2026

26th Annual Colloquium Award Winners

Oral Presentations-

Natural & Applied Sciences:

1st Prize
Julian Crisostomo
Neutral Sphingomyelinase 2 is involved in fentanyl self-administration and relapse
Faculty Mentor: Derek Kendig (Biology)

Business School:

1st Prize
Chris Owsik
The Contract Year Phenomenon: Investigating the Effect of Contract Uncertainty on NBA Player Performance
Faculty Mentor: Kerry Tan (Economics)

Social Sciences Session 1:

1st Prize
Aidan O'Neill
Follow the Money: Why do Affordable Prescription Bills Always Fail
Faculty Mentor: Matt Beverlin (Political Science)

Social Sciences, Humanities & Fine Arts Session 2:

1st Prize
Sammy Yerkes
Multilingualism and Equity in Women’s Health: A Study on Francophone Populations in US Healthcare Settings
Faculty Mentor: Andrea Thomas (Modern Languages)

Poster Sessions-

Education Session 1:

1st Prize
Alex France 
Smooth Blending for Smooth Readers
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri (Education)

2nd Prize
Emily Metheny 
#12 Improving Comprehension Among Fifth Grade Students
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri (Education)

3rd Prize
Sarah Sagna
Increasing English Language Learners’ Oral Reading Fluency Scores
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri (Education)

3rd Prize
Tara Larson
Scaffolding Words, Strengthening Readers
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Mulieri and Jessica Haddaway Enos (Education)

3rd Prize
Jennifer Camacho-Alvarado 
The Skills of Phoneme Blending and Segmentation Bridges Literacy Across Multilingual
Faculty Mentor: Margarita Gómez (Education)

Natural & Applied Sciences:

1st Prize
Leah Rottler-Gurley 
Structural complexity as a factor in nest-site choice and parental aggressive behavior by convict cichlid pairs 
Faculty Mentor: Natalie van Breukelen (Biology)

2nd Prize
Colin Baust-Crain
The Xenia Effect as a Potential Mechanism for Intra-Organismal Competition
Faculty Mentor: Maren Veatch-Blohm (Biology)

3rd Prize
Allison Leung, Katie Russo, Brandon Maniego, Caroline Mesa-Gonzalez, Muskaan Wadhava
Engineering Yeast for Cost-Efficient Insulin Production
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Scheifele (Biology)

3rd Prize
Bree Smith, Gwenyth Lowery
Sleep, Aging, and Memory: Investigating the Role of Orexin Peptides in Cognitive Decline
Faculty Mentor: Craig Myrum (Biology)

3rd Prize
Lauren Imasa, Stephany Fernanda Guzman Valdez , Gabi Verdicchio, Emma Dorney
Polyamine Depletion and Cytokine Production in the Ovarian Tumor Microenvironment
Faculty Mentor: Cassandra Holbert (Biology)

Social Sciences Session: 

1st Prize
Emma Hester 
Examining the Correlation Between Type II Diabetes Mellitus and Hearing Loss
Faculty Mentor: Donna Pitts (Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences)

2nd Prize
Molly Suplee , Sofia Cotes
English stop consonant timing under cross-linguistic context and Stroop interference in sequential English-Spanish bilingual speakers
Faculty Mentor: Kathleen Siren and Tepanta Fossett (Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences)

3rd Prize
Estefania Berio , Tianah Ellis , Julia London 
A Rewarding or Exhausting Journey? Exploring Patients’ Therapist Transfer Experiences within Public Hospital Psychodynamic Therapy
Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Kors (Psychology)