2009.03.31 > For Immediate Release
contact: Wendy Townley - University Relations
phone: 402.554.2762 - email: wtownley@unomaha.edu

Students Present at First Research and Creative Activity Fair

Omaha - The first Student Research and Creative Activity Fair was held March 24-26, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).

This centennial year, in conjunction with the annual Honors Program Senior Symposium, UNO invited all undergraduate and graduate students to participate in the first Research and Creative Activity Fair.

The three-day event concluded with an awards program and keynote address by Royce Engstrom, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Montana and a UNO alumnus.

Information about the award winners who presented is as follows. Awards are listed in ranked order (1st, 2nd, 3rd).

UNDERGRADUATE POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Katherine Lawry, Biology
“Fishes of the Lower Elkhorn River”
Advisor: Richard Stasiak

John Tran and Sean Bergstedt, Architectural Engineering
“The Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition”
Advisor: Terri Norton

Sydney Brommer, Biology
“Analysis of Expressed Sequence Tags from Parasitic (Cuscuta Pentagone) and Non-Parasitic (Ipomoea Hederacea) Convolvulaceae”
Advisor: Mark A. Schoenbeck

GRADUATE POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Ramez Mina, Computer Science
“On Evaluating the Performance of Compression Based Techniques for Sequence Comparison”
Advisors: Hesham Ali, Dhundy Bastola

Sara Myers and Panagiotis Koutakis, Exercise Science
“Induced Lower Extremity Vascular Occlusion Affects Gait Variability”
Advisor: Nick Stergiou

Anastasia Kyvelidou, Medical Sciences interdepartmental area in Pediatrics
“Reliability of COP Measurements During Sitting in Developmentally Delayed Infants”
Advisor: Nick Stergiou

UNDERGRADUATE ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Alex Hostetter, Physics/Math
“Surface Induced Magnetization Switching in Nanoparticles”
Advisor: Renat Sabirianov

Sarah Vollmer, English
“Keeping the Bromance Alive: The Use of Self-Repair in Male Conversation”
Advisor: Frank Bramlett

GRADUATE ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Kaeli Samson, Psychobiology
“Studying Developmental Plasticity in Rats: The Effects of Orally Administered Capsaicin on Taste Buds”
Advisor: Suzanne Sollars

Ke Cheng, Information Technology
“Flocking-based distributed Terrain Coverage with Dynamically-formed Teams of Mobile Mini-Robots”
Advisor: Raj Dasgupta

John Buckley, Rick Manthey, Mike Lewis, Kyle Kovar, and Anand Kumar, Business Administration
“Restructuring of the Power Industry in South Africa”
Advisor: Phani Tej Adidam

PERFORMANCE ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Timothy Vallier, Music Composition (graduate)
“Two Stylized Dances for Saxophone Quartet and Percussion”
Advisor: Roger Foltz

Sara Schuhardt, Music Performance (graduate)
“The Influence of Popular Music on 21st Century Flute Repertoire”
Advisor: Christine Beard

HONORS PRESENTATIONS
Mallory A. Martineau, Psychology
“The Effects of In Ovo Hormone Levels on Adult Behaviors and Their Subsequent Effect on Future Generations of the Zebra Finch”
Advisor: Rosemary Strasser

Erica K. Anderson, Environmental Studies
“Endocrine Disrupting Compounds and the Elkhorn River: Developing the Western Mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) as a Bioindicator for the Androgenic Pollutants”
Advisor: Alan S. Kolok

Tyler A. Pietz, Psychology
“Anxiety and Depression in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Native Americans”
Advisor: Jessiline Anderson

GRADUATE ORAL PRESENTATIONS—HONORABLE MENTION
Tasha Jarrett, Organizational Psychology
“Organizational Retaliatory Behavior as a Function of Work-life Programs and Emotion Regulation Ability”
Advisor: Lisa Scherer

Dimitrios Katsavelis, Medical Sciences interdepartmental area in Surgery
“Nano Legends: An Interactive Virtual Reality Game Induces High Level of Physical Activity”
Advisor: Nick Stergiou

Dae-Young Kim, Criminology and Criminal Justice
“Risk Assessment and Classification of Day Reporting Center Clients”
Advisor: Robbin Ogle

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UNO is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The celebration recognizes the partnership among the City of Omaha, its citizens and UNO to build a vibrant and dynamic community. The centennial theme is “UNO: Central To Our City Since 1908.” This theme acknowledges the past contributions of UNO to the community and sets the stage for great things to come.

UNO, inaugurated in 1968, emerged from the Municipal University of Omaha, established in 1931, which grew out of the University of Omaha founded in 1908. For Centennial information, go to http://www.unomaha.edu/100/.