CENTRAL VALLEY, Pa. -- Penn State Lehigh Valley students presented their research to a panel of judges and the campus community during the annual Penn State Lehigh Valley Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 5. This provides students the chance to showcase their academic research projects. The judges awarded first and second place honors to the top projects in both the STEM and Arts, Humanities, Business, and Social and Behavioral Sciences categories.
The keynote speaker was Charles Cantalupo, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of English, Comparative Literature and African Studies at Penn State Schuylkill. Cantalupo presented "Research and Creativity: 'Self Portrait (Artist Unknown, Florence, ca. 1471)'"
The winning student research projects include:
ARTS, HUMANITIES, BUSINESS, AND SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCESFirst Place- tie"Dyscalculia from Childhood to Adulthood"Kimberly Jeannette Hoogenboom and Nehemiah Nathan MyersFaculty Mentor: Maryam KianiFirst Place- tie"Quality of Life Behind Bars: Racialization in the 21st Century"Nicholas PappasFaculty Mentor: Jennifer Parker, Ph.D.Second Place"Does Pornography Consumption Affect Attitudes towards Sex Workers or Prostitution?"Tashina KhabbazFaculty Mentor: David Livert, Ph.D.STEMFirst Place“Dopamine's Actions on the Developing Vertebrate Four-Chambered Heart”Yeniffer Arguello and Joanna HaddadFaculty Mentor: Jacqueline McLaughlin, Ph.D.Second Place"The Effects of LED Lighting on the Growth of Chlorella vulgarus"Amanda Geis and William SampsonFaculty Mentors: Jacqueline McLaughlin, Ph.D., and Tai-Yin Huang, Ph.D.
The next step for these winners is to present their work at the sixth annual Penn State Regional Undergraduate Research Symposium, which will be held at Penn State Lehigh Valley this year on April 21.