Thank You! 

President Carvajal

Provost Smith

On behalf of the Undergraduate Research Council, I would like to thank John Crawford in VSU Foundations and our wonderful Donors who generously support our Undergraduate Research Symposium each year. Their generosity has allowed us to grow and support more student research each year. We look forward to future partnerships.

Thank you to President Carvajal and Provost Smith for supporting this endeavor and for encouraging the strengthening of community in these difficult times.

There are not words enough to thank Danielle Costello, Programs Assistant, and Jessie Whitten, Technical Assistant for the hours of work and constant vigilance during this last month.  They have been with me 24-7 during the Symposium.  Not only did they work out every tech problem, run all the events, and create the signs, but they did so with humor and encouragement for the students.  I had comments from several people that our Symposium ran better than many of the professional online conferences they had been to, which is largely a product of their efforts. 

My thanks also go to the Odum Library Staff, who worked behind the scenes to make this a wonderful experience for our scholars.

Thank you Jessie Kalinowski for your work as graduate assistant this year.

My thanks to Dean LaPlant for the support, advise, and humor, especially during this week.

I want to thank the Access Office who will be helping us caption the work from this Symposium.

Thank you to the Undergraduate Research Council for your support during the year. Your willingness to support all of our scholars makes this council both productive and enjoyable.

To the Faculty Sponsors, thank you for continuing to support your students in their research and thank you for the extra support it took to bring these projects to completion this year.

To the VSU Community and to all the Friends and Family of our community, especially the Friends and Family of our scholars, thank you for your support throughout this year and during these challenging times.

Finally, my greatest thanks goes to our Student Scholars. Your dedication and willingness to take on the challenge of this Symposium would be remarkable in the best of times. With all that is going on, your efforts are especially noteworthy. You should be proud of your research, your flexibility, and your ability to adapt quickly under great pressure. I thank you for being vigilant and kind in answering the many emails I have sent out since the middle of March. I have enjoyed working with you and believe each of you will be a credit to your field of study.

Awards

We congratulate all of our scholars on their efforts.  Each student has demonstrated advanced skills, knowledge, and professionalism. We are proud of each and every student who has participated in our 2021 Symposium.  It is never easy to choose winners.  However, we have employed faculty and staff judges for posters, videos, and papers to recognize projects that exceeded standards in research, skill, and presentation. Thank you to all our Symposium Judges.

 All Awards come with a monetary prize. To collect this prize, please contact Dr. Lovern llovern@valdosta.edu

Winners of the 3-Minute Video Contest

First Place

The Analysis of Traffic Flow at Selecated
Cross-sections at VSU

Dilan R. Boggs

Sponsors:  Dr. Barry Hojjatie, Mr. Pat Collins and Mr. Larry Ogden

Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geosciences
and Engineering Technology


Second Place

Patriarchal Effects on Immigrant Women:
a comparison of Amy Tan's "The Moon Lady"
and Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman"

Tristan Tyson

Sponsor: Dr. Maren Clegg-Hyer

Department of English

Third Place

The Transformation of Andromeda

Kay-Elle F. Clermont

Sponsor: Dr. Glenda Swan

Department of Art and Design


Winners of the Poster Contest

STEM First Place Overall Best Poster

Developing Protein-Polymer Nanoconstructs as Reusable Biocatalysts
in Non-Aqueous Medium

Thomas J. Falkenhausen and Lukas Smidtas

Sponsor: Dr. Gopeekrishnan Sreenilayam

Department of Chemistry
Biology Best Poster
Sulfur Mixed in Synthetic Fungicides: An Application to Suppress
Sporulation after Fungal Infection
Alexander Gomez


PAGET Best Poster

 An 8-Year Photometric Study of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 5548

Elizabeth A. Scott

Sponsor: Dr. Kenneth S. Rumstay

Department of Astronomy

Math/CS Best Poster

Fault Containment Algorithms in Distributed System

David Q Truong

Sponsor: Dr. Anurag Dasgupta

Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science


Social Sciences Best Posters

First Place

Corruption in Africa:
What Factors Predict the Levels
of Corruption across Countries?

Jayla Elizabeth Jackson

Sponsor: Dr. James LaPlant

Department of Political Science

Second Place

Understanding the Correlation between Thickened
Liquids and Swallowing Function

Susana Ramirez, Mari Kaitlyn Smith and Jomaine Saldana

Sponsors: Dr. Mary M. Gorham-Rowan and Dr. Laura Padgett

Department of Communication Science and Disorders and Special Education

Humanities Best Posters

First Place

Preserving and Restoring Traditional Spaces of Powell Hall
through the Utilization of Technology, Way Finding, and Design Elements

Alison Caughron, Areli Cruz-Olguin, Antonia Harvey and Hyejin Jeong

Sponsor: Dr. Kyoung-Im Park

Department of Art and Design

Second Place

The Seminole Wars of the 19th Century:
A Look into the Causes of One of the Longest Conflicts
of United States HIstory

B. Cordell Moats

Sponsor: Dr. Lavonna Lovern

Native American and Indigenous Studies

Best Paper Competition 

First Place

Explaining the Rise in Hate Groups in America

Crystal R. Thompson

Sponsor: Dr. Joe Robbins

Department of Political Science

In this quantitative study, Crystal R. Thompson skillfully investigates the contributions of race, region, and other factors toward the rise in hate groups in the United States from 2008 to 2018.  Drawing on data from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, the Census Bureau, and the Kaiser Family Foundation, Thompson lucidly demonstrates relationships among far-right ideologically aligned groups and such factors.

Second Place

Patriarchal Effects on Immigrant Women:
a Comparison of Amy Tan's "The Moon Lady"
and Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman"

Tristan Tyson

Sponsor: Dr. Maren Clegg-Hyer

Department of English

This comparative essay examines the problems immigrant women encounter when moving from one instance of oppression to another in works by Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston. Tyson's elegantly written study demonstrates that the Chinese women in these stories face problems of other women's resentment, silencing, violence, and identity crisis, all exacerbated by the patriarchy.

Congratulations to all of our Students for an outstanding Symposium and thank you all for joining us to celebrate their research!