20 Students Invited to Present at National Conference on Undergraduate Research

A total of 20 students were invited to present their research at the 24th National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) held April 15-17 at University of Montana.

NCUR is the largest conference of its kind in the country with approximately 2,200 undergraduates from more than 250 colleges and universities in attendance. This was Lafayette’s 23rd year of participation in NCUR. In that time, more than 600 Lafayette students have been accepted to present their research.

Students presenting at the conference represented majors in all four of the College’s academic divisions including 13 in the humanities and social sciences fields and seven in the natural sciences and engineering areas.

All of the students have worked with a faculty member through the College’s honors thesis, independent study, or EXCEL Scholars programs. Lafayette’s focus on close student-faculty interaction has made it a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the hundreds of students who participate in these programs each year publish their work in academic journals and present at regional and national conferences.

The following is the list of students invited to this year’s conference along with their project title and faculty research adviser.

Humanities and Social Sciences

Anam Abdulla ’10 (Karachi, Pakistan), economics and business
“National Culture: A Determinant of Economic Growth” Ed Gamber, professor and head of economics

Michael Bellantoni ’10 (Kinnelon, N.J.), a double major in economics & business and Spanish
“Violence in Mexico: Does the Production of Drugs Promote Violent Crime?” Susan Averett, Dana Professor of Economics
Michelle Geoffrion-Vinci, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures

Banks Clark ’10 (Durham, N.C.), a double major in art and an individualized, interdisciplinary major in philosophy of religion
“Kierkegaard and the Aesthetics of Christianity” Eric J. Ziolkowski, Dana Professor of Religious Studies

Paul DeCamp ’10 (Arlington, Mass.), religious studies
“The Beautiful Struggle: Islam, Qur’an and the Hip Hop Jihad” Robin Rinehart, associate professor and head of religious studies and chair of Asian studies

Ivan Dimitrov ’10 (Pavlikeni, Bulgaria), a double major in economics & business and international affairs
“Geopolitics of the Black Sea Area: 1989-2009” Katalin Fabian, associate professor of government and law

Clara Fisher ’10 (San Jose, Calif.), international affairs
“Spanish Democracy and Minority Rights: The Struggle between Centrality and Diversity” Ilan Peleg, Dana Professor of Social Science

Samriddhi Malla ’10 (Kathmandu, Nepal), mathematics-economics
“The Impact of Economic Development and Gender Disparities on the Transnational Sex Trafficking of Women” Susan Averett, Dana Professor of Economics

Max Minckler ’10 (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), a double major in English and an individualized, interdisciplinary major in philosophy of religion
“Delphi-Love Affairs with Anxiety and Influence” Lee Upton, professor of English and writer-in-residence

Evan Nardone ’10 (Beaver, Pa.), a double major in economics & business and government & law
“Low Income Home Ownership: The First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and Housing Affordability” Jerome Heavey, professor of economics

Claudia Rinciog ’10 (Galati, Romania), biochemistry
“The Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS Policies in Zambia” David Stifel, assistant professor of economics

Stephen Rubino ’10 (Berkeley Heights, N.J.), a double major in economics & business and history
“Market Reactions to the Adoption of FAS 157: An Examination of the Effects of Mandatory Disclosure in Illiquid Markets” Rose Marie Bukics, Jones Professor of Economics

Stefanie Wnuck ’10 (South Windsor, Conn.), international affairs
“The United States and Australia: A Comparison of the Impacts and Responses to Climate Change” Rado Pribic, Williams Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Xing Yan ’10 (Nanjing, China), a double major in economics & business and mathematics
“Using Garch Model to Predict Volatility in Housing Prices” Donald Chambers, Hanson Professor of Business and Finance
Jeff Liebner, visiting assistant professor of mathematics

Natural Sciences and Engineering

Michael Adelman ’10 (Clarks Summit, Pa.), civil engineering
“Surfactant-Loaded Ion Exchange Fibers: A Novel Pollution-Control Technology” John Greenleaf, visiting assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering

Laura Bochner ’10 (Bethlehem, Pa.), geology
“A Comparison of Methods for Estimating Past Ocean Temperatures: Results from the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic Over Late Pleistocene” Kira Lawrence, assistant professor of geology and environmental geosciences

Lindsey Greenfield ’10 (Staten Island, N.Y.), psychology
“The Role of Parental Marital Status and Perceived Parental Marital Quality in College Students’ Attachment Styles and Romantic Relationships” Jamila Bookwala, associate professor of psychology

Bridget Hilbig ’10 (Langhorne, Pa.), biology
“Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Contaminants on the Monarch Butterfly, Danaus Plexippus” Nancy Waters, associate professor of biology

Jennifer Isherwood ’10 (Lincroft, N.J.), psychology
“College Women’s Perceptions of Reality Dating Programs: Does The Bachelor Make Women More Traditional?” John Shaw, associate professor of psychology

Nicholas Leigh ’10 (Urbana, Ill.), biology
“Investigating the Reactivity of Triclosan” Jennifer Rutherford, assistant professor of chemistry

Jeffery Shoemaker ’10 (Schnecksville, Pa.), civil engineering
“Rapid Destruction of Perchlorate on Ion Exchange Resins Using Stabilized Zero-Valent Iron Nanoparticles” Arthur Kney, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering
Steven Mylon, assistant professor of chemistry