2025
2025 USRSC Award Winners
Oral Presentations –
Business Session:
1st prize
Ethan Broccolina
The Effect of Maryland’s 2022 Minimum Wage Increase on Employment in the Fast-Food
Industry
Faculty Mentor: Kerry Tan (Economics)
Natural Applied Session:
1st prize
Olivia Welch
Presumptive Testing for the Comparison of Human and Animal Blood Droplets
Faculty Mentor: Rhys Williams (Forensic Studies)
Social Science Session:
1st prize
Annabella Ritter-Pleitez
No Corn, No Country: A Content Analysis on U.S. Immigration Policy
Faculty Mentor: Oral-Matt Beverlin (Political Sciences)
2nd prize
Lauren Quinn
The Impact of Alpha Brain Wave Enhancement on Visual and Auditory Reaction Times in
Athletes
Faculty Mentor: Jeff Lating (Psychology)
3rd prize
Benjamin Bison
Potential Strategies and Implications of China's Taiwan Takeover
Faculty Mentor: Carsten Vala (Political Sciences)
Social Science, Humanities, and Fine Arts:
1st prize
Sophia Randle
Charm City
Faculty Mentor: Professor Mary Beth Akre (Visual Arts)
2nd prize
Victoria Scott, Nima Rafei, Brennon Schifman
Examining Cultural Appropriation Attitudes, Personality and Privilege Awareness in
Undergraduate Students
Faculty Mentor: Michiko Iwasaki (Psychology)
3rd prize
Olivia Pare
Incomplete Justice: Evaluating Transitional Justice for Survivors of Wartime Sexual
Violence
Faculty Mentor: Mary Kate Schneider (Political Science)
Poster Presentations –
Education Session:
1st prize
Katharine Burris
Word Games to Enhance Vocabulary Comprehension for English Language Learners
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri
2nd prize
Jackie Lewis
Decoding Decoding
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri
3rd prize (tie)
Tie Manuel
Foundational Literacy Components
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri
3rd prize (tie)
Christina Franciosa
Ownership and Responsibility in Singing
Faculty Mentor: Antoinette Carr
3rd prize (tie)
Molly Schindler
Mastering Sight Words
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri
Natural Applied Session:
1st prize
Tina Sung, Sophie Werner
Determining the Activity of Small Batch Insulin in Promoting Glucose Uptake in 3T3-L1
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Scheifele (Biology)
2nd prize
Grace Mills, Muskaan Wadhava
Optimizing screening and quantification methods for glargine production in Pichia
pastoris yeast
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Scheifele (Biology)
3rd prize
Brady Westerberg
Investigation of Turbulence Model Impact on Numerical Simulation of Savonius Vertical
Faculty Mentor: Robert Timothy Bailey (Engineering)
3rd prize
Aenisha Goti, Kaylee Serio, Eduardo Ugarte
The study of miRNA-222 to drug-resistant and drug-sensitive breast cancer cell lines
Faculty Mentor: Armina Kazi (Biology)
Social Science Session with Business:
1st prize
Sophia Launay-Fallasse, Kayla Nunes
Investigating Semantic and Visual Interference in Monolinguals Using the Stroop Task
Faculty Mentors: Kathleen Siren; Tepanta Fossett (Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences)
2nd prize
Victoria Marcondes
Predictors of Fear of Falling
Faculty Mentor: Christopher Higginson (Psychology)
3rd prize
Gretchen Morris, Ben Chico, Sara Jaffie, Emma O’Hare
Accounting for Early School Start Times: Commute Times and Mode of Transportation
for U.S. Teens
Faculty Mentor: Amy R. Wolfson (Psychology)
Event Information
Friday, April 25, 2025Application Proposals
All currently enrolled undergraduate students at the University are eligible to submit a presentation proposal to the Colloquium for research performed on or off campus, including during the summer.Deadline: March 21, 2025
Application Process
Volunteer to Judge
If you are a faculty member willing to serve as an abstract reviewer (March 21-31) and/or a judge (either for oral or poster presentations at the Colloquium on April 25th), please submit your contact information here to register your interest.