Students Present Research to Peers

Anna Yuhas

Honors students from across the state traveled to the annual Tennessee Collegiate Honors Council Conference in February to make presentations and learn from other undergraduate presenters.

Honors advisor Judy Albakry recruited and accompanied 10 MTSU students to East Tennessee State University during the two-day event. MTSU’s delegation represented nine disciplines, ranging from English to Science, with seven students making oral presentations and three making poster presentations.

Sophomore Sydney Fischer, a Political Science major, presented “Teacher Quality in Rural Communities: A Special Case.”

Two juniors, Yaseen Ginnab (Biology and Psychology) and Rebecca Jones (Information Systems), made presentations. Ginnab’s talk was titled “Lake Michigan’s Microbial Community Quickly Adapts to the Presence of Crude Oil to Degrade Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs),” while Jones spoke on “The Attitudes and Influences of Information System Majors.”

Cassandra Perrone

Seven seniors participated in the conference, including Forensic Science majors Cassandra Perrone and Anna Yuhas. Perrone’s poster was titled “Cloning Successive Generations of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa) to Assess Cannabinoid Profiles.” “Initiation and Cannabinoid Assessment of Trichomes on Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa)” was the topic of Yuhas’ research poster.

MTSU conference participants

Other senior presentations were:

• “Mind Your Pressure: A Study on the Effect of Trait Mindfulness on Resting Blood Pressure,” Hailey Hall (Psychology)

• “The Effect of Cryptococcus Neoformans Infection on the Phosphorylation and Subcellular Localization of CITED1 in Macrophages,” Maria Hite (Science)

• “Noise Exposure: How It Affects Hearing in Music Majors Versus Non-Music Majors,” Hanna Kolwyck (Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology)

• “When Gods Fall: The Epic Conventions of Game Narrative,” Nash Meade (English and Philosophy)

• “Universal Design in the Restaurant Industry: Bridging the Gap Between ADA Guidelines and Customer Needs,” Rosemary Reid (Tourism and Hospitality Management)