By Steven Krolak
(NEW ALBANY, Ind.)–The IU Southeast Student Conference staged a triumphant return to in-person form on Thursday and Friday, April 21-22, with outstanding undergraduate and graduate research across all academic disciplines.
This year’s conference featured posters and oral presentations by 132 undergraduate and 18 graduate students. In a sign of the times, there were 18 virtual presentations. There were 21 faculty mentors. Faculty and staff also served as judges, and student volunteers helped with registration.
Topics showcased the diversity of research interests:
- A Guide to Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse
- Social Media and Depression
- Applications for Acupuncture in the Western World
- Stress Levels and Obstetric Simulation
The winners of awards are listed below, though it is important to note that everyone involved in or touched by this event—including students, their families, faculty sponsors, volunteers and the campus itself—has made a significant contribution to scholarship at IU Southeast.
Undergraduate Poster Awards
| Award | Winner | Title of Presentation | Faculty Sponsor |
| Chancellor’s Award for Creative Achievement | Aaron Huff, Isaac Brimner, Justin King | Developers & Dragons | Christopher Sexton |
| Chancellor’s Award for Interdisciplinary Achievement | Dominic Camarata, Gene Vowels | Is It You, or Your Job? Job Satisfaction, Leadership, and Employee Motivation | Aimee Adam |
| The Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Excellence Award | Kaidyn Hall | What are the Impacts of Clubfoot? | Rebekah Dement |
| The Outstanding Presentation related to Diversity Award | Adrienne Elder | Intersectionality in Autistic Camouflaging: A Literature Review | Brittany Sizemore |
| The Outstanding Community Engagement Poster Award | Jake Ackley | Establishing a Campus Garden at Indiana University Southeast | David Taylor |
| The Outstanding Poster Presentation in Education | Abby Colson | Developmentally Appropriate Math Standards | James Hollenbeck |
| The Louise Suleiman Outstanding Nursing Award | Rachel Cain, Hannah Feist | Setting the Juniors Up for Success: A Supplemental Instruction Program for Indiana University Southeast’s BSN Graduating Class of 2023 | Jennifer Teater |
| The Outstanding Poster Presentation in Public Service | Brooklyn Niccum, Amanda Johnson, Olivia Meyer, Jessica Kay, Jennie Malone | Amish Community Health Fair | Linda Wells-Freiberger |
| The Outstanding Poster Presentation in Natural Sciences | Jit Mukerji | Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation and How It Compares To Bone Marrow Transplantation | Rebekah Dement |
| The Glenn Mason Outstanding Presentation in Natural Science | Samantha Parker | Synthesis and Characterization of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles | Nidhi Jitendra Shah |
| The Bernardo Carducci Outstanding Presentation in Psychology | Jennifer Strube | What’s the Dope? The Correlation between Childhood Trauma and Substance Use Disorder | Aimee Adam |
| The Outstanding Poster Presentation in Criminal Justice | Jon Lewis | Police Cynicism: Addressing the Gap between Officer Performance and Public Expectations | Aimee Adam |
Undergraduate Oral Awards
| Chancellor’s Award for Creative Achievement | Lori Burke | Bilingual Screenwriting | Susan Popham |
| Chancellor’s Award for Interdisciplinary Achievement | Cole Hendrix | The 3/11 Disaster and Nuclear Energy in Japan | Quinn Dauer |
| The Outstanding Presentation related to Diversity Award | Hannah Fisher | The Effects of COVID-19 on International Business | Rebekah Dement |
| The Outstanding Oral Presentation in Education | Anna Sloan | Student Growth Using Choice and Hands-On Learning | Steffany Maher |
| The Outstanding Oral Presentation in Public Service | Alex William Judd | A Backpack-Mounted Object Detector for IUS Students with Visual Impairment | Sridhar Ramachandran |
| The Outstanding Oral Presentation in Natural Sciences | Rilie Conard | Computational Studies of the Bindings and Interactions of Ligands to HMG-CoA Enzyme | Victor Waingeh |
| The Outstanding Oral Presentation in Psychology | Brooklyn Thompson, Olivia Goff | Parental Relationships and Relationship Anxiety | Todd Manson |
| The Outstanding Presentation in Philosophy | Austin Kelman | The Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse | Leigh Viner |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Keziah Jones | Montezuma Red: A Brief History of Lipstick as a Symbol of Patriotism | Rebekah Dement |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Rebekah Smith | Media and The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | Rebekah Dement, Ken Stammerman |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Destiny Ogden | Social Media and Self-Esteem | Todd Manson |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Andrew Roy | I Want My Musical/Societal Revolution (and I’ll Take my MTV While I’m at It) | James Hollenbeck |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Brook Elston, Miranda Veatch | Body Image and Relationship Satisfaction | Todd Manson |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Jimmy Vo, Jacob Bifone | Our First Experience Finding and Characterizing a Bacteriophage | Beth Rueschhoff |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Madison Alvey | Creating Lifelong Readers | Steffany Maher |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Michael Sobieski | How Planning Impacts Pockets: Correlations Between Conscientiousness and Income | Meghan Kahn |
| Outstanding Presentation Award | Samuel Moore | An Eye for Storytelling: Film in the Classroom | Susan Popham |
Graduate and Virtual Awards
| Award | Winner | Title | Faculty Sponsor |
| Chancellor’s Award for Creative Achievement | Todd Swartz | Technology Facilitated Media and Social Media Health Information and Behavior Influence: An Unsettling Relationship of Necessity and Risk | James Hollenbeck |
| Chancellor’s Award for Interdisciplinary Achievement | Zoe Jones | Fan Fiction: A Queer Feminist Study | Susan Popham |
| Outstanding Presentation Related to Diversity | Rebeccah Nesbit | How the Lack of Updated Technology is Affecting Economically Disadvantaged Children Within the United States | James Hollenbeck |
| Outstanding Oral Presentation in Education | Brooklyn Gonzales | The Art of Storytelling | Rebekah Dement |
| Outstanding Oral Presentation in Education | Isabelle Zimmermann | Student Growth, A Focus on the The Art of Rhetoric | Steffany Maher |
| Outstanding Oral Presentation in Business | Jeffrey Lantz | Louisville Metro Government Employee Salary Analysis | Ranida Harris |
| Outstanding Graduate Nursing Presentation | Jessica Konkler | End of Life Care Knowledge & Beliefs of Undergraduate Nursing Students | Carla Hermann |
| Outstanding Poster Presentation in Public Service | Heather Nale | The Rise and Fall of Mayan Agriculture | James Hollenbeck |
| Outstanding Oral Presentation in Public Service | Abigail Fackler | Drilling Down into Skills in a Post-NTI Environment | Steffany Maher |
As in years past, students in the Honors program contributed to the success of the event, stuffing conference bags and staffing the conference registration table.
In remarks delivered during the welcome on Friday morning, Acting IU Southeast Chancellor Dr. Kathy Girten acknowledged the contributions of faculty, staff and volunteers, as well as University Information Technology Services (UITS)..
Special thanks were accorded Dr. Lisa Hoffman, dean of research and graduate studies, and Ms. Teresa Andrews, administrative secretary to the executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, who organized what is the largest student research conference in the Indiana University system.
Addressing the student presenters, Dr. Girten recounted her own experience as an undergraduate researcher, noting the core benefits of the experience of venturing a thesis, gathering and critically analyzing source material, and of writing.
“These are the skills that will carry you forward, regardless of your topic, your major, or your career choice,” Dr. Girten said. “Doing this kind of work is one of the best things you can do for yourselves during your college career.”
Homepage thumbnail: Jessica Madison, a student of neuroscience in the School of Social Sciences, explains her research into variables relating to social anxiety in college students.