Taylor M. Garrison

"'The Matrimonial Lottery': The Marriage Culture of Absence and Othering in the 1791 Jamaican Daily Advertiser "

Advisor: Dr. Hannah Rosen

Amidst the sea of global change wrought by the Age of Revolutions, colonial Jamaica remained a foothold for the British Empire’s slavery economy. Scholars have long regarded eighteenth-century Jamaica as a site of demographic failure as the colonizing population was not self-sustaining and thus did not possess its own creole culture. However, it is these unique circumstances, such as short life expectancy making ‘til death do us part a short-term agreement, that gave life to the island’s vibrant marriage culture. Utilizing the three hundred and fourteen editions of the 1791 Daily Advertiser, this paper locates a flourishing marriage culture beyond monogamous, long-term companionate marriages that came to dominate prescriptive expectations during this era. Instead, Anglo-Jamaicans told jokes about fighting spouses, published notices of self-divorce, and provided advice on what to do if accused of adultery. They also compared themselves to other British colonists, the people they enslaved in Jamaica, and many others across the globe. Thus, colonial Jamaican marriage culture hinged on two defining features: the absence of long-term, companionate monogamy and the comparison between their practices to those they saw as different, or Others. 

Taylor M. Garrison is a third year Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at William & Mary. Their research areas include courtship, marriage, and family in the era of chattel slavery in the United States. Their dissertation explores the language of marriage for enslaved people and those who enslaved them. Taylor holds a B.A. from Muhlenberg College. 

Jenna Hardin

"Familial Fondness: Virginian Courtships as Family Building, 1764-1795"

Advisor: Dr. Kathrin Levitan

“Familial Fondness” reveals couples' efforts to strengthen familial bonds while forming their marriages during the last half of the eighteenth century in Virginia. As the model of companionate marriage increasingly stressed individual choice of a romantic partner, Virginians continued to value the judgments of their close relations. Bolstering existing family networks and forging new closeness with in-laws during a courtship ensured the likelihood of a successful match and, as a result, a more stable marriage. This practice also underpinned the convention of intermarriage between prominent Virginian families, reinforcing the deeply hierarchical structure of the region. These individuals included their family members in their courtship decisions out of genuine affection. When a romantic affair was being conducted without public knowledge, discretion was preserved by family members who helped couples exchange illicit messages, as was the case for George Ellis and Ursula Pleasants, whose secret correspondence was carried by her brother. The letters of Judith Sheppard to William Galt prove that an undisclosed relationship could cause great emotional pain for individuals who wished to tell their loved ones about their romance and share their happiness. In circumstances where practical concerns beleaguered sentiment, such as the infelicitous financial situation of Augustine Smith, family members insisted that the heart should be the most important determinant in choosing a spouse. 

Jenna Hardin is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in History at William & Mary. Her research focuses on the history of emotion in eighteenth-century Anglo-America and Britain. Her dissertation focuses on failed romantic relationships during the Revolutionary Period. She obtained her B.A. summa cum laude from Flagler College, and M.A.s from Marquette University and William & Mary.

Avonlea Bowthorpe

"Gifts for Catherine Russell: Gender and Commerce in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World"

Advisor: Dr. Catherine Kelly

In June of 1744, British privateers off the coast of Kent seized the ship Franciscus. Bound for Hamburg, the ship was laden with wine and lemons from the Canaries, dyewoods from Campeche, and silver from Potosí. While its destination was a neutral port, the ship and all that it carried were ultimately taken as prize because its cargo belonged to people supposed to be on opposing sides of the as-then ongoing War of the Austrian Succession. Among them were the Russells, an English Catholic merchant family living in exile in Spanish-controlled Tenerife. Along with the citrus and Madeira wine that the family dealt in, the Franciscus also carried letters and goods for its members dispersed throughout the north Atlantic. One of these individuals was Catherine, a younger daughter of the family being educated at a convent outside of Dunkirk. The letters and gifts intended for Catherine demonstrate that the family's commercial networks and activities extended beyond the realm of trade. Catherine's skills, sociability, and connections with other young women had bearing on the present and future of her family's commercial connections. This paper uses the case study of the Russell family to suggest that a gendered analysis of trade networks and greater exploration of women's economic activities is necessary to understand how commerce in the Atlantic world functioned. It focuses on female education and sociability in this context, connecting Catherine's experiences to a broader trajectory of women's education and property-holding in merchant families throughout the eighteenth century.

Avonlea Bowthorpe is a third year Ph.D. candidate in History at William & Mary. She studies women, gender, property, commerce, and labor in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world. Her research examines propertied women, merchant families, enslavement, and transimperial networks of exchange, exploring how women and girls of varying socioracial statuses connected commercial nodes of the Atlantic world. She holds a B.A. in History from Western Washington University and an M.A. in History from William & Mary.

Helen St. John | James Madison University

"Tracking monarchs: Unanticipated impacts of Motus-compatible radio telemetry tags on monarch butterfly movement"

Advisor: Dr. Leone Brown

Co-authors: E. Huebner, A. Fernandez, J. Jackson, A. Lovejoy

Persistent monarch population declines, in spite of ongoing conservation efforts, reveal the need to address unanswered questions about monarch movement, particularly during migration and overwintering periods. Recent reductions in the size of radio telemetry tags have opened radio telemetry up as a viable method to track monarch movement via a network of receiving towers that record information on when and where animals are detected (e.g., motus.org). This information allows researchers to pinpoint locations of greatest conservation need. A critical first step, however, is evaluating whether tags have unintended impacts on monarch survival, flight performance, and behavior. We addressed this question by comparing movement parameters between untagged and tagged individuals in both breeding and migrating populations of monarchs. Tagged monarchs received either of the two smallest currently available Motus-compatible radio telemetry tags. Our results suggest that individuals with larger tags moved significantly shorter distances and spent more time resting than untagged monarchs or monarchs with smaller tags. Additionally, movement of heavier monarchs was more compromised by heavier tags, while monarchs with larger wing spans were less affected. While tracking technologies hold great promise for improving understanding of monarch movement and enhancing conservation, researchers should carefully consider unanticipated effects of tags before deploying them in high numbers. We recommend clearly defining questions and outlining achievable goals prior to any tagging project.

Helen St. John is a first year M.S. student in the Department of Biology at James Madison University. Her research focuses on applied ecology and conservation science, and she is currently studying the impacts of radio telemetry tags on monarch butterflies. Prior to this research, she received her BA in Biology from Grinnell College, after which she worked as a field technician for the National Ecological Observatory Network in Front Royal. 

Hannah Swarm & | Virginia Tech

"Application of Novel Insecticides Against Pesky Potato Pests"

Advisor: Dr. Tom Kuhar

&- Recipient of the Visiting Student Award for Excellence in Scholarship in the Sciences

Wireworms are the generalist, subterranean larvae of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Species worldwide are persistent pests of numerous crops, including potatoes and sweetpotatoes by feeding on seeds and tunneling into tubers. This damage leads to both diminished yields and quality, causing significant economic losses for farmers. Although historically soil-applied insecticides have been successful in combating wireworms, the deregistration of previously used insecticides (cyclodienes, organophosphates, and carbamates) has left few remaining options. Broflanilide belongs to a new insecticide mode of action group, the GABA-gated Cl-channel allosteric modulators (Group 30), and has shown promise in Canada against Agriotes spp. wireworms. To assess its potential against Melanotus spp. wireworms, which predominate across regions of the U.S., we conducted container bioassays and multiple field trials in Virginia utilizing broflanilide and clothianidin seed treatments. The results of the greenhouse bioassay showed significant mortality in proximate wireworms to both broflanilide (86.7%) and clothianidin (93.3%) wheat seed treatments. Field trials of the same treatments showed more variable results but did find a significant difference in our broflanilide treatment. Some sites showed no significance, likely due to low wireworm presence. Based on our findings, Group 30 insecticide field treatments may not be as effective as supported by results achieved in Canada. This suggests that there may be underlying regional differences related to their efficacy.

Hannah Swarm is a third year Ph.D. student in Entomology at Virginia Tech. Working on her thesis, ‘Wireworm ecology and management in potato and sweetpotato cropping systems in Virginia,’ she has experience in insect aquatics and integrated pest management. She has completed teaching assistantships in both general insect biology and aquatics and is currently attaining a future professoriate program certification.

Sophie Rabinowicz

"Determining the Effect of Season on the Diet of Wolf Spiders Near a Contaminated Water Source"

Advisor: Dr. Dan Cristol

Mercury contamination has historically been considered an issue in aquatic ecosystems, but recent research indicates that terrestrial ecosystems near contaminated bodies of water are at risk as well. As terrestrial insectivores with a potential diet of emergent aquatic insects, wolf spiders have been found with significant levels of mercury contamination and are a potential organismal vector for pollutants to cross ecosystem boundaries. In this study, we focus on wolf spiders collected from a mercury-contaminated Superfund site in Waynesboro, Virginia, where industrial mercury contamination has been impacting wildlife since 1929. Our project aims to determine whether the timing of collection throughout the spring and summer influences the proportion of aquatic insects in the diet of wolf spiders, as various insect species emerge at different dates throughout the growing season. Understanding these dietary shifts over time is critical, as the seasonal variation in aquatic insect availability could affect mercury accumulation patterns in terrestrial predators. By using DNA metabarcoding to analyze the gastrointestinal contents of wolf spiders, we will identify specific invertebrate species in their diet, with an emphasis on determining the proportion of aquatic to terrestrial prey. This temporal analysis will allow us to assess if and how diet composition shifts, which could influence mercury accumulation patterns over time. Overall, we hope to use our results to further inform cleanup efforts at this Superfund site and other contaminated areas.

Sophie Rabinowicz is a second year M.S. student in Biology at William & Mary. She has broad interests across biology, including ornithology, ecotoxicology, and wildlife conservation. She is currently developing a protocol using DNA metabarcoding to determine the dietary source of mercury in wolf spiders living in a floodplain contaminated with mercury. She hopes to use her results to better inform cleanup efforts to reduce the risk of mercury contamination in terrestrial songbirds.

Max Rollfinke

"How Does the Dietary Source of Mercury in Wolf Spiders Vary Spatially Across a Contaminated Floodplain?"

Advisor: Dr. Dan Cristol

While mercury was once predominantly studied as an aquatic contaminant, research has more recently shown that it can enter and move through terrestrial food webs. On the mercury-contaminated South River floodplain in Virginia, spiders, the majority of which were ground-hunting wolf spiders (family Lycosidae), contributed most of the dietary mercury to songbirds (order Passeriformes). Previous research also found that mercury levels of songbirds on the South River floodplain, and the wolf spiders they eat, remained elevated at lateral distances up to 400m from the river, indicating a much greater spread of contamination from a river into terrestrial organisms than ever reported. This study seeks to uncover the origin of mercury accumulating in songbirds on the South River floodplain by conducting DNA metabarcoding on the gut contents of wolf spiders to understand dietary composition. We collected over 500 spiders at distinct GPS locations varying in both elevation and distance from the contaminated river (from the riverbanks up to 600m away). We are finishing up molecular processing and awaiting sequencing returns, but we should have dietary results ready for statistical analysis by early 2025. Determining if spiders are consuming primarily aquatic or terrestrial prey, as well as analyzing how dietary composition changes spatially across the floodplain with elevation and distance from the water source, will inform the nature and extent of restoration of this mercury-contaminated ecosystem and others that are similar.

Max Rollfinke is a second year M.S. student in Biology at William & Mary. He is primarily interested ecology and conservation and has a passion for working with birds - he has contributed to numerous avian research projects both as an undergrad at Davidson College and as a field technician. For his Masters' project, Max is using molecular techniques to examine the diet of wolf spiders with the goal of understanding the movement of mercury from a contaminated river into terrestrial songbirds.

Zoë Packel

"'That the Water Shall Remain Smooth:' Ojibwe Ecological Knowledge, Place-Making, and Mobility in the Lake of the Woods "

Advisor: Dr. Joshua Piker

Since at least the early eighteenth century, Ojibwe farmers have cultivated corn and other crops on islands within the Lake of the Woods, which straddles today’s Minnesota-Ontario border. Ubiquitous mentions of these “garden islands” within European trader and settler accounts have led historians to frame Ojibwe corn agriculture primarily in terms of its subsistence value and its commercial role in the nineteenth century fur trade. Moreover, both contemporary observers and modern scholars have associated the Ojibwe adoption of agriculture with a trend towards sedentism. By contrast, this paper argues that corn agriculture appears not as evidence of diminished mobility or the adoption of European practices, but rather as a key aspect of the water-based social and ceremonial lives of the upper Great Lakes Anishinaabeg. The essay examines Indigenous corn production on islands within the Lake of the Woods in terms of how it both fit into existing seasonal subsistence patterns dependent upon Ojibwe mobility throughout the region, and promoted regular movement as well as the maintenance of social ties with kin groups. Situating Lake of the Woods agricultural production within a longer history of Cree and Ojibwe presence in the region also allows for an analysis that centers Ojibwe Traditional Ecological Knowledge of agriculture, Native epistemologies surrounding water, and the role that Indigenous interactions within complex waterscapes played in facilitating such knowledge.

Zoë Packel is a second year Ph.D. student in the History Department at William & Mary. Her research concerns the environmental and ecological knowledges of Indigenous peoples in the seventeenth and eighteenth century Great Lakes. 

Claudia Garcia Mendoza

"Mexican citizenship from afar in Alex Rivera’s film 'The Sixth Section'"

Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Losh

Deprived of citizenship rights and regularly forced to live on the margins, undocumented immigrants are rarely assumed as political participants. In this paper, I propose that Alex Rivera’s 2003 documentary film “The Sixth Section” invites to reconsider the political agency of undocumented immigrants in their country of origin. The film documents Grupo Unión, a group of primarily undocumented immigrants living in Newburgh, New York, who meet regularly and gather money to plan community projects in their hometown. “The Sixth Section” demonstrates that even as members of Grupo Unión are not recognized as citizens in the United States, their presence in the United States shifts economic and political dimensions and preserves a sense of belonging to their hometown.

Following geographer Doreen Massey, I conceptualize Grupo Unión as an active political body that has extended the town beyond transnational borders. Although I reposition the undocumented immigrant’s political agency, I do not disregard the conflicting affects. Cultural scholar Lauren Berlant describes the affective attachments in a capitalist system as “cruel optimism” as they produce relationships of precarity. In this sense, Grupo Unión’s attachment to their hometown is a relationship of capital where projects are frequently moved by nostalgia and sentimental feelings. This text analysis questions how place and capital reconfigure political dimensions and explores how “The Sixth Section” complicates our notions of community, agency, and space.

Claudia Garcia Mendoza is a Ph.D. Candidate in American Studies at the College of William and Mary. Her research has focused on media representation and counternarratives in digital spaces, intersecting information technology and social justice. She is interested in movement and migration, media, cultural, disability, and queer studies. Claudia holds a master’s degree in Lifespan and Digital Communication from Old Dominion University. Prior to academia, Claudia worked in journalism and media agencies. 

Madeline Bender

"Josephine Butler’s Voice in India: The Cantonment Acts and The British Soldiers’ Vices"

Advisor: Dr. Kathrin Levitan

In the 1860s, the British Parliament enacted the Contagious Diseases Acts, linking the spread of venereal diseases in their military to sex work. These laws empowered police to arrest suspected sex workers and subject them to forced venereal disease testing and confinement in lock hospitals. Although repealed in England in 1886, the similar Cantonment Acts persisted in British-colonized India, regulating brothels in military areas and later extended control beyond them. Josephine Butler, who led the repeal effort in England, soon turned her attention to India, advocating against the Cantonment Acts by critiquing the abuses of this act towards women and the role of British soldiers in this regulated system. Unfortunately, her activism halts around 1900 due to personal tolls.

My research examines Butler’s activism during this period and how her rhetoric about British soldiers and men in her campaign against the Cantonment Acts reveals her perspectives on gender, race, and British imperialism. By analyzing Butler’s activist writings—pamphlets, letters, and essays—and those of her peers, I will examine her views on men’s accountability and how they intersect with Victorian racial and gender biases. Additionally using secondary sources on British perceptions of race and sexuality, I aim to highlight Butler’s role in reinforcing the racialized imperial narratives of her Victorian period. This approach fills a gap in existing literature, which primarily focuses on her views about women, offering a different perspective on imperialism in Victorian feminist discourse.

Madeline Bender is a Master's student in the history program at William & Mary. Her research delves into gender, culture, and political activism in Victorian-era Britain, with a focus on the rhetoric of English feminist Josephine Butler. As part of her Master's portfolio, she explores Butler’s activism to uncover broader themes of gender and imperial power. Madeline earned her Bachelor of Arts in History from Mississippi State University.

Emma Macturk &

"Full Characterization of Fingermark Residue Using Chromatographic Techniques for Forensic Applications"

Advisor: Dr. Katelynn Perrault Uptmor

&- Recipient of the Carl J. Strikwerda Award for Excellence in the Natural and Computational Sciences

Fingermark residue, consisting of sweat and oil from sebaceous glands, is a complex biological mixture of fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and steroid hormones. There has been little research in full characterization of fingermark residue using advanced chromatographic methods such as comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) detection. One goal of this study was to develop and optimize a method for the nontargeted analysis of fingermark residue using GC×GC-TOFMS. A starting method based on a one-dimensional GC and GC×GC comparison was used to analyze residue samples. Full method optimization included testing five parameters with three options each and one parameter with two options. Parameter options were compared to each other as a group and the best option chosen for the optimized method. The optimized method was evaluated as a whole with all optimized parameters. Secondly, fingermark deposition and sample preparation were optimized with two extraction processes and four solvents and resulted in an increase in the number of detected analytes. Method and sample optimization using GC×GC fully resolved hidden peaks such as the steroid hormone allopregnane. A third goal of this research was to differentiate between endogenous fingermark compounds and exogenous contamination compounds used in forensic cases (i.e. gunshot residue). Organic gunshot residue was separated from fingerprint compounds, with future implications for confirmation of criminal activity. 

Emma Macturk is a second year M.S. candidate in Chemistry at William & Mary. Her research areas include method development for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and greener analytical laboratory techniques. She is currently focused on establishing a chemical profile for fingerprint residue with the goal of profiling criminal suspects for forensic chemistry applications.

Kathryn Gour

"The Relationship between Neural Resonance Profiles and Autism Spectrum Personality Traits"

Advisor: Dr. Paul Kieffaber

Co-author: L. King

A notable characteristic of oscillatory systems is their tendency to demonstrate resonance; that is, they oscillate with greater amplitude at a particular resonance frequency. There is evidence that there are individual differences in neural resonance and that identifying those resonance frequencies can be used to tailor and subsequently boost the effects of auditory entrainment on cognitive functions. Research also suggests that some clinical populations, like those on the autism spectrum, may demonstrate resonance at different frequencies than those who are low on the autism spectrum. Participants first completed The Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) and The BFI-2-S personality questionnaire. Binaural beats, an auditory phenomenon that occurs when two pure tones of slightly different frequencies are presented separately to the left and right ears, were used to drive neural entrainment at frequencies between 1Hz and 50Hz, in 1Hz increments, while EEG was recorded from 32 sensors. Preliminary results indicate that individuals whose neural resonance profile includes lower peak entrainment frequencies in the gamma range and lower peak entrainment frequencies in the alpha and theta ranges scored significantly higher on the Aloof subscale of the BAPQ and significantly lower on the Extroversion subscale of the BFI-2-S. These results are interpreted to support the hypothesis that neural resonance profiling could be used in the development of biomarkers associated with both normal and pathological sensory, perceptual, and cognitive functions.

Kathryn Gour is a first-year M.S. student in the Psychological Sciences Department at William & Mary. Her research areas include cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. Her project investigates potential neuronal oscillatory biomarkers for Autism Spectrum Disorder. She holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from W&M.

Natalie Tuinstra

"Effects of a Modified Emotional Competency Training Program on Adolescent Psychological Functioning"

Advisor: Dr. Janice Zeman

Co-Authors: J. Zhou, M. O'Brien

Emotion socialization (E.S.) is the process through which youth learn to manage their emotions, influencing their socio-emotional development and psychological functioning (Eisenberg et al., 1998). This study examines the effects of a modified Tuning in to Teens (TINT) program (Kehoe et al., 2013) that focuses on developing adolescents’ emotional competency skills (e.g., emotional awareness and understanding). TINT was developed to teach parents E.S. skills. We adapted it for direct delivery to middle-school-age adolescents who attended six in-person weekly, 2-hour sessions. Participants were 37 youth (Mage = 11.38, 24 girls) who completed the program and answered three questionnaires that assessed their anxiety, depression, and externalizing symptoms. Parents reported on their child’s psychopathology symptoms. Data were collected at three time points: T1 (first session), T2 (last session), and T3 (one-month post-program). Preliminary analysis using repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted which revealed significant decreases in depression, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms from T1 to T3. No significant effects were found for parent-reported symptoms. These findings suggest the modified TINT program may effectively improve psychological functioning in early adolescence but further research is needed to explore which aspects of TINTare particularly potent to effect change.

Natalie Tuinstra is a first year master’s student in Psychological Sciences at William & Mary. Her research focuses on adolescent social and emotional development, adolescent psychopathology, and the effectiveness of interventions. She holds a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S. in Information Science from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Adriana Lopez

"The Impact of Imagined Contact on the Neural Processing of Black and White Neutral and Pained Faces"

Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Dickter

This study explores how imagining interactions with people from different racial groups can influence our brains' responses to facial expressions of pain and neutrality. White and Black participants were asked to imagine interacting with someone from their own racial group or a different racial group. We measured their brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG) while they viewed images of Black and White faces with neutral or pained facial expressions. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to observe brain activity related to attention and identification of group status. We hypothesized that imagining positive interactions with people from different racial groups may reduce biases in how we perceive and respond to their faces. This research has the potential to inform interventions about the use of mental imagery for reducing racial bias.

Adriana Lopez is a second year M.S. candidate in the Psychological Sciences Department at William & Mary. Her research interests lie within studying the neurological mechanisms that allow people to organize information in their environment, particularly regarding others. Her thesis is currently investigating the effects of simulated contact on the neural processing of ingroup and outgroup faces.

Travis Lee &

"On Speaking Terms: Phrasebooks and Chinese-American Relations in the Late Nineteenth Century"

Advisor: Dr. Hiroshi Kitamura

&- Recipient of the Award for Excellence in Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper analyzes Chinese-English phrasebooks of the late nineteenth century to determine the ways in which they influenced, or sought to influence, Chinese-American relations. While historians have occasionally referred to these sources, phrasebooks have yet to be subjected to a sustained analysis. Reviewing a selection of phrasebooks published by secular printing houses in the United States and Protestant missionary presses in China, this paper concludes that phrasebooks acted as social scripts dictating and normalizing the restrictive terms under which Chinese immigrants would be permitted in American society. It pays special attention to the role of phrasebooks as mechanisms for labor management and control. Because phrasebooks were typically published by printers holding pro-Chinese views in the debates over Chinese Exclusion in the United States, this paper’s analysis provides a new means of contextualizing and testing the limits of the pro-Chinese position.

Travis Lee is a third-year PhD candidate in History at William & Mary. He researches U.S.-East Asian Relations and Hawaii, paying special attention to questions of labor and immigration. His dissertation will focus on the relationship between Chinese immigration to Hawaii and its annexation by the United States.

Mark Brady

"The Lost Sons of Ribadedeva"

Advisor: Dr. Lu Ann Homza

To this day, mansions adorn the Spanish coastal county of Ribadedeva. In this atmosphere, a certain mythos has developed around the figure of the emigrant, or “indiano.” There is an idea that poor men acquired wealth overseas and triumphantly returned to their homeland. However, this romanticized explanation obscures the true scale of this migration and the vast majority who failed to achieve such levels of wealth creation. This research examines the hundreds of young men from Ribadedeva that departed for Cuba and Mexico in the nineteenth century. More specifically, it theorizes what might have contributed to this migration in the first place; the Asturian county of Ribadedeva will serve as a case study. In nineteenth-century Asturias, agricultural labor became redundant, and the government accelerated its conscription efforts. Changes in conscription law allowed for monetary substitution; the wealthy could meet this obligation, forcing the poor to meet the burden of these quotas. Combined with general poverty,  many considered their options abroad. Scholars have suggested that these factors contributed to this migration. Fortunately for researchers, archivists in the titular locale have digitized hundreds of relevant documents. There is further work to be done, but these fragmentary sources hint at hundreds of conscription dodgers and teenagers leaving. In the neighboring county of Llanes, the local government has also digitized local newspapers from this period. This research examines these sources and hopes to identify the underlying causes of this migration. 

Mark Brady is an M.A. student in the History Department at William & Mary. He received his B.A. from Villanova University in 2019. His undergraduate research examined Latin American stock market risk and the career of Uruguayan independence leader, José Gervasio Artigas. Following graduation, he taught as a Fulbright fellow in Asturias, Spain. This inspired his graduate research on nineteenth-century Asturian migration to Cuba and Mexico. 

Carly Barnhardt

"The Sexual Politics of 'Natural' Food:  Radical Feminism and Countercultural Food Movements, 1960-Present "

Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Losh

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, “natural” food movements abounded in the United States. With roots in Progressive-era concerns and regulations concerning food safety, industrial (or “plastic”) food—once seen as a marvel of the modern age—came to represent to many all that was wrong with American government, culture, and values. Anxieties about what to eat, how much to eat, and how to prepare it often correlated with shifting ideas about sex and gender throughout the twentieth century.  This paper concerns the sexual politics of the countercultural natural food movement, with a particular focus on food activism explicitly identified as feminist. In particular, I aim to trace the development of a feminist food consciousness as it made its way from feminist communes on the West Coast in the 1960s to Michelin-star restaurants in East Coast cities in the twenty-first century. Concluding with an inquiry into the elevation of so-called “natural” food and wine to the status of haute cuisine, I investigate the possibilities and limitations for feminist and anti-capitalist business models.  

Carly Barnhardt is a third year MA/PhD student in American Studies at William & Mary. Her research interests include contemporary literature and visual culture, disability studies, gender studies, and psychoanalysis. She holds a BA in English from Boston College, with minors in American Studies and French. 

Xinyi Xu

"Conceptualization of Grief: Queen Victoria’s Bereavement (1861 to 1871)"

Advisor: Dr. Kathrin Levitan

This paper examines Queen Victoria's intense grief following the deaths of her mother and husband, exploring how her responses both aligned with and challenged the Victorian emotional regime (The concept of an emotional regime refers to a set of societal rules that define how emotions should be expressed, implemented through social practices, rituals, and symbols, which the bereaved are expected to follow). Rooted in cultural expectations of mourning, the Victorian death culture established strict guidelines on emotional expression, particularly for widows. While Queen Victoria’s grief over her mother was marked by dignified restraint, her reaction to Prince Albert’s death grew more personal and intense, eventually transcending prescribed norms. Her sustained mourning—manifested through attire, rituals, and the construction of the Albert Memorial—reflected a departure from the societal framework, creating what historian William Reddy calls an "emotional refuge." This unique position afforded her a space to navigate grief with autonomy, an option largely unavailable to Victorian women bound by social constraints. Through analysis of personal diaries, letters, and public accounts, this paper situates Queen Victoria's mourning practices within broader debates on emotional autonomy and societal expectations, offering insights into how her grief both mirrored and disrupted Victorian cultural standards on death and mourning.

Xinyi is a first year Ph.D. student in History Department at William & Mary. She plans to study cultures of death and mourning in Britain from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, placing British death culture within a global context of emotions.

Tijuana Reeve

"Tell Me About Your Baby: Reciprocal Oral History"

Advisor: Dr. Michelle Lelièvre

Stories about pregnancy loss and the grief that accompanies this kind of loss are frequently suppressed. This essay is an excerpt from one of my dissertation chapters and follows an oral history project I developed called Tell Me About Your Baby: Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Child Loss in which I collect stories about pregnancy loss. The purpose of this project is to create a space for narrators to openly talk about our children, the ones that have died, and, through the telling of these stories, to acknowledge their existence and honor them. The collection of these oral histories also acts as a form of personal agency and resistance, and as a means to raise social consciousness and social transformation over a surprisingly common experience that is silently suffered. In part, my dissertation project is an autoethnography that engages deeply with Indigenous theories and methods and also captures my own experiences with stillbirth. Through this project I propose a methodological approach I term the reciprocal oral history: an interview wherein the lines between oral historian and narrator are blurred as each participant asks each other questions throughout this exchange. This creates an environment in which I hold space for the narrator and the narrator holds space for me through discussions surrounding our shared experience of stillbirth. Through this process, I highlight Indigenous modes of reciprocity as crucial to this storytelling and storycollecting process as a counter to the silencing that persists around experiences of miscarriage, stillbirth, child loss, and grief.

Tijuana Reeve is a fifth year Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at William & Mary. Her research areas include Native American and Indigenous studies, decolonizing methodologies, and American Literature. Her dissertation addresses child loss and grief through Indigenous modes of kinship and storytelling. She holds a B.A. from CNU and an M.A. from ODU.

Anja Keil

"Memories in Dialogue: German and U.S.-American Approaches to Holocaust Remembrance"

Advisor: Dr. Simon Stow

Holocaust memorial culture has experienced a ‘memory boom’ in both Germany and the United States in the past 50 years. By comparing the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. and Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, this talk explores the distinct yet intertwined memory cultures of Germany and the United States in Holocaust remembrance. In this light, I explore to what extent both nations approach their memory of one of the most pivotal moments in their respective histories. Germany’s Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming to terms with the past) places Holocaust remembrance as a corner stone of its national identity, while simultaneously claiming that its past has been ‘mastered’ by now. In contrast, the United States’ approach to Holocaust memory emphasizes universal human rights, while using the Holocaust as a lesson against intolerance and  genocide globally. 

By comparing these two memory cultures, this presentation additionally considers how Holocaust remembrance has shaped and also challenged German-U.S.-American relations since 1945. Over time, Holocaust memory has become a shared foundation for diplomatic and cultural exchange, albeit not without tension as each nation reveals its own narrative of legacy, accountability, and futurity. Drawing on memory scholarship by Steven Johnston, Jeffrey Olick, Jacob Eder, and Eric Langenbacher, I seek to illuminate how the memorials in Washington D.C., and Berlin not only shape national memory, but also serve as sites for international dialogue within their unique cultural, social, and political frameworks.

Anja Keil is a first year Ph.D. student in American Studies at William & Mary. Her research area lies at the intersection of queer theory, migration studies, and the paradigm of the state of exception. She holds a B.A. and M.A. from Münster University, Germany.

Generative artificial intelligence has entered the higher ed landscape at a dizzying pace. Some academics have fully embraced these technologies; some are wholly resistant. Others are curious but have questions about their vast energy expenditure and what these tools mean for the nature of our work. Hear from William & Mary experts about these questions and more. 

Panelists:

Camille Andrews

Andrews is an Instruction & Research Librarian for William & Mary Libraries where she liaises with Africana Studies, Applied Science, Chemistry, Computer Science, the Environment and Sustainability Program, Geology, Mathematics, and Physics.

Dr. Elizabeth Losh

Losh is Duane A. & Virginia S. Dittman Professor of English & American Studies at William & Mary. She has authored and co-authored many books about digital rhetoric and media, including most recently Selfie Democracy: The New Digital Politics of Disruption and Insurrection. Losh currently serves as co-chair of the Modern Language Association and Conference on College Composition & Communication's Joint Task Force on Writing and AI.

Moderator: Jay Jolles

Jolles is Assistant Director of the Writing and Communication Center and a PhD Candidate in American Studies at William & Mary. Next month, he will defend his dissertation entitled "Man, Music, and Machine: Towards a Theory of 21st Century Listening."

Your abstract has been accepted. You've written your paper. You've dropped a fortune on registration, plane tickets, and hotel room. Now what? From adding a CV line to finding collaborators, thought partners, and opportunities for funding and publication, learn to make the most of your conference experience.

Panelists:

Dr. Rick Mikulski

Mikulski is Instruction & Research Librarian for William & Mary Libraries where he liaises with History and Philosophy.

Charlotte Palmer

Palmer is the Director of Career Access and Engagement in the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement at William & Mary.

Dr. Josh Puzey

Puzey is an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies for Biology at William & Mary.

Moderator: Dr. Audrey Horning

Horning is the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and Forrest D. Murden Professor of Anthropology at William & Mary.

Kholod Aladwan | Old Dominion University

"Gendered Adjective Use in Saudi News Writing"

Advisor: Dr. Staci Defibaugh 

Since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has undergone transformative social and economic reforms aimed at modernization and women’s empowerment, notably impacting public discourse. This study investigates the use of adjectives between male and female Saudi journalists who have been writing about women’s issues in English-language Saudi Gazette articles since 2017. The quantitative methodology mainly involves content analysis, exploring semantic, syntactic, and morphological characteristics, and analyzing sociocultural implications. By examining over 7000 tokens across opinion columns, the syntactic and morphological features are coded based on the adjectives’ frequency, positioning, and categories. The results reveal that male journalists use adjectives more frequently than females. Male journalists also favor assertive and direct descriptors, while female journalists lean toward emotive and stative use of adjectives. Also, Saudi female and male journalists avoid weak adjectives to convey solid national support for recent reforms. Based on theoretical insights from sociolinguistics on gender variation, findings also indicate sociocultural hierarchies and gendered norms impact. This study highlights how evolving social dynamics influence gendered language in media, providing insights that inform both sociolinguistic theory and EFL instruction in gendered language awareness.

Kholod Aladwan is a second-year MA student in Applied Linguistics at Old Dominion University. Her research focuses on discourse analysis and sociolinguistics. She is currently exploring sexism and discourse on Saudi social media platforms.

Dana Broadus | Old Dominion University

"Framing Culture and Language: Examining Stance and Code-Switching in the Duolingo Spanish Podcast"

Advisor: Dr. Staci Defibaugh

This paper will explore the function of narrative bilingualism and code-switching in language acquisition through a stance analysis of the Duolingo Spanish podcast. Stance is how speakers express their orientations and attitudes through talk (Anderson, 2014). Focusing on the host’s positioning and narrative framing, this study examines how language choices and interventions contribute to the storytelling process and facilitate language acquisition. Specifically, selected episodes will be transcribed and qualitatively analyzed based on the hosts stances when introducing, framing, and intervening in English within the Spanish narrative. By investigating the host’s stances, I aim to uncover how these choices reinforce or clarify cultural and linguistic identities within the narrative. It is anticipated that the hosts authoritative stances contribute to the language learning process by confirming and guiding the listener through the narrative of the guest speaker. This study contributes to our understanding of bilingual language learning resources and the effectiveness of stance as a tool to aid comprehension and cultural immersion in bilingual education contexts. References: Anderson, B. L. (2014). Appalachian Migrant Stances. Southern Journal of Linguistics, 38(1), 136-158.

Dana Broadus is a first-year master's student in Applied Linguistics at Old Dominion University, where she is focusing her studies on language acquisition, revitalization, and sociolinguistics. Her current research explores how digital tools and innovative teaching methodologies can support language revitalization efforts, particularly in endangered language communities. She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 

Benjamin Lee

"Reconciling Common-Sense Epistemology with Scientific Belief"

Advisor: Dr. Noah Lemos

My research attempts to provide an avenue for reconciliation between common-sense epistemology and scientific belief. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates the nature of knowledge. I present three different views that defend the common-sense position in epistemology from rising criticisms from the fields of science. The first view is from Rik Peels, who argues that philosophers must provide non-question-begging reasons and arguments to give common-sense epistemic authority. The second view comes from Orly Shenker, who argues that, in light of psychological science, we should think of common-sense propositions as commentary on our own mental processes. The third comes from Nicholas Rescher and involves narrowing the types of propositions we consider to be common-sense. I find all these attempts unsatisfactory. I present and defend a fourth view, that common-sense beliefs and scientific beliefs, while appearing the same, tend to differ in intended meaning, which I believe is more promising than alternative accounts.

Benjamin Lee is a second year MPP student at William & Mary in the Public Policy Program. His research in philosophy includes areas of social and political philosophy and epistemology. He holds a B.A. from William & Mary in both Philosophy and Public Policy.

Madeleine Roberts | UNC-Chapel Hill

"Library News You Can Use: A Content Analysis of Student Newspapers’ Coverage of University Libraries"

Advisor: Dr. Melanie Feinberg

Academic libraries know they need to market their services to students on university and college campuses. However, most ignore a straightforward strategy: outreach to student newspapers, which students typically perceive to be credible and trustworthy. Coverage in student newspapers about their academic libraries could impact students’ perceptions, and thus use, of the libraries. My research aims to address the following questions: How often campus libraries are substantively mentioned in student newspapers; whether the sentiment is positive, negative, neutral, or mixed; and the reflection of the tone on the student journalists’ perspectives – and how that could impact wider perception of the libraries. I analyze articles in three student newspapers, The Daily Tar Heel (UNC-Chapel Hill), Technician (NC State University), and The Chronicle (Duke University), to perform a content analysis for tone of articles that substantively covered libraries in the academic year 2023-24. The methods are grounded in existing literature of sentiment analysis and positivity/negativity of news articles. Then, I explore preliminary findings, which I anticipate including that The Daily Tar Heel has the most articles and many articles have a mixed tone, and possible implications, including the impact that student views could have on university libraries. From this research, attendees will understand that student newspapers can be powerful forces on campuses. Academic library communications teams will also come away with new ideas about how to best reach their key audience: students.

Madeleine (M) Roberts is a second-year master’s student in Library Science in the School of Information and Library Science at UNC-Chapel Hill. Prior to pursuing their master’s degree, they worked in communications and public relations in Washington, DC. Their research interests focus on the intersections of communications and library work, and they are currently conducting a content analysis of how academic libraries are covered in student newspapers. They hold a B.A. from Davidson College.

Charlotte M. Russell

"Beer Bottles and Nail Polish: Exploring Co-ed Femininity through a Twentieth-century Dormitory Feature"

Advisor: Dr. Neil Norman

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 1926 and 1944 under the name Brown Hall. This project employs 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 brief moment in the site’s past. This research finds that the Brown Hall women partook in self-disciplinary behavior through bodily manipulation, hygiene practices, and institutionalized socialization that reinforced feminine norms and a particular vision of a virtuous, 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 first year M.A. student in Anthropology at William & Mary. Her research areas include historical archaeology, anthropological theory, and institutional history. Her thesis addresses the material culture and social world of co-education at William & Mary through artifacts and historical documents.

Leah Stein

"'Everywhere the Eternal Alien': A History of Antisemitism in Virginian Society"

Advisor: Dr. Audrey Horning

In the study of American Jewish history, the impacts of antisemitism have historically been under examined or underplayed. Contributing to this trend, and complicating the study of American antisemitism, was a cautious silence often maintained by Jewish historians and community members, who feared that public discussion of antisemitic prejudice would only serve to worsen its effects. However, starting in the mid- to late-twentieth century, an increasing body of scholarship has explored the prevalence of American antisemitism from the colonial period to the present. Building on this scholarship, this study will explore social perceptions of Jews, and the effects of anti-Jewish prejudices and policies, in Virginia—against the backdrop of a broader history of Southern antisemitism. The study will highlight (1) religious intolerance in colonial Virginia and early debates over religious freedom, (2) nineteenth century anti-Jewish stigmatization in Virginian society, (3) the effects of antisemitism on Virginia Jewry throughout the twentieth century, and (4) actions taken by Virginia Jews in reaction to and resistance against antisemitism. In order to analyze social perceptions and prejudices, the study will draw from previous literature, historical Virginian laws, and archived Virginian newspapers, surveying newspaper coverage of Virginia’s Jews and Jewish-Gentile relations. Ultimately, this study will work to fill in silences in the historical record, shedding light on the experiences of Virginian Jews and the strategies they undertook in the face of anti-Jewish prejudice.

Leah Stein is a second year MA/Ph.D. student in Anthropology at William & Mary. Her research areas include the historical archaeology of the Jewish diaspora, focusing specifically on Sephardic and Mizrahi diasporic experience, material culture, and heritage. She is currently exploring the experience of Sephardim in the eighteenth century Atlantic world and specifically in colonial Virginia. She holds a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Oxford.

Abigail Croft

"Plastic Mulching Effects on Taro Soil and Leaf Microbiomes"

Advisor: Dr. Joshua Puzey and Dr. Harmony Dalgleish

Plastic pollution is irreversible and globally pervasive, with agriculture contributing 6.3 million tons of land-based plastic waste annually. The impact of plastics on agroecosystems extends to all levels: soil microbiomes, nutrient cycling, soil temperature, soil moisture, and plant growth. Additionally, plastic use generates small plastic pieces (microplastics) that leach into the soil. The plant-microbe relationship underlies ecosystem functionality and plant productivity. Moreover, taro (Colocasia esculenta), a crop of substantial nutritional and cultural importance, serves as the focus of this study. This research investigates how mulching methods—traditional (using banana and coconut leaves) versus plastic sheet mulching—affect the abundance and diversity of soil and leaf microbiomes in taro farming. The soil and leaf samples will be analyzed through metagenomic sequencing, nutrient profiling, and microplastic quantification. Despite the widespread adoption of plastic sheet mulching, few studies have analyzed plastic sheet mulching’s effects on taro farming or the associated soil and leaf microbiomes. The findings will shed light on the impacts of plastic mulching on critical relationships that support crop health and productivity.

Abigail Croft is a first-year master's student in Biology at William & Mary. Their research areas include soil and leaf microbiomes, crops, and sustainable agricultural practices. Her research addresses how plastic mulch impacts the taro (Colocasia esculenta) soil and leaf microbiomes. She holds a B.A. in Field Ecology from Ohio University.

Emmanuel Opoku

"Population Structure and Microbiome Association of Taro in Irrigated Farmlands on Rurutu"

Advisor: Dr. Joshua Puzey

Plant-microbiome interactions are essential to plant health and productivity. Previous studies have shown that some microorganisms have a beneficial association with plants. This relationship has been extensively explored for different plants; however, there is limited knowledge regarding Taro (Colocasia esculenta), a root tuber crop with the potential to improve food security given its nutritional components. Therefore, we aim to investigate the genetic structure of taro varieties and its influence on the leaf microbiome composition. We have collected different taro varieties from Rurutu, an island within French Polynesia where taro subsistence farming has been practiced for over eight centuries. We will be resequencing the plant genome to assess genetic diversity and how that determines the plant’s phenotype. Moreover, we will analyze the leaf microbiome to understand how different taro varieties shape their microbial communities. The insight from this study is essential to help subsistence farmers plan on adopting best practices that enhance plant-microbiome interactions, thereby improving crop yield naturally. Additionally, knowing how the plant varies genetically can increase agricultural sustainability through informed breeding strategies that produce varieties with desirable traits. 

Emmanuel Opoku is a first-year MS student in Biology at William & Mary. He has a broad interest in plant-microbe evolutionary interactions. His current research explores the genetic variation in taro plant cultivars and how human management in irrigated systems over the longue duree affects the microbial composition of plants' above-ground parts.

Aparajito Sen | Catholic University

"Antidepressants and microbes-An unfolding story"

Advisor: Dr. John S. Choy

Co-authors: T.K. Rostovtseva, S.M. Bezrukov, E.M. Nestorovich

Antidepressants have been reported to exhibit antibacterial activity. To investigate how antidepressants interact with bacterial membranes, we employed the Planar Lipid Bilayer method to perform single ion channel studies. This method detects changes in membrane current and hydrophobic properties by measuring the rate of ion flow through a single channel and the duration for which the channel remains open (channel lifetime). For these experiments, we used Gramicidin A (GrA), a peptide that forms cation-selective ion channels, allowing the passage of positively charged ions across the membrane. Previously Andersen et al, reported membrane activity of fluoxetine and amitriptyline in 100% PC (Phosphocholine) membrane lipid using GrA Planar lipid Bilayer measurements. In our studies we used a lipid combination that mimics the E. coli inner membrane comprised of 75% Phosphoethanolamine, 20% Phosphoglycerol, 5% Cardiolipin). We observed that the GrA current decreased and the channel lifetime increased with the addition of these antidepressants. The GrA current reduction is accounted to the presence of electrostatic repulsion of positively charged antidepressants and the cations near the membrane surface. The Antidepressants may cause changes in the hydrophobic core of lipid bilayers that lead to an increase in GrA channel lifetimes. These effects of the drug on the GrA channel activity sheds some light on the contribution of the different antidepressants on the alteration of the bacterial membrane properties.

Aparajito Sen is a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Biology in the Catholic University of America. His research areas consists of biophysics, cell biology and microbiology. His dissertation focuses on antidepressants and their effects on the gut bacteria. He uses biophysical techniques to study the interaction of antidepressants with the gut bacterial cell membrane.

Nirvanjyoti Sharma Shimul

"Regulation of MSP polymerization by a CK1 kinase and an Intrinsically Disordered Protein"

Advisor: Dr. Diane C. Shakes

Co-authors: S. Mireles, J. Ragle, J. Ward

The cytoskeleton is made of intracellular filamentous protein polymers and regulatory proteins that both structure cells and give them the capacity for movement. Many specialized cells like sperm cells employ unique strategies to regulate their cytoskeleton. During sperm development, the spermatocytes of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans cease transcription and translation and discard the well-known cytoskeletal proteins actin and tubulin by segregating them into residual bodies. As a result, C. elegans sperm move not via actin or tubulin but through the unconventional dynamic assembly/disassembly of a distinct cytoskeletal protein: Major Sperm Protein (MSP). Earlier in development, before the meiotic divisions, MSP polymerizes into bundled polymer structures called fibrous bodies (FB). FB assembly is known to require both the Casein Kinase 1 (CK1) related kinase SPE-6, which phosphorylates protein substrates, and the intrinsically disordered protein SPE-18. In recent studies, C09B9.4, a close molecular relative of SPE-6, was also found to be required for MSP to assemble into FBs. Furthermore, our preliminary studies suggest that C09B9.4 localizes in a similar pattern to SPE-18. Using molecular methods such as immunofluorescence and western blots, we will investigate how C09B9.4 functions together with SPE-6 and SPE-18 to promote proper FB assembly. CK1 family proteins have human counterparts playing roles in cellular pathways linked to cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and infertility, underscoring the importance of this study.

Nirvanjyoti Sharma Shimul is a first year master's student in the Biology Department at William and Mary. He has a broad interest in Molecular and Developmental Biology. He is currently exploring an unique cytoskeletal protein and how it functions in cell movement.

Michelle F. Spencer

"A Systematic Approach in Yeast to Unlocking the 'Unknome'"

Advisor: Dr. John S. Choy

The Human Genome Project to sequence H. sapien genes concluded in 2003, but a significant portion of the 20,000 protein-coding genes still have an unknown function.  The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) was the first eukaryotic genome completely sequenced, yet there remain several hundred genes that have not been studied and their functions remain unknown. We aim to determine the biological role(s) of these unknown genes in S. cerevisiae.  Our approach uses databases with experimental results from a range of omics work, including genetic and protein interaction networks. We combine this knowledge with structural predictions by Alpha Fold and Dali to identify potential structural homologs. We then generate functional hypotheses based on these integrated data sources and prioritize genes for further investigation. Experimentally we use strains carrying the respective gene deletions, or overexpressed, and growth assays under various stress conditions to test gene function. By applying this comprehensive approach, we aim to uncover the functions of uncharacterized yeast genes and to establish a framework that can be adapted for studying unknown genes in more complex organisms, including humans. Our work will contribute to a deeper understanding of conserved biological processes and potentially identify new pathways relevant to human health and disease.

Michelle Spencer is a senior PhD Candidate at Catholic University. She investigates completely sequenced genes with unknown function, demystifying the Unknome. Currently, she is exploring how gene deletions in the yeast 'Saccharomyces cerevisiae' and 'in silico' structural, genetic, and protein-protein interaction predictions inform appropiate chemical targets. Growth, spot, and protein assays scrutinize the bioinformatics, narrowing down gene function. She majored in Spanish and Biology at the University of Virginia and has a Master's in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University.

Matthew Chen

"StepHDet: Step Height Detection with Wearable Sensors"

Advisor: Dr. Gang Zhou

Co-authors: J. Clapham, K Koltermann

As people age, they can be subject to various gait disorders. Among potential symptoms is a reduction in step height. The state-of-the-art method is instrumented gait analysis, which requires a visit to the clinic and several expensive pieces of equipment. Furthermore, it requires a medical professional to pore through the data that has been observed, making it inherently subjective and time-consuming for both patients and doctors. StepHDet solves these issues, as it automatically analyzes step height using a machine learning model and utilizes unobtrusive Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors worn on each ankle. It extracts features from the resulting acceleration and rotation data. We propose two models to estimate step height, the Step Timespan Equation (STE), which applies an equation using the step timespan where the foot is in the air, and Double Integration (DI), which performs double integration on certain hills in the acceleration data to find the position of the foot. These methods are fast enough to apply in real-time and can be used in home environments, which will significantly enhance the convenience of step height detection.

Matthew Chen is a first-year graduating Master's student of computer science with a concentration in machine learning at William and Mary. Since 2021, Matthew has conducted research in Professor Gang Zhou’s HealthComp Lab, focusing on the applications of machine learning and ubiquitous sensors in healthcare. Aside from academics, he also serves as the Treasurer of Nerf Club and Minecraft Club.

Nichelle Ellis | Norfolk State University

"Essential Skills for Health Informaticist in Public Health"

Advisor: Dr. Batrina Martin

Co-author: M. Gallagher

Health informatics is a growing multidisciplinary field that combines data analytics, health care, and management. Many skills are essential for a health informatician to possess when working in public health. It is essential to know how to analyze and integrate public health data with clinical information systems, manage it securely, and communicate the results to manage public health. With these skills, a health informatician can deliver information that contributes to better decision-making and policies.  The review outlines the core competencies of health informaticians working in public health while addressing the need for data integration, privacy in health data management, and applying data analytics to policymaking.  The literature review selected peer-reviewed journal articles to form a qualitative assessment of the essential skills for success as a health informatician in public health. The findings were analyzed and condensed to determine the main criteria, issues, and solutions.  This study found core competencies for health information professionals, including knowledge of health data standards and public health databases, secure management of data, and the ability to present and communicate data for use in decision-making. The key issues of integrating clinical and public health data, privacy concerns, and data analytics in policy formation are also addressed. Keywords: health informatics, public health, security, data integration, policymaking

Nichelle Ellis is a first year MS student in the Heath Informatics program at Norfolk State University. She is passionate about leveraging technology and data to improve patient care and optimizing clinical decision-making. She is especially interested in the intersection of data analytics and healthcare systems to enhance population health outcomes and improve access to care for diverse communities.

Wenhan Lyu

"Evaluating Human-AI Collaboration in Pair Programming: Impacts on Skill Development and Perceptions in Educational Settings"

Advisor: Dr. Yixuan (Janice) Zhang

Co-author: Y. Sun

Generative AI (GenAI) has introduced both new opportunities and challenges for computer science, especially with the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) and code-generating tools like GitHub Copilot. While traditional pair programming involves collaboration between two humans, recent technological advancements enable human-AI collaboration, offering a unique but under-researched approach to pair programming. This study aims to evaluate the distinct effects of GenAI tools versus human assistance in pair programming within an educational setting, examining their impact on participants’ programming skills, output quality, and perceptions of GenAI over time. Our findings indicate that both GenAI-assisted and traditional pair programming enhance programmers' abilities and the quality of their work, with extended exposure to GenAI significantly influencing participants' attitudes toward its use.

Wenhan Lyu is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science at William & Mary, under the advisement of Prof. Janice Zhang. His research focuses on leveraging Generative AI and Large Language Models to enhance education, particularly in computer science fields. He is also exploring the integration of AI-driven tools in K-12 education to improve learning experiences and pedagogical strategies.

Victor Olaiya

"Wary Implementation of Cryptographic-API by Developers"

Advisor: Dr. Adwait Nadkarni

Research continues to show that developers often find it challenging to use cryptographic- APIs correctly. Several cryptographic-API misuse detector tools have been developed by researchers to help combat this problem; however, prior work has shown that these tools often fail to detect even the most trivial cases of crypto-misuse. This work investigates cryptographic-API (mis)use in the wild via a quantitative and qualitative measurement approach. The key intuition behind our measurement study is complexity, i.e., there is a normal and more complex way of using Cryptographic-API libraries. We develop a metric for measuring complexity at the method scale, i.e., the number of arguments in a method, which we use to characterize the complexity of cryptographic-API methods. With this, we investigated 20,508 mobile-IoT apps from the Google Play Store, from which we extracted all use of specific cryptographic-API methods, i.e., Cipher.getInstance("Arguments"), and applied our metric. We find 118,749 cipher object instantiation methods with various complexity scores ranging from -1 to approximately +1. We found that there are methods with no arguments that default to certain cipher algorithms. We also discovered that developers use native method calls to retrieve vulnerable cipher algorithms from native code. Developers also use string manipulation techniques to split cipher algorithm strings into irregular fragments, which rule-based tools may be unable to catch in case of vulnerabilities.

Jordan Rome | Norfolk State University

"Identifying Data Gaps in Health Informatics"

Advisor: Dr. Batrina Martin

Co-authors: L. Tackey, A. Tann

As healthcare systems advance, evidence shows that including non-clinical data helps to improve patient health outcomes. Non-clinical factors in clinical decision-making are essential, such as social determinants of health (SDOH) that identify economic stability, education, and housing, which are significant in shaping patient experiences and healthcare needs. Without the integration of non-clinical data, healthcare organizations may find it challenging to deliver comprehensive patient-centered care that effectively promotes health and wellness. Healthcare systems may experience gaps in comprehensive care without acknowledging these extrinsic factors, such as economic stability, education, and housing, to improve patient outcomes. A literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles was used to analyze clinical and non-clinical data integration and describe outcomes. Quantitative research utilized data from multiple healthcare systems between January and December 2023. The data sources are Electronic Health Records (EHRs), available claims data, census socioeconomic data, patient surveys, and zip code-level SDOH indicators. The findings indicate a positive correlation between the collection of non-clinical data, such as SDOH factors, and improved patient outcomes. Evidence from peer-reviewed journals underscores the significant impact of these extrinsic factors, highlighting the value of incorporating non-clinical data collection into healthcare strategies to support patient health. 

Keywords: healthcare data, patient outcomes

Jordan Rome is a current Health Informatics graduate student at Norfolk State University with a BS in Health Service Management. She uniquely combines academic excellence with four years of military logistics experience and health work. Her leadership, teamwork, and adaptability shine in her role as a community health worker, where she thrives on empowering her community.

Yimeng Wang

"Supporting Imaginal Exposure Exercises for Social Anxiety via LLM-enabled Tools"

Advisor: Dr. Yixuan (Janice) Zhang

Co-authors: W. Yinzhou, C. Kelly

Imaginal exposure (IE) is a crucial technique in addressing social anxiety, allowing individuals to confront feared situations in a safe, controlled environment. This study explores whether incorporating different modalities (text, image, and audio) into an LLM-enabled tool can enhance the effectiveness of IE by providing sensory-rich, scenario-specific feedback. The tool is designed to dynamically generate scenario-specific, sensory-rich responses from a repository of social anxiety-related situations, enhancing the realism and emotional connection. Our research uses a mixed-methods design, gathering input from therapists and conducting a pilot study with participants experiencing social anxiety. Anxiety levels, both physiological and self-reported, are measured before and after sessions using different modalities. Anticipated results suggest that multimodal feedback, particularly through images and audio, may 1) lead to greater reductions in anxiety symptoms, 2) increase user engagement, and 3) help those with less vivid imaginal capabilities benefit more from IE. These findings have important implications for advancing AI-driven mental health tools, making them more immersive and effective, while offering users a more personalized experience.

Yimeng Wang is a second-year Ph.D. student in Computer Science at William & Mary. Her research interests lie at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Artificial Intelligence, with a particular focus on the dynamics of Human-Large Language Model (LLM) Interaction. Her work also encompasses the development and ethical considerations of advanced machine learning and deep learning models, aiming to enhance the capabilities and integrity of LLM agents in various applications.

Yinzhou Wang

"Designing Human-LLM-Interaction to Support Social Anxiety Management"

Advisor: Dr. Yixuan (Janice) Zhang

Co-authors: Y. Xiao, Y. Wang, L. Escamilla, B. Augustine, K. Crace, G. Zhou

Social anxiety (SA), characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations, has become more prevalent, particularly after COVID-19. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have opened new possibilities for mental health support. However, little work has examined the specific design of LLM-powered tools for managing SA. In this work, we present SocialEase, an LLM-powered tool to assist individuals dealing with SA through adaptive scaffolding in human-LLM-interaction, enhancing user autonomy, engagement, and depth of thought exploration. SocialEase incorporates two modules: imaginal exposure and cognitive restructuring. We then conducted two evaluation studies, including an evaluation with five mental health professionals and a two-week evaluation with 19 users. Our results demonstrate SocialEase's effectiveness in managing social anxiety, with users reporting reduced distress and positive behavior changes. We discuss design implications for adaptive scaffolding approaches for psychotherapy, as well as implications for tailored approaches in leveraging LLMs to support SA.

Yinzhou Wang is a first-year Ph.D. student in Computer Science at William & Mary. His broad research interests lie at the intersection of cognitive science, psychological science, and human-AI interactions. His current work focuses on exploring the strengths, limitations, and ethical concerns of AI-enabled psychotherapy. He holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and a M.S. from Dartmouth College.

Russell Kamback

"Ultracold Ramsey Interferometry for Atom Chip Sensors and EM Field Imaging"

Advisor: Dr. Seth Aubin

Ultracold atoms are advantageous in that they allow for near-exact manipulation of their internal and external quantum states without the rapid thermal motion that room-temperature atoms exhibit. Since these atoms are relatively still, we can interact with them and use them as exquisite sensors to make precision measurements of physical quantities. More specifically, we are working towards using ultracold rubidium-87 atoms to create an atom interferometer. The first step in the process is to make a Ramsey interferometer, in which atoms are separated into a superposition of two spin states and recombined again to generate an interference signal. Next, we will spatially separate these spin states using a microwave lattice which we will generate with an atom chip. We have run computational simulations of the lattice to supplement our experiment. A large component of this process is the construction of a microwave amplifier and control system, which allows us to tune and amplify the necessary microwave signals. We anticipate that this approach will allow us to make high-precision measurements of electric, magnetic, and gravitational fields. Additionally, we can use this approach to image laser beams via the AC Stark shift.

Russell Kamback is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in Physics at William & Mary. His research primarily focuses on ultracold trapping of rubidium-87 atoms. Upon graduation, he hopes to use his experience in this field to work in quantum sensing. He holds a B.S. from RPI and an M.S. from William & Mary.

Michael Sizemore

"Tunable Diodes from Superconductors on Carbon Nanotubes"

Advisor: Dr. Enrico Rossi

Co-authors: J. Cuozzo, F. Léonard

An ideal diode impedes the flow of electrical current in one direction while not affecting flow in the other. The preferred direction is referred to as the diode’s polarity, while the effectiveness of a non-ideal diode is given by the diode efficiency. An equivalent quantum device is a superconducting diode, which uses superconductors (materials which conduct electricity with no resistance under proper conditions) in its construction. Our research considers superconducting diodes formed by two superconductors on top of a chiral carbon nanotube – a sheet of carbon atoms rolled into an asymmetric cylinder - with a magnetic field passing through the nanotube’s axis. We calculated the energy spectrum for this system at various magnetic fields, system sizes, and energy scales, from which we derive the superconducting current in each direction and the diode efficiency. Our results show not only a substantial diode efficiency, but also tunable polarity with suitable choices of the above parameters. Future work in this area can explore how changes in nanotube chirality can affect diode efficiency, as well as the efficacy of this device in reducing noise in larger quantum device configurations.

Michael Sizemore is a third year Ph.D. candidate in the Physics Department at William & Mary. His main research interests include superconductivity, quantum devices, and quantum information. He holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Arizona, and an M.S. from William & Mary.

Benjamin Spaude

"Measuring Time Resolution of Scintillation Detectors"

Advisor: Dr. Todd Averett

Co-author: B. Wojtsekhowski

Detectors are an essential part of all nuclear and particle physics experiments. In a scintillation detector, a charged particle passes through the scintillation material and emits light. The signal created from this light is detected as a pulse, whose height and width tells something about the initial particle that struck the detector. One limitation of these detectors is their time resolution, σt. Time resolution is a measure of how precisely the detector can identify the time at which the particle reached the detector. A proposed experiment at Jefferson Lab scatters an electron off a proton, via the weak interaction, which can result in an outgoing neutron. This scattering process has a very low probability of occurring and requires a timing resolution of 100 picoseconds to be detected. Using data from detectors of a known time resolution (σt ∼ 0.5 ns), an analysis script was created to interpolate data from the detector and measure its time resolution. The time resolution was determined to be σt = 0.311±0.002 ns. By having this analysis script, time resolution measurements for the new detectors can be made with little difficulty. This work was supported by the Department of Energy.

Ben Spaude is a second year Ph.D. candidate in the Physics Department at William & Mary. He is very interested in experimental nuclear physics, particularly in studies of nucleon structure. His thesis experiment is at Jefferson Lab and investigates elastic scattering of protons with electrons.

Trevor Tingle

"Ultracold Potassium and Microwave Atom Chips for Atom Interferometry"

Advisor: Dr. Seth Aubin

Co-authors: W. Miyahira, R. Kamback

In Dr. Seth Aubin’s Ultracold AMO Physics Lab we are working to manufacture a microwave atom chip and use it in conjunction with laser cooled potassium to perform atom interferometry. Atom chips use electric fields to trap laser cooled atomic gases. An atom chip that can use microwave frequencies enhances our ability to perform atom interferometry. Atom interferometry uses the quantum principle of particle/wave duality of the atom to analyze interference fringes produced by the atom for precision measurements. This research involves collaborating with Dr. Vitaly Avrutin at Virginia Commonwealth University where we use their microfabrication lab to make the atom chip. Additionally, we are redesigning our lab’s potassium laser cooling system using fiber-optic amplifiers to enhance control and stability of the process. This upgrade will allow us to produce a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) of potassium-41 and later a degenerate Fermi gas of potassium-41. A BEC or a degenerate Fermi-gas are two forms of ultra-low energy states useful in performing atom interferometry. Importantly, potassium has many ‘magic magnetic fields’ and special resonances that improve stability and control in measurements. Using the microwave atom chip and potassium in our atom interferometry experiments will allow us to make precision measurements in gravimetry, microscopy, or the sensing of external electric and magnetic fields.

Trevor Tingle is a third year Ph.D. candidate in the physics department at William and Mary. He is interested in Atom, Molecular and Optical physics as a means to probe the nature of fundamental forces in nature. He has a BA in electrical engineering and physics from VCU and an MA in physics from William & Mary.

Chester Zimmerman

"Particle-in-Cell Analysis of Relativistic Transparency Thresholds in High Temperature Plasmas"

Advisor: Dr. David Stark

When a strong laser pulse hits a material, it can become a plasma. There exists a density of the material known as the critical density at which the pulse will be totally reflected at the boundary instead of transmitted through. High intensity lasers capable of accelerating electrons to near-light speeds alter the optical properties of a plasma, including the critical density, through the phenomenon known as relativistic transparency. A particle is considered to be relativistic when it is approaching the speed of light, so relativistic transparency refers to the case where the near-light speed of the electrons causes the critical density to increase beyond classical limits, making the plasma transparent. This phenomenon critically influences the laser-plasma energy coupling efficiency and thus must be taken into consideration when choosing parameters for various applications, such as particle acceleration and cancer treatment. This study looks to find these modified critical densities' dependence on temperature and laser intensity using simulation software known as particle-in-cell code and compare them with mathematical predictions. We find that our theory of the critical density's temperature dependence matches simulation at low intensities, but we expect there to be another correction when we consider higher laser intensities, which we hope to model using what is known as relativistic kinetic theory, a theory in plasma physics that predicts the behavior of individual particles in a plasma moving at relativistic speeds.

Chester Zimmerman is a third year Ph.D. candidate in Physics at William & Mary. They are interested in studying laser-plasma interactions and their applications. They are currently researching the relativistic transparency threshold in a 1-D plasma and its dependence on laser intensity and plasma temperature. He holds a B.S. from George Mason University and an M.S. from William & Mary.

Jenna Glotfelty

"The Association Between Autonomic Functioning and Individual Depression Symptoms"

Advisor: Dr. Meghan Quinn

Depression is associated with blunted parasympathetic (PNS) response and increased sympathetic (SNS) or fight-or-flight response in regard to daily stressors. However, research also indicates that not all individuals with depression show these patterns of physiological activation. This may be explained by the fact that depression does not look the same for everyone. Symptoms can vary widely from person to person, which has prompted a shift in the field to examine correlates of individual symptoms. The current study aims to look at individual symptoms of depression and their association with both autonomic systems. We hypothesized that 1) cognitive/emotional symptoms (e.g., anhedonia, sadness, and feelings of guilt) will predict lower PNS at baseline and 2) somatic symptoms (e.g., fatigue, appetite changes, and agitation) will predict higher SNS at baseline. Participants reported on their symptoms of depression and underwent physiological measures to capture levels of PNS and SNS at both baseline and throughout a stress induction (i.e., participants had to prepare a speech and do arithmetic in front of the experiment). Data collection is complete, and data processing will be complete by Winter 2025. If our hypotheses are supported, the present study will add to the growing understanding of depression as a multi-faceted and heterogeneous disorder. 

Jenna Glotfelty is a first-year M.S. candidate in the Psychological Sciences Department at William and Mary. She has broad research interests in mood disorders and executive functioning. She is currently exploring the association between depression symptoms and autonomic functioning through psychophysiological methods. She holds a B.S. from Texas A&M University where she completed an honors thesis on the executive control of attention and physical arousal.

Sena Inanoglu

"Parental Socialization of Anger During Toddlerhood: Emotion-Related Beliefs and Behaviors"

Advisor: Dr. Madelyn Labella

Emotion socialization encompasses how children learn norms for understanding, experiencing, expressing, and regulating emotion (Eisenberg et al., 1998). Parental emotion socialization, such as parental reactions to children’s emotions, has been associated with child outcomes including effortful control, social-emotional adjustment, and physiological regulation (Eisenberg, 2020). However, most studies assessing parental emotion socialization have relied on quantitative analysis of standardized questionnaires, which may not capture the full range of parents’ emotion-related beliefs and behaviors. The present study assesses parental emotion socialization using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants were 205 parents of toddlers (94.1% women; M age = 32.95, SD = 5.22; 69.3% White/non-Hispanic) with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Quantitatively, parents completed a self-report questionnaire of supportive and unsupportive attitudes toward their children’s emotions. Qualitatively, parents answered open-ended questions about their goals and behaviors in teaching their children about emotions. Themes will be qualitatively coded using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). We anticipate that parents will describe more unsupportive beliefs and behaviors in response to anger than other emotions. Qualitative themes will be used to add nuance to quantitative findings, identifying emotional and cognitive processes associated with unsupportive responses to children’s anger that might be usefully targeted in future interventions.

Sena Inanoglu is a first-year Master's student in the Psychological Sciences Department at William & Mary. Her research interests include risk and resilience, emotion regulation, and parenting interventions. Her current research explores parental emotion socialization beliefs and behaviors during toddlerhood.

Samantha Kline

"Does Cognitive Control Moderate Conflict Processing?"

Advisor: Dr. Paul Kieffaber

Conflict processing and inhibitory control are two cognitive processes required in everyday interactions. Over time, various cognitive tasks have been developed to measure conflict processing in research settings. Simon conflict reflects the process of overcoming the innate tendency to respond to stimuli in the visual field with the hand ipsilateral to the stimulus. When a task requires participants to respond with the hand contralateral to a stimulus, accuracy rates are lower and reaction times are higher. Flanker conflict refers to the process of overcoming task-irrelevant distractor stimuli when responding to a stimulus. Previous research indicates that both Flanker and Simon conflict are resolved by overlapping mechanisms of “cognitive control”.  Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a non-invasive means of measuring neural activity related to specific stimulus events, such as such as the presentation of stimuli eliciting Simon and Flanker conflict. Data will be collected from college students enrolled for class credit. After giving informed consent and completing demographics questionnaires, EEG will be recorded while participants complete a combined Simon/Flanker conflict task. Event-related potentials (ERP) reflecting conflict processing and cognitive control will be measured to determine whether cognitive control moderates the relationship between cognitive conflict and behavioral responses, as is predicted by current theoretical models. The results will improve our understanding about how deficits of cognitive control may be measured in clinical populations.

Samantha Kline is a first year M.S. student in the Psychological Sciences department at William & Mary. Her research interests include substance use, addictive behaviors, cognition, neuropsychology, and EEG. She holds a B.S. from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Yangchenchen Liu

"Cultural and Contextual Influences on Parental Emotion Socialization in Early Childhood: A Qualitative Study"

Advisor: Dr. Madelyn Labella 

Parental emotion socialization (PES), including parents’ views and reactions to their own and their children’s emotions, is a key influence on children’s emotional competence (e.g., awareness, regulation; Eisenberg et al., 1998). Positive PES is linked to better emotional competence in early childhood, while non-supportive PES predicts poorer outcomes (Eisenberg, 2020). Prior research has identified differences in PES based on socioeconomic status and racial-ethnic background (Labella, 2018). However, little is known about what parents see as important influences on their own PES. This study addresses this gap through semi-structured interviews on contextual influences on PES among parents of toddlers aged 1–2. Parents (n = 226, Mage = 32.95 years, SD = 5.22) were predominantly female (94.1%) and White/non-Hispanic (69.3%), with diverse sociodemographic risk (household incomes ranging from <$10,000 to >$400,000). Parents were asked to identify important influences on their parenting around emotions, and their open-responses will be qualitatively coded using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Following the question, they were asked if specific influences (e.g., upbringing, culture, stereotypes, discrimination) affected their PES and, if so, how. Their “yes” or “no” responses will be quantitatively coded and descriptively linked to demographic characteristics and emergent themes. This study explores cultural and contextual influences on PES, offering insights for designing culturally-responsive parenting interventions to support children’s social-emotional development.

Yangchenchen Liu is a first-year graduate student in Psychological Sciences at William & Mary. Her research interests include contextual influences (e.g., family, workplace, community, and sociocultural-level factors), parenting, emotion socialization, and youth mental health. Her first-year project focuses on the contextual factors influencing emotion socialization among parents of toddlers. She holds a B.S. from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Erica S. Shafer

"Does Context Variability Across Item Repetitions Interact with Encoding-Retrieval Match In Younger and Older Adults?"

Advisor: Dr. Rachel Diana

Co-authors: B. Katz

Memory recall is improved when the context during retrieval matches the context during encoding. However, in real-life situations, we often cannot predict the conditions under which we will need to recall information. This study examines how context variability during encoding interacts with encoding-retrieval context match in recognition memory. Participants studied concrete nouns with semantic encoding questions and completed a recognition test 24 hours later. Each word was presented three times with either the same question, two repetitions of the same question and one unique question, or three different questions to create varying levels of context during study. In younger adults (aged 18 to 42) recognition performance improved with both context variability and encoding-retrieval match, with a combination of both factors being most effective. However, for older adults (aged 60 to 80) context variability did not provide additional benefits, though encoding-retrieval match remained significant. These findings suggest that while context variability enhances memory performance in younger adults by increasing the likelihood of overlap with retrieval cues, older adults may rely more on familiarity-based recognition, where context is less critical. The results have implications for memory strategies in aging, highlighting the potential role of context variability in younger adults and the greater reliance on familiarity in older adults.

Erica S. Shafer is a third year Ph.D. student in the Cognitive Neuroscience and Biopsychology area of the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. She is pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology through the Center for Gerontology. Her research interests include memory and aging, with a focus on mechanisms underlying episodic memory. She holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science from UVA and recently received her M.S. in Psychology from Virginia Tech.