McNair Scholars Present Summer Research Projects at UW

Students will present their summer research projects during the University of Wyoming’s 22nd annual McNair Scholars Research Symposium Monday, July 28, in the Wyoming Union Family Room.

The program prepares promising undergraduate students from groups traditionally underrepresented in graduate education to enter and complete a doctoral degree program. The program schedule can be found on the McNair homepage at www.uwyo.edu/seo/mcnair-scholars-program/.

McNair Scholars presenting research this year, listed by hometown, title of their project and UW mentor, are:

Marissa Albat, Lusk, “Predicting Media Multitasking Behavior: The Role of Personality,” with Meredith Minear, doctoral candidate, and Ping Zheng, Department of Psychology.

Will Flagg, Riverton, “Curious Commonalities: An Ethnography of Sustainable Practices and Ideologies in Laramie, Wyoming,” with Sarah Strauss and Justin McKeel, Department of Anthropology.

Joseph Gonzalez, Denver, Colo., “Contact relations along the southern margin of the Sherman Batholith,” with Carol Frost and Davin Bagdonas, Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Kayla-Ann Hawley, Camus, Wash., “It’s like everywhere you look: just another kind of jail: Criminal Justice and Healthcare Experiences of North American Street-Involved Women,” with Susan Dewey, Gender and Women's Studies Program.

Ashley Hopkin, Greybull, “Classifying Typically-Developing Toddlers and Preschoolers Using the Communication Function Classification System,” with Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker and Rebecca Baldwin, Department of Communication Disorders.

Tyler Hughes, Cheyenne, “Only the Green Survive: Digital Plant Evolution,” with Jeff Clune and Joost Huixinga, Department of Computer Science.

Keith Ingledew, Casper, “Using Lake Sediments to Reconstruct the Holocene Paleoenvironment History of Twin Ponds, Va.,” with Bryan Shuman and Jeremiah Marsicek, Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Brandon Lopez, Rawlins, “Driven, Damped Nonlinear Pendulum Dynamics,” with David Thayer, Jyoti Pandey and Subash Kattel, Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Micah Ross, Casper, “Puberty and Obesity in Rats: Does Salt Make a Difference?” with Donal Skinner, and Dori Pitynski, Department of Zoology and Physiology.

Jody Simpson, Trenton, Neb., “Exploring Ideal Standards of Beauty in the East: The History of Asian Beauty Culture,” with Michael Brose and Christopher Muscato, Department of History.

Chloe Skaggs, Riverton, “White Ethnic Diversity and Trust in Small Iowa Towns,” with Matthew Painter and Amanda Harper, Department of Sociology.

Michaela Tratos, Laramie, “Secondary Traumatic Stress in Primary Caregivers of Wyoming Foster Children,” with Christine Wade, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Ping Zheng, Department of Psychology.

Michael Trujillo, Laramie, “European Union: Euro Crisis Propaganda,” with Stephanie Anderson and Tiffany Kautzsch, Department of Political Science.

The McNair Scholars Program is a graduate school preparation program for students interested in earning a Ph.D. Services include a paid research internship, mentoring from UW faculty members, GRE (Graduate Record Exam) preparation classes, academic support and tutoring, as well as assistance with the graduate school application process.

For more information, contact Zackie Salmon, McNair Scholars Program director, at (307) 766-6189 or email nomlas@uwyo.edu.