Students Present at National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Seventeen students presented their findings at the 30th National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) April 7-9 at University of North Carolina, Asheville.

Jethro Israel ’16 presented research he did on the McDonogh Brothers with Prof. Wendy Wilson-Fall.

NCUR is the largest conference of its kind in the country with approximately 2,000 undergraduates from more than 250 colleges and universities in attendance. Over Lafayette’s 29 years of participation, more than 750 students have been accepted to present their research.

Students worked with faculty members through the College’s honors thesis, independent study, or EXCEL Scholars undergraduate research 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.

• Nikki Bauer ’16 (Colorado Springs, Colo.), dual major in psychology and English
  “Is Retribution Justice? A Review of the Geriatric Prison Population in the United States”
  Bonnie Winfield, director of community partnerships
• Ryan Cerbone ’17 (Pelham, N.Y.), biochemistry
  “Diels-Alder Reactions of Gamma Hydroxybutenolides: Approach to the Himbacine Tricyclic Core”
  William Miles, professor of chemistry
• Nicole Harrison ’16 (Westminster, Colo.), double major in English and women’s & gender studies
  “Women, Work, and the Nuclear Family”
  Susan Averett, Dana Professor of Economics
• Tasnia Hassan ’18 (Jamaica, N.Y.), chemistry
  “Studying Transcriptional Regulation of CCL2”
  Robert Kurt, Kreider Professor of Biology
• Jethro Israel ’16 (Plainfield, N.J.), Africana studies
  “The McDonogh Brothers of Lafayette College”
  Wendy Wilson-Fall, associate professor of Africana studies
• Cassidy Madison ’16 (Kalispell, Mont.), chemistry
  “Validation of Predicted MiRNAs in Phytophthora Sojae and Phytophthora Infestans”
  Manuel Ospina-Giraldo, associate professor of biology
• 

  Rebeka Ramangamihanta ’16 worked on a polio awareness campaign last summer in an internship with UNICEF in Madagascar.

  Christopher Nelsen ’16 (Wayne, Pa.), civil engineering
  “Digital Preservation of German American Heritage Sites in Pennsylvania Using Terrestrial Lidar and an Interactive Web-based Interface”
  Michael McGuire, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering

• Stacy Nganga ’16 (Easton, Pa.), neuroscience
  “The Effect of Diet on Seizure and Mitochondrial Function in a Fly Model of Epilepsy”
  Elaine Reynolds, associate professor of biology
• Rebeka Ramangamihanta ’16 (Antananarivo, Madagascar), double major in economics and international affairs
  “Polio Eradication in Madagascar: Are Mass Vaccination Campaigns the Most Cost-effective Approach?”
  David Stifel, professor of economics
  “French-Malagasy Transnational Marriages or Fanambadiana Vazaha: From Merina Women’s Perspectives”
  Hannah Stewart-Gambino, professor of government and law
• Cassidy Reller ’16 (Fremont, Neb.), double major in philosophy and government & law
  “From Harlan to Brennan: Reexamining David Souter’s Judicial Ideology”
  Bruce Murphy, Kirby Professor of Government and Law
• Emma Smith ’17 (Seekonk, Mass.), double major in history and government & law
  “The Evolving Legal Perspective on Piracy in Early American History”
  Deborah Rosen, Roth Professor of History
• Carly Trachtman ’16 (Allentown, Pa.), double major in mathematics and economics
  “Aspirations and Effects on Investment Behaviors: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia”
  David Stifel, professor of economics
• Thanh Vu ’18 (Hanoi, Viet Nam), computer science
  How Your Phone Recognizes Your Home: an Investigation of Mobile Object Recognition
  Amir Sadovnik, assistant professor of computer science
• Leah Wasacz ’16 (Wall, N.J.), English
  “The Pedagogical Power of Creative Writing: The Lafayette College Writing Associates on Learning to Write”
  Bianca Falbo, associate professor of English
• Jeffrey Wheeler ’16 (Westford, Mass.), double major in international affairs and psychology
  “The Fall of Yugoslavia and the Rise of Authoritarianism: How Western Intervention Helped Maintain”
  Katalin Fabian, associate professor of government and law
• Anna Wissler ’16 (Arlington, Va.), double major in art and economics
  “Consumer Willingness to Pay for Fair Trade Certified Coffee”
  David Stifel, professor of economics
• Michael Yust ’16 (Richmond, Va.), civil engineering
  “Performance Monitoring of Mechanically-Stabilized Earth (MSE) and Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil (GRS) Retaining Structures Using 3D Point Cloud Data”
  Michael McGuire, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering