More than 400 students and faculty gathered in April for the annual Dennis Dean Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Conference to present their work and discuss topics from every college at the university. 

“It’s significant to the students because it allows them to shine as experts in their own right,” said Keri Swaby, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. “To communicate and to learn from each other, but also to see the other amazing research that's happening around campus, because it's easy to not know what's outside of your college or even your major.”

During the April 26 event, students presented posters on 246 projects that addressed wide-ranging real-world problems such as wildlife preservation, cancer treatments, autonomous vehicle algorithms, and world hunger. The event was the largest since 2015.

Organized by the Office of Undergraduate Research, the conference relies on the collective efforts of staff, student ambassadors, volunteers, and the 59 faculty members and graduate students who served as judges. Experiences like these are also part of Virginia Tech Advantage, a university commitment to offer career preparation and transformational learning experiences to undergraduate students from Virginia.

The event is named for Dennis Dean, founding director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute and a University Distinguished Professor, and a long-time supporter of undergraduate research whose endowment funds several conference awards and scholarships.

“It really gives you an opportunity to learn what's going on in your field and see what's interesting to you,” said Maddie Ferguson, who received the Undergraduate Research Excellence award. “Research gives yourself room to grow as a person and as a professional and it's a great way to figure out if you like something before you make an entire career choice off of it.” 

The Undergraduate Research Excellence Award recognizes students who conduct comprehensive research and effectively communicate it to a broad audience. Ferguson, a senior in biochemistry, presented her research on how ancient organisms make an important compound for cell function, revealing insights into early life on Earth. Using recombinant technology in bacteria, she's exploring a potentially new assembly system for iron-sulfur compounds.

As an aspiring professor, Ferguson said her involvement as a student ambassador at the Office of Undergraduate Research has been invaluable, allowing her to mentor peers and gain hands-on experience in academia.

“Getting that opportunity to work with students has been great because I want to be a professor in the future,” she said. “Working with other students trying to get into research has been great for practicing my mentoring abilities.”

This summer, Ferguson is going to build on her experience as a peer mentor with the Office of Undergraduate Research by running a summer professional development series for research fellowship programs on the Blacksburg campus.  

 “From a university perspective,” said Swaby. “The conference is also a moment to see a snapshot of all this amazing stuff that's happening around campus that you don't see every day.”

As part of the conference, presenters have several opportunities to gain recognition for their presentation skills and excellence in research and creative scholarship through several awards offered by campus colleges, institutes, faculty, and offices. 

Conference Award Winners

Undergraduate Research Excellence Award

First Place: Maddie Ferguson, biochemistry, "Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembling Thioredoxin of Methanocaldococcus jannaschii" 

Runner-up: Brandon Bickley, biochemistry, "Validation of the Insect Type-B Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor (mAChR-B) as a Novel Insecticide Target"

Stefan Duma Award (two-way tie)

Sara Do, biological sciences, "Role of Perm1 in Systemic Muscle Dysfunction of Heart Failure" 

Tyler Moore, biochemistry, "Histotripsy: Using Focused Ultrasound to Diagnose, Target, and Treat Pancreatic Cancer"

Karen Roberto Award

Grace Lawrence, psychology, "A Comparison of Treatment Duration, Outcome, and Working Alliance Between Clients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and without PTSD in a Community Mental Health Clinic"

Ben Knapp Award

Sydney Haney, wildlife conservation, "Virginia's Endangered, Threatened, and Endemic Species"

Natural Resources and Environmental Research Award

First Place: Truman Collins, wildlife conservation, "Factors Influencing Occupancy and Detection of Margays (Leopardus wiedii) in Tropical Broadleaf Forest versus a Unique Tropical Pine Forest in Belize" 

Second Place: Rachel Morse, wildlife conservation, "Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Estimating Ocelot Space-Use Via Camera Traps in Belize"

Third Place (three-way tie):

Baxter Beamer, wildlife conservation, "Using Arboreal Camera Traps to Assess the Role of Appalachian Animals in the Seed Dispersal of a High Elevation Berry"

Brady Gates, wildlife conservation, "Climate Change’s Effect on the Availability of Medicinal Plant Species in the Southern Appalachian Mountains"

James Logan, biological sciences, Emma Lucier, biological sciences, Peyton Penland, environmental science, Alejandra Flota, water resources policy and management, and Jialin Huo, biological sciences, "Differences in Water Quality Above and Below a Retention Pond: Implications for Ecosystem Health and Predicted Effects of Dredging"

 ICTAS Adaptive Brain and Behavior Award    

First Place: Nafisa Anjum, psychology, "The Microsystem and Language Development: A Longitudinal Assessment"

Second Place: Bridgett Burgos, clinical neuroscience, "Role of Medication Status in the Social and Academic Profiles of College Students with ADHD"

Third Place: Georgia Katsapis, biological sciences, "Lifestyle Factors and Physical Biomarkers that Predict Cognitive Outcomes in Later Life"

ICTAS Critical Technologies Award

First Place: Jacqueline Hou, biochemistry, "Super Low-Dose Endotoxin Reprograms Neutrophils for Targeted Cancer Treatment in Vitro"

Second Place: Pujita Jethwani, dairy science, "Improving the Methodology for Estimating Ruminal Fiber Digestibility"

Third Place: Vasundhara Gatne, computer science, "Predicting Exoplanet Occurrence Using Association Analysis"

ICTAS High School Award

First Place: Sage Lahmers, Blacksburg High School, "Relationship Between Below Ground Biomass and Soil Organic Matter: A Case Study in Mt Tabor, Blacksburg"

Second Place: Alexander Li, Blacksburg High School, "Enhancing Driving Safety via Real-Time Suppression of Vehicle Radar Interference". Mentored by Dr. Thomas Hou

Third Place (tie): Xavier Gitre, Blacksburg High School, "The Impact of Environmental Methylmercury Exposure on the Feeding Rates of Invertivorous Passerines"

Daniel Zhang, Blacksburg High School, "Machine Learning and Morphology Based In-Ovo Sexing of Chickens"

Service Learning and Research Award

Charlotte Cullen, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, Bella O’Brien-Gonzalez, human nutrition foods and exercise, Keara Sosa-Ton, international relations, "Climate Action Living Laboratory Framework at Virginia Tech: Community-Engaged Service Learning in Practice" 

+Policy Undergraduate Research Award

First place (three-way tie): Lily Casteen, wildlife conservation, "Angler Attitudes Toward Longnose Gar in Virginia's Recreational Fisheries: Ecological Outcomes and Management Implications" 

Maximo de Leon, mathematics, "Examining U.S. Treasury Yield Volatility Dynamics: A DCC-MIDAS Approach"

Alexander Zaslavsky, biomedical engineering, Emily Murray, chemical engineering, Jamin Ni biomedical engineering, Grace Martinez, public health, Nikitha Shankar, biological systems engineering, Chris Bujorneau, smart and sustainable cities, Hanna Howell, public health, "TEAM-Malawi Hydroponics Implementation Plan"

Second Place: Persephone Blackwell, biological sciences, Arianna Porter, biological sciences, Anna D'Alessandris, biological sciences, Kathryn Ouimet, biological sciences, Alison Montgomery, ecological restoration, Tessa G Thibodeau, biological sciences, Sam C. Purvis, biological sciences, Julia Shelton, biological sciences, Julia Cheng, biological sciences, Tim Anikis, biological sciences, Piyali Roy, biological sciences, Gracie Gonzalez, biological sciences, "Are Commercial Microplastics An Adequate Comparison To Environmentally Realistic Microplastics?" 

— Written by Javeria Zulfqar ’24 from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

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