Academic excellence took center stage at Grove City College this week as undergraduate researchers presented their work and earned accolades for their efforts at the Five-Minute Thesis and ODK Paper of the Year Competition.
The event Monday, April 27, provided a showcase for original student research across multiple disciplines, Associate Professor of Exercise Science Hayden Gerhart said.
“At Grove City College, we encourage student-faculty research experiences. Oftentimes, this occurs in classrooms and lab settings. This event is an opportunity to celebrate the excellence and achievement of research advances and student experiences from across the entire GCC community,” Gerhart, who coordinated the competition, said.
The Five-Minute Thesis Competition offers students in the liberal arts and sciences an opportunity – albeit short – to explain the research projects they have worked on in a classroom setting to a panel of faculty judges and their peers. Sixteen students entered the competition.
Winners were selected in two categories:
Sciences
- Sophomore Joshua Lee (Electrical Engineering) for “Personal Space Weather Station Receiver.”
- Junior Katherine Chapman (Exercise Science) “The Effects of Ketone Supplementation on Endurance Performance and Cognitive Function in Male Cyclists.”
- Senior Angela White (Psychology) “The Combined Effects of Acute and Chronic Stress on Susceptibility to the Misinformation Effect.”
Liberal Arts
- Junior Abigail Buritica (Political Science) “Locking in: The Economics of Early College Admissions.”
- Junior Brae Sadler (Economics) “The American Liberal School: the Tradition of Jefferson and Say.”
- Senior Ginger Schiffmayer (History) “The Writing in the Walls: Spatial Organization in the Italian Utopian Tradition.”
The winners of the College’s Swezey-Janicki Research Competition provided the event’s keynote speakers.
In the College’s Sticht Lecture Hall, senior Chemistry major Abigail Collier explained her paper on “Surface Analysis of a Solid Polymer Electrolyte” and a team consisting of seniors Mia Gallagher (Molecular Biology), Sarah Jacob (Biochemistry), and Allison Monch (Biology) presented “An Analysis of Shot Knockdown in Drosophila Melanogaster.”
Omicron Delta Kappa Paper of the Year awards were presented by Associate Professor of Education Susan Dreves, who serves as the leadership honorary’s adviser. The winners were selected by a committee comprised of faculty and administrators.
- Junior John Hatzis (History and Philosophy) took top honors in the Humanities for “The Redemptive Friendship of Rat and Mole in ‘The Wind in the Willows.’”
- Senior Allison Monch (Biology) won in the Natural and Applied Sciences Category with “Trauma Associated Epigenetic Modifications in War Impacted Groups.”
- Sophomore Jason Prowant (History) earned Honorable Mention in Humanities for “Reign of Error: The Failures of Eastland 308’s History Methodology and its Possible Redemption.”