Barr Prize Competition in Public Speaking

Russell Burns

"'A GUI-based Model for Simulating Plasma IV Curves "

Advisor: Dr. Saskia Mordijck 

Plasma is superheated gas that makes up 99% of our universe. Contained within plasma are two ingredients: the gas element and free-floating electrons. Tightly bound electrons also exist within the gas element, but some escape, turning the gas into "ions." In plasma, ions and electrons can have varying ratios, densities, and temperatures relative to each other. Low temperature, low density plasmas with a 50/50 ion/electron ratio are straightforward to create in a lab chamber. William & Mary has done so through the PINQuED project, which is an Argon plasma. PINQuED compares traditional plasma property measurement techniques against new ones. Traditional plasma measurement comes from a single Langmuir probe, which is a rod in the chamber that tells the plasma how much electricity it wants to push or pull away—a voltage. The plasma responds with electric flow—current. The response is not one-to-one: a negative voltage draws in more ions, and a positive voltage draws in more electrons. The resultantly skewed voltage-current (IV) graph reveals important information about the plasma's properties, but they are not easy to decode. Even more difficult is predicting an IV graph, given probe size and electron temperature; predictions inform experimental configuration and provide a baseline to assess instrument performance. My project attempts to determine the formulae that govern the electron current-dominated region of the IV curve using Poisson's equation. Results will be deployed in an easy-to-use Python program for future research on Pinqued. 

Russell Burns is a Physics major and Mathematics minor from Cary, NC. His concentration in Engineering Physics has informed his bevy of research areas, from ultracold matter interferometry and quantum sensing to optimization algorithms and plasma diagnostics.

Olivia Cunningham

"'Discovering the Secrets of Milkweed Hybridization"

Advisor: Dr. Joshua Puzey

Plants are the base of all terrestrial food webs, so understanding how they will adapt to a changing climate is of utmost importance. Animals can rapidly migrate to cope with altered environments, plants, rooted in place, are forced to evolve new adaptations to deal with changed climates. One possible solution to their rooted lifestyle, plants can use is hybridization, which immediately transfers beneficial traits from well adapted species to poorly adapted species, this allows for plants to rapidly evolve. The goal of this study is to understand the mechanism of hybridization that occurs in two closely related milkweed species. Specifically, we are interested in how pollinia, nectar, and microbes are working together to make hybridization possible. To address this question, we conducted fieldwork, collecting nectar and pollinia to measure in vitro pollen tube germination success. We expanded the study by extracting microbial DNA from the nectar to determine if different microbial communities are associated with different species and to understand the microbial impact on pollen tube formation. Results show that common milkweed is a better pollinia donor, while poke milkweed is a better pollinia receptor, providing insights into how hybridization is occurring between these two species. 

Olivia Cunningham is a Biology and Environmental Science double major from Burke, VA. She is researching milkweed hybridization by investigating microbial communities and the parent species as factors impacting pollen tube formation.

Henry Hermes

"'The Way Food Should Be: Culinary Advice Literature and Identity in the Soviet Union, 1939-1991"

Advisor: Dr. Frederick Corney

This paper seeks to provide a short and comprehensive study of the Soviet government’s approach towards and policies regarding feeding a population of millions. Besides a basic level of political history chronicling the edicts, laws, and other policies undertaken to resolve the ever-nagging and sometimes catastrophic food shortages between 1917 and 1991, this paper investigates how dining culture and foodways became part of an attempt to create a distinctly Soviet cultural identity separate from preexisting ethnic identities amongst the various populations of the USSR. Beginning in the late 1930s, culinary culture was a key part of Soviet attempts to create the “New Soviet Man,” and state-published cookbooks instructed readers on the “proper” way of modern domestic life and intentionally demonstrated wholesale cultural transformation. These Soviet cookbooks were part recipe collection, part lifestyle guide, and part art gallery. Imagery was used to demonstrate the potential abundance of Soviet rule, and these early cookbooks were as much propaganda pieces as culinary advice literature. This paper incorporates analyses of Soviet-era cookbooks and nutrition manuals published between 1939 and 1990 to determine how state-published cookbooks pushed new ideas about diet, food preparation, and ideas of “rational nutrition” as part of a wholesale attempt to make multiethnic Soviet citizens into unitary cultured and modern citizens of a global socialist vanguard. 

Henry Hermes is a History and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies double major from Harrisonburg, VA. His research focuses on the cultural and social history of the Soviet Union.

Kaleea Korunka

"'Clams Don't Need Sweaters! Microplastic Pollution in Lake Matoaka"

Advisor: Dr. Randolph Chambers

Lake Matoaka, a critical waterbody in Virginia, faces microplastic pollution from various sources. This research aimed to assess the amount, characteristics, and sources of microplastics in Lake Matoaka to gain a better understanding of microplastic pollution pathways. A cost-effective sample collection/preparation method was developed to accurately quantify, characterize, and evaluate microplastics. Initial findings from a year of water and clam samples revealed high concentration of microplastics; averaging 13 particles per liter of lake water; with increased abundance after rainfall. Further analysis with Microscope Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy will determine these microplastics' chemical structures to pinpoint specific sources of microplastic pollution; e.g. turf athletic fields. Furthermore, the development of a machine learning model, with the images gained from M-FTIR, will see if visual appearance can predict chemical composition. This research provides necessary insights into the extent and sources of microplastic pollution in Lake Matoaka, highlighting the urgent need for targeted mitigation strategies to safeguard its environmental integrity. Furthermore, the creation of a cheap sample preparation method and an Artificial Intelligence model will allow microplastic research to become more accessible and easier.   

Kaleea Korunka is a Self-Design Environmental Issues major and Chemistry minor from Virginia Beach, VA. She leads microplastic pollution research at the Keck Environmental Field Lab for her honors thesis.

Yigit Simsek

"'Receptors and a Riveting Rubato: Thyroid Hormone Receptor Regulation and Characterizing Aberrant Mechanisms in Disease"

Advisor: Dr. Lizabeth Allison

Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) are critical to cell signaling, responsible for binding thyroid hormone (T3) and activating or repressing the expression of target genes to regulate metabolism, development, and cell growth. Intracellular dynamics of TR, particularly its compartmentalization and mobility within the cell, are known to regulate its transcriptional role. Recent characterization of TR1 involvement in Resistance to Thyroid Hormone Syndrome  (RTH), a rare genetic disorder, has initiated research efforts to elucidate the underlying mechanism of pathogenesis. Certain RTH mutants were previously demonstrated to have increased affinity for Nuclear Corepressor 1 (NCoR1), a coregulator and binding partner of TR1, and are proposed to form more stable repressor complexes compared to wild type TR1. We characterized the localization and transcription activity patterns of a panel of 11 RTH mutants, composed of point mutations and premature truncations. To characterize changes in NCoR1 affinity, we transfected HeLa (human) cells in culture with expression plasmids for mCherry tagged TR1 or RTH mutant, and compared Nuclear-to-Cytoplasmic localization ratios, obtained by fluorescence microscopy, of each mutant to WT. Our results provide insight into RTHα pathogenesis on a molecular level by suggesting a complex interaction between NCoR1 and RTHα mutants, characterized by aberrant intracellular localization patterns and transcriptional activity that is potentially caused by variable repressor complex stability.  

Yigit Simsek is a Biology and Mathematics double major from Leesburg, VA. His research interests include cell signaling, structural biology of proteins, and molecular mechanisms of rare genetic diseases.

Benjamin Boateng

"'The Creation of a Community-Based Identity Amongst D.C. Volunteer Police Officers and Its Implications With Wider Volunteer Policing Culture"

Advisor: Dr. Meaghan Stiman

Unfortunately, Benjamin is no longer able to participate in the Spring Honors Research Symposium on Friday.  

Full-time police officers and law enforcement programs have come under analysis by the public and researchers alike, elucidating understandings that push for better equity within law enforcement. In wider literature, however, there is a general lack of conversations surrounding volunteer police officers, their backgrounds, and perspectives on policing and community. Additionally, there is a lack of in-depth interviews detailing volunteer officers’ motivations for becoming police officers. As a program presupposed for community-oriented individuals, it is important to see their understanding of their profession and their relationship to the communities they serve. To better understand this, this research draws on the case of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and its currently sworn officers. This project will rely on interviews and observations of MPD volunteer officers alongside observations of the Volunteer Law Enforcement Officer Alliance (VLEOA) conference to provide insight into volunteer policing culture. Thus, as a portion of the recent wave of community-minded approaches to policing, this research hopes to deepen the understanding of volunteer police officers within the backdrop of mainstream conceptions of law enforcement in America. 

Benjamin Boateng is a Sociology minor from Fredericksburg, VA. He is interested in how movements for social change in the realm of law enforcement may elicit prominent institutional shifts that direct potentially favorable and unfavorable outcomes we see in localities today.

Jonah Oxman

"'Application and Characterization of Didymosphenia geminata Based Materials "

Advisor: Dr. Hannes Schniepp

This manuscript outlines the production process, application, and characterization of Didymosphenia geminata (Didymo) based biomaterials. Our project outlines a chemical molding process to create samples that exhibit low thermal conductivity, high porosity, and low density. These properties allow the samples to adsorb oil and deflect heat, which are use cases typically absent from carbon-negative materials. We achieve a more sustainable approach when compared to conventional material production, which requires excessive amounts of CO2 and energy to produce. Along with material sample production, characterization of the extracellular matrix through spectroscopic methods and high resolution imaging provides insight into the chemical background of the novel material properties. 

Jonah Oxman is a Biology major and a Bioengineering minor in the Applied Science department from Fairfax, Virginia. His main area of focus is on protein structure and function, and he works in the Nano and Biomaterials lab developing and characterizing new environmentally friendly biomaterials.

Sarah Sakly

"'Dynamics of SynGAP/PSD-95 in Post-Synaptic Densities, The Kinetics of Disaggregation Versus Phase Separation"

Advisor: Dr. Greg Conradi Smith

The intricate interplay between SynGAP, PSD-95, and AMPA receptors within the post-synaptic density (PSD) underpins synaptic plasticity and signal transmission. This study investigates dynamic models of these proteins and their interactions, emphasizing the kinetics of their interactions. Additionally, our mathematical modeling explores the phenomenon of liquid-liquid-phase separation (LLPS) between SynGAP and PSD-95, providing insight into how LLPS may influence the kinetics of synaptic regulation.  These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic organization and their dysregulation in neurological disorders linked to SynGAP mutations. 

Sarah Sakly is a Neuroscience and Psychology double major from Williamsburg, VA. Her research area includes computational neuroscience, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Julia Tucker

"'Breaking Barriers or Burning Bridges?: The Potential for Social Media to Foster Understanding Across Groups"

Advisor: Dr. John McGlennon

Unfortunately, Julia is no longer able to participate in the Spring Honors Research Symposium on Friday. Video presentation to be added to website.

The internet has made the world more connected than ever before. Every advancement in mass communication has introduced people to a little more about the world, but social media gives people easy access to new ideas, individuals, and communities worldwide. Social media, like any new technology, also brings its own set of challenges. Critics of social media will quickly identify its polarizing effects, negative impact on interpersonal relationships, and ability to circulate disinformation, often fueling political discord. However, are these features of the technology or of us as humans? Can social media, at its core, connect us more than it divides? This project attempts to shed light on this important question. Drawing from literature on extended contact theory, parasocial relationships, and political science research on other forms of mass media, this project explores social media’s influence on the ways in which it might passively increase empathy and reduce prejudice. The research examines whether ordinary interactions on social media platforms can foster understanding and identifies which platform features and user behaviors are potentially significant factors. This project represents a first step in evaluating and understanding social media as a tool that may allow us to build relationships and cross-cultural understanding. Social media is here to stay, so identifying how it can be used to foster relationships is key to healthy political discourse that might build bridges across cultural and political divides as we consider legislation about it going forward.    

Julia Tucker is a Government major and Theatre minor from West Hartford, CT. She additionally serves as a Government Department Diversity Fellow and the President of Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science Honor Society.

Charlotte Visconsi

"'Liminal Spaniards: Expelled Moriscos as Foreigners in Law and Spaniards in Legal Practice"

Advisor: Dr. Lu Ann Homza

This research (a final paper estimated at 30,000 words) examines the unstudied case of a group of ecumenical captives – specifically Muslims, Jews, and Moriscos (Spanish Muslim converts and their descendants) who in 1610 were trafficked into the port of Alicante by the English captain William Garret. Visiting archives in Alicante, Madrid, and Valencia, I have gathered, transcribed, and translated manuscript sources to contextualize how Garret's victims, particularly the recently expelled Moriscos facing enslavement and destitution, defended themselves in court and understood their right to justice. Most broadly the paper examines what the whole case - the ambiguous identities of the participants, the legally questionable enslavement of Moriscos (ostensibly Christian subjects of the polycentric, Hispanic monarchies), and the willingness of some legal officials to rule in favor of an expelled minority – illustrate about the dynamic interplay of religion, commerce, and law in the southern Mediterranean at the turn of the 17th century? The thesis is relevant as a piece of historical scholarship that will introduce a new source, William Garret's transcribed trial, into the historiography; it is also significant, however, because it examines 17th century themes (i.e. the flow of migrants between Spain and North Africa and the connection between religion, race, and identity) that continue to be relevant today in the 21st century. 

Charlotte Visconsi is a History major from South Bend, IN and an aspiring social and legal historian of early modern Spain. She studies the 16th and 17th centuries with a special focus on the social and cultural histories of religious minorities, women, and other marginalized peoples in early modern Europe.