian era, and other outstanding works from the period such as John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments, I will argue that the particular rhetorical strategies that John Knox employed during his leadership of the Scottish Reformation can be traced back to his brief service in the Church of England during the Edwardian Reformation. In seeking to shore up the legitimacy of the young English monarch, both church and government in the Edwardian era promulgated a vision of the king that tied both his person and his mission intimately to figures from Biblical accounts, marking a break with trends in medieval Catholic iconography that both focused more on the lives of the saints and also elevated the office of the Papacy over that of the monarch. I argue that this neo-Biblical vision of contemporary events in Edwardian England, immortalized during the Marian exile in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, can be credited at least in part to John Knox’s latter-career shift to depicting himself and his mission as one and the same as the Hebrew prophets, and that in this way John Knox himself can be understood as a uniquely Edwardian figure even as he led the Reformation in Scotland a decade and more later. 

Jacob Conrod is a senior majoring in History and Philosophy. His research areas chiefly include the Protestant Reformation, especially the Reformed tradition and the English Reformation. His thesis addresses the influence that John Knox's service in the Church of England under Edward VI had on his later career as the chief Protestant reformer in Scotland. His essay on John Calvin's eucharistic theology interpreted via the Mercersburg school was published in the Veritas Review.

Elizabeth Dell, "Young Women's Diagnostic Experiences in an RVU-Driven Healthcare Market"

Advisor: Dr. Monica Griffin

Interdisciplinary

Panel: Honors 8, Friday, 2:00 PM, James Room

The American diagnostic process is centered on communication. While 46% of American teenagers live with chronic illness, their stories have gone largely unstudied. This project documented chronically-ill young women’s experiences seeking diagnosis and explores relative value units (RVU), a healthcare policy, as a contextual factor in these healthcare experiences. This research asks: What is the timeline of diagnosis for a young woman with a chronic condition? How does this diagnostic process not only impact a patient’s understanding of their illness and treatment plan but also their identity and self-efficacy? What are the varying constraints on this diagnostic process that may impede timely, effective care? This research used three methods: case studies on chronically-ill young women, a literature review of physician experiences related to healthcare payment policy, and an interview of a clinician and educator in pediatric and adolescent medicine. The findings indicated that while seeking care, participants experienced disjointed diagnostic timelines which persistently damaged identity formation and self-efficacy through invalidation, scarce information, and lapses in care. These patient experiences aligned with physician experiences that attribute systemic barriers in the current healthcare system. This project suggests that narrative medicine, an approach for improving the relationship between patient and provider, be considered within a healthcare model reliant on codes and payment schemes for treatment.

Elizabeth Dell is a senior majoring in Public Policy and minoring in English at William & Mary. Her research area is narrative studies with a focus on feminist and disability studies. Her thesis addresses young women's diagnostic experiences. She has published her poetry in The Gallery at William & Mary. 

Anu Desai, "Comparative morphology of Siberian Sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) and Sterlet (A. ruthenus) and their hybrids"

Advisors: Dr. Eric Hilton

Co-authors: C. Dillman, M. Flajšhans

Biology

Panel: Honors 1, Thursday, 9:30 AM, Tidewater

Owing to their earlier age of sexual maturity, more rapid growth rate and overall improved reproductive fitness, hybrid species between sturgeons (Acipenser spp.) have increasingly accounted for a critical mass of the fish reared in captivity for the growing industry surrounding these fishes. In spite of their commercial importance, little information exists regarding the development of these hybrids in comparison to their parent species. The aim of this study is to examine the morphological differences and overall patterns of growth that the hybrids of two purebred sturgeon that are commonly used in aquaculture, the Siberian Sturgeon (Acipenser baerii), and Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), display in relation to both of these parent species. The developmental timing of the pectoral fin, dorsal fin, pelvic fin, and anal fin were quantified along with the relationship between the total length of each individual and the position of the fin, with the goal of testing for morphological hybrid vigor (earlier or accelerated development of critical functional units in the hybrids than in the parent species). While the data did not conclusively support morphological hybrid vigor for all traits, the maternal inheritance pattern that was observed in the developmental timing of the dorsal and pelvic fin in the A. baerii (female) x A. ruthenus (male) cross potentially provided support for a separate hypothesis that has only recently been explored in the literature, stating that A. baerii has a “dominant phenotype,” in turn potentially offsetting any hybrid vigor that would otherwise occur.

Anu Desai is a senior majoring in Biology with a minor in Marine Science. Their research interests include the life history, development and osteology of fishes, which formed the basis of their thesis that focused on patterns of growth in purebred sturgeon and their hybrids. 

Libby Doughty, "The Reproductive Effects of Mercury on Birds: A Meta-Analysis"

Advisor: Dr. Drew LaMar

Co-authors: S. Neuner, N. Yu

CAMS  

Panel: Honors 7, Friday, 12:30 PM, York Room 

Mercury is a ubiquitous pollutant that is commonly found in aquatic food chains, accumulating and increasing in concentration as it goes up the food web. It first accumulates in bacteria, plants, and the creatures that eat them, and ends up in birds and other predators. The biomagnification of mercury is not in question, as there have been countless studies on the accumulation of mercury and the levels of mercury in avian species, but the impacts of mercury on organisms is lacking complete understanding. There is a gap in the scientific literature on the sublethal effects of mercury on birds as they are not generally a part of the aquatic environments that are most frequently subject to direct mercury pollution. However, the aquatic insects that birds consume and bring back to their young often contain mercury and significant levels of mercury have been found in wild bird species. We have gathered all of the available, published literature on the effects of mercury on birds and, for the sake of thoroughness over scope, we have decided to study only the reproductive effects of mercury on birds. To determine whether the entire body of research points to deleterious effects of mercury on bird reproduction, we are performing a meta-analysis of all articles that meet criteria for data reporting. Instead of making conclusions from results of individual studies, we are using data from the qualifying studies (converted into comparable measures), and performing rigorous statistical testing and come to a conclusion on what the realized effect of mercury is on bird reproduction.

Libby Doughty is a senior majoring in Computational and Applied Mathematics and Statistics at William & Mary. She is specializing in the Mathematical Biology track. Her honors thesis focuses on analyzing the effects of mercury on birds by running a meta-analysis. 

Julia Drennan, "Frogs with a Southern Drawl: Maintenance of Species Boundaries Between the Northern & Southern Cricket Frog"

Advisor: Dr. James Tumulty

Biology

Panel: Honors 10, Friday, 2:00 PM, Sadler 257

What is a species? How do they form? And how do they remain distinct from one another? These questions are central to the concept of speciation: the evolution and subsequent maintenance of new species through the divergence of populations. Research on speciation usually concentrates on how female mate choice prevents interspecies matings. Male-male competition also plays an important role in reproduction but is relatively understudied as a mechanism of speciation. The present study investigates how sexual selection via male-male competition contributes to speciation in two local “sibling” species of frogs: northern and southern cricket frogs. A field playback experiment was conducted to discern whether male northern cricket frogs (Acris crepitans) can discriminate between male calls of their own species versus those of the southern cricket frog (Acris gryllus) and modulate their aggressive responses accordingly. A preliminary analysis of the behavioral data shows that A. crepitans males respond aggressively to calls ranging from average calls of their own species to average calls of A. gryllus, notably excluding extreme A. gryllus calls. Overall, anecdotal observations, preliminary results, and ongoing analyses point towards the misinterpretation of some A. gryllus advertisement calls as conspecific aggressive signals or possible character convergence. This research provides insight into the interplay between speciation and competition in two closely related species and evinces how signal recognition might evolve with respect to signal evolution.

Julia Drennan is a senior double majoring in biology and psychology at William & Mary. Her research lies at the intersection between animal behavior, evolution, and ecology, with an emphasis on plasticity. She has presented her work previously at the 2023 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and received an Honors Fellowship for her honors thesis research. Julia has an insatiable curiosity for the natural world and is currently applying to graduate programs in evolutionary biology.

Phillip Ellison, "Breaking Windows and Breaking the Mold: Teaching Economics through Stories in the Tradition of Frédéric Bastiat"

Advisor: Dr. Clyde Haulman

Economics

Panel: Honors 9, Friday, 2:00 PM, York Room

Economics is rarely explained in an entertaining or accessible way, which creates a rift between the voting public, academics, and politicians. Addressing this problem, this project explores a rare exception to the rule: the fables of the 19th-century economist Claude-Frédéric Bastiat. In responding to the policy disputes of his day, Bastiat wrote numerous pamphlets, articles, and books for the voting public. In these, he employed educational and humorous stories to both illustrate economic principles (e.g., opportunity cost) and expose policies as non-sensical (e.g., protectionist tariffs). This project has used economic and historical methodology to understand Bastiat’s vision of a world where accessible economic ideas allow the public to vote for good economic policy. The greater extent of democracy and accessible information today makes this vision even more viable. 

Phillip Ellison is a senior majoring in History and Economics at William & Mary. His research areas include economic intellectual history as well as premodern religious history. His thesis examines the role of narrative in economic pedagogy and methodology through the case of the 19th-century French economist Claude-Frederic Bastiat. He has published his premodern history research in the Noetica Journal at William & Mary. 

Lin Fang, "Construction of a Mycobacterium smegmatis Promoter Library for Therapeutic and Environmental Applications" 

Advisor: Dr. Margaret Saha

Biology 

Panel: Honors 10, Friday, 2:00 PM, Sadler 257

Fast-growing and ubiquitous in soil, Mycobacterium smegmatis has the potential to be a successful host for the emerging field of synthetic biology with both clinical (therapeutics) and environmental (bioremediation) applications. However it is first necessary to identify and analyze M. smegmatis promoters (regulatory elements that control gene expression). Towards this end, we identified, cloned, and characterized 19 M. smegmatis promoters from strong to weak as the initial step to developing M. smegmatis as a fieldable chassis. For each promoter, we assembled a corresponding dual-channel reporter plasmid and quantified its activity using calibrated fluorescence units. Measurements were normalized with background fluorescence and a reference promoter construct. We found differences in promoter strength measurements between this study and the literature, suggesting the importance of standardization. We also captured differential promoter activities under different environments. Promoters likely behave differently in lab settings vs. in soi-mimicking environments, as suggested by comparing the fluorescence ratio across the two conditions, highlighting the necessity of testing in-field. Furthermore, we will characterize these promoters using qRT-PCR to quantify their activity at the transcriptional level. This quantitatively-measured promoter library will allow future investigators to use M. smegmatis as a new synthetic biology host for developing therapeutics for mycobacterial disease and in-field bioremediation. 

Lin Fang is a senior majoring in Biology and CAMS Mathematical Biology at William & Mary. His research interests span synthetic biology and microbiology. His thesis aims to construct a synthetic promoter library for developing Mycobacterium smegmatis as a non-model synthetic biology chassis for environmental and therapeutic applications. 

Terence Flannery, "Theology and Revolution?: Martin Luther's Changing Histography in the German Democratic Republic"

Advisor: Dr. Tuska Benes

History

Panel: Honors 5, Thursday, 3:30 PM, Tidewater

The historiography of Martin Luther in the German Democratic Republic was a complex and fluid process of heritage building with direct influence on how the state positioned itself versus the church.  Martin Luther is a monumental figure in German history and has figured prominently in the construction of German national identity.  When the GDR sought to implement a more Marxist view of society after the Second World War, many elements of the Lutheran identity that existed in the areas that now made up the GDR, had to be renegotiated due to their direct conflict with socialist principles.  The East German state sidelined the Protestant Church due to the Marxist view of religion as the opiate of the masses combined with the church’s collaboration with the Nazi Regime. As the founder of German Protestant thought and a main proponent of collaboration with princely authorities Luther’s status lost standing under the GDR.   However, the relationship between the Lutheran church and the state in the GDR began to shift and by the 1960s the church had integrated itself as a normalized part of socialist society.  With this integration of church and society, then Luther’s importance to the GDR began to become realized.  In this emergent context, Gerhard Brendler penned his 1983 biography, Martin Luther: Theologie und Revolution.  This book would define a new era of historiography in the GDR as Luther changed from a bourgeois villain to a hero of the people.    

Terry Flannery is a senior majoring in History at William & Mary.  His research areas concern German religious history especially the Protestant Reformation and its legacies.  He has presented his research at both the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Symposium and the European Studies and Russian and Post Soviet Studies Conference.     

Megan Fleeharty, "Bringing Synthetic Biology from the Petri Dish to the Soil (Microcosm)"

Advisor: Dr. Margaret Saha

Biology 

Panel: Honors 10, Friday, 2:00 PM, Sadler 257

Soil degradation is an ongoing global crisis.  When soil degrades, food becomes scarce, erosion forces emigration, climate change worsens, and organisms die.  Synthetic Biology has the ability to address many global soil problems, and constructs often must be deployed into the soil to do so.  However, these bioengineered organisms are almost always tested only under typical laboratory conditions, during which cells are grown in nutrient-rich broths and protected from adversaries.  The discrepancy between these unnatural conditions, which allow for exponential growth and bountiful protein production, and the reality of the messy environments bioengineered organisms must be deployed into poses major problems for fieldable synthetic biology.  Major strides must be taken to understand how engineered bacteria perform in the soil so that this challenge can be addressed. This thesis provides foundational data about how bioengineered bacteria survive, spread, and express genes in soil.  Spatial microcosm experiments were conducted with Mycobacterium smegmatis, a ubiquitous soil bacterium, and an associated Mycobacteriophage, Kampy.  Persistence and spread of M. smegmatis and Kampy were assayed across two comparisons:  sterile vs non-sterile soil and plasmid vs genome-integration engineering.  Additionally, RNA- and protein- level expression was measured in soil compared to a flask.  Finally, this thesis has led to the production of important tools for fieldable soil synthetic biology, including a stationary-phase induced circuit as well as a pollutant degradation circuit.

Megan Fleeharty is a senior majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Computational and Applied Mathematics and Statistics.  Her research is in synthetic biology, focused specifically on bioengineering bacteria to address soil degradation.  She competed on William & Mary's international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team for the past two years, most recently as team leader.

Caleb Fulford, "Roads Less Traveled: Abortion, Interstate Commerce,  and the Post-Dobbs Politics of Travel"

Advisor: Dr. Christine Nemacheck

Government 

Panel: Honors 8, Friday, 2:00 PM, James Room 

The increasing emergence of abortion-related interstate travel bans — spatial regulations that prohibit the physical travel of a pregnant woman from one state to another to obtain an abortion procedure or treatment — pits the Dormant Commerce Clause against the exclusive police powers of state governments in a manner not seen since Edwards v. California (1941). The Dormant Commerce Clause prohibits states from passing legislation that discriminates against or imposes undue burdens on interstate commerce, regardless of existing federal regulation. Against the backdrop of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), inconsistency in the application of the Dormant Commerce Clause is inevitable as more states work to outright ban or severely restrict abortion access, a feature of federalism that pervades the Dobbs judgment. Roads Less Traveled analyzes the constitutional standards litigators must apply should an abortion travel case reach the Supreme Court under the Dormant Commerce Clause, first from the perspective of states attempting to restrict interstate travel to obtain an abortion and then from that of fictive challengers to such state statutes. By analyzing dissenting and concurring opinions, lower court judgments, interviews, and legal scholarship, this thesis argues a majority of the Supreme Court would declare abortion-related interstate travel bans unconstitutional, with possibly as many as three conservative jurists joining the liberal bloc. 

Caleb Fulford is a senior double-majoring in Government and American Studies at William & Mary. His scholarship, coursework, and extracurricular activities focus on the nexus between constitutional law and social politics. His thesis analyzes the constitutional standards litigators must apply should an abortion travel case reach the Supreme Court under the Dormant Commerce Clause. Caleb is also the Vice President of Undergraduate Moot Court and works at the Writing Resources Center.

Cassidy Gersten, "Sprouting New Directions for Restoration: Optimizing Viability for Ruppia maritima Plantings"

Advisor: Dr. Randolph Chambers and Chris Patrick

Co-author: A. C. Hall

Biology

Panel: Honors 9, Friday, 2:00 PM, York Room

Submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) form some of the most productive marine ecosystems on Earth, responsible for sequestering carbon, acting as nursery grounds for marine organisms, and stabilizing sediment. The Chesapeake Bay is a historic habitat of SAV, where it plays an important role in ecosystem functioning and economic prosperity. A shift in the dominant SAV species from Zostera marina, a subpolar species, to Ruppia maritima, a global generalist, in the past thirty years due to marine heatwaves has caused an increased interest in the study of this second, more opportunistic species. While seed characteristics and restoration potential are well known and utilized for Z. marina, seed metrics of R. maritima have only been briefly investigated in the past, and seed survival in an ecologically-relevant setting has never been explored. We show that seed fall velocity, used as a proxy for size, has minimal effect on probability of germination; in contrast, cold storage increases germination by 20% - 40% over the course of a year. To assess survival and time to germination, we then quantified germination patterns of two cohorts of seeds from subsequent, separate collection years after being removed from cold storage and planted in sediment. Our findings assert that Ruppia maritima seeds have demonstrable development and germination patterns that can be used in advising future restoration efforts. By expanding our knowledge of Ruppia maritima seed viability, we hope to buffer against future detrimental effects of climate change on SAV in the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.

Cassidy Gersten is a senior majoring in Biology. Their interests include conservation, restoration, and ecology. Her thesis investigates the germination patterns of the seagrass species, Ruppia maritima, present in the Chesapeake Bay. Their research addresses knowledge gaps in this species for selecting the best seeds for restoration efforts.

Robert Gourdie, "Development of Multivalent Bioconjugates Using Unnatural Amino Acids"

Advisor: Dr. Douglas Young

Chemistry

Panel: Honors 1, Thursday, 9:30 AM, Tidewater

It is often advantageous to covalently link small molecules to proteins in a type of chemical reaction known as a bioconjugation. Bioconjugation reactions have many applications, including in materials, cellular imaging, and drug delivery. Thus, developing novel bioconjugation reaction methods provides an important tool for expanding these and new applications. To date, almost all bioconjugation reactions involve only two reaction partners. However, a site-specific, multivalent protein bioconjugate, a protein to which multiple small molecules have been linked at a specific site within the protein’s amino acid sequence, is desirable because it allows for the expansion of functionality of a single conjugate. In order to produce such a bioconjugate, unnatural amino acid (UAA) technology was used to insert site-specific handles for bioconjugation reactions into proteins. Further, a complementary novel bioconjugation reaction sequence was developed to successfully produce the desired multivalent bioconjugate.

Robby Gourdie is a senior studying chemistry at William & Mary. His thesis involves using non-canonical amino acids to develop new ways of synthesizing bioconjugates, which are used for targeted drug delivery in cancer treatment.

Ginny Helmandollar, "“Act as a Strong Advocate…”: An Anthropological Analysis of United States Human Rights Commissions"

Advisor: Dr. Andrea Wright

Anthropology 

Panel: Honors 3, Thursday, 12:00 PM, Tidewater

Human Rights Commissions in the United States generally exist to promote social and systemic equity within their local communities. Although they often carry the same labels, their exact roles within their communities and how they implement those roles is largely inconsistent. Existing literature focuses on the development of Commissions but not the personal experience of individuals associated with these bodies, especially newer Commissions in smaller localities. An anthropological lens helps explore the variation of these institutions’ purposes and conceptions surrounding human rights on a local level. I use ethnographic fieldwork, discourse analysis of human rights documents, and interviews with Human Rights Commission-affiliated participants to examine this subject while anchoring my research in my own work with the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights and Human Rights Commission. This paper will address the causes of burnout observable in many Commissions, factors that contribute to successful Commissions, and how human rights bodies define human rights on a local level. Through this analysis, I seek to offer context and solutions to the issues of impact that some U.S. local-level human rights bodies experience.

Ginny Helmandollar is a senior at William & Mary majoring in Anthropology and Linguistics. She also works as an Intern at the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights and is a student researcher in the Discourse Analysis at William & Mary group. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and human rights. Ginny is passionate about using her research and experience to examine how local human rights institutions organize across the country in her Senior Honors Thesis.

Andrew Hoffman, "The People's House?: Malapportionment and Countermajoritarianism in the House of Representatives"

Advisors: Dr. Larry Evans

Political Science

Panel: Honors 6, Thursday, 3:30 PM, York Room

This is the first study of countermajoritarianism in the House of Representatives. Although the House is considered a majoritarian institution, intrastate malapportionment remained rampant prior to the 1964 Wesberry decision; the three-fifths clause drove systematic antebellum differences in the number of free people in northern and southern House districts; and widespread voter discrimination in the South led to systematically different levels of turnout. Combined, these factors potentialized roll calls in which the chamber’s majority did not actually represent more free individuals, voters, or electoral supporters than the minority. Using three separate measures, I characterize such outcomes as countermajoritarian. I find that before Wesberry, the principle of district population equality went mostly unenforced. Countermajoritarian outcomes were common in the antebellum era, and the turnout and support measures peaked in the twentieth century and fell after the Voting Rights Act. I also examine the prevalence of such outcomes across time, legislative issues, motion types, and motion significance. This study also qualifies modern scholarship on the House: despite valid concerns about gerrymandering, the urban-rural divide, interstate malapportionment, and apportionment equations, the contemporary House is a dramatically more majoritarian institution than at any other point in its history.

Andrew Hoffman is a senior majoring in Government and Public Policy. His research focuses on democracy and American politics, with a particular focus on Congress. His thesis addresses malapportionment and countermajoritarianism across the full history of the U.S. House of Representative.

Rachel Hogue, ""Experimental Philosophy, For Gentlemen and Ladies:" Women, Charity, and Public Science in London 1740-1756"

Advisor: Dr. Julie Richter

History

Panel: Honors 3, Thursday, 12:00 PM, Tidewater 

From 1741-1756, experimental philosopher, Mr. Erasmus King, advertised scientific lectures from his home in Duke’s Court, London for both ladies and gentlemen. Sometime in those same years an anonymous mother won a place for her child through a lottery system at the London Foundling Hospital. When prompted by the orphanage to leave a token with her child, she produced a small piece of metal inscribed with the words “King’s Experimental Philosophy, Duke’s Court.” What that small material object reveals are connections between women, charity, science, and fashion in London’s social history. These connections point to larger eighteenth-century anxieties and acceptance of women’s place in the quickly changing scientific sphere of society. This project addresses the scientific culture of London by reassessing the events of experimental philosophy lectures from the perspective of female audiences, and the project presents new analysis of material culture and letters associated with the home and experiment room of Erasmus King and his wife Elizabeth. This analysis places the material, emotional, and spatial history of women at the forefront of the project. Scientific ideas inundated the eighteenth-century British urban consciousness, and the manifestations of that culture in London were unavoidable, regardless of gender. Therefore, while society did not often offer women a full and authoritative role in this culture, science could weave its way into crucial parts of women’s lives from mundanity to motherhood. 

Rachel Hogue is a senior majoring in History at William & Mary. Her research interests reside primarily in the British Atlantic World, weaving together women's social history, fashion, materiality, and the history of science. Her thesis confronts the overlapping microhistories of a Foundling Hospital token and a London scientific neighborhood. She is published in the W&M Judaic Studies Review and the upcoming Bray School Lab book publication. 

Jack Howell, "Biochemical analysis of SPE-54, a potential tyrosine protein phosphatase

Advisor: Dr. Diane Shakes

Biology 

Panel: Honors 6, Thursday, 3:30 PM, York Room 

Key to the dynamic processes of life are enzymes called kinases and phosphatases. These enzymes catalyze the reversible addition and removal, respectively, of negatively charged phosphate groups. Sperm development in nematodes is coordinated by a set of these enzymes, disruptions in which can cause male infertility. One of these proteins, SPE-54, is a presumed phosphatase necessary for male fertility. Deviations in key amino acid residues suggest that the protein may be unable to remove phosphate groups, perhaps playing another role biologically. To interrogate this function, SPE-54 was grown in human cells and purified using a specialized antibody and protein tag. This purified protein was used in a phosphatase activity assay, examining the effectiveness of SPE-54 at removing phosphate groups from a test molecule substrate.   

Jack Howell is a senior double majoring in Biology and Chemistry. His research interests include cell and molecular biology as well as analytical chemistry. His thesis describes biochemical analysis of a protein required for nematode fertility.

Angela Huang, "Making the Scope Brighter: AI-Critical Optimization of Electronic and Mechanical Hardwares"

Advisor: Dr. Ran Yang

Co-Authors: A. Daniel, J. Merti

Physics

Panel: Honors 2, Thursday, 9:30 AM, James Room 

The BriteScope project aims to develop a revolutionary video laryngoscope integrated with AI and a medical documentation system. The individual research focuses on the AI-oriented optimization of electronic components and 3D CAD (computer-aided design) based on design for manufacturability. The first part includes developing and optimizing a robust power management system. This effort spans battery selection, integration into the circuit, battery percentage indication, rechargeability testing, and battery-saving measures. The second part includes enhancing the compatibility of electronic components and improving overall user-effectiveness through the iterative design of 3D models. This process evolves from a one-piece to a multi-piece design, leading to easy assembly. The modification of critical parts yields improved AI-critical image quality and ergonomic efficiency. This product outperforms current products in the market and is expected to save more lives in emergencies by increasing the success rate of intubations. 

Angela Huang is a senior majoring in Physics (Engineering Physics and Applied Design) and Philosophy at William & Mary. Her research areas include electronic and mechanical engineering. She is completing her thesis in the BriteScope project, which is developing a revolutionary video laryngoscope. Her individual tasks focus on electronics and 3D design. 

Sarah Lage, "The Effects of Female Defendant Physical Attractiveness and Crime Type on Guilt Attributions and Punishment Harshness"

Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Dickter

Psychological Sciences 

Panel: Honors 8, Friday, 2:00 PM, James Room

Given that women in patriarchal societies may be especially prized for their physical appearance rather than their other qualities, as well as salient gender-role stereotypes and the increasing rate of female arrests and incarceration in the United States, the present study examines how the physical attractiveness of female defendants and the type of crime they are accused of impact guilt perception and punishment severity. 300 (n = 300) adult participants and 150 (n = 150) undergraduate participants will be recruited to participate in an online study which will involve reading a vignette describing an alleged crime and viewing a photo of a defendant of either low, average, or high attractiveness. Participants will decide the likelihood of guilt, indicate punishment severity, and justify their judgments. They will complete the Facial Trustworthiness Scale, the Modern and Old-Fashioned Sexism Scales, and answer questions about their experience with the criminal justice system. Two 2x3 ANOVAs, a moderation analysis, and a mediation analysis will be conducted following data collection. It is hypothesized that defendants across attractiveness conditions will be punished more severely for stalking and assault (in relation to other defendants who have been charged with the same crime) than stalking and property damage, but that there will be an attraction-leniency effect exhibited in the attractive defendant condition. Further, it is hypothesized that participant sexism will strengthen these effects, and that defendant facial trustworthiness will mediate these effects.

Sarah Lage is a senior Honors Fellow at William & Mary, majoring in psychology and minoring in Russian language and literature. Her primary research interests concern criminal behavior and psychopathology, as well as the intersection between social psychology and the law. Her thesis explores two variables that may influence juror decision-making in tandem: female defendant physical attractiveness and crime type. She also has experience researching eating behavior, stress, and self-regulation.

Caroline Leibowitz, "Contemporary Witches and Witch Tourism"

Advisor: Dr. Annie Blazer

Religious Studies

Panel: Honors 6, Thursday, 3:30 PM, York Room

The construction of the “witch” as an icon, a foe, or a label adopted by people looking to reject traditional ideas is highly prevalent throughout popular culture. Books, TV shows, and Halloween movies are only a few examples of the many places where witches take center stage, and they certainly draw our attention. The purpose of this thesis is to examine what “witch tourism,” (tours, museum exhibits, theatrical performances, and other forms of entertainment for an audience based on witch trials or modern witchcraft) and commercialization of witchcraft practices (such as charged tarot readings and crystal shops), has on self-identified witches and their relationship to their religion today. While works exist discussing witch trials, and what modern witchcraft looks like today, this thesis looks to fill the gaps and understand the overlap of these two phenomena with firsthand accounts of self-identified witches. The researcher conducted most of the fieldwork over the summer of 2023 when they visited Salem, MA and Wethersfield, CT to experience witch-tourism firsthand and to interview practicing witches. The researcher also conducted fieldwork in Virginia, primarily in the Williamsburg and Richmond areas between 2022-2023. This anthropological study intends to shed light on contemporary witches’ opinions of witchcraft tourism and how, if at all, it has impacted their practices, and how and why this tourism came to be with the goal of better understanding how we view religion and consumerism.

Caroline Leibowitz is a senior majoring in Religious Studies while also pursuing their master's degree in public policy. Their research areas include historic witchcraft trials, colonial Virginian Christianity, and modern witchcraft/alternative religions and/or spiritualities. Their thesis addresses commercialization of witchcraft/alternative religion and historic witch trial-based tourism.

Rowan Levick, "Children’s Ability to Use Word-Learning to Help Differentiate Pre-Obstruent Vowel Length"

Advisor: Dr. Kate Harrigan

Linguistics

Panel: Honors 3, Thursday, 12:00 PM, Tidewater 

While the main indicator for a voiced obstruent is internal voicing, there are several other cues that differ between voiced obstruents and their voiceless counterparts.  These subphonemic cues do not inherently change meaning of a word like internal voicing but aid in differentiation.  One of such cues for voicing of obstruents is lengthening of the preceding vowel.  Previously, 3-5-year-old children have shown the ability to differentiate English words with images based only on pre-obstruent vowel length.  However, during efforts to investigate a possible difference in ability in the pre-obstruent versus a neutral condition, they have not shown accuracy when the words are not known and not associated with different images.  In order to observe a possible difference in the neutral condition, the current experiment reintroduces image association to emphasize vowel length as phonemic.  Due to vowel length's subphonemic properties in English, it seems possible that children (like adults) have increased sensitivity in the pre-obstruent condition.  However, if this differentiated sensitivity exists, it will need to be investigated through other measures to attempt to increase sensitivity in children as image-association at least in this context was ineffective at raising accuracy above chance.  Given that adults and children are performing differently, it is evident that there is some aspect to children’s perceptual development that is not complete, but we do not yet know more specifically what that is.

Rowan Levick is a recent alumn from the William & Mary Winter class of '24 holding a bachelor's degree in Linguistics.  Their thesis demonstrates the possibility of experimentally studying phonological acquisition in older children as well as exploring methods for investigating sensitivity to subphonemic cues.

Isabel Li, "Women's Perceived Attractiveness of Vegan and Vegetarian Men Based on Dietary Motivation"

Advisor: Dr. Catherine Forestell

Psychological Sciences

Panel: Honors 2, Thursday, 9:30 AM, James Room 

Previous research has established that women find vegetarian and vegan men to be less desirable than their omnivorous counterparts. Historically, it has been theorized that this disparity occurs because women are attracted to gender-role conforming, traditionally masculine men. However, there is a lack of research investigating other potential mechanisms that may impact the attractiveness of vegans and vegetarians. The current study exposes omnivorous women to six vignettes depicting omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans to determine whether diet is associated with ratings of masculinity and attractiveness. Additionally, we determined whether common motivations for vegetarianism and veganism, which include animal welfare, environmental concerns, and personal health, moderate women’s ratings. We first hypothesize that women will rate meat-reducing men as less masculine and less attractive than omnivore men. We also hypothesize that women will perceive vegan men and vegetarian men who are motivated by ethical reasons to be less masculine and less attractive relative to men who are motivated by personal health reasons. This study will provide additional insight into the social perceptions of vegetarians and vegans. 

Isabel Li is a senior majoring in Psychology at William & Mary. Her research interests include the development of eating behaviors and the social determinants of diet selection. Her thesis investigates the social perceptions of vegetarians and vegans. 

Izabella Martinez "Plotting the Battlefield: Russia’s Manipulation of Language and Memory to Legitimate Aggression Against Ukraine"

Advisor: Dr. Elena Prokhorova

Co-authors: A. Prokhorov

Russian & Post-Soviet Studies

Panel: Honors 7, Friday, 12:30 PM, York Room

What does Russian news coverage about the ongoing invasion in Ukraine reveal about contemporary methods of propaganda? What can linguistic analysis reveal about Russia’s relationship with Ukraine, as well as other former Soviet nations? In my honors project, I analyze linguistic and visual propaganda techniques used by government-sponsored Russian media in their ongoing information warfare against Ukraine. Through lexical and semantic analysis of political speeches and stories issued by government sponsored media, I examine the propagandistic techniques used by the Kremlin to build legitimacy of its aggression against Ukraine. Building upon the Russian “firehose of falsehood” propaganda model framework proposed by the RAND Corporation, I argue that contemporary Russian media has created a full-scale colonialist newspeak, which media outlets adjust depending on changing goals of the war. Drawing on the research of Russian linguist Alexandra Arkhipova, I analyze such techniques of language manipulation as dysphemisms, neutralization, and euphemisms. I also consider how Russian media have weaponized the collective memory of WW2 to support the invasion. Case studies include speeches by Russian government officials, Telegram channel posts, and news stories by Channel One Russia and RT.  Contrary to what has often been assumed, the propaganda techniques currently used against Ukraine have been prevalent in Russian-sponsored media for years before the beginning of the invasion in 2022. These findings suggest that Russia’s invasion has been in the making for at least a decade.

Izabella Martinez is a senior majoring in Russian & Post-Soviet Studies and Linguistics at William & Mary. Her research areas include media linguistics, language power and identity, nationalism, and social tensions in the post-Soviet sphere. Her thesis addresses disinformation campaigns in Russian media and the power of language as a tool of propaganda.

Julia Mitchell, "Process Modeling of the Neuroprotective Effects of a Plant-Based Diet on Parkinson's Disease"

Advisor: Dr. Randy Coleman

Chemistry

Panel: Honors 9, Friday, 2:00 PM, York Room  

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor symptoms such as tremors, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Recent research suggests an avenue for potential neuroprotection through dietary intervention, specifically the adoption of a plant-based diet. A plant-based diet predominantly comprises foods derived from plants, emphasizing fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts while minimizing or excluding animal products. This study aims to explore the biochemical pathways implicated in PD progression and the impact of dietary choices on these pathways. The following key pathways are emphasized: alpha-synuclein aggregation, the blood-brain barrier crossing of levodopa, oxidative stress, ferroptosis, and methylmercury-induced dysbiosis. These pathways were modeled via CellDesigner 4.4 and their kinetics were analyzed using COPASI. Analysis indicates that this dietary approach may possess neuroprotective effects, potentially mitigating PD progression. Conversely, findings suggest that the traditional American animal-based diet might heighten the risk of developing PD by exacerbating the aforementioned pathways associated with PD pathogenesis.

Julia Mitchell is a senior majoring in Chemistry and minoring in Mathematics at William & Mary. Her research explores the biochemical pathways involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease and the impact of dietary changes on those pathways. Specifically, her thesis examines the neuroprotective effects of a plant-based diet on Parkinson's Disease via modeling in CellDesigner 4.4 and quantitative analysis in COPASI. 

Jack Nelson, "Iron Complexes Containing 7-Membered Rings for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation"

Advisor: Dr. William McNamara

Chemistry

Panel: Honors 4, Thursday, 12:00 PM, James Room  

To combat climate change, a plethora of industrially viable, renewable energy sources are required to replace fossil fuels. One such energy source is hydrogen gas, which can be used to generate electricity with zero carbon emissions. Currently, methods for producing hydrogen gas either come from refining fossil fuels or are expensive. One promising method for cheaply and cleanly producing hydrogen gas is Artificial Photosynthesis (AP), which harnesses light to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. AP systems are comprised of three parts: a sacrificial donor, which provides the electrons to split water, a chromophore, which absorbs the light needed to drive the splitting, and a catalyst, which uses the electrons and light energy to split water. To make AP systems more viable, the catalyst needs to be inexpensive, made from abundant resources, simple to make, and able to quickly split water without breaking down. Previous research has shown that iron-based catalysts containing a six-membered and breakable ring meet all four of these criteria, and expanding the ring to a less stable 7-membered ring increases the catalytic activity. However, the mechanism behind the larger ring’s increased catalytic activity is unknown. If this mechanism can be elucidated, we will not only have a better understanding of previously made catalysts, but knowledge of how to develop more active catalysts. This research focuses on synthesizing, characterizing, and isolating various catalysts containing 7-membered rings, and using AP and electrochemistry to probe their mechanisms.

Jack Nelson is a senior majoring in Chemistry at William & Mary. His research focuses on utilizing inorganic and organic chemistry to improve the viability of renewable energy sources. His thesis involves the development of novel catalysts for the carbon-free production of hydrogen gas from sunlight and water, and the elucidation of the mechanism that these catalysts operate by.

Sarah Palluconi, "How a Transnational Community Shaped Western Views of Homosexuality in Interwar Europe"

Advisor: Dr. Amy Limoncelli

History

Panel: Honors 5, Thursday, 3:30 PM, Tidewater

My research discusses the impacts a community of international sexologists, or those who study sex scientifically, had on public and private views of homosexuality between the 1890s to the 1930s. This community was primarily part of the World League for Sexual Reform (WLSR), an organization in the late 20s to early 30s, that promoted rights and public discussion of homosexuality in many countries in Europe. Sexual reforms that the League discussed include laws on birth control, sexual education, prostitution, venereal disease, and, of course, homosexuality. Previous historians have written about individuals in this group or about the general aspects of the homosexual life in Europe, but none that I have found, discuss the impacts that individuals had on one another in a larger European network. 

My main question for this research became: did a Queer transnational community exist in a time when it was a crime and a taboo subject? In my research I found that there were national communities and a transnational community of homosexuals fighting for equality in the early twentieth century. This community used their transnational connections with other Queer individuals as a strategy to make themselves more noticeable to their respective countries’ social movements, to spread more ideas about their beliefs without criticism, but also to find others like them who felt isolated in their own countries. 

Sarah Palluconi is a senior majoring in History and minoring in English at William & Mary. She is an artistic student with a variety of research interests including art, literature, gender and sexuality studies, and history. Her thesis addresses the history of the term homosexuality, transnational relations, and activism. 

Alyson Reynolds, "Transnational Repression, Transnational Justice: Examining the Enforced Disappearance of Migrants in Latin America"

Advisor: Dr. Kelebogile Zvobgo

International Relations

Panel: Honors 7, Friday, 12:30 PM, York Room

The enforced disappearance of migrants is overlooked and understudied in transnational justice literature even though thousands of migrants have been disappeared along major migratory routes. The uncertainty over whether missing migrants can be classified as "enforced disappearances"—a term implying state involvement—is partially responsible for this lack of research. Studying the enforced disappearance of migrants is important because it can identify courses of action in the prosecution of migrant disappearances, challenge the overwhelming impunity that perpetrators of these crimes currently enjoy, and support investigations providing closure to victims' families. This research uses data from two significant cases of mass migrant disappearance in Latin America: Operation Condor (1969-1981) and the Central America-U.S. migratory route (2006-present). Using a mixed-methods approach, this research attempts to close the gap in empirical research on the transnational repression of migrants.

Alyson Reynolds is a senior majoring in International Relations and Latin American Studies at William & Mary. Her prior research addresses issues of transitional justice, human rights, and international law. Her thesis examines the enforced disappearance of migrants in Latin America. After graduation, Alyson plans to continue her work in immigration law and human rights advocacy.

Madeleine Rubin, "Pompeiian Mill Bakeries: Spatial Organization and Social Interaction"

Advisor: Dr. John Donahue

Classics

Panel: Honors 4, Thursday, 12:00 PM, James Room

This thesis examines bread production and the daily lives of those who worked in mill-bakeries during the first century CE. Bread was the staple food across the ancient Mediterranean; however, there is little textual evidence about those who produced the bread that fed the Roman Empire. The most significant body of evidence relating to the lives of mill-bakers is the archaeological remains of mill-bakeries from the city of Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. This thesis analyzes the spatial organization of bread production within these mill-bakeries and applies the methodologies of spatial syntax – a theory of spatial relations developed by B. Hillier and J. Hanson – to determine patterns of movements within the mill-bakeries. By combining these methodologies with artistic and literary descriptions of Roman mill-bakeries, this thesis provides insight into the lived experiences of the mill-bakers who fed the Roman Empire.

Madeleine Rubin is a senior majoring in Classical Civilizations and History at the College of William & Mary. Her research interests include the material culture and social history of the Ancient Mediterranean with a focus on Imperial Rome. Her thesis explores bread production and bakers in the first century CE through analysis of the archaeological remains of Pompeiian mill-bakeries.

Charlotte Russell, "A Look Down the Well: Exploring Co-ed Femininity through a Twentieth-century Dormitory Feature at William & Mary"

Advisor: Dr. Neil Norman

Anthropology

Panel: Honors 7, Friday, 12:30 PM, York Room

As women began enrolling in universities across the United States in the early twentieth century, traditionally masculine spheres became the site of an emerging femininity. Administrative rules and single-gendered spaces organized the lives of women and men to fit socially acceptable gender roles. One such space was the college dormitory. The Digges House, most notably studied as the site of Williamsburg’s Bray School, served as an off-campus dormitory for women at William & Mary between 1924 and 1943 under the name Brown Hall. This project will employ artifact analysis of the small finds, glass, and ceramics found in a well dating to the women’s occupation of the site in the 1930s and 40s as well as documentary analysis of records illuminating the social life at William & Mary during the time. Grounded in anthropological theories in discipline, gender, agency, and household archaeology, this project will offer an engendered interpretation of a moment in the site’s past. This research finds that the women of Brown Hall partook in self-disciplinary behavior in bodily manipulation, hygiene practices, and institutionalized socialization that reinforced feminine norms and a particular vision of the white, female college student. However, the women also forged youthful identities outside of and subversive to institutional expectations through material consumption.

Charlotte Russell is a senior majoring in Anthropology at William & Mary. Her research areas include historical archaeology of the Mid-Atlantic and geospatial analysis. Her thesis addresses gender construction, material culture, and institutionalized discipline in higher education through a case study of a 20th-century dormitory at William & Mary. She has published datasets for Virginia's Department of Historic Resources and enjoys combining her interests in archaeology, history, and GIS.

Jacob Simonpietri, "Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Solid-liquid Interfaces for NMR Relaxometry"

Advisor: Dr. Tyler Meldrum

Chemistry

Panel: Honors 5, Thursday, 3:30 PM, Tidewater

The presence of a solid surface creates a unique molecular environment that can affect the energetics of chemical reactions, rate of kinetic events, and mobility of molecules. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a useful technique for the study of interfaces due to its ability to measure spatially resolved relaxation constants, which are indicators of molecular mobility.  Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed in order to study the spatial effect of surfaces on relaxation in liquids in order to understand how to probe these effects experimentally. MD simulations were performed on solid-liquid interfaces consisting of alumina or graphene, and acetone, water, or glycerol. The simulation cells were varied in length perpendicular to the surface, from 20 Å to 800 Å. Alumina strongly decreased the longitudinal and transverse relaxation constants, having the most effect on acetone and the least effect on glycerol. Graphene had a much smaller effect on the relaxation constants. The simulations indicate a surface with localized charge density and a liquid with low viscosity create the best conditions for experimentation. 

Jacob Simonpietri is a senior majoring in Chemistry at William & Mary. He developed interest in computational chemistry through his internship at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. His thesis is focused on using computational tools to assess how chemical interfaces affect measurements made using nuclear magnetic resonance. 

Corinne Vanella, "SPE-54 Is Required for Proper Pseudopod Shape and Function in C. elegans Sperm"

Advisor: Dr. Diane Shakes

Biology

Panel: Honors 10, Friday, 2:00 PM, Sadler 257

Unlike human flagellated sperm, C. elegans sperm use the movement of an extended pseudopod to reach and persist in the site of fertilization. This research uses a knockout mutant (spe-54) to examine the role of the protein SPE-54 in C. elegans sperm. To determine how spe-54 impacts C. elegans male and hermaphrodite fertility, the fertility success between the mutant spe-54 and control strains was measured. In both experiments, spe-54 showed fewer viable progeny produced compared to controls. To analyze the cause of reduced fertility in the spe-54 mutant, the distribution of fluorescent sperm was observed in the reproductive tract following insemination. DIC/fluorescent images show that spe-54 sperm fail to migrate to the site of fertilization. To investigate the cause of reduced sperm movement, sperm were labeled with anti-MSP to determine the localization of MSP (Major Sperm Protein), a structural protein used for cell motility. Immunofluorescence images show a crescent shaped MSP pattern (compared to the extended rectangle/triangle shape of the control MSP localization.  To further understand the impact of a short pseudopod in sperm movement, the treadmilling (cyclic pseudopodal motion) rates were quantified. The shortened pseudopod of spe-54 caused decreased treadmilling rates compared to control sperm explaining the subsequent failure to reach the site of fertilization. In all, the lack of spe-54 leads to altered pseudopod shape and decreased treadmilling rates in C. elegans sperm, providing the explanation of overall decreased fertility in the spe-54 mutant strains.

Corinne Vanella is a senior majoring in Biology and French & Francophone Studies at William & Mary. Her research includes cell biology and the study of the nematode C. elegans. Her thesis studies a mutant strain of C. elegans and how the particular protein impacts reproductive features of the nematode. 

Kami Vigilant, "The Theory of Cults: What Media and Documentaries have Wrong"

Advisor: Dr. Adela Amaral

Anthropology

Panel: Honors 2, Thursday, 9:30 AM, James

Cults can be described as religious, political, and social groups that are highly regulated and organized. Many create idiosyncratic languages, rituals, initiations, and punishments. Research and the definition of cults are limited and do not holistically account for their inception, political influence, attraction to new members, or the extremities of such groups.  The following anthropological research produced intends to outline the Theory of Cults—their functions, consistencies, creations, and their structure as a microcosm guided by political and anthropological theories and articles. The methods of this project included watching non-fiction documentaries and documentary series of (ex-)members of such groups and the trajectory of cults. Note-taking included how members were abused, organized in hierarchy, retained as members, and the other consistencies found in articles. Research gathered from fictional media included television shows and movies and the ways that such media can project certain stereotypes described by the documentaries and academia. The inaccuracy between non-fiction and fictional media are inconsistent about what is a cult, what is its relation to politics, and how are members recruited and retained. These are critical ways that cults can be regulated and controlled before escalation and political turmoil. The presentation of the problem, the inaccurate reporting of what is a cult and its dangers, are found in the case-study on Trumpism and the events of January sixth, 2023. 

Kami Vigilant is a senior majoring in Anthropology and Government on the Pre-Law track. Her areas of passion include international diplomacy, security, and human rights. Her thesis aims to create a more comprehensive definition of what a cult is, and she attempts to provide legal frameworks on how to protect current and past members, facilitate rehabilitation, and regulate such groups. 

Julia Wack "Shifting Gender and Generational Dynamics in the Shaping of Conservation in Amboseli, Kenya"

Advisor: Dr. Fernando Galeana Rodriquez

Integrative Conservation

Panel: Honors 3, Thursday, 12:00 PM, Tidewater

Community participation in environmental governance promotes targeted conservation action with the capacity to satisfy local needs. This research evaluates the participation of Indigenous Maasai women and youth in the conservation of Kenya's Amboseli Basin. Amboseli has long possessed rare, highly valued wildlife. During the 1970s, Amboseli's ecotourism industry grew following the creation of Amboseli National Park (ANP). Maasai lands surrounding ANP were divided into community-owned parcels called group ranches. Each ranch gained a committee to oversee land management decisions and the creation of conservancies. Patriarchal inheritance rules have since preserved the predominance of relatively-wealthy, elder men in group ranch membership and committee leadership. As droughts intensify, water insecurity and livestock losses are altering traditional ecological roles. Amidst recent climate threats faced by Maasai societies, how exactly are gender and intergenerational dynamics shaping conservation efforts? In July of 2023, forty-nine Maasai residents responded to a general questionnaire and fourteen interviews were held with Amboseli conservation experts. Responses contributed to a holistic analysis of stakeholder attitudes towards local conservation issues. Despite formal exclusion, women have fostered capacity-building skills through self-help networks and increased conservancy leadership. Youth, especially men, have lacked the same opportunities to develop organizationally. Even so, they suggest under-explored strategies which are becoming increasingly recognized by elders.

Julia Wack is a senior Interdisciplinary Studies major with a concentration in Integrative Conservation who is also minoring in Environment & Sustainability. Her research focuses on environmental policy and community-based conservation. Her research was completed in Amboseli, Kenya and her resulting thesis addresses how one's gender and age shape their participation in conservation, especially considering state and local governance structures.

Anna Wershbale, "Beyond the Exit: MoMA Design Store & the Extended Museum Experience"

Advisor: Dr. Alan Braddock

Art History

Panel: Honors 2, Thursday, 9:30 AM, James Room

American art museum attendance soared following World War II as museums became popular education and entertainment destinations for the growing middle class. Shaped by the influence of 1980s Reaganomics and the effects of neoliberal funding policies, museum shops developed from small information desk ventures into a vital source of public relevance and financial sustainability. When given creative liberty and economic attention, the now standardized amenity presented the opportunity to sell institutional ethos. In light of neoliberal capitalism’s tendency to construe value primarily in economic terms, shops reveal how the art museum strategically assigns new meaning to its collection, mission, and cultural function. My thesis examines the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Design Store, which opened in 1989, as a unique case study of commercial innovation centered around the valuation of art history. This study critically analyzes four distinct elements of MoMA’s retail endeavor: period context, branding, spatial organization, and product offerings in relation to the museum's curatorial strategy of collecting and exhibiting “good design,” as well as emerging concerns of authenticity and sustainability in art. The Design Store’s mission promises an extended museum experience beyond the exit. The store’s evolution demonstrates art museums’ potential to meet shifting public demands for enjoyable experiences that are educational, ethical, and revenue-generating.

Anna Wershbale is a senior majoring in Art History, concentrating in Built Environment studies, with a minor in Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business Studies. Her research areas include art history, creative marketing strategies, and design thinking methodology. Her thesis addresses commercialism, modern art, and interactive pedagogies in art museums. She has previously presented at the 2022 SUNY New Paltz Art History Symposium and the 2023 W&M Internship Symposium.

Quanhan Zhou, "Emotion Regulation Flexibility & Effectiveness in the Face of Interpersonal Stress: Examining Strategy Among College Students"

Advisor: Dr. Meghan Quinn

Psychological Sciences

Panel: Honors 9, Friday, 2:00 PM, York

Prior studies have indicated that distraction was preferred over reappraisal in situations evoking a higher intensity of negative affect (and vice versa), which was demonstrated to be an adaptive emotion regulation (ER) pattern. The purpose of this study was to see if recent experience of interpersonal stress may be a factor that alters the selection and effectiveness of ER under different intensity levels. We investigated the use and effectiveness of three ER techniques (distraction, acceptance, and reappraisal) while viewing high and low intensity negative images among college students (N=131). Consistent with previous studies, we found that distraction was employed more at high versus low levels of image intensity. Although our findings showed that at high levels of image intensity, strategy use did not differ across strategies, at low levels of image intensity, acceptance was utilized more than reappraisal or distraction. Furthermore, contrary to our hypothesis, reappraisal was more helpful in reducing negative affect than distraction or acceptance at both intensity levels. Marginal significance was found when examining the influence of interpersonal stress on patterns of ER choice. Those with high interpersonal stress favored distraction over reappraisal as the preferred choice at high levels of image intensity and they demonstrated greater effectiveness in ER when viewing high-intensity images. Investigating the impact of interpersonal stress on ER provides helpful insights into factors that may contribute to the exacerbation or remission of psychopathology symptoms.

Quanhan (Nick) Zhou is a senior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Computer Science at William & Mary. His research interests primarily focus on stress, interpersonal relationships, and coping skills for mental health. His thesis explores the impact of interpersonal stress on emotion regulation among college students. He will give a poster presentation about his thesis at the 2024 Annual Conference of the Anxiety & Depression Association of America.

Friday, 11:00, Chesapeake A

Erin Cearlock, "Community Engaged Cultural Heritage Management: Case Study of Rurutu, Austral Islands, French Polynesia"

Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Kahn 

Anthropology

Cultural heritage management and preservation has been undervalued in the Pacific Islands. Legacies of colonialism in the region result in a lack of native-informed strategies for heritage protection. On Rurutu, Austral Islands, I worked with the Council of Elders to create a strategy for the establishment of a local museum. Through participant surveys, oral history documentation, and GIS StoryMaps, I follow a model of heritage management prioritizing indigenous values.  I present data on the themes of colonialism, attitudes towards UNESCO, and traditional ecological knowledge to assist in the development of community engaged heritage management strategies in the Pacific and beyond. 

Erin Cearlock is a senior majoring Government and Anthropology with a NIAHD Certificate in Public History and Material Cultural at William & Mary. Originally from Houston, Texas, Erin's research focuses on the intersection of archaeology, law, and heritage studies. Erin is a Community Engagement Intern at the Muscarelle Museum of Art and a former Conservation Research Fellow at the Institute for Integrative Conservation. She hopes to go into heritage law. 

Jessica Horner, "Characterization of Helicobacter pylori’s Nitric Oxide Induced HofD Outer Membrane Protein Gene"

Advisor: Dr. Mark Forsyth

Biology

Helicobater pylori is a human stomach pathogen associated with the development of both peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. It infects about 50% of the world’s population and disproportionately impacts developing nations. To initiate infection, H. pylori needs to withstand the hostile gastric environment. Stomach acid and host immune responses normally kill pathogens. Conversely, these signals trigger expression of genes in H. pylori and allow it to colonize. H. pylori senses environmental changes in the stomach because it utilizes two component systems (TCS). CrdRS is a TCS that senses and responds to nitric oxide. HofD, a relatively uncharacterized outer membrane protein, was demonstrated to be triggered by CrdRS and nitric oxide in previous studies in our lab. Nitric oxide is a human immune response to limit pathogen growth. This project focuses on HofD and explores its function. By creating mutant strains of H. pylori, including hofD deletion and Flag-tag mutants, HofD’s potentially protective role during colonization is characterized using western blot analysis as well as an assortment of bioassays. By studying uncharacterized proteins such as HofD, the process of pathogenesis of H. pylori may be further elucidated. This may assist in the development of new antibiotic treatments, which is especially important as antibiotic resistance continues to increase in H. pylori.

Jessica Horner is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry at Williams & Mary. Her research areas include microbiology and molecular biology. Her thesis focuses on an uncharacterized outer membrane protein, HofD, in the human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. 

Kendall McKinley, "Philippine Independence: Modernizing the Colonial Enterprise, 1934-1945"

Advisor: Dr. Hiroshi Kitamura

History

This research project aims to uncover the role of the Philippine Independence Act in American interwar foreign policy. The Philippine Independence Act, better known as the Tydings-McDuffie Act, was inherently situated within the context of the naval arms race between the United States and Japan in the 1930s. Thus, the terms of the Tydings-McDuffie Act and its consequential amendments were intentioned to codify American military presence in the Pacific. Aimed at deterring the expansion of the Japanese Navy, American legislators and Filipino politicians passed a series of legislation in the interwar period in pursuit of Filipino national security. Codifying American economic and military interests in the archipelago, the terms of Philippine independence were established to relinquish formal American colonial authority while allowing the United States to maintain the economic and military benefits of retaining a colony in the Pacific. Thus, determined by the terms of the Tydings-McDuffie Act, the Philippines were fashioned into an American client state to deter a potential Japanese invasion. Due to the legacy of American colonialism, the Philippines remain economically and militarily dependent on the United States, allowing the United States to utilize the Philippines as a military and ideological stronghold throughout the Cold War. The role of the Philippines as a modern informal colony is still apparent today as the United States prepares to counter geopolitical tensions in the Pacific. 

Kendall McKinley is a senior majoring in History at William & Mary. Her research interests include the interwar period, the American empire, American foreign policy in the 20th century, and Philippine history. Her thesis aims to link the foreign policy initiatives of the United States to the role of the Philippines during World War II. 

Gabrielle Riddlemoser , "Mathematical Modeling & Examination into Existing and Emerging Parkinson’s Disease Treatments: Levodopa and Ketamine"

Advisor: Dr. Randolph Coleman

Neuroscience

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects the motor system. The disorder is caused due to neuron death in the substantia nigra leading to a lack of dopamine in the brain. Levodopa (L-Dopa) has been prescribed as Parkinson’s treatment starting in the 1960s and is the primary treatment for motor disorder symptoms. While L-Dopa is often used as the primary pharmaceutical for Parkinson’s disease, it comes with many drawbacks with long-term use, such as nausea, confusion, and dyskinesia. Dyskinesia is a side effect that consists of involuntary, fast jerking and twisting movements which can be debilitating. A new emerging Parkinson’s treatment is ketamine, which has been approved by the FDA to treat levodopa-induced dyskinesia. Ketamine is currently a treatment option for schizophrenia, another disorder stemming from dysregulation of dopamine in the brain. Using current neuroscience literature, a mathematical model created in CellDesigner depicts the neurological pathways of the medications in the brain. Using a biochemical system simulator, the model is investigating Parkinson’s disease and examining the effects of these medications on a diseased brain system.

Gabrielle Riddlemoser is a senior majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Biochemistry at William & Mary. Her research explores Parkinson's disease and various treatment options for the disorder. She received the Charles Center Honors Fellowship for her thesis in Summer 2023. 

Samuel Gruber, "Effect of Caregiver's Income and Emotional Coping Strategies on Children of the Incarcerated's Emotional Regulation"

Advisor: Dr. Danielle Dallaire

Psychological Sciences

This paper seeks to analyze the effect of caregivers' income and emotional coping on their children’s emotional regulation scores. The study’s subjects are children who participate in a support group for elementary school students who have one or more incarcerated family members. All subjects in the current study have previously filled out questionnaires about their emotional regulation and have an intake-form on file which contains an array of familial demographic and coping information. After collecting and combing through the participants' intake forms, we assigned values for caregivers' emotional coping and input their income. To conduct the analysis, we first examined the relationship between caregivers’ income and their emotional coping strategies. Then, we looked at the relationship between caregivers' income and emotional coping strategies on their children’s emotional regulation scores. Preliminary analyses suggest statistically insignificant associations between the parents' income and emotional coping and their children’s emotional regulation scores. This study could reveal some of the underlying protective factors and vulnerabilities for the psychological wellbeing of children of the incarcerated. 

Sam Gruber is a senior majoring in Psychological Sciences and minoring in Film & Media Studies. His research interests include the effects of legal system inequity on psychological well being. His thesis addresses the potential impacts of caregivers' income and emotional coping strategies on their children's emotional regulation. The research subjects are children who participate in a support group for elementary school students with one or more incarcerated family member.