McNair Scholars Present Summer Research Projects at UW Aug. 1

Fourteen students will present their summer research projects during the University of Wyoming’s 25th annual McNair Scholars Research Symposium Tuesday, Aug. 1, in the Wyoming Union Family Room.

The symposium begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by lunch at 11:30 a.m. Presentations are scheduled throughout the day until 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The symposium is an opportunity for McNair Scholars to share the progress and the findings from their summer research internships with the university community. The program schedule can be found on the McNair home page at www.uwyo.edu/seo/mcnair-scholars-program/.

Student presentations are made from a diverse range of academic programs in agriculture, anthropology, biology, botany, chemistry, criminal justice, geology and geophysics, history, political science, psychology and physiology.

UW's McNair Scholars Program encourages undergraduate students -- from groups traditionally underrepresented -- to pursue graduate studies by providing opportunities to define goals, engage in research, and develop the skills and student/faculty mentor relationships critical to success at the doctoral level.

Since the symposium’s inception, 52 UW students have earned doctoral degrees.

For more information, call Liz Nysson, McNair Scholars Program director, at (307) 766-3818 or email lizn@uwyo.edu.

McNair scholars presenting research this year, listed by time, hometowns, titles of their projects and UW mentors, are:

-- 8:40 a.m. -- Veronica Spaulding, North Fork, Calif., “Nitrogenated Covalent Organic Frameworks: A Two-Hole System,” with John Hoberg.

-- 9 a.m. -- Alexandra Monique Weaver, Evanston, “Microbial succession vs plant developmental effects on rhizosphere community structure in Arabidopsis thaliana,” with Cynthia Weinig, Marcus Brock and Mallory Lai.

-- 9:20 a.m. -- Alexander Greenwald, Lander, “An Investigation into the Presence of Light Absorbing Particles in the Snowy Range,” with David Williams and William Bowers.

-- 9:40 a.m. -- Natalie Thibault and Logan Fairbourn, both from Cheyenne, “Bacterial Cellulose: A Consumer Market Evaluation,” with Jennifer Harmon and Elizabeth Minton.

-- 10:30 a.m. -- Shaelynn Kaufman, Clark, “Cosmogenic nuclide dating of the Selenga River delta,” with Brandon McElroy and Thomas Ashley.

-- 10:50 a.m. -- Marissa Murr, Fair Oaks, Calif., “Piping Plover and Least Tern Nesting Location Compared to Riverine Habitat in the Niobrara River and Platte,” with Brandon McElroy and Jason Alexander.

-- 11:10 a.m. -- Olivia Terry, Skiatook, Okla., “An analysis of clay swelling in brine,” with John Kaszuba and Amber Zandanel.

-- 12:30 p.m. -- Jonét Jennings, Denver, Colo., “Community Partnerships for Addressing Counterterrorism in Denver and the Front Range,” with Jean Garrison and Eric Nigh.

-- 12:50 p.m. -- Ashley Harris, Riverton, “Settlement Dynamics of the Cajamarca Valley in Northern Peru,” with Jason Toohey and Kirk Scheffler.

-- 1:10 p.m. -- James Hedeen, Laramie, “Hearts and Minds: The USIA in South East Asia,” with Renee Laegreid.

-- 1:40 p.m. -- Clay Carper, Riverton, “On the Pancake Problem,” with Bryan Shader and David Livingston.

-- 2 p.m. -- Taylor Orton, Lyman, “Geographic mobility of Serial Killers: Is it related to anger and aggression?” with Scott Culhane and Karlee Provenza.

-- 2:20 p.m. -- Tara Brunner, Colorado Springs, Colo., “Negative Appraisals as a Mediator for Behavioral Inhibition and PTSD,” with Joshua Clapp and Adam Ripley.