Top Projects Announced from the 2023 Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

On Friday, March 24, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) celebrated the 15th Annual Student Research and Creative Activity Fair (RCAF) on the UNO campus. The fair provides students from undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs the opportunity to showcase their innovative research or show-stopping creative works.

In its 15 years, RCAF has served as the launching point for hundreds of academic scholars, performers, scientists, musicians, educators, social workers, and much more.

This year, 21 unique submissions were selected from among the best across undergraduate and graduate categories for oral and poster presentations, and performances or demonstrations.

Curious about how you can get a jump start on next year’s RCAF? Be sure to explore student funding and support options through the Office of Research and Creative Activity on their website.

2023 Research and Creative Activity Fair Winners

Here are this year’s award recipients, as determined by a panel of campus and community judges. Some of the project abstracts have been added to the UNO Digital Commons website.

Undergraduate Performances or Demonstrations

Best: John Tuvera Lim

Voice Performance: "Asturiana," de Falla and "Till havs," by Nordqvist. Advised by Shelby VanNordstrand.

Outstanding: Yasmine Elferaie

Voice Performance: "When I Sing in My Car," by Joey Contreras and Liz Suggs. Advised by Alisa Belflower.

Meritorious: Quin Sexton

Film Score: "A Breakdown in Composing Music for Film." Advised by Joshua Kearney, DMA.

Honorable Mention: Layla Rivera

Voice Performance: "Why Can't I Kiss You," by Jeff Blumendrantz. Advised by Alisa Belflower.

Graduate Performances or Demonstrations

Best: Claire James

"Sound Bites." Advised by Christine Beard, DMA.

Undergraduate Poster Presentations

Best: Megan Woods

"Muscle oxygenation in patients with peripheral artery disease during walking with different tennis shoes."

Outstanding: Ryan Vilter

"Healthcare Facilities: Maintaining Accessibility While Implementing Security"

Meritorious: Zainab Al Badran

"Preparation of Theranostic Agents for Molecular Imaging." Advised by Bhavesh Patel/Suzanne Sollars, Ph.D.

Honorable Mention: Andrew Huang

"Using common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) feces to isolate and characterize Escherichia coli." Advised by Jonathan Clayton, Ph.D.

Graduate Poster Presentations

Best: Jordan Sahs

"OPS Bus Scheduling: A Heuristic Approach to a Three-Tier Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem With Inter-Depot Routes"

Outstanding: Alicia Weiss

"SPEAK OUT!® & LOUD Crowd® Treatment Psychosocial Effects on Parkinson’s Disease​." Advised by Lucia Scheffel, Ph.D., CCC-SLP.

Meritorious: John Rech

"Effect of classroom physical activity interventions on the physical activity of young children based on race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status: A systematic review with meta-analysis." Advised by Danae Dinkel, Ph.D.

Honorable Mention: Cynthia Lujan

"Feasibility of a Mindfulness Program for Rural Family Childcare Homes Early Childhood Education Professionals." Advised by Danae Dinkel, Ph.D.

Undergraduate Oral Presentations

Best: Matthias Walters

"Efficacy of an immunostimulatory peptide against toxoplasmosis." Advised by Paul Davis, Ph.D.

Outstanding: Elham Zamani

"External Elastic Lamina (EEL) Breaks in Femoropopliteal Artery." Advised by D. Majid Jadidi, Ph.D.

Meritorious: Braydon Dreher

"Novel Approach to Drug Discovery Against the Chronic Stage of the Parasite Toxoplasma gondii." Advised by Paul Davis, Ph.D.

Honorable Mention: Alexandra Gaeth

"Building Character Strength In Children: Qualitative Analysis of Strength Themes In Children's Literature." Advised by Lisa Scherer, Ph.D.

Graduate Oral Presentations

Best: Rama Krish Thelagathoti

"A Data-driven Approach for the Classification and Severity Estimation of Behavioral Disorders." Advised by Hesham Ali, Ph.D.

Outstanding: Liz Pekas

"Endothelial cell Nrf2-KO attenuates endothelial function and skeletal muscle antioxidant capacity." Advised by Song-Young Park, Ph.D.

Meritorious: Gargi Nandy

"Telehealth security from a user’s perspective: moving beyond covid-19 and into a new normal." Advised by Deanna House, Ph.D.

Honorable Mention: Md. Sazzad Shuvo

"Misinformation in social media: An axiological exploration on COVID-19 vaccine hesitations among youth." Advised by Herb Thompson III, Ph.D.