Mason Students Present at Undergraduate Research Conference

April 10, 2008

A team of six Mason undergraduates recognized for outstanding research presented their work at the sixth Colonial Academic Alliance (CAA) undergraduate research conference hosted by Northeastern University, April 4-5, in Boston.

This year's participants and their projects were

• Senior Jenna Krall, dance performance and mathematics major, "Predicting Baseball Winners Using Just Noticeable Differences." Her mentors were Patrick McKnight, assistant professor of psychology, and David Cades, psychology PhD student.
  
  
• Junior David Lieu, chemistry and biology major, and senior Sarah Wambaugh, government and international and public affairs major, "Natural and Soot-Derived Organic Matter in River Sediments." Their mentor was Gregory Foster, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
  
  
• Elizabeth Nohelty, senior biology major, "KCNRG As a Tumor Suppressor Gene Candidate in B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia." Her mentor was Ancha Baranova, associate professor of molecular and microbiology.
  
  
• Junior Daniel Odom, art history and global affairs major, "The Invisible Other and the Construction of a Homosexual Counterculture through Magic Realism." His mentor was John "Fred" Saddler, adjunct faculty for history and art history.
  
  
• Junior Adrianne Urrego, neuroscience major, "Chronic Nicotine Exposure Alters Dendritic Morphology of Pyramidal Neurons from Insular Cortex." Her mentor was Robert Smith, professor of psychology.

Mason students presented their work at the Colonial Academic Alliance conference. Seated, from left: Jenna Krall, David Lieu, Adrianne Urrego and Sarah Wambaugh. Standing, from left: Emil Chuck, interim coordinator of the Undergraduate-Faculty Apprenticeship Program, Elizabeth Nohelty and Daniel Odom. Photo courtesy of Emil Chuck

The CAA Undergraduate Research Conference brought together 70 students from the 12 schools in the conference to share their work in an interdisciplinary professional setting.

Selected students from all segments of the sciences, humanities, fine arts, social sciences and pre-professional schools presented their work. Mason hosted the first conference in 2003, and the 2009 conference will be held at Towson University in Maryland.

These students and others representing the Undergraduate-Faculty Apprenticeship Program will present their work at Mason's Innovations 2008 Conference on April 15.

Applications for summer 2008 apprentices are currently open and are due by Sunday, April 20. The application is online or can be found at the Undergraduate-Faculty Apprenticeship Program table at Innovations 2008. For more information, e-mail interim coordinator Emil Chuck.

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