Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity Showcase
Welcome to the 22nd annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Showcase.
Schedule:
3 - 4:00 pm, Session I - posters in STEM (biology, biochemistry, chemistry, mathematics, environmental sciences and studies) and Health Sciences; Visual Art, Ceramics
4 - 4:50 pm, Creative Activity Showcase - poetry, student films, music compositions
5 - 6:00 pm, Session II - posters in Humanities, Social Science, Education, and STEM (biology, biochemistry, chemistry, physics, engineering, computer science, environmental sciences and studies), Visual Art, Ceramics
Quick Links
Session I
(Note there are no posters at numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 26-27, 30-38, 41, 44, 47-55)
STEM (Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Environmental Science, Mathematics);
Health Sciences
1. Juliana de Kort, (she/her), Katie Comer, ““Phosphine Addition Reactions Using Host-Guest Chemistry” mentored by Dr. Masaomi Matsumoto
2. Annika Richardson, “Cucurbit[7]uril Aided Oxime Formation” mentored by Dr. Masaomi Matsumoto
4. Julian Regan, (he/him), “Hydrazone Cages with Peptide Building Blocks” mentored by Dr. Masaomi Matsumoto
5. Ishaan Dave, “Exploring Secondary Sphere Effects on an Iron Complex using Supramolecular Complexation with Cucurbit[7]uril” mentored by Dr. Masaomi Matsumoto
7. Lily Boercker, Charlotte Eastman, “The Selection of an In Vitro Decarboxylase Ribozyme” mentored by Dr. Lydia Pazienza
8. Katelyn Rigg, “The Effect of Oxidative Damage to Guanines in the Catalytic Core of Dz 10-23 on Activity” mentored by Dr. Shannen Cravens
10. Kyle Edmundson, “Exploring the DNA-Binding Capability of Novel Small Molecules” mentored by Dr. Wilson Bailey and Dr. Shannen Cravens
11. Emma Hedberg, “Investigating the Photophysical Properties of Novel Pyrazolylpyridines and their Zinc Complexes” mentored by Dr. Wilson Bailey and Dr. Shannen Cravens
13. Gwen Jaramillo, (she/her), “Structure-Mechanism: How does Configuration Contribute to a more Efficient Drug?” mentored by Dr. Laura Diaz Martinez
14. KaiLi Knapp, “Phishing for Phage in the Little Spokane: Visualizing Morphology and Mapping Host Range of Aeromonas Bacteriophages” mentored by Dr. Christy Andrade
16. Lydia Davis, (she/her), “Properties of Tea Alter Bacterial Growth and Microbial Responses in Soil with the Tea Bag Index” mentored by Dr. Nigel D'Souza
17. Georgia LaPlante, (she/her), “Quantifying Glyphosate in the Spokane River Tributaries” mentored by Dr. Nigel D'Souza, Dr. Madeleine Mathews, Dr. Christy Andrade
19. Sidney Ashby, (she/her), Lauren Lee, “Effects of Elevated Temperature on Dytiscidae Beetle Larvae” mentored by Dr. Betsy Bancroft
20. Ashlee Fiorito, Poe Kyaw, “A Changing Biodiversity: Field Studies on Permanent and Temporary Freshwater Ecosystems” mentored by Dr. Betsy Bancroft
22. Sofia Almy, “Mussel Memory: Tracing the Range of Native River Mussels in the Inland Northwest” mentored by Dr. Jens Hegg
23. Carmella Stewart, (she/her), Kevin Talbott, “Marine paleoenvironment reconstruction for the extinct desmostylian, Behemotops proteus” mentored by Dr. John Orcutt
25. Ally Eng-Mullen, Caleb Rosenberg, “Measuring Population Structure in the Acorn Woodpecker” mentored by Dr. Joseph Haydock
28. Katelyn Furman, “Measuring the function of in-frame deletion variants of human pharmacogene G6PD” mentored by Dr. Renee Geck
29. Ella Tran, Sophia Olson Kiehn, “Investigating TOR signaling through experimental evolution of caffeine-tolerant S. cerevisiae” mentored by Dr. Renee Geck
39. Blake Unger, Katie Hill, “Slow and contaminated loses the race: Can pond snails detect PFOS?” mentored by Dr. Hugh Lefcort
40. Emma Swenson, (she/her), “Rural Health Disparities: Investigating Differences in Hospital Outcomes Between Patients with Chronic Disease and Mental Illness at Grand Coulee Medical Center” mentored by Dr. Sarah Matousek
42. Megan Gilbert, Valon Haslem, “Mosaic Knots and Unknotting Numbers” mentored by Dr. Kate Kearney
43. Cooper Loomis, “Construction of an Aerosol Optical Tweezers Assembly to Explore Properties of Individual Sea Spray Particles” mentored by Dr. Tim Guasco
45. Erika Beach, “Whole Body Heat Lowers Postprandial Glucose and Glycemic Variability in Healthy Female and Male College Students” mentored by Dr. Jacqui Crissey
46. Nolin Kavon, (he/him), “The role of rate-pressure product and peripheral tissue oxygenation in the depression of oxygen consumption during the dive response.” mentored by Dr. David Thorp
Visual Artists
A. Setchel Crittenden, (she/her), “Function and Form” mentored by Mat Rude
B. Owen Nichols, “Putting Clay back in Nature” mentored by Mat Rude
C. Brianna Burtness, (she/her), “Singsong”
D. Natalie Jensen, "Moment 11 (suddenly striking)"
E. Aislyn Ross, “Ponderosa” mentored by Jennifer Seo
Creative Works Showcase
Musical compositions
Karalyn Gilbert, piano: "Bittersweet Waltz", mentored by Michael Kropf
Blaine Turner, classical guitar: "Galician Requiem"
Blaine Turner, piano: "Nocturne No. 1 in G minor"
Student films
Elena Shadid: documentary "Alexandria"
Carson Scallen: dark comedy "Nuclear Family"
Luca Gillis & Joe Ierardi: documentary "The TikTok Ban"
Poetry
Grace Applegate: "That Which Holds Us", "Interference", "Undyed", "Edelweiss"
Aislyn Ross: "Morning Frost", "Apotheosis", "stuffed animal", "Forgive Me, Mother"
Session II
(Note there are no posters at numbers 18, 24, and 30)
Humanities, Social Science, & Education
1. Juliana Maucione, (she/her), "Who's Got Narcan?" Harm Reduction and Naloxone Access Among At-Risk Populations in Spokane” mentored by Michael DeLand
2. Teresa Miller, (she/her/hers), “A Critical Approach to Understanding the Effects of Parental Incarceration on Child Health Outcomes” mentored by Dr. Alana Inlow
3. Amelia Harding, (she/her), “Chronic Illness and the Doctor-Patient Relationship” mentored by Dr. Andrea Bertotti-Metoyer
4. Natalie Taylor, “Investing in Child Welfare: A Cross-country Comparison of Governmental Spending and Wellbeing for Youth who have Experienced Out-of-Home Care” mentored by Dr. Annie Voy
5. John Watson, (he/him/his), “Reason Alone Cannot Sustain Impartial Altruism” mentored by Dr. Chandler Rogers
6. Beck Waxman, (he/him), “Ancient Justice: Legal Insecurity in Classical Athens” mentored by Dr. Amy Pistone
7. Rowyn O'Connor, (they/them), “More than Spare Parts: The Mechanics of Queer Disability Life Writing” mentored by Dr. Katey Roden
8. Maddox Reimer, (he/him), “Souls in Search of Bodies: Migration and Existentialist Phenomenologies in Selvon and Rushdie” mentored by Dr. Ann Ciasullo
9. Kaylie Rink-Beaman, Adri McAuliffe, “The Effectiveness of a Token Economy System on Off-Task Behavior by a Student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a Middle School Classroom” mentored by Dr. Jen Neyman
10. Rachelle Chavez, “The Effects of Mand Training on the Number of Appropriate Mands by Five Preschoolers During Snack Time in an Integrated Lab Preschool” mentored by Dr. Jen Neyman
11. Aundrea Davit, “The Effects of Copy Cover Compare on Spelling CVC words by a Seven- Year old Female with Autism in a Self- Contained Classroom” mentored by Dr. Jen Neyman
12. Kayla Rodriguez, Ruthie Roach, “The Effectiveness of The Hands-On Equations Learning System and Guided Practice on Algebra Skills by Students with Disabilities in a High School Math Resource Classroom” mentored by Dr. Jen Neyman
13. Abby Held, Victoria Bashara, “The Effectiveness of Errorless Learning and Model, Lead, Test on Teaching Color Matching to a Student with Autism in a High School Special Education Classroom” mentored by Dr. Jen Neyman
14. Isabel Granados, (she/her), Alejandra Beltran Maldonado, “Classroom Management & Working with students on CVC/CVCC words” mentored by Dr. Jen Neyman
15. Zaidee Smith, Ava Fink, Alaina Linnell, “The Effects of Positive Reinforcement on Decreasing Off-Task Behavior by Two Middle School Students with Disabilities in Resource Rooms” mentored by Dr. Jen Neyman
STEM (Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, Environmental Science, Computer Science, and Engineering)
16. Luca Morones-Calcagno, (he/him), “Effects of glyphosate on growth and photophysiology of toxin producing strains of the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa” mentored by Dr. Nigel D'Souza
17. Louis Hagar, “Next generation sequencing to unlock the Acorn Woodpecker Genome” mentored by Dr. Joseph Haydock
19. Brooke Robertson, Breckan Robertson, “The Effects of Urbanization on Body Condition in Deer Mice (P. sonoriensis)” mentored by Dr. Elizabeth Addis
20. Linh Truong, “Understanding Endangered Sawfish through Rostral Teeth Chemistry” mentored by Dr. Jens Hegg
21. Brad Vega, Kevin Cox, “Understanding Endangered Sawfish Through Rostral Tooth Chemistry and Internal Structures” mentored by Dr. Jens Hegg
22. Madeline George, “Reconstructing Freshwater Ecology: An Analysis of Native Mussel Shells in the Pacific Northwest” mentored by Dr. Jens Hegg
23. Ella Schaller, “Berry Big Boost! Characterizing Huckleberry Seedling Response to Increasing Nitrogen Fertilization” mentored by Dr. Brian Connolly
25. Audrey O'Hara, Olivia Hansen, “Investigating growth and photophysiology of the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa to warming climates” mentored by Dr. Nigel D'Souza
26. Carly Kern, (she/her), “Exploring Antimicrobial Effects of Green, Rooibos, and Black Tea on M. foliorum and A. globiformis and its implication for the Tea Bag Index Bioassay” mentored by Dr. Nigel D'Souza
27. Charlie Wyman, Brianna Stevenson, Sara Weaver, “Predator-Prey Interactions and Body Morphology of Freshwater Species Under Thermal Stressors” mentored by Dr. Betsy A. Bancroft, PhD
28. Sofia Lorenzo, David Nguyen, “Friends or Foes: Understanding Thresholds in Competitive Interactions Between Pacific Chorus Frog Tadpoles” mentored by Dr. Betsy Bancroft
29. Katie Ellis, Clare McGowan, “The impacts of predatory cues and heat stress on Pacific Chorus Frog antipredator mechanisms, growth, development, and morphology” mentored by Dr. Betsy Bancroft and Dr. Annika Rose-Person
31. Alexis Assell, Perry Rauzzino, “Comparison of Bird Species Richness and Abundance Between River and Dry Dambo Grasslands” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard and Dr. John Orcutt
32. Lydia Davis, (she/her), Kaiya Veasey, Jackson Schmidt, “Exploring Dambos in Chimfunshi, Zambia: Their Role in Landscape Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard and Dr. John Orcutt
33. Bridget Diether, Goldie Massey, Caren Miranda, “Assessing Fire Fuel Load in Chimfunshi’s Mushitu Forest for Protection of Biodiversity” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard and Dr. John Orcutt
34. Natalie Doty, (she/her), Ella Stewart, “Comparison of Insect Biodiversity in Two Environmentally Different Dambos” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard and Dr. John Orcutt
35. Nora Fassler, (she/her), Kylie Turner, “Submissive and Aggressive Behaviors in Female Chimpanzees with Active and Non-Active Infants” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard and Dr. John Orcutt
36. Jamie Fitzgerald, (she/her), Ben Hallerman, “Influence of Present Males on Juvenile Chimpanzee Social Behaviors” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard
37. Ella Tran, Katie Thorson, Andrew Fortney, “Feeding Anticipation and Social Behavior: Patterns of Aggression and Sexual Activity in Captive Adult Chimpanzees” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard and Dr. John Orcutt
38. Samuel Twitty, (he/him), Asa Jassen, “Investigating Aggressive Behaviors in a Chimpanzee Troop with Two Alphas” mentored by Dr. Melinda Howard
39. Tucker Holmes, Cynthia Reck, “Long Term Water Quality Monitoring in Spokane River Tributaries” mentored by Dr. Madeleine Mathews
40. Jessica Jenkins, Thanh Ngo, Tazio Marotta, “Beneath the Surface: Hydrochemistry of Ponds at Turnbull” mentored by Dr. Madeleine Mathews
41. Leah Gulick, (she/her), Xander Assad, Kristiana Da Jose, “Making a Buzz: Wool Carder Bee Interactions on Gonzaga University Campus” mentored by Dr. Gary Chang
42. Brooke Perez, “Supramolecular Photochemical 2+2 Cyclodimerization of Chalcones using CB[8]” mentored by Dr. Masaomi Matsumoto
43. Jack Tracey, Aiden McGuire, “Effective Molarity Enhanced Imine Condensations Using Cucurbit[8]uril” mentored by Dr. Masaomi Matsumoto
44. Lilia Plaza Arenas, (she/her), Angela Macabinguil, (she/her), Trudy Hindman, (she/her), “Polymorphism and Photophysical Properties in Modified Chalcones for Application of the Development of Drugs” mentored by Dr. Stephen Warren
45. Emma Iwaniec, Ben Harris, Josh Augustine, “Reduction of Wheelchair Vibrations Through Rear Wheel Suspension” mentored by Dr. Brandon Sargent, Dr. Tim Fitzgerald
46. Charlie Martinez, “Learn, Sleep, Remember, Repeat.” mentored by Dr. Chris Fink
47. Irena Langer, Mally Panek, Kiyah Young-Wilson, “Understanding Stellar Element Formation Through Nuclear Reactions” mentored by Dr. Adam Fritsch
48. Sean Pierce, Estefan Flores, “A Catastrophic Study of Water Waves (Using Rays)” mentored by Dr. Nicole Moore
49. Jason Chou, Thiago Cordova, London Moraes, Levon Wilcox, “Smooth Operators: Friction and 3D Printing” mentored by Dr. Harman Khare
50. Ritchie Fu, “Neural Network Based Error Compensation in Phased Array Beamforming” mentored by Sreeni Poolakkal, Ph.D candidate at Washington State University and Dr. Subhanshu Gupta, Ph.D in Electrical Engineering at Washington State University
51. Ethan MacVicar, (he/him), “Subcellular Kibra localization and reconstitution of the Hippo pathway core complex” mentored by Dr. Richard Fehon, University of Chicago
52. Katharine Manson, “Determining molecular effects of chalcones using experimental evolution” mentored by Dr. Renee Geck
53. Carolyn Powell, Emily Pence, Devin Riley, “Tick and Tick-Borne Pathogen Surveillance with Citizen Science Approach in Eastern Washington” mentored by Dr. Christy Andrade
54. Kelsey Sakraida, (she/her), Will Tolson, Raquel Villasenor Garcia, “Differential Cellular Responses to DNA Damage Agents” mentored by Dr. Laura Diaz-Martinez
55. Madelyn Holland, (she/her), “Understanding the Role of the 55LLC Complex” mentored by Dr. Laura Diaz Martinez
Visual Artists
A. Setchel Crittenden, (she/her), “Function and Form” mentored by Mat Rude
B. Owen Nichols, “Putting Clay back in Nature” mentored by Mat Rude
C. Brianna Burtness, (she/her), “Singsong”
D. Natalie Jensen, "Moment 11 (suddenly striking)"
E. Aislyn Ross, “Ponderosa” mentored by Jennifer Seo
About CURCI
Gonzaga University’s Center for Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry was founded in 2016 in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2021, the Center expanded to serve and support all undergraduate students across the entire university in a wide range of disciplines.
CURCI’s mission: Facilitate and encourage research and creative activities at Gonzaga University, providing the necessary tools to promote student discovery and transformation through Ignatian inquiry, thereby fostering reflective and critical thought, lifelong learning, creativity, innovation, and ethical discernment.
In addition to leading this Showcase, we co-lead the Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference with Whitworth University; SIRC 2026 will be held April 25th, 2026 at Whitworth.
CURCI also provides travel awards for students to present their work at conferences and symposiums, print student research posters, and lead several research programs including the Morris Fellowship, McKinstry Fellowship, and the Gonzaga Science Research Program. In addition, we collaborate with the University of Washington School of Medicine on the UW-GU Summer Biomedical Research Program (Seattle) and with Gonzaga’s School of Engineering and Applied Science on the GRO-MECS Program.
Thank you
This poster session began as an event for the natural sciences and has grown in both size and breadth over the last 22 years. We are delighted that you were able to join us and hope that you come away inspired by the presentations.
We sincerely thank you for attending and talking with our students about their passions and excellent work. Your support of these students in their research and creative pursuits is invaluable!
This event wouldn’t be possible without help from the GU community, especially faculty mentors, donors, funding agencies, Sodexo, and GUEST. We are grateful for your help.