Scholarly Showcase

Ohio Wesleyan Students Present Academic, Creative Work at 2025 Spring Student Symposium

DELAWARE, Ohio – 吃瓜网 held its 2025 Spring Student Symposium on April 17 with students sharing research and creative work that highlighted the breadth, depth, and quality of the work they produced this academic year.

The following OWU students presented poster or oral presentations on the following topics at the annual symposium. Read synopses of their projects. (PDF)

Poster Presentations

Noah Schnoor '26, Marissa Siegel '25, and Tim Alexander '25 presented "Targeted Injection Therapies for TMD: Review of Hyaluronic Acid and Botox Techniques," mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Starns.
Kaia Vorenkamp '27 and Carley Lounsbury '25 presented "Ajiaco: A Culinary Expression of Cuba's Syncretic History," mentored by faculty members Elizabeth Nix and Chris Fink.
Hunter Rhoades '27 presented "All Together Now – A Unified Approach to Health," mentored by faculty member Chris Fink.
Aubrey Gerhardt '25 presented "Identification and Characterization of Novel Nematodes," mentored by faculty member Danielle Hamill.
Zane Vitense '26, Jacob Lowery '27, and Abram Beer '26 presented "Driving Economic Insight and the Sectoral Impacts of Energy and Vehicle Markets," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Sean Connelly '27, Nathan Zuniga '25, Lukas Muench '26, and Marcus Valcourt '26 presented "ECON 259 Labor Statistics Newsletter," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Joshua Adjei '26, Jillian Belton '26, Radhika Agrawal '26, and Ryleigh Tillman '26 presented "Analyzing business trends from the first quarter to the beginning of second quarter," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Brock Corry '26, Jeremiah Osei '27, Lane Howard '27, and Jason Quartson '26 presented "Housing Team Data Newsletter," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Matthew Leibold '26 and Fiona Minton '25 presented "Otterly Amusing: A Comparative Study of Play Behavior Across Three Common Otter Species," mentored by faculty member Shala Hankison.
Gabrielle Plunkett '25 and Tyler Williard '27 presented" What Factors Affect Thermoregulatory Decisions in Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis)?" mentored by faculty member Eric Gangloff.
Anya Shevchik '26 presented "Performing Under Pressure: How Morphology Affects Locomotion of a Sand-Swimming Skink," mentored by faculty member Eric Gangloff.
Alex Bzdafka '27 presented "Supporting Native Plant and Pollinator Projects in Central Ohio," mentored by faculty member Laurel Anderson.
Isabel Allo '26 presented "Agroecology: A Choice or Necessity? Comparing the Resilience of the Cuban and United States Food Systems," mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
Jennifer Velasquez '27 presented "Antimicrobial Activity of Oak Bark," mentored by faculty members Laurel Anderson and Andrea Suria.
Spencer Yates '25 presented "Morphological Analysis of Flea Species Using Scanning Electron Microscopy," mentored by faculty member Ramon Carreno.
Morgan Vaughn '26, Ellie Dodds '25, Dekon Harper '28, and Lexi Reiter '28 presented "Mysteries in the Herbarium: Comparing Herbarium Specimens to Known Xylopia Species," mentored by faculty member David Johnson.
Adia Szell '27 and Aida Gesink '27 presented "Food and Gender Roles: US and Cuba," mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
Wasif Karim '26 presented "Autonomous Self-Driving Car," mentored by faculty member Hanliang Guo.
Lauren Dorsel '26, Camille Payne '26, Alana Wilson '26, Kiki Russell '28, and Caroline O'Malley '28 presented "Not Just "Congressmen in Committees:" An Intersectional, Committee-Level Exploration of US House Committee Membership Patterns from the 80th-118th Congress," mentored by faculty member Franchesca Nestor.
Megan McCarthy '25 and Lindsay Wolverton '25 presented "Habitat-Associated Gut Microbiome Variation in the Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis)," mentored by faculty member Andrea Suria.
Willow Rosser '25 presented " Impact of Legislative Context on LGBTQ+ Family Formation Decision-Making by Sexual and Gender Identity," mentored by faculty member Krystal Cashen.
Priscilla Santos '25 presented "What's Buzzin' Around Cuba?" mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
Brittney Parks '27 presented "The Effects of Meal Size and Feeding Frequency on Digestion in Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis)," mentored by faculty member Eric Gangloff.
Camille Mattox '27 presented "Vernal Pool Phenology Project," mentored by faculty member Laurel Anderson.
McKenna Tuttle '25 and Klevione Brown '28 presented "Causes of Athletic Trainer Attrition: A Critically Appraised Topic," mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Starns.
Maddie Hoyt '26, Bailey Weise '25, and Brooke Parker '25 presented "Kinematic Analysis of Lower Extremity Movement Patterns During Functional Tests in Collegiate Track and Field Runners to Predict Injury Incidence," mentored by faculty member Andrew Busch.
Mason Campbell '27 presented "American and Cuban Dietary Guidelines," mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
Natalia Molotievskiy '25 presented "Genome-Based Identification of Keratin-Degrading Enzymes in Feather-Degrading Bacillus Strains," mentored by faculty members Andrea Suria and Laura Tuhela-Reuning.
Athena Kolettis '26 presented "The Dark Side of Coffee," mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
Brielle Decarolis '25 presented "Male mating preferences of Sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna) for familiar and naive females," mentored by faculty member Shala Hankison.
Claire Hammond '26 presented "Determining the Effects of Early Adolescent Stress," mentored by faculty member Chelsea Vadnie.
Chantry Simon '26 presented "Maple Trees: Environmental and Genetic Influence on Sap Sweetness," mentored by faculty member Laurel Anderson.
Haleigh Stover '25 presented "Characterization of free-living nematodes isolated from OWU Nature Preserves," mentored by faculty member Danielle Hamill.
Ariana Brown '26, Brooklyn Upp '27, Fiona Minton '25, and Dellen Roush '23 (post-graduate researcher) presented "Red-Backed (Salamander) Relationships: It's Complicated," mentored by faculty member Eric Gangloff.
Payton Boerner '25, Mukta Ashtikar '26, Nathan Combs '26, and Tyler Cunningham '25 presented "Business 1 Sector Future Outlook," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Kevin Tega '27, Luke Beese '26, and Eli Burgeson '26 presented "Economic Newsletters: International Sector and Variables," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Michael Ostertag '25, Carson Geier '25, Aidan Flowers '25, and Joey Wiseman '25 presented "Interpreting Financial Signals to Better Understand the Market," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Robert Ross '27, Andrew Constable '26, Heath Miller '27, and Connor Morgan '27 presented "Measuring Inflation: A Comparative Look at CPI, PPI, and PCE," mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
Matthew Leibold '26 and Cooper Christie '26 presented "Block By Block: The Building of Procedural Terrain Generation," mentored by faculty member Sean McCulloch.

Oral Presentations

Each presentation lasted 10 minutes, followed by a five-minute question-and-answer session.

Emily Clausing '25, Maja Todorovi膰 '25, Holly Robinson '26, Shannon Barr '27, Haleigh Stover '25, Abigail Bennett '26, Jack Miller '26, Jayson Dyer '27, Judy Ray '27, Katie Davis '26, Kaya Ferrell '26, Liz Railsback '27, Lucy Rankin '27, Raphael Petit-Frere '25, and Sam Buc '26 presented a vocal performance to share their trip, "Choral Music of Central Italy and the Vatican," mentored by faculty member Jason Hiester.
Nico Mazzoleni '25 presented "Lost in Translation: Public Signage, Linguistic Exclusion, and Community Identity in Little Village, Chicago," mentored by faculty member Vanessa Hildebrand.
Amarylis Torres-Nunez '25 presented "Diasporic Authenticities: Migration, Memory, and the Shaping of Cuban and Puerto Rican Identities," mentored by faculty member Chris Fink.
Clara Wood '25 presented "Crafting Justice: A History of Craft and Resistance," mentored by faculty member Camilla Querin.
Grace Frye '25 presented "Cultural Symbols and Social Norms: A Study of Marriage in Rural Nepal," mentored by staff member Lisa Ho.
Maizy Pratt '25 presented "Bacterial genome characterization for the production of taste and odor compounds in drinking water reservoirs: a multifaceted approach," mentored by faculty member Andrea Suria.

Student Performance

Aubrey Gerhardt '25 presented "Clarinet Concerto Performance with the OWU Symphonic Wind Ensemble," mentored by faculty member Richard Edwards.

Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan's annual Spring Student Symposium at and more about the OWU Connection signature program at .

Founded in 1842, 吃瓜网 is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 and competes in 24 NCAA Division III . Through its signature experience, the , Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at or learn more at .