Oral Presentations

Social Sciences

Neighborhood Resilience: A Qualitative Exploration of Social Responses to Natural Disaster
Graduate Students: Jack Berfield and Paul Ryland
Degree Program: Master of Social Work
Faculty Sponsor: Chase Harless

The Perfect Storm: Appalachia’s Existent and Evolving Vulnerability to Extreme Flooding
Undergraduate Student: Isabella Barger
Department: Criminology
Faculty Sponsor: Sarah Jackson

When Warnings Matter Most: Spatial Patterns and Messaging Differences During Hurricane Helene
Faculty Presenters: Dr. Sarah Jackson and Dr. Leah Blackwood
Department: Criminology

Narrative Medicine: Exploring Patient Experiences of Diabetes Through Zines and Storytelling
Graduate Student: Paul Ryland
Degree Program: Master of Social Work
Faculty Sponsor: Turner Goins

Nuclear Deterrence and Humanitarian Aid
Undergraduate Student: Garrett Branson
Department: Political Science and Public Affairs
Faculty Sponsor: JoBeth Shafran

Show Me The Incentives and I Will Show You the results: AI: the ethics, the environment, and the economy.
Undergraduate Student: Jaryn Green
Department: Political Science and Public Affairs
Faculty Sponsor: Jake Greear

Changes in Presidential Attention to Foreign Aid
Undergraduate Student: Weston Becker
Department: Political Science and Public Affairs
Faculty Sponsor: JoBeth Shafran

Music

The Physics of Clarinet Voicing: What Happens Inside a Musician’s Mouth
Undergraduate Student: Cris Lim
Department: Fine and Performing Arts
Faculty Sponsor: Shannon Thompson

Album for the Young: Schumann’s Lasting Impact on Piano Pedagogy
Undergraduate Student: Emmie Quillin
Department: Fine and Performing Arts
Faculty Sponsor: Christina Reitz

Florence Price: Her Compositional Influence on The Black Chicago Renaissance
Undergraduate Students: Hannah Sagendorph
Department: Fine and Performing Arts
Faculty Sponsor: Christina Reitz

You are at the Opera: Musical Alienation in Malloy’s Great Comet of 1812
Undergraduate Student: Jake Long
Department: Fine and Performing Arts
Faculty Sponsor: Erin Pratt

Monsieur Croche: An Exploration of Claude Debussy’s Critical Career
Undergraduate Student: Vincent Franklin
Department: Fine and Performing Arts
Faculty Sponsor: Christina Reitz

History

Conducting Oral Histories on Drag in Southern Appalachia
Graduate Student: Britan Sides
Degree Program: Master of Arts in History
Faculty Sponsor: Alexander Macaulay

The Myths and Realities of the Battle of Kings Mountain
Undergraduate Student: Jacob Henry
Department: History
Faculty Sponsor: Samuel McGuire

Boys of the Blue and Gray: Human Stories in the First World War
Graduate Student: Joshua Sealy
Degree Program: Master of Arts in History
Faculty Sponsor: Rob Ferguson

In Pursuit of Greater Freedom: A Short History of Lesbians Choosing to Live Between the Lines
Graduate Student: Remy Cox
Degree Program: Master of Arts in History
Faculty Sponsor: Alexander Macaulay

Lend Me a Hand: A History of Polio in North Carolina
Graduate Student: Sally Harris
Degree Program: Master of Arts in History
Faculty Sponsor: Peter Koch

Capture, Conquest, and Cultural Assimilation: The Visigoth Takeover of Gaul and the Effect Left on Gallic Society
Undergraduate Student: Samantha Greene
Department: History
Faculty Sponsor: Gael Graham

Engineering and Technology

Assessing Sub-Concussive Impacts in Women’s Soccer Utilizing Instrumented Mouthguards
Undergraduate Student: Allison Thackery
Department: Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Martin Tanaka

The Dynamic Effects of Water-Jet Machining on Material Integrity
Undergraduate Student: Bakang Phutietsile
Department: Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Chaitanya Borra

Development of and Validation of a Generalized Vibration Test Fixture Suitable for Mountain Bikes
Graduate Students: Belal Abu Arqub
Degree Program: Master of Science in Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Matthew Clontz

Exploring Sustainable Practices for Managing 3D Printing Waste
Graduate Student: Caleb Cole
Degree Program: Master of Science in Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Yang Zhang

Analyzing Forces Exerted on the Tibiofemoral Cartilage
Undergraduate Student: Chloe Davis
Department: Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Martin Tanaka

Deep Learning Model for Age Invariant Face Recognition
Undergraduate Students: Kieran Cavanagh, Jonathan Miller, and Ethan Oscarson
Department: Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsors: Abdallah Abdallah and Islam Elgarhy

Evaluating the Performance of Commercial IMUs for Gait Analysis
Undergraduate Student: Peyton Skoglung
Department: Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsors: Martin Tanaka and Adam Harris

3D Wood Printing
Graduate Students: D’Najah Slappy and Anna-Kate Schiebel
Degree Program: Master of Science in Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Hamid EisaZadeh

Quality And Reliability In Laser Powder Bed Fusion Of Ti-6al-4v: An Effect Of Model-Based Qualifications And Process Signatures
Graduate Student: Goodnews Ajagba
Degree Program: Master of Science in Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Hamid EisaZadeh

Bio-HVAC: AI Self-Regulating Air Register
Graduate Student: Yussef Syed Ahmed
Degree Program: Master of Science in Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Basel Alsayyed

A Smart Prototype for the Self-Monitoring Engine Oil System
Graduate Student: Wagdi Elabasi
Degree Program: Master of Science in Engineering and Technology
Faculty Sponsor: Basel Alsayyed

Science and Math

Ghost Stories: A Taxonomic Investigation of Phausis reticulata
Undergraduate Students: Alana Eargle, Kathrin Stanger-Hall, and Lynn Faust
Department: Biology
Faculty Sponsor: Luiz Silveira

The Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Species, Bradyrhizobium cervisia, From a Shelf-Stable Beer
Graduate Student: James Simon
Degree Program: Master of Science in Biology
Faculty Sponsor: Sean O’Connell

Noise Adapted Songs Retain Function in Intrasexual Communication in Urban Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia)
Graduate Student: Kayla Echevarria
Degree Program: Master of Science in Biology
Faculty Sponsor: Barbara Ballentine

Qualifications of Medicolegal Death Investigators and Why It Matters Where You Die
Undergraduate Student: Sadie Cain
Department: Anthropology and Sociology
Faculty Sponsor: Kaleigh Best

A Graph on Bumpless Pipe Dreams
Undergraduate Student: Prasheet Poudel
Department: Mathematics and Computer Science
Faculty Sponsor: Adam Gregory

Social Sciences

Inaudible Melodies: The Role of Music in Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”
Undergraduate Student: Chole Davis
Department: Philosophy and Religion
Faculty Sponsor: John Whitmire

Èowynâ’s Arc and the Value of Peace
Undergraduate Student: Emily Fleming
Department: Philosophy and Religion
Faculty Sponsor: John Whitmire

Mind of Metal and Wheels: Industrialization, Moral Decay, and the Loss of Nature Depicted in Tolkien and Jacksons
Undergraduate Student: Hailey Fonda
Department: Philosophy and Religion
Faculty Sponsor: John Whitmire

Living Every Moment: Ontological Purpose in Disney/Pixar’s Soul
Undergraduate Student: Kaz Brannon
Department: Philosophy and Religion
Faculty Sponsor: Katharine Mershon

That’s Not Fair! Understanding the Implications of Equity Sensitivity for Leadership and Human Resource Practices
Faculty Presenter: Dr. Bryan Schaffer
Department: School of Economics, Management, and Project Management

Language Barriers and Familial Disconnection in Bilingual Hispanic Youth
Faculty Presenters: Dr. Daniela Stransky and Omar de Jesus-Gomez
Department: World Languages

Psychology

Eating Behaviors, Obesity, and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in Adolescent Females
Undergraduate Students: Audrey Shore and Josie Wiles
Department: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Meghan Gangel

Examining Health in Hispanic/Latine College Students: Associations between Weight Stigma, Acculturation, Obesogenic Behaviors, and Blood Pressure
Undergraduate Students: Cielo Vera, Corinthia Elorza-Reyes, Gabriella Marquez, Bella Fresquez-Clifton, and Creed Bone
Department: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Meghan Gangel

The Effects of Animal-Assisted Intervention in Combination With Mindfulness on Perceived Stress in College Students
Graduate Student: Ezri Villiard
Degree Program: Doctor of Psychology in Health Service Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Nathan Roth

Familism is Not Always Protective: Family Weight Stigma, Familism, and Body Dissatisfaction for Latine Youth
Undergraduate Students: Gabriella Loredo Marquez, Cielo Karen Vera, Corinthia Elorza-Reyes, Creed Bone, and Bella Fresquez-Clifton
Department: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Meghan Gangel

So What if Digital Monitoring/Control is in our Dating Relationships? Perceptions of Digital Dating Abuse in Older Adolescents
Undergraduate Student: Isabelle Nygaard
Department: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Meghan Gangel and Mindy Weathers

English

The Wrong Ship and the Unsung Heroine: Unraveling the Letters of Leonard Kephart
Graduate Student: Ashbury Haight
Degree Program: Master of Arts in English
Faculty Sponsor: Emily Naser-Hall

Crazy Global Colonization: A Look at “Crazy Rich Asians” Text-to-Film Adaptation
Graduate Student: Devin Cooper
Degree Program: Master of Arts in English
Faculty Sponsor: Emily Naser-Hall

Female Hysteria Across Media
Graduate Students: Ky Walker, Christian Henderson, Jo Norwood, and Gail Parker
Degree Program: Master of Arts in English
Faculty Sponsor: Emily Naser-Hall

When the Past Speaks: “Ninenteen Ninety-One” and the Art of Resilient Writing
Graduate Student: Sara Yager Lloyd
Degree Program: Master of Arts in English
Faculty Sponsor: Brian Railsback

A Deep Dive into the Desperation of Macbeth’s Scotland through the Lens of the Witches’
Undergraduate Student: Savannah Little
Department: English Studies
Faculty Sponsor: Mary Adams