The Virtual Undergraduate Conference for Research and Creative Practice

Greetings from the Provost and Conference Chairs

Dr. Catherine Canney, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Katharine Covino and Ms. Renée Fratantonio, Conference co-chairs

Oral Presentations

Self-Watering Plant: Development of an Automatically Watering Indoor Plant System, Jaime Avalos and Michael Gonzalez
Instructional Methods for Teaching Mathematics to Students with Disabilities, Ariana Berman
Minimum Wage and Restaurants, Gene Bouthiette
Cyprian of Carthage's Ecclesiastical Power and Church Unity, Zoe Anne Brazeau
Mapping Conserved Lands in the Freedom's Way National Heritage Area, Aubrey Brennan
Helping Kids Using CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine): An Integrative Literature Review of the Effects of CAM in Pediatric Oncology Patients, Amanda Byrnes
Effects of COVID-19 on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Nursing Students, Gabryelle Callahan
The Impact of Urbanization on River Salinity in North-Central Massachusetts, Robert Carpenter
The True Domino Theory: The United States' True Motives for the Domino Theory during the Cold War, Joseph Cautela
HPV: A Preventable Disease in Modern Day USA, Brianne Cousineau
Women's Sports Representation in Children's Literature, Colleen Couture
Factors Influencing Vaccine Decision-Making in the Fitchburg State Community: A Descriptive Survey, Mohamed Elsayyad
Benefits of Assistive Technology in the General Education Classroom, Sophia Fallavollita
A Comparison of the Use of Telehealth in Autism Intervention before and throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: Motivation, Areas of Research and Limitations, Laurie Furtado
GIS Internship with the MassDEP, Martha Garley
Relationship Between Clinical Musculoskeletal Measures and Heel Whip Gait Patterns in Recreational Runners, Jordan Geyster
Occupational Segregation's Positive Impact on the Gender Wage Gap, Katie Grace
The Duality of Finnish Fitchburg Communities: Preservation and Americanization, John Heimo
The Function of Neutrophils in Viral Infections, Jordin Holmes and Michael Pawson
Exploring End of Life Care in the Acute, Home Hospice, and Facility Settings, Amanda Janssens
My Experience as a Public Health Intern, Brittany Jefferson
The Long Term Effects of Ventricular Septal Defect, Audrey Johnson
Mutant Dysferlin Causes Increased Rate of Differentiation in Myotubes in Dysferlinopathy Patients, Adam Kusior
Field Survey Projects, Using GIS and GPS Technologies, Peter Lillie
The Impact of Assistive Technology on Individuals with Disabilities, Erin Maida
Rare DYSF Protein Mutation Causes Increased Differentiation Rate in Appendicular Muscles Cells Resulting in Muscular Atrophy, Michaela Mancuso
Emotions through the Lens, Bethany Palmer
The Role of Neutrophils in Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in Correlation with COVID-19, Michael Pawson, Nicholas Sachetta, and Jordin Holmes-Garton
Using HL-60 Cells to Develop a Model for Studying Neutrophils, Nicholas Sachetta
Mild Synthetic Procedures for Deoxygenation of Substituted Phenols and their Application in Drug Synthesis, Matthew Sadowski
How can the Sense of Community and Belonging Improve Classrooms? Nathacha Santiago-Prado
Does the Misery Index Influence the results of Presidential Elections in the United States? Lance Savage
The Relation between Minimum Wage and Unemployment, Hannes Seyboth
Potential Public Safety Threats within Smart Buildings, Cameron Sousa
A Deep Dive into Evidence-Based Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Madison Stidham
Devin Tormey Art: A Comprehensive Business Plan, Devin Tormey
Video Feedback during the Emotion Development Module of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Leah Williams
Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on Stomatal Density, Herbivory and Germination, Wade Williams, Xynone Cabal, and Skylar Worster
Reforming the Social Security System, Wyatt Wilmshurst
Dysferlinopathy's Accelerating Effect on Differentiation within the Patient, Skylar Worster and Michaela Mancuso
What are the Effects of CO2 Emissions on Mortality Rate? Peter Yeboah

Poster Presentations

DNase2β Gene Variants May Explain Life in Chickens, Nicole Burdick, Kaitlyn Prentiss, and Efe Agbe-Rankhe

Coral Reefs' Race against Climate Change, Sierra Champagne

How Caregiver Depression Impacts Therapist Coaching In Parent Child Interactive Therapy Emotional Development, Rosalia Charpentier, Kailey Collins, and Kailyn Patria

Alternative Summative Assessments to Foster Creative Thinking, Lindsay Connors

Arduino-based Demonstration of a Ventilation Plan, Cameron Cooper, Sharon Del Valle, David Kelley, and Owalid Rahman
Mall Ventilation, Corey Dandy, Joseph Postale, Michael Rainville, and Mia Bowen

The Power of Scent: How Aromatherapy Can Benefit the Sickest Patients, Emily Eleuteri

Technological Applications of Virtual Reality in Construction, Samuel Escobar, Kade Vautour, Corey Dandy, and Mitchell Pecoraro

Structural Analysis of a Revolute Pick and Place Robot, Jesse Fortin, Vincent Algieri, Bennet Jorgensen, Michael Barone, and Joseph Dinsmore

The Fate of Transatlantic Relations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization-European Union (NATO-EU) Joint Missions, Rebecca Hess and Oscar Pimentel

Exploring the Applications of Thermally Modified Lumber in the United States' Construction Industry, Elijah Hill
An Analysis of the Current Landscape of Children's Television and the Creation of Lila and Evie, Emma Jacques

Investigation of DNaseIIβ Transcripts X1 and X2 in Chickens, Jordan LeSage, Joshua Grullon, and Kaylee Kidd

The Role of DNase2𝛃 in the Nuclear DNA Degradation of Chickens, Abigail Lorden, Samuel Graves, Rebekah Saint Germain, and Luciano Crespo
Cross Contamination Prevention Algorithm, Marcus Moss and Joshua Frazier

Parenting Stress in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy-Emotion Development, Amanda Pawlikowski and Rayna Rodriguez

HVAC, Elijah Perron, Alejandra Calderon, Ethan Jacobsen and Sean-Paul Tomer

Identification of Microplastics from the Nashua River Watershed Using Nile Red Staining, Kaitlyn Prentiss and Paulina Torres
3D Printed Robotic Arm with Wireless Controlling, Sean-Paul Tomer, Marcus Perla, Alejandra Calderon, and Vincent Algieri

The Need for Increased Diversity in the Nursing Profession, Jada Walker

Creative Writing Showcase

Aboard the Cuttlefish, Jonathan Arel

The End Was Just The Beginning, Jonathan Arel

Speak of Art, Joenys Carrasquillo

What a Stereotype Can Do, Madison Craig

Fight or Flight, Jaxon Deary

Why I'm Happy My Dad Died?, Lorenzo DeMalia

Far Away, Baylie Gates

Wilted, Baylie Gates

If All Goes Well, Sophie Geremia

Last Moments, Sydney Kinz

Uneven Footing, Frankie-Ann Lovejoy

The Walls Won't Talk Anymore, Kyle Massak

Curse of Castine, Kyle Massak

Where Will My Head Land When The Pendulum Falls? Kyle Massak

Autumn Morning, Chloe Petersen

Smiling Is My Mask, Chloe Petersen

Someone's Story, Chloe Petersen

First Funeral, Roman Roy

Valentine’s Day, Latasha Thompson

The Sounds of the Night, Latasha Thompson

Shelby, Latasha Thompson

Artistic Presentations

Oil Paint, Jillian Laabs

Wasted Time, Enorck Syprien, Keney Hector, and Sebastiene Dupich

ARTeries: Annual Student Art Exhibit

Musical Performances

Chamber Choir, Jonathan Harvey (Director), Dani Chase, Justin de Diego, Sean-Michael Hibbert, Bianca Litus, Katie Petkewich, Megan Ptak, Emily Sandberg, Sean Sanguinet, and Kaylyn Violette

Jazz Band, Dr. Amy McGlothlin (Director and Saxophone), Joseph Ditavi (Drums), Owen Thayer (Trombone), Thomas Adler-Mandiel (Flute), Joseph Wachtel (Guitar), Andrew Trahan (Bass), Rala Diakite (Piano), Desmond Hart (Acoustic Guitar)

Artwork

Untitled, Samantha Chandler

Faculty Sponsors

Abdel G. Mustafa, Amy Kendrick, Amy McGlothlin, Catherine Buell, Christine Oleksyk, Daniel Sarefield, Daniel Welsh, Danielle Wigmore, Denise Sargent, EB Caron, Elizabeth Gordon, Elizabeth Kilpatrick, Elyse Clark, Eric Williams, Erin Rehrig, Hong Yu, Jane Huang, John Crawley, Joshua Spero, Karen DeAngelis, Karen Keenan, Katharine Covino, Katherine Jewell, Lisa Grimm, Mathangi Krishnamurthy, Monica Maldari, Nancy Green, Nirajan Mani, Ozge Ozay, Petri Flint, Rachelle Dermer, Rene Reeves, Robert Shapiro, Scott Tyner, Sean Rollins, Soumitra Basu, Tara Mariolis, and Zachary Lee

The 2022 Undergraduate Conference Committee

Katharine Covino and Renée Fratantonio, co-chairs
Jessica Alsup, Franca Barricelli, Lyndsey Benharris, Allison Bunnell, Frank Campo, Adem Elveren, Zachary Miner, Renee Scapparone, and Steve Swartz

Thank you to our partners in Technology, Marketing, and Print Services:
Kelly Norris, Caroline Lanni, Kimberly McCoy-Blauser, Andrew Cunningham, Matthew Bruun, and Pamela Boudreau