Students from different departments on campus and other surrounding schools showed off their research at the Undergraduate Research, Creativity, and Innovation Festival April 11.

Alongside ACU, schools that participated were McMurry University, Hardin-Simmons University, Angelo State University, Midwestern State University, and Abilene High School. These presentations were up for awards along with mentor awards. 

The winners include: 

• Outstanding High School presentations: 
  • Vicky Gao: An Unlikely Payoff: Ethical Consumerism and Conscientious Behavior During COVID-19 
  • Alan Mercer: Where Are Students Going; The Implications of COVID-19 Pandemic on United States Unemployment and Post-Graduate Enrollment Rates 
• Outstanding Oral Presentations in Arts & Humanities
  • Langley Smith: Guinevere: A Mirror for Culture and Society
  • Hailey Pasley: Hortense Sparks Ward: Wins for the Women Who Came After Her

• Outstanding Oral Presentations in Social Sciences
  • Gracyn McGathy: The Mark of the “Slut”: Iranian Women & Tattoos as Political Protest

• Outstanding Oral Presentations in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
  • Thor Peterson: Manganese(III) catalyzed Allylic Oxidations and Optimization of a One-pot Reaction in the Synthesis of Phorbasone A
  • Gracie Granados: Biogeography of Mentzelia thompsonii (Loasaceae)

• Outstanding Poster Presentations in Social Sciences
  • Elizabeth Bryant: Recent Trends in Confidence in Medicine from the General Social Survey

• Outstanding Poster Presentations in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
  • Yourim Cho, Johnathon Goode, Anya Hahn: Detection of New Species in the Rodent Genus Thomasomys
  • Rebecca Atkins, Nathaniel McKinney:  Syntheses and structures of 3,5-diphenyl pyrazole osmium complexes
  • Macy Frost, Sophia Wagle:  Antimicrobial-Producing Bacterial Strains Isolated From Sorcerer’s Cave, Texas

• Top Scholars Outstanding Presentation in Arts & Humanities
  • Abigayle Taylor: No Laughing Matter: Crisis at the Ellen Show

• Top Scholars Outstanding Presentation in Social Sciences
  • Kathryn Crawford: Comparing Returns between Curricular and Co-curricular Student Investment Funds

• Top Scholars Outstanding Presentation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
  • Elizabeth Bryant: New diosmium sawhorses with pyrazolate, acetate, and diphosphane ligands

This festival is created by the help of several faculty members and students. This festival is to show the student body and faculty different projects that students are working on. This is also helping students to prepare for future academic conferences that are outside of ACU. 

“We are really excited about the progress and trajectory of undergrad research here at ACU,” said Dan Morrison, the faculty director for undergraduate research, creativity and innovation and professor of sociology. 

ACU has multiple students that participate in undergraduate research. This festival has multiple opportunities to participate which include poster presentations, oral presentations, and a chance to be a Top Scholar. Top Scholars are selected by faculty reviewers based on the quality of the research abstract and details by the student researchers and their mentors.

The top scholars for this year include: 

• Abigayle Taylor: No Laughing Matter: Crisis at the Ellen Show
• Jackson Smith: Belt and Road Initiative: The Bigger Picture
• Mike Roberts: The Middle Voice in Galatians
• Tuan Anh Chau: The Modernist Mind as a Social and Philosophical Construct: Tracing Modernist Characters of British Literature from the 17th century to 19th century
• Kendyll Jacobs: The Witch Hunts of Early Modern Scotland: Superstition, Sexism and Self-Fashioning
• Claire Dunn, Joshua Brokshaw, Thomas Lee: Genetic Variation in Thomasomys Fumeus
• Youngseo Choi, Andrew Holowiecki: Generation of zebrafish biliverdin reductase mutants using CRISPR-Cas technology in an undergraduate research lab
• Madison Meador: Analyzing geometric distortions in CT and MRI image fusion
• Connor Crawford: CuAAC ‘Click’ Chemistry and the Formation of Double-Tethered DNA Curtains on Supported Lipid Bilayers
• Elizabeth Bryant: New diosmium sawhorses with pyrazolate, acetate, and diphosphane ligands
• Raul Romero: Investigation of Possible Phase Transitions and Polymorphism in LiNak-Nitrate
• Victory Egot and Allie Mae Berry: Evaluation and Assembly of the Components of a Molten Salt Ele petrochemical System
• Hansen Penya: HEARD IT HERE: Gangs, Poverty, and the Black Experience
• Hannah Maniscalo: The Pandemic and Terrorism: A Comparative Study of Terrorist Recruitment during the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Jaylynn Ward: Murals Challenging Gender Violence in the Military: Assessing the Political Memory of Vanessa Guillen
• Sydney Meyres, Jillian Fifield, STAR: Student Trading and Research Abstract
• Kathryn Crawford: Comparing Returns between Curricular and Co-curricular Student Investment Funds
• Skye Gill: Cost of Counseling and Impact in Texas Universities

“It is really gratifying to students for people to want to hear about their work and to be able to provide that listening ear for someone who has put in a lot of work,” said Elizabeth Bryant, senior biochemistry major from Austin. 

The lists of projects can be found on the ACU website under the Undergraduate Research, Creativity and Innovation Festival. All of the awards and photos can be found on the website as well. Students are encouraged to apply to be a part of this festival for the next semester or come and support other students.