Student Research Symposium
Tuesday, April 27th
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
The Annual Student Symposium is an opportunity for undergraduates to present what they have learned through their research and creative works to a broader audience. The Symposium includes presentations by students from all academic disciplines. This year’s Symposium will be hosted virtually.
1:00 PM — Welcome
1:05 PM — ACL Injury Comparison at Coker University
Student Presenter: Madison King
Faculty Mentor: Dr. James McLaughlin
Presentation Summary
The tear of the anterior cruciate ligament is one of the most common injuries in athletics. Female athletes more likely incur the ACL injury due to the difference in movement technique during physical activity and the anatomy difference between males and females. My project aims to discover the difference in numbers of ACL injuries between men and women’s soccer, lacrosse, and basketball players at Coker University. In my project I will be reviewing several research articles who have constructed the same comparison and will use this information to analyze the data provided from our athletes. I am curious to discover how Coker athlete’s ACL injury patterns compare to other research article’s data.
1:20 PM — Perfectionism and Anxiety in Dancers
Student Presenter: Taylor Morris
Co-authors (Student Performers): Kayla Lilly, Crystal Winner, Erika Leslie, Olyiva Gregg, Olivia Timmerman, Zakkiya Jackson, Dorian Brantley
Faculty Mentor: Professor Angela Gallo
Presentation Summary
My project is a dance film about perfectionism and anxiety amongst dancers. Dancers face battles of perfectionism and anxiety everyday and each dancer deals with this differently. In my research I will learn how to help other dancers cope with this and will plan to inform others in my film that this is a real internal battle dancers have to take on.
1:35 PM — Ignored Labor: Bringing Attention To The Unnoticed Through Painting
Student Presenter: Triston Blanton
Faculty Mentor: Alyssa Reiser Prince
Presentation Summary
My artwork brings attention to unnoticed labor. In my artwork, I amplify flooring patterns and markings that are often overlooked. Through the painting process, I isolate and transform floor patterns and marks. The patterned floor and marked tile becomes an object to be viewed instead of stepped on. The paintings become representations of time, place, and residue. The painted marks remind us of the things and actions that the flooring and wax has retained. My work is partially inspired by the artwork of the dynamic feminist artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles. My presentation will discuss her influence on the trajectory of my artwork.
1:50 PM — “Good” Times & “Bad” Times: The Handling of 5 PR Crises Through a Crisis Management Framework
Student Presenter: Alexsandra Alverson
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Peter Gloviczki
Presentation Summary
The handling of a public relations crisis is a difficult job, and is something that even the professionals in the public relations field are still learning how to do. By using a specific crisis management framework, this project aims to find out exactly what causes companies to handle their crises well or poorly. The five different crises in this project are the BP oil spill, the Tylenol crisis, the KFC chicken crisis, the Starbucks crisis, and the Dominos crisis. Each crisis case in the analysis was considered to what extent that the eight steps in the framework published by the Institute of PR were followed. With public relations and crisis management being such a vital role within a company, this research will help people within this field understand how they can make their companies as strong as possible before and after a crisis happens.
2:05 PM — Development of a plating technique to isolate mycotoxigenic fungi contaminating pet food
Student Presenter: Emerald McKnight
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Flaherty
Presentation Summary
Commercial dry feed for dogs was first patented in 1860 by James Spratt, but it was not sold commercially until 1957. The dominant type is dry food containing cereals, many of which are known to contain fungal pathogens that produce harmful mycotoxins posing risks to animals. Mycotoxin-producing fungi from the Fusarium genus are the primary cereal pathogens, causing yield losses globally. The most common pathogens of maize are Fusarium verticillioides and F. proliferatum, while others such as F. graminearum are common wheat pathogens. Pet food may also be contaminated with fungi belonging to Aspergillus spp., some of which produce the notorious aflatoxins, the most carcinogenic naturally occurring compound known. Prior studies report common contaminants of animal feed include Aspergillus spp. among others, many identified are mycotoxigenic, which produces a potential risk to pet health.
The goal of this study is to develop and apply a culturing method used to select for growth of mycotoxigenic fungi present in animal feed, such as commercial dog food. As part of my BIO490 class, I tested and refined this plating technique on a soil substrate, known to contain a wide variety of microorganisms. This “proof of concept” experiment illustrated the capability of this procedure to suppress bacterial growth and the growth of fast-growing, non-mycotoxigenic fungi (such as Rhizopus spp.) which often inhibit the growth and subsequent isolation of the desired target fungi. The next step in this study will be to apply a PCR-based method to verify the identification of mycotoxigenic fungal isolates by a DNA barcoding strategy.
2:20 PM — Authentic Movement: Investigating the relation between internal emotions and external representation
Student Presenter: Kayla Lilly
Faculty Mentor: Professor Natalia Schradle, Dr. Peter Gloviczki, Professor Whitney Cranford
Presentation Summary
I am working on my senior thesis research project that is investigating the connection between movement and emotion. Samuel Gladding says that the individual human body functions “as an instrument of consciousness and as a vehicle for meditating unknown forces releasing pent up emotions, and promoting individual transformation and communal inclusiveness.” I am curious about the way in which Authentic Movement, an expressive improvisational movement practice, can bring groups of participants to an internal place which shows realness in external representation. Through my research, I found that Authentic movement is a therapeutic form that was founded in order to be beneficial for clients who suffer from stress, lack of muscular strength, coordination, mobility and mood swings. My methods involved interviewing professionals in the field and potentially conducting sessions on my own. In this symposium I plan to present the results of my research cultivated during the academic 2020-2021 year.
2:35 PM — The Prevalence of Obesity in Children Living in Food Deserts in Darlington County, SC
Student Presenter: Camryn Quick
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Danny Malone
Presentation Summary
For my Honors Thesis, I decided to study the relationship between obesity and food deserts in my hometown area of Darlington County. Using charity organization Carolina Kids and social media, I have been able collect data over the past couple of months from the parents of elementary-aged children and analyze the data using the program SPSS. My goal was to see if the two concepts appeared to have any correlation, based off of the data that I received.
2:50 PM — Comparing the Relative Efficacies of the COVID-19 Vaccines Produced by Moderna and Pfizer
Student Presenter: Katharine Spence
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Flaherty
Presentation Summary
By employing novel mRNA techniques and requiring a lower dosage, the Moderna vaccine is more efficiently stored, prepared, and administered than the Pfizer vaccine. The Moderna vaccine preparation uses standard refrigeration, fewer products, and has more straightforward administration steps. The vaccine is easier to supply for emergency relief worldwide and has fewer acute respiratory side effects. The vaccine is so rapidly created due to global cooperation in research, history on relative SARS-COV-1, funding, and decades of mRNA technology studies. However, with two vaccines that show so much promise and a 94-95% success rate, individuals still question it. The pandemic’s prolonging could occur not because we do not have a vaccine but because of the refusal rate.
3:05 PM — Eyevy
Student Presenter: Lawson Faith Lee
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ze Zhang and Dr. Joshua Bastean
Presentation Summary
My project involved developing an online text-based choose your own adventure game. It is a compelling story with no definite end about a scientist experimenting with an anomalous plant. The player has fun interacting with the world and seeing how they can influence how the plant grows and in what ways. There are fun sound effects, many different endings, and fun flavor text is everywhere.