Symposium to showcase McNair Scholars research, presentations

The second McNair Scholars Program Summer Research Symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, in O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium. The new scholars will present their undergraduate research in a professional environment while many of our constituents will have the opportunity to witness the incredible intellectual development of this diverse group of future scholars.

The purpose of the symposium is to provide: (1) exciting learning opportunities where McNair students can share their summer research experiences and preliminary research projects with a public audience; (2) opportunities for students in the advanced research and writing seminar to discuss and present compelling presentations about ongoing and future challenges facing higher education; and (3) feedback to McNair Scholars on their research from peers, faculty and staff.

The symposium begins with opening remarks and is followed by two sections:

9-11:30 a.m. – Part 1: (Re) Framing “Borderlands” in U.S. Higher Education

These simulated academic panel discussions will be led by two teams of undergraduate scholars who will assess, interrogate and propose solutions on a range of issues including affirmative action, race and gender, student-faculty mentoring, and curriculum challenges faced in the “ivory tower.” There will be an opportunity for the audience to interact in a question-and-answer session after the presentations.

1-5 p.m. – Part II: McNair Scholars Research Presentations

Each scholar will have up to 10 minutes followed by a five-minute question-and-answer session. Sixteen scholars will present on the tentative topics listed below. McNair Scholars are listed alphabetically by last name; however, this does not reflect the order of the presentations, which will be determined the day of the symposium. The university community and interested observers are invited to attend as schedules allow.

• Sophia Benick – “The Effect of Acupuncture at Zu-san Li (ST 36) and Shang-Ju- Xu (ST 27) on NMDA Medicated Nociception in Rats”
• Sahr Brima – “The Death of Participatory Democracy: The Effect of Neoliberal Reforms on Civil Society and Developing Nations”
• Jennifer Dada-Samuel – “Latitude Change on Sleep Patterns and Mood in Recent Tropic Migrants to Minnesota and Minnesota Natives at the University of St. Thomas”
• Nkayo Drepaul – “Perceived Lack of Diversity Within the Black Collegiate Populations”
• Ariel Gittens – “Using Nitrogen Stable Isotopes as a Measure to Identify the Food Web Interactions between Bullheads, Fat-head Minnows and Common Carp in Shallow Lake Ecosystems”
• Nina Haider – “Directional Dependence in Human Morality”
• Mohamed Hussein – “Initial Appearance of Tight Junctions in Embryonic Liver of Japanese Quail: An  Immunohistochemical Study”
• Melvina Ketter – “Thermoregulation of Early Human Infants: Effects of Temperatures, Weed Speed and Skin-to-Skin Contact”
• Pauleen Le – “Future of Selecting and Reporting Stories for Local Television News”
• Demar Lewis – “Searching for a Mode of Entry Into China: An Analysis of the Strategies Reported by U.S. Publicly Traded Firms”
• Erin McDonald – “Celtic Depictions: How Caesar’s Biases Affect Primary Source Credibility”
• Lauren Miller – “Factors That Influence Racial Identity of Black Women Attending Predominantly White Undergraduate Institutions: A Phenomenological Study”
• William Montes – “Creation of a Novel G- Quadruplex Network Utilizing the Biotin- Streptavidic-Complex and Gold Nanoparticles”
• Sean Navin – “Impulsivity for Intravenous Cocaine and Food Measured by a Go/No-go Task in Adolescent and Adult Rats”
• Isaac Palma-Zamora – “The Uptake of Gentamicin by Hair Cells in the Inner Ear of the Zebrafish ( Danio Rerio) During the Embryonic Development”
• Bereket Worku – “The New Age of Multicultural Marketing: East African Consumer Behavior in America”

Melvina Ketter Pauleen Le Demar Lewis Erin McDonald Lauren Miller William Montes Sean Navin Isaac Palma-Zamora Bereket Worku  

Sophia Benick Sahr Brima
Jennifer Dada-Samuel Nkayo Drepaul Ariel Gittens Nina Haider Mohamed Hussein