College of Science and Health | Friday, Dec. 9, 2022
Collaborative research is widely and increasingly recognized as a high-impact educational practice, and the RAD conference is one of the more visible examples of Webster's commitment to this important aspect of student scholarship. Faculty, students and administrators are encouraged to attend RAD conference sessions in order to support students and recognize the hard work that has gone into their projects.
This conference is open to all levels, disciplines and campuses. We look forward to seeing you there.
Assistant Vice President for Research, Webster University; Professor, Psychology Department
Download conference booklet (PDF opens in new tab)
https://webster-edu.zoom.us/j/98957039233
https://webster-edu.zoom.us/j/99420017767
https://webster-edu.zoom.us/j/98957039233
https://webster-edu.zoom.us/j/99420017767
https://webster-edu.zoom.us/j/98957039233
https://webster-edu.zoom.us/j/99420017767
Department of Music | Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts
Community Music School Concert Hall | 535 Garden Ave, St. Louis, Missouri 63119
Department of Art, Design, and Art History | Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts
Luhr Library | 475 East Lockwood Ave St. Louis, Missouri 63119
The Graphic Design Showcase features the work of senior graphic design students at the Luhr Building on December 2. This event provides undergraduate graphic design students the opportunity to present a portfolio of their work to reviewers, network with industry professionals, and receive feedback on their portfolio from mentors and experts.
WebsterLEADS | University Center Sunnen Lounge
175 Edgar Rd St. Louis, Missouri 63119
Department of Nursing | College of Science and Health
Browning Hall Auditorium | 8274 Big Bend Blvd St. Louis, Missouri 63119
Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts| Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts
Loretto-Hilton Center |130 Edgar Rd, St. Louis, Missouri 63119
Dec. 9, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
We will be presenting SEMINAR on Dec. 9. Any Conservatory production reflects the tremendous research efforts of actors, designers and technicians who work carefully to present a specific world onstage. In SEMINAR, a provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize-nominee Theresa Rebeck, four aspiring young novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon, and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this biting comedy.
Content Warning: SEMINAR is for mature audiences only. The show involves adult content, sexual themes and situations, and strong language.
Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts| Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts
Emerson Studio Theatre |130 Edgar Rd, St. Louis, Missouri 63119
Dec. 12 and 13, 2022 at 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
All Production majors in the Sargent Conservatory (design, theatre tech, stage management) will participate in Portfolio Review on December 12/13. Students set up stations in the Studio Theatre to exhibit the work they have done throughout the course of the semester. We welcome everyone in the Webster community to come see the exhibit, which is open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon on those two dates.
Department of Art, Design, and Art History | Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts
Visual Art Studio | 8342 Big Bend Blvd St. Louis, Missouri 63119
The First-Year exhibition will highlight works created by 37 DADAH students in this semester’s foundations classes. The exhibition is being curated by a faculty committee Jeri Au, Noah Kirby, and Jeff Hughes.
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Department of Biological Sciences | College of Science and Health
Browning Hall Auditorium | 8274 Big Bend Blvd St. Louis, Missouri 63119
Jori Rinderer* and Eric Goedereis
*Recipient President Student/Faculty Collaborative Research Grant
Prior research has found that perfectionism in children is related to maladaptive characteristics (Hewitt et. al., 2002). This study investigated how children with varying levels of perfectionism respond to frustrating stimuli, and whether relationships exist between these two variables and the child’s level of grit. Elementary-aged children completed two separate surveys, the Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale-Short Form (Bento et al., 2020) and the Grit Scale for Children and Adults (Sturman & Zappala-Piemme, 2017), to assess individual levels of perfectionism and grit in each participant. A video-recorded interactive play task, the Observed Anger Regulation Strategies Coding System (Rohlf & Krahe, 2015), was also completed by each participant and coded afterward by three separate trained coders to facilitate interrater reliability. Correlational statistics will be run to analyze relationships between the variables of interest. We hypothesize that children with higher levels of self-oriented perfectionism would exhibit more adaptive strategies to overcome obstacles, while children with higher levels of socially prescribed perfectionism would exhibit more maladaptive strategies. Findings from this study will extend our understanding of task performance and coping mechanisms in children and potentially offer future directions for further work aimed at improving overall well-being, increasing productivity, and minimizing stress in learning environments.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eric Goedereis
Jameala Jones* and Eric Goedereis
*Recipient President Student/Faculty Collaborative Research Grant
Purpose: This study sought to examine the extent to which socializing practices in adolescence are associated with tolerance and life-satisfaction in emerging adulthood. Background: Less is known about whether certain perceptions of socialization may be connected to how one determines levels of tolerance in adulthood, and if that is related to outcomes of well-being. The life stage of adolescence may be key in discovering where beliefs on diversity stem, as this is said to be a unique stage regarding socializing practices and its transmitters (Grusec & Hastings, 2014). Procedure: We recruited a sample of U.S. adults ages 18-29 to complete an online survey. Participants were asked to think back to their adolescent years and recall socializing practices related to parental ethnic-racial socialization and school climate for diversity during this earlier period of their lives. Additionally, participants completed measures of their current life-satisfaction and tolerance for diversity in young adulthood. Implications: From this study, we expect to see perceptions of positive socialization associated with a more accepting and enjoyable early adulthood (Garside et. al., 2019). Future research in this area can provide further implications on possible benefits and drawbacks of various socializing practices.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eric Goedereis
Clara Hodsdon and Morgan Grotewiel
Background: Although women began outnumbering men in college after 1980, they still struggle to climb the managerial ladder (Leukhina & Smaldone, 2022). For example, although 90% of nurses are women, only 25% of policy making roles in the medical field are held by women (World Health Organization, 2019). Objective: This study sought to examine differences in perceptions of women and men in positions of power regarding warmth, competence, and qualifications. Method: Following Institutional Review Board approval, participants were recruited to complete a survey in which they were presented with an identical resume for a hypothetical job candidate, either Mr. or Ms. Jamie Birch. Participants then were asked to reference this resume to rate the hypothetical candidate on measures of warmth, competence, and qualifications. Results: We expect to find that the resume of Ms. Jamie Birch will be rated high in warmth but low in competence and qualifications in comparison to the rating of Mr. Jamie Birch. Conclusions: These results hold implications for the way society views women and men in positions of power in addition to the way the professional world treats them.
Faculty Mentor: Morgan Grotewiel
Kinza Awais*, Shannon McClain and Stephanie Schroeder
*Recipient President Student/Faculty Collaborative Research Grant
Due to decreased levels of well-being and degree attainment, first-generation college students (FGCS) are considered an at-risk group. The present study used a biopsychological framework to study the relationship between subjective and objective measures of stress among FGCS and continuing-generation college students (CGCS). University students (N= 40) who defined themselves as either FGCS or CGCS were recruited to complete the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10; Cohen & Williamson, 1988), an online survey of self-reported stress. To examine biological stress, participants submitted hair samples, which were processed through an ELISA kit to measure hair cortisol concentrations (HCC). HCC has been shown to be impacted by psychological stressors, including major life events, and overall can serve as a measure of chronic stress. Independent samples t-tests will be used to investigate whether there are differences in PSS and HCC scores between groups (i.e., FGCS and CGCS). It is expected that FGCS would show higher levels of self-reported stress and higher levels of HCC concentration compared to CGCS. Pearson’s r correlation will also be conducted to examine the association between HCC and PSS scores in both groups. These findings will shed light on the unique stressors that FGCS experience.
Faculty Mentors: Shannon McClain and Stephanie Schroeder
Esther Szanto and Pernille Eskerod
Webster Vienna
The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst that compelled organizations to adapt to a hybrid working models on a massive scale. It became clear eventually that fast tracked cloudification efforts and working from home policies left organizations vulnerable to more aggressive and more orchestrated cyberattacks. In these turbulent times the concept of Zero trust re-emerged that offers an adaptive risk management concept with conditional access. However, the implementation of such a solution is a multifaceted undertaking with several pain points down the line. This paper aims to offer a guide to managerial decision makers through assessing selected agile, and design thinking best practices. This study will analyze the added value of these methods both from a service design and a quantitative productivity perspective through defined KPI metrics, and interviews, while considering covert business processes that could easily influence any large-scale change management or implementation in an organization.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Pernille Eskerod
Evan Webster and Karla Armbruster
In much of the wealth of classical literature, there is a focus on understanding universal truths, recognizing the value and grandeur of the world around us, and simply contemplating our existence as it relates to other beings. Since the beginning of structuralism and moving forward, there has been a growing trend of literature that focuses beyond these issues and reaches into other avenues: gender and social issues, post-colonial studies, and psychological issues. The introduction of these new topics to the literary circuit grants further opportunities to research these issues and help bring up a discussion of some of these issues. Thus, a wealth of information in contemporary literature is available even from a singular source. These sources help better actualize the opportunity to garner recognition for issues that have gone otherwise untouched in literature and beyond. In this presentation, I will be delving into some critical examples of psychological difficulties within Weight by Jeanette Winterson, focusing primarily on attachment issues and psychopathy.
Faculty Mentor: Karla Armbruster
Alexander Hoke and Nicole Miller-Struttmann
Pollinators are important drivers of plant fertilization in community orchards. By increasing native pollinator populations that have a high affinity for the tree species in these orchards, we hope to increase fruit production. Many of these orchards serve low socioeconomic areas by providing access to healthy fruits and vegetables which are otherwise not affordable or obtainable. Pollinators were collected during 5 minutes observations of each individual tree and sacrificed. Pollen was removed from the insect using ethyl acetate, stained with Calberla’s Fluid, and examined under a microscope. We identified and counted pollen grains as focal (or belonging to the tree from which the insect was collected) or non-focal. We quantified focal pollen load, pollen purity (percent focal pollen carried), and non-focal pollen diversity. We will test for the effect of urbanization on focal pollen load, pollen purity and non-focal pollen diversity. These response variables reflect pollinator efficiency and quality. This data will be used in conjunction with data collected by other teams in the St. Louis area to examine ways to increase pollinator presence in these orchards, identify trends, and influence fruit production to help aid the community
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicole Miller-Struttmann
Katarina Ausley
Ethical Barriers for Psychologists Working on Death Row proposes systemic barriers faced by clinical psychologists when trying to adhere to and fulfill their ethical obligations set forth by the American Psychological Association when working with prisoners on death row. The ethical guidelines set forth by the APA state that there is an obligation to fulfill these duties independently from what is expected to comply with legal standards and field norms. Some of the codes to which the APA conforms assert it is an ethical transgression for personnel to passively contribute to the cruel and degrading treatment of incarcerated individuals. This project questions if current legislation, political influence, and similar norms create an environment that prevents clinical psychologists from fulfilling this ethical obligation of care in the US. Furthermore, it questions whether clinical psychologists passively contribute to cruel and degrading treatment. It is displayed that serious systemic barriers are in place in the correctional system, creating an ethical dilemma for field psychologists on death row. Moving forward as a professional in the field, advocating for change in confinement conditions and access to adequate stimulation could be ways to support your client without passively contributing to a system that normalizes cruel and degrading conditions for those on death row.
Faculty Mentor: Joseph Zlatic
Maribeth Wagganer and Ugo Bruzzadin Nunes
Research suggests that college students get approximately 6-6.9 hours of sleep per night (Freid & Freid 2014). Previous research suggests that music can assist people with falling asleep faster and even improve sleep quality (Harmat, Takács, and Bódizs 2008). One type of noise that has shown potential to increase sleep quality is pink noise, which consists of low frequency and consistency such as rainfall. This study used a pretest/posttest design to experimentally explore the effects of pink noise on college students’ sleep quality and levels of anxiety over a six-day period. Participants provided baseline ratings of sleep quality and anxiety, then were instructed to listen to pink noise via an app when they go to bed for five nights, before completing follow-up measures at the conclusion of the study. It is expected that participants’ self-reported sleep quality would increase, and self-reported levels of anxiety would decrease over the course of the study. If this hypothesis is supported, these findings will provide evidence for a low-cost, unobtrusive means of improving sleep quality and anxiety among college students.
Faculty Mentor: Ugo Bruzadin Nunes
Andrew Schatz* and Morgan Grotewiel
*Recipient President Student/Faculty Collaborative Research Grant
Approximately 13% of college students may be sexually victimized during their education, with only 20% reporting the crimes (RAINN 2022). Of those unreported, 20% feared retaliation and 13% believed it would not help (RAINN 2022). Laboratory studies using hypothetical vignettes have found that gender of the participant and manipulation of vignette details such as drug use can influence perceived blame. Ecstasy represents an important topic for study as its use is highest in college-aged populations (18-25), and research suggests that illegal drug use increases victim blaming when either the victim or perpetrator are intoxicated. The present study examined how vignette character Ecstasy use impacts participants’ blame assignment. University students aged 18- 25 read a hypothetical rape scenario where voluntary Ecstasy use by the victim and/or perpetrator was manipulated. Next, participants responded to a series of questions about perpetrator and victim responsibility, blame, and justifiability, as well as the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale - Short Form (IRMA-SF). It is expected that regardless of drug use, victims will be attributed more blame than perpetrators. These findings extend existing literature pertaining to the mechanisms behind victim blaming and public perceptions of violent crime.
Faculty Mentor: Morgan Grotewiel
Amy Staggs, Shannon McClain and Eric Goedereis
Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is a psychological state in which despite tangible evidence to the contrary, sufferers feel like a fraud, live in a state of anxiety, and worry that they will be found out (Clance & Imes, 1978). IP has been associated with depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem (Bravata, 2020). The current study aims to investigate the impact of student residential status (SRS) and socioeconomic status (SES) on IP among college students. Further, this study explores whether a person’s SES moderates the relationship between SRS and IP. Participants completed the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS; Clance & Imes, 1978) and provided demographic information via an online survey. It was expected that participants who commuted to campus would report higher levels of IP than residential students. Further, students from lower SES backgrounds were expected to report higher levels of IP compared to students from higher SES backgrounds. Two-way between groups ANOVA will be used to help explain whether there are significant differences in IP between groups and to investigate an anticipated interaction between SRS and SES. Findings from this study could help us better understand which students are at the greatest risk and develop interventions before IP becomes an issue.
Faculty Mentor: Shannon McClain
Conrad Powell and Ryan Groeneman
The ability to control the organic solid state in order to achieve [2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions continues to be an active area of research. A template-based approach has proven to be very successful in overcoming issues of crystal packing where it can achieve proper alignment of a pair of reactant molecules in order to achieve a photoreaction. In most cases, hydrogen bonding interactions have been used to position a pair of carbon-carbon double bonds to undergo this light-induced solid-state reaction. To a lesser extent, halogen bonding interactions has been used to organize the organic solid state to align reactive olefins. In this contribution, we will report on the ability of 1,2,4,5-tetrachloro- 3-iodobenzene to act as both a halogen and hydrogen bond donor that does template a photoreaction in various co-crystals.
Faculty Mentor: Ryan Groeneman
Meghan O’Brien and Elsa Fan
Satan is a construct. Satan is neither bad nor good, but rather is a societal tool used to marginalize groups of people. In this presentation, I make the argument that the concept of Satan has been misunderstood throughout history and I show how these misconceptions emerged. Drawing on literature and imagery from a variety of sources, I examine how Satan has been mobilized as a scapegoat for evildoings as juxtaposed to its counterpoint, God. This is not to say that Satan is not “bad” or that God is not “good”, but that the dichotomy represented by these statements is artificial. This argument is important because it brings to light the power of critical and reflective thought in advancing a more open and less oppressive society.
Faculty Mentor: Elsa Fan
Caleb Zbrozek and Nicole Miller-Struttmann
Pollinators such as wild bees and flies have an important role in the ecosystem. They are partially responsible for spreading the seed of plants, and promoting floral reproduction. There are many factors that impact pollinator behavior and visitation frequency, but it is possible there is no greater impact than the level of urbanization in an environment. There is some discourse surrounding whether higher urbanization levels can negatively impact pollinator species, or if urbanization can actually help pollinators thrive. In this study, we examined the effects of urbanization on pollinators by studying changes in visitation rates and pollinator behavior in urban, suburban, and exurban community orchards. We video recorded clusters of flowers on each tree in 10 St. Louis community orchards for 1-2 hours, weather depending. Three locations fall into each socio-environmental category and one location is a large urban farm. We assessed visitation rate, mean visit duration, and frequency of specific behaviors and are testing whether these foraging traits vary with urbanization. We will discuss the implication of our result for fruit tree production in community orchards.
Faculty Mentor: Nicole Miller-Struttmann
Grace Coleman and Kate Parsons
Environmental racism is a complex and global issue involving, among other moral issues, the systematic environmental degradation of majority-BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) nations, societies, and communities. This paper examines environmental racism through the life cycle of a smartphone from design to disposal. Guided by contractualist approaches, we can locate not only where the benefits and burdens of this industry lie, but also uncover a more ethical consumption practice which relies on both intentional social movement and governmental and corporate policy change in order to ultimately pull global BIPOC communities out from under the metaphorical thumb of White (Western, consumerist) e-waste.
Faculty Mentor: Kate Parsons
Z’Kaye Hall and Mary Lai Preuss
Flexibility is important in everyday life and sports, but it is often overlooked. Hip range of motion is needed for normal movement, and now that people are sitting for most of the day hip range of motion has been decreasing, which can interfere with surrounding joints, causing lower back and knee pain. The purpose of this study is to find out if a program using elastic bands increases hip range of motion more than a program without elastic bands. This study started by taking hip range of motion measurements, that included, hip flexion, hip extension, and hip abduction with external rotation, for each leg. The experimental group followed a stretching program with elastic bands, while the control group followed a program stretching the same muscles without elastic bands. Both groups followed the program three to five times a week, for four weeks. After two weeks of the groups following the program, and at the end of the four weeks, hip range of motion was measured. Finally, all subsequent measurements were compared to the initial measurements.
Faculty Mentor: Mary Lai Preuss
Eve Cohen and Elsa Fan
This presentation draws on the film M. Butterfly to explore the dynamics of love, how imposed contingencies corrupt the capacity for love, and whether the extent of these conditions, in that they prohibit acceptance, can truly engender love. M. Butterfly, a play by David Henry Hwang, inspired by the opera, Madame Butterfly, whose origins can be traced to a novel published by a French naval officer in 1887, tells the story of an affair between a French diplomat and a Chinese opera singer, only for the diplomat to learn that his lover is not who he imagined her to be. The story examines the dynamics of love, fantasy, and desire and the way these sentiments are shaped by socio-cultural implications. In my presentation, I discuss how love is imagined in this film through the constructs of Orientalism, American domination, neocolonialism, and American exceptionalism. I look at how these constructs shape our imagination of love in ways that limit how we perceive and practice love.
Faculty Mentor: Elsa Fan
Emerald Habecker, Sheila Anglin Jordan and Emily Thompson
The fashion industry is notoriously bad for the planet. Second only to oil companies in pollution, the production, consumption, and disposal of clothing worldwide greatly impacts our environment. While the literature discussing the problems of the modern fashion industry is extensive, there is considerably less literature present concerning how the fashion industry has changed throughout history and how, if at all, we can learn from historic practices and habits surrounding clothing. Until very recently, clothing was an expensive necessity for all people and great care was taken to create durable, versatile garments that could be reused for years. The principles of historic dress are in complete opposition to those of fast fashion. This presentation will 1. answer what exactly makes the modern fashion industry so harmful to the environment, 2. compare the problems presented in this research with historic practices, and 3. synthesize these ideas to propose historically-based solutions for this modern problem. This will entail the use of the most eco-friendly materials for fabrics and ways to design versatile and durable clothes. Garments will be presented that summarize key findings to accompany an annotated bibliography of sources.
Faculty Mentor: Emily Thompson
Conrad Powell and Morgan Grotewiel
Mental Health disorders found in youths can span the whole spectrum of mental health disorders. However, some of the most prevalent, anxiety disorders, Major Depressive Disorder, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder are not talked about in length. Discussing symptoms and ways that one might act in bettering their mental health, we go more in-depth for the benefit of adolescents and their families seeking more information. The stigma and burden put on by society are briefly discussed and shown to be a key factor in affecting people’s opinions about others with mental health disorders.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Morgan Grotewiel
Brady Stiff and James Curtis
This project aims to educate individuals on global information warfare and disinformation campaigns so they might be better equipped to combat them. Part of this project will consist of a literature review of real-world examples about these campaigns. These span from historic examples, such as the KGB’s “dezinformatsiya” office established in 1923, to modern disinformation tactics such as web brigades, troll factories, and sockpuppets most prevalent on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The goal of this is to educate individuals on the existence and intricacies of widespread, intentional attack on public opinion. The product of this research will include both a poster presentation and pamphlets to be handed out and taken home. Both will outline the modern research on disinformation campaigns and provide examples of the types of content being published on social media and the internet at large. With this information, I hope to arm individuals with the knowledge to identify false information and its association with disinformation campaigns so they are not reposted, the primary way this information is spread.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. James Curtis
Trinity Locke
My research asks whether there is a better way to introduce and discuss Standard Written English (SWE) in the classroom, as current approaches can leave some students struggling or excluded. The argument begins with the standardization of English and the birth of prescriptivism, as well as an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of prescriptivism and descriptivism. I then present the results of my research, which looked into grammar instruction in American high school English classes—particularly the relationship that high school students have with SWE. Based on these results and my analysis of prescriptivism and descriptivism, I suggest that high school grammar instruction would be more effective if the students were taught the difference between the prescriptive and descriptive approaches. I offer an example of such a lesson with a classroom handout I created that covers the basics of what grammar is and the difference between the two approaches. This project was created for the Gleich Honors College.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Megan Gregory
James Finders, Kelsey Fitzgerald and Michael Burns
The purpose of this retrospective chart review is to determine if there is an association between time to OR and 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year mortality. A total of 136 subject’s charts were reviewed with data collected on 123 subjects at a rural community-based hospital. Subjects were separated into groups based on time to OR (<12 hours, 12-24 hours, 24-36 hours, >36 hours). There was statistical significance of the association between time to OR and 1-year mortality rate (p=0.026). No statistical significance was noted for 30-day and 90-day mortalities. Mortality rates at the rural community-based hospital was 7.32% 30-day mortality, 17.07% 90-day mortality, and 28.46% 1-year mortality.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael J Burns, DNAP, CRNA
Murielle Kameni, Maria Arrey, Benson Tanjong and Michael Burns
Accessibility to safe and quality anesthesia is lacking in many low-middle income nations such as Cameroon. This disparity is due to the lack of resources and the knowledge deficit on specific techniques such as epidural anesthesia. Cameroon is located in West-Central Africa, with a population of 27 million and a ratio of 0.75 anesthesia providers per 100,000 population. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for roughly two-thirds of the global maternal deaths, which approximates 196,000 maternal deaths per year compared to high-income countries. To reduce maternal death, adequate training of health care professionals is imperative. Setting realistic standards for practice and considering the local reality of each country constitutes an essential strategy for decreasing this disparity. This study aimed to determine if distance learning could increase the knowledge of labor epidural and management to nurse anesthetists practicing in Cameroon. Before the study, a pretest was provided to the participants to assess their knowledge of epidural placements and management. Upon completion of the study, the participants took a post-test to evaluate if their knowledge of epidural administration and management had increased. A comparison of both pretest and post-test was performed after the study. Pre- to post-test score averages increased from 40.58% to 66.97%.
Faculty Mentor: Michael Burns
Coral Martin, Erin Tate and Dr. Nicole Miller-Struttmann
The effects of increasing urbanization threatens wild bee species. These effects can be countered with proactive behaviors of residents whose individual plots of land account for as much as fifty percent of urban areas. Community science projects can be used not only to gain significant amounts of meaningful data but to also persuade participants to engage in more positive behaviors that can benefit local biodiversity. Surveys were administered to three groups of participants in two voluntary environmental initiatives, Shutterbee, a citizen science project monitoring native bee species, and Bring Conservation Home, a backyard conservation effort. These survey responses were used to measure the effects of their participation. When compared to new volunteers, returning participants were found to be more positively affected by native and conservation groups. These positive impacts increased even further when the participants were part of two initiatives rather than just one. Further studies are needed to determine whether or not survey responses translated to actual shifts in behaviors.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicole Miller-Struttmann
Alexandra Dodge, Alexandra Schmitz and Michael Burns
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the most common orthopedic surgery performed each year in the United States, with more than 995,410 procedures performed between the years 2012 and 2020 (The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2020). Patients recovering from TKAs notoriously self-report high pain scores and the traditional pain management technique can incorporate months of opioid use after surgery. Overuse of opioids over the last two decades has caused a crisis in the United States and there has been a large push amongst medical providers to make multimodal pain management a priority. This shift in pain management protocols towards minimizing opioid use has allowed alternative means of analgesic therapy to be explored. Iovera cryotherapy offers targeted nerve conduction blockade with extended pain relief for up to 6 weeks. This study aims to determine if the addition of targeted Iovera cryotherapy in the preoperative period has an effect on opioid prescription refills in the postoperative period following total knee arthroplasty.
Faculty Mentor: Michael Burns
Cora Deverick, Addis Moore, Jonas Barnes and Justin Shew
Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) and raccoons (Procyon lotor) are some of the most prevalent mesopredators of mid-American wildlife, being present in both rural and urban environments. Due to the many niches they fill by being a habitat generalist, research on them is integral.. These species react differently to various environments, sometimes in the form of competition with one another, so it is important to research them in all areas they are prevalent in. This study aims to explore the various factors that affect Virginia opossum and raccoon activity in southwestern Illinois in November of 2021. Twenty three cameras were set up across Lewis and Clark Community College, Pere Marquette State Park, Beaver Dam State Park, and two private properties. Animal detections were determined from cameras triggered at motion (i.e. game/trail cameras) and we took records of all animal sightings in the month of November 2021. Factors explored include time active during the day, and response to each other’s populations along with that of the apex predator of the region, coyotes (Canis lantrans). Preliminary summary results show 26 different species were found in 1,825 images in November, with 116 opossums sightings, 210 raccoon sightings, and 53 coyote sightings.
Faculty Mentor: Justin Shew
Rachel Henson, Aaron Loida and Michael Burns
Introduction: Hysterectomies are the second most common surgical procedure performed on women. Postoperative pain is frequent and often managed with opioids; however, it is important to identify pain management strategies that reduce opioid use in the perioperative period and the associated complications. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy PCDS catheters to other local anesthetic techniques in impacting IV morphine equivalents for subjects undergoing a robotic hysterectomy. Methods: This was a single site retrospective chart review of subjects that either received a PCDS infusion (n = 57) or other local anesthetic techniques (n = 23). Both groups received the same ERAS protocol. The primary outcome measured was total opioid consumption on POD0. Secondary outcomes included patient demographics, ERAS protocol compliance, mean pain scores, incidence of nausea and vomiting, length of hospital stay and surgical times, and readmission rates. Results: The morphine equivalents during POD0 were not significantly different (p = 0.242). ERAS protocol compliance was high (>75%) in both groups, and not significantly different (p = 0.671). Conclusion: Our study suggests that ERAS compliance decreases a patient’s opioid consumption overall in the hospital regardless of regional or local anesthetic technique that is used.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Burns
Colleen (Beth) (Beef) Cromer and Kate Parsons
The hit reality television show Jersey Shore was the most popular show in MTV’s 30-year history, and its cultural impact on 2010’s popular culture was enormous. The show influenced that era’s sexuality, hook-up and party culture, fashion, aided in bisexuality visibility, and proved to the world that even normal people could become ground-breaking celebrities. Colleen (Beth) (Beef) Cromer (they/ them) explores the concepts of sexuality, intrapersonal relations, and the culture of the 6 seasons that the show ran for and produces a tan visual diagram of the 2000’s functioning-alcoholism, bi-curious, fist-pumping “situation” that is Jersey Shore. Beef will theorize the canon bisexuality of Deena “blast in a glass” Buckner, the stardom that Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi rose to as America’s #1 party girl, why Mike “the situation” resorted to tax evasion post-Jersey Shore, and the impact that the show had on popular culture and society. They will also discuss the intrapersonal relationships the characters had with each other, their hookups, the fights, their dynamics and the characters themselves in the languages of philosophy, popular culture, feminism, bisexuality, memes, and sexuality.
Faculty Mentor: Kim Parsons
May 18, 2023
December 5, 2022
December 7, 2021
