Westminster Student Showcase Schedule

Enjoy lunch on the Commons and hear opening remarks by President Beth Dobkin.

Panel Session 1A: Great Salt Lake Institute

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 120
Moderator: Dr. Bonnie Baxter

• Amanda Lee, “Ecological Dynamics of the Hypersaline Great Salt Lake North Arm”
• Cora Rasmuson, “Monitoring Ephydra Gracilis Populations Across Great Salt Lake”
• Holbrook Hawkes, "Exploring Fungi of GSL Microbialites"

Panel Session 1B: Science and Society

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 160
Moderator: Dr. Jessica Johnston

• Elan Jackson, Lexi Leith, Bri Buckley, and Liam McGee, “Riparian Survey Program”
• Audrey Tucker, “VHL Gene Mutation: Biomarker Indicative of Renal Cell Carcinoma”

Poster Session 1

Location: Meldrum Science Center Atrium

• Alicia Mache, Shreeya Maskey, Taeden Anderson and Will Mercer, “Web Application for Empire Body Waxing”
• Emma Geieges and Ti’are Stroud Lewis, “Post-Collegiate Athlete’s Transition”
• Izzy Gomez, “Navigating Imposter Syndrome and Boosting Self-Advocacy"
• Chanana Dahal, “Exploring Trends in Music Popularity”
• Zacaria Dewey, “The Porajmos: The Forgotten Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti”
• Samantha Reeder and Kimberly Andelin, “The Barriers and Attitudes Associated with Disability Stigma, Disability Services, and Mental Health Outcomes"
• Jacqueline Kizabi, “How Does Conflict in the Congo Impact Businesses and Livelihoods of Residents?”
• Leya Sikujua, “Barriers to Higher Education in the United States for Refugees from Countries in Africa”
• Kiva Call-Feit, “Sense of Belonging and Academic Retention Rates of Racial and Ethnic Minority Students in Higher Education”
• Stephanie Marie Gil Yniguez, “Literature Review about the Persistence of Extra-Dyadic Infidelity Mediated by Family of Origin and Gender”
• Julyssa Lopez, “Addressing the Health Inequities Marginalized Populations are Facing”
• Morgan Withers, “Ovarian Aging Impacts on Fertility”
• Chhimi Sherpa, “Job Board Analysis”
• Ashlyn Gnoyski, “Evaluating the Evolving Risk Associated with Post-Wildfire Debris Flows as a Result of Climate Change in the Southern Wasatch Mountains, Central Utah”
• Noah Jenrich, “Hands Across the Water: An Analysis of the Beatles and their Impact in the USSR”

Student presenters:

• Lucas Arico
• Kayla Dixon
• Rae Falatea
• Philip Farnsworth
• Zidia Gibson
• Madi Goddard
• Gabriel Gong
• Kaylynn Ghanem
• James Knight
• Drake Middleton
• Michael O’Hearn
• Amelia Stensrud

Panel Session 2A: Learning in and From Nature

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 110
Moderator: Dr. Peggy Cain

• Lilli Eckberg, Izzy Gomez, Daniel Folweiler, and Alhondra Lopez Garcia, “Nature’s Classroom: Restoring Tracy Aviary’s Sensory Garden for Childhood Discovery”
• Aisling Flaherty, “TreeUtah: K-12 Lesson Plan Creation”
• Eamon Potter, “Is Organic Farming Worth It?”

Panel Session 2B: Working and Living in America

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 120
Moderator: Dr. Julie Stewart

• Grace Hansen, “Policies on the Unhoused: A Thematic Content Analysis of the Local Government Policies, Conversations, and Plans for Unhoused Populations Across Cities in America”
• Maddie Hansmann, “The American Public, Government, and Media’s Effect on Labor Unions”
• Henry Pernichele, “An Analysis of Rental and Real Estate Prices Surges in the Greater Salt Lake Area Since 2019”
• Loïc Chable, “The New Economics of Fans’ Engagement”

Poster Session 2

Location: Meldrum Science Center Atrium

• Elaina Pierce, “Erosion and Deposition Patterns of a Post-Wildfire Debris Flow from August 2021 in the Southern Wasatch Mountains, Central Utah”
• Sloane Thomas, “A Comprehensive Review Regarding Current Treatments of Alzheimer's Disease”
• Amanda Lee, “Ecological Dynamics of the Hypersaline Great Salt Lake”
• Asa Miller, “Applying Data Science and Finance Techniques to Forecast Stock Price Movements Based on Politician’s Trading Data”
• Jace Vance, “The Role of Micronutrients in Exercise and Recovery”
• Akary Herrera, “Beyond Female Hysteria: Challenging Medical Exclusion and Validating Migraine in Women”
• Bri Buckley, “Geographically Elevated Exposure to Air Pollutants from Mobile Sources in Salt Lake County”
• Noah Larkin, “16s rRNA of Halophilic Bacteria and their Ability to Survive”
• Emily Malouf, “How Women Can Optimize Their Moods, Performance, and Health Based on the Menstrual Cycle”
• Liv Tourangeau, “Pregnancy History and Genetics of Mice and Their Influence on the Amount of Fibrosis in the Ovaries That May Impact Fertility”
• Dayana Reyes Mireles, Emily Wilson, and Maximus Stetich, “An Evaluation of the Satisfaction and Efficacy of Utah's PHP for Substance Use”
• Alivia Preston, “Exploring Microbialite Mats”
• Loïc Fauquembergue, “Effects of Aging on Mouse Testis: A Histological Review”
• Morgan Withers, “Human Lung Organoid Culture Methods”
• Niki Krivka and Max Sturzenegger, “Assessing the Impact of Two Stream Restoration Projects on the Tributaries of the South Fork of the Snake River, Swan Valley, ID"
• Holbrook Hawkes, "Exploring Fungi of GSL Microbialites"

ellipsis... Debut

2024 debut of Westminster’s student run, award-winning literary journal, ellipsis..., featuring guest speaker, Eliamani Ismail. Ismail is a writer and filmmaker from Washington D.C. via Mali and Tanzania. Currently an MFA candidate at the University of Maryland, she has performed at multiple venues including the Kennedy Center. Her piece "Fantasia" was previously published in ellipsis....

Location: Emma Eccles Jones Recital Hall, Florence J. Gillmor Hall

Student Editors:

• Kaitlyn Adams
• Harper Elder
• Josie Gerritsen
• Ryann Hansen
• Irma Hrkovic
• Emma Neves
• Georgia Peterson
• Scott Sweeney
• T. Masami Tadehara
• Megan Wade

Panel Session 3A: Patriarchy, Identity, and Oppression

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 110
Moderator: Dr. Spencer Bagley

• Emily Hill, “Modern Democracies and the Threat of Authoritarian Populism”
• Daniel Fenn, “An Evaluation of the Association Between Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Identity and Access to Birth Control and Pregnancy Prevention"
• Casey Berger, “Self-Help and Hegemony: Youtube’s Dangerous Recommendations of Misogyny and Toxic Masculinity”
• T. Masami Tadehara, “Poly-systemic Objectification: Bisexual and Pansexual Women in Non-Monogamy"

Panel Session 3B: Ethics, Punishment, and the Future

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 160
Moderator: Greg Gagne

• Atira Schulte, “Barking Up the Right Tree: Granting Moral Standing to Non-Human Life”
• Gustav Dalmalm, “The Impact of AI Integration on the Labor Market”
• Gus Edwards, “Unintended Consequences”
• Addison Gardner, "Financial Crisis of Women in Sports"

Panel Session 3C: Ability, Services, and Rituals

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 120
Moderator: Dr. Christie Fox

• Percy Cordero, “Sensory Friendly Theatre Shows are Better for Autistic People (not just kids!)”
• Abi Smith and Hannah Frazier, “Assessing Transportation Behavior, Attitudes, and Norms Amongst Westminster University Students”
• Kaitlyn Adams, “Two-Spirit Identity in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony”
• June Baxter, “Áhátʼíinii: A Navajo Verb Dictionary”

Poster Session 3

Location: Meldrum Science Center Atrium

• Nicolas Van der Werf, Connor Vardakis, Joe Celentano, Chhimi Sherpa, Maddi Goddard, Lalise Eshete, and Drake Middleton, “Utah Debate Association”
• Tuesday Epperson, “In Residential Areas of Salt Lake City, Is There an Association Between Race or Socioeconomic Status and the Following: Awareness of Lead in Water Service Lines in their Home Knowledge of the Negative Health Effects of Lead in Water”
• Liam Profit and Thomas Maxfield, “Mind in Motion: Mental Health and Physical Activity Amongst Westminster University Students"
• Ben Stefanski, “BenSki”
• Paris Pratt, “Rethinking the Topo”
• Drake AuClaire, Ellie Berg, Landon Ward, and Omar Al-Jaafari, “CDLC Finance Web Application”
• Henry Pernichele, “The Role of Real Estate Ownership Concentration on Rental Prices in Salt Lake City”
• Josh Trujillo, “Lesson on Digital Mapping Tools”
• Michael O’Hearn, “Performance Studies of Big Brother: A Study of Game Theory”
• Annie La Roche, “A Lesson on Strengthening Customer Service”
• Zachary Durham, Anthony Mackay, Arogya Upadhyaya, and Chahana Dahal, “JACL Website Client”
• Ashlee Szwedko, “Human Attention at High Altitudes”
• Alhondra Lopez Garcia, “Do Zoos Really Care? An Investigation of the Hogle Zoo”
• Seka Groves, “Closing the Achievement Gap: The Lasting Effect of Native American Boarding Schools”

Computer Science Pre-Recorded Presentations

Location: Meldrum Science Center Atrium

• Omar Al-Jaafari, “Spokenotes”
• Hannah Saethereng, “Valuation Model”
• Nathan Hutton, “Solar System”
• Taeden Anderson, “Mystery Dungeon TD: A Pokémon Inspired Tower Defense”
• Madalyn Breach, “React Calendar App”
• Chahana Dahal, “LearnSync”
• Kyle M. Heyerman, “Music Share”
• June Baxter, “Áhátʼíinii: A Navajo Verb Dictionary”
• Joseph Celentano, “Top Ched”
• Landon Ward, “My Fitness App”

No advance sign-up is required.

Senior Art Exhibition

Location: Tanner Atrium, Jewett Center for the Performing Arts

• Alaudidae
• Ben Houden
• Bjorn Johansson
• Nya Peterson
• Cleo Walker

Dance Exhibition

Location: Jay W. Lees Courage Theatre, Jewett Center for the Performing Arts

• Sam Metzler
• Tay Rushton

Post-Grad Pathways: Taking the Road Less Traveled, Alumni Panel

Location: Meldrum Science Center Room 110

Westminster alumni panelists:

• Diona Giannopoulos (’17)
• Alexi Fisher (’13)
• Eric Mellmer (’19)
• Justine Jones-Conroy (’13)

Graduate Student Showcase and Reception

Location: Tanner Atrium, Jewett Center for the Performing Arts

Master of Arts in Education

• Stephanie Cobabe, “Elementary Educator Exhaustion: A Phenomenological Examination of Traumatic Responses and Self-Care Deficit”
• Hunter Clapsadl, “In Search of a School Where Birds Sing: A Critical Queer Ethnography”
• Hannah Rohrer-Fitzhugh, “Understanding School Culture: An Ethnographic Study of Restorative Justice in Public Elementary School Settings”
• Brittney Nelson, “Book Bans and Censorship in K-12 Schools”
• Grace Cobabe, “Influence of Classroom Culture on Intrinsic Motivation and Student Self-Actualization: An Ethnographic Study”
• Kyle McKim, “Perpetual Histories: A Phenomenological Study of Modern-Day Redlining”

Master of Art in Community and Organizational Leadership

• Maddie Hayes, “The Nature Center at Pia Okwai’s Embodiment of Cultural Wealth”
• Tiana Chaparro, “The Realities of Motherhood: Patriarchy and Unpaid Labor Along the Wasatch Front”
• Kenya Rene, “Of Love and Other Shadows: The Misunderstanding of Love and its Correlations with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault”

Master of Science in Nursing- Family Nurse Practitioner

• Brooke Shelton, McKenzie Stauffer, and Kristin Bell, “Making the Case for Intimate Partner Violence Education in Secondary Schools”
• Angela Morrow, Jenn Sorto, and Taylor Wright, “Does the Addition of CAM Therapies Enhance the Treatment of Children with ADHD”
• Aleczander Rodriquez, Carter Mitchell, Ivy Welch, and Kaylee Bruno, “The Dobbs Decision: The Unforeseen Consequences of Restrictive Abortion Legislation”
• Holland Archambault, Wendy Tafili, and Cassandra Pedigo, “Navigating Hormone Replacement Therapy in Menopausal Women”
• Hana Ford, Anika Van Boerum, and Alex Eskelsen, “Effects of Screen Time on Child Development 0–5 Years”
• Shelby Bowman, Jenelle Newman, Laura Porter, and Anthony Cabri, “Examining Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 (PCSK9) Inhibitors Efficacy in Managing LDL-C Levels and Reducing Cardiovascular Events”
• Jessica Howard, Eliza Garside, Roben Ho, and Jonas Twu, “Real-Time Continue Glucose Monitoring as a Tool for Behavioral Change in Type 2 Diabetes”

Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

• Sean Kitchen, “Your Brain on PTSD”
• Taya Billingsley, “A World Beyond the Lens”
• Troy Olsen, “Group Therapy Proposal: Queer Adoptive Parenting Together”