
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University undergraduates will display their research and creative endeavors during the eighth annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression. A total of 150 students will give research presentations and exhibit artwork on topics ranging from asteroid deflection to zebrafish.
The symposium will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in the Memorial Union on the ISU campus. It is free and open to the public.
"Undergraduates from all majors have the opportunity to share their research through academic conference-style oral presentation sessions," said Dana Schumacher, the University Honor Program's assistant director for scholarship and research.
"This year’s symposium is the largest and most varied yet, with more than 100 research presentations plus a writers' forum and an art exhibit. And 45 majors are represented," she said.
Former NASA astronaut and Aerospace Engineering Senior Lecturer Clayton Anderson will moderate the “Science and Space” session at 3:45 p.m., with presentations on “Developing Explosion Models for Optimal Fragmentation of a Hazardous Asteroid,” by Jacob Harry, senior in aerospace engineering and a Goldwater Scholar; and “A Glimpse into NASA Planetary Protection: Bacterial Communities Residing on Mars-Bound Spacecraft ” by Garrett Smith, senior in microbiology and genetics and an Amgen Scholar.
And, Schumacher said, several symposium presentations will focus on the environment, including the following:
- A multi-disciplinary team working with Integrated Studio Arts Associate Professor Chris Martin will describe developing a molding process to produce desks from recycled waste plastic in Ghana.
- Landscape architecture senior Qiyi Li will share the story of "A Little Dreamer," her installation of paper airplanes in ISU’s College of Design atrium that symbolized the trees cut to create paper. Her work earned a recent ISU “Live Green” award.
- Civil engineering senior William Cord will present "Heated Transportation Infrastructure: Prevention of Ice Formation on Paved Surfaces."
- John Harlow, chemical engineering sophomore, will show a poster on "Improvement to the Air Management Practices Tool."
- Meteorology senior Kayla Schuster will share "Change in Heat Stress Days from Present to Future Climate."
- Toni Proescholdt, senior in biology, will discuss "Understanding Interactions between Butterflies and their Floral Resources in Iowa Grasslands."
Three new professional development sessions will be offered for presenters and attendees. ISU’s Center for Writing and Media will present programs on writing personal statements and preparing conference proposals. And a panel of faculty and graduate students will discuss National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships.
The day’s events will begin at 9 a.m. in the Pioneer Room with opening remarks by Sarah Nusser, vice president for research. Concurrent presentation sessions will follow throughout the day. A midday break will feature undergraduate artists whose works are part of the juried FOCUS exhibit of student artwork. And a poster presentation will be in the Gallery from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. A detailed schedule of events and presentations is online.

Contacts
Dana Schumacher, University Honors Program, 515-294-0172, dschumac@iastate.edu
Teddi Barron, News Service, 515-294-4778, tbarron@iastate.edu
Sampling of presentations
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
"Developing the CRISPR Interference System to Understand Bacterial Gene Function" by Megan Weems, senior in microbiology. Mentor: Gregory Phillips, professor of veterinary microbiology and preventive medicine.
"The Effects of Vibrational Cues on Physiological Development in Polistes fuscatus (paper wasps)" by Kate Hunter, senior in animal ecology and biology. Mentor: Jennifer Jandt, postdoc research associate in ecology, evolution and organismal biology.
"Lipopolysaccharide Induces Pro-Inflammatory Gene Expression in Adult Male Chickens from Diverse Genetic Lines" by Kelsey Casebere, senior in dairy science. Mentor: Susan Lamont, Distinguished Professor of animal science.
College of Business
"2008 Stock Market Collapse: A Financial Institution Perspective" by Will Pickerign, senior in finance. Mentor: Shoba Premkumar, senior lecturer in finance.
College of Design
"Housing Markets in College Towns: The Case of Ames, Iowa" by Molly Carpenter, senior in community and regional planning. Mentor: Monica Haddad, associate professor of community and regional planning.
"Inaccurate Restorations: Charles Mackintosh's Sauchiehall St. Willow Tea-Rooms" by Ontario Caudill, junior in interior design. Mentor: Diane Al Shihabi, assistant professor of interior design.
"Graphic Novels: Creation of 'The Bloody Man'" by Taylor Buckley, senior in graphic design and English. Mentor: Charles Richards, associate professor of integrated studio arts.
College of Engineering
"Replacement of Petroleum-based Rubber with 'Bio-rubber' from Vegetable Oils" by Christopher Isely, senior in chemical engineering. Mentor: Eric Cochran, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering.
"Automated Phenotyping of Corn" by Hsiang Sing Naik and Nigel Lee, both seniors in mechanical engineering. Mentor: Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
"Macrophase Separation Using Block Copolymer Blends" by Rachel Philiph, senior in materials engineering. Mentor: Karl Berggren, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
College of Human Sciences
"Public Knowledge of the Federal Physical Activity Guidelines" by Nolan Gall, senior in kinesiology and health. Mentor: Panteleimon Ekkekakis, associate professor of kinesiology.
"3D Virtual Prototyping in Apparel Design" by Hanna Hoch, junior in apparel, merchandising, and design and German. Mentor: Fatma Baytar, assistant professor of apparel, events and hospitality management.
"The Use of Resistant Starch in Colorectal Cancer Prevention" by Kylie Thompson and Dana Pralle, both seniors in dietetics; Reed Faldet, senior in kinesiology and health; Kacey Klemesrud, sophomore in animal science. Mentor: Diane Birt, Distinguished Professor in food science and human nutrition.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
"Women and the Welfare Rights Movement" by Madeline Becker, senior in political science and history. Mentor: Jana Byars, assistant professor of history.
"Evaluating the Effects of Perennial Grass Filter Strips (PFS) on Eroded Carbon Fluxes in Agricultural Watersheds" by Alex Johnson, senior in environmental science. Mentor: Michael Castellano, assistant professor of agronomy.
"Harsh Parenting as a Predictor of Physical, Verbal and Relational Aggression in Children" by Russell Jackson, senior in psychology. Mentor: Craig Anderson, Distinguished Professor of psychology.
"Using Negative Atmospheric Pressure Photoionization for Dopant Comparisons in Bio-oil Analysis" by Kaitlin Heinen, senior in chemistry and political science. Mentor: Young-Jin Lee, assistant professor of chemistry.