UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. — Twenty-four students were recognized for their presentations of their research or creative venture during the 2023 Undergraduate Exhibition, held April 10-12. 

Continuing as a hybrid event for 2023, 237 Penn State undergraduates from a multitude of disciplines, colleges and campuses participated online through Symposium. Many also chose to attend the in-person session on April 12 at the HUB-Robeson Center. 

Each year, the Office of Undergraduate Education and University Libraries award students for outstanding work, some with cash prizes. 

Gerard A. Hauser Award, $500 prize 

• Hannah Kline, biochemistry, Eberly College of Science, “Investigating The Role of the ER in Axon Regeneration” 

Category awardees receive $150 for first place, $125 for second place and $100 for third place. 

Arts and Humanities 

• First place: Casey Sennett, anthropology, College of the Liberal Arts, “Overlooked Histories: An Ethnographic and Historical Study of the Jewish Communities of Central Pennsylvania” 
• Second place: Luisina Kemanian Leites, international politics, College of the Liberal Arts, “A Solution to 'The Problem from Hell'?: Quantifying the Effects of Military Interventions on the Severity of Mass Killings and Genocides” 
• Third place: Mackenzie Flanders, political science, College of the Liberal Arts, “When Do Partisans Defect from Norm Violations?” 

Engineering 

• First place: Vancie Peacock, agricultural and biological engineering, College of Agricultural Sciences, “Analysis of microbial efficiency in oxidizing low-concentration methane through biofiltration” 
• Second place: Alessandro Ascani Orsini, engineering science and mechanics, College of Engineering, “Fabrication of porous SiO2 Nanoparticles for analyte sensing in the brain” 
• Third place: Quinn Deitrick, mechanical engineering, College of Engineering, “The Impact of Visual and Multi-Sensory Haptic Cues on Motion Accuracy” 

Health and Life Sciences 

• First place: Arisha Tariq, genetics, “The Effects of Choline Supplementation on Blood Pressure Regulation in a Mouse Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder” 
• Second place: Samar Latefa, biology, Penn State Lehigh Valley; Jonathan Perez, biobehavioral health, “Aquatic Health of the Danube Basin: Assessment of Select Areas Within the Braila Islands, Romania” 
• Third place: Rishika Patil, biochemistry and molecular biology, Eberly College of Science, “Establishing Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model for ADSSL1-Caused Nemaline Myopathy” 

Physical Sciences 

• First place: Sunday Siomades, Geosciences,  “What's in the Sand? Caribbean Reef Sediment as an Analog of the Living Community” 
• Second place: Hannah Bauer, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, “Ribosome rescue inhibitors are new antibiotics that kill Streptococcus mitis”  
• Third place: Logan Coomes, biology, Penn State York, “The Antimicrobial Properties of Additives in Photocured Dental Resins” 

Social and Behavioral Sciences 

There was a three-way tie for first place:  

• Abigail Ransom, psychology, College of the Liberal Arts, “A Bidirectional Analysis of the Longitudinal Relationship Between Depression and Cognitive Impairment in a Sample of Adults Aged 50 and Older” 
• Matthew McHugh, biobehavioral health, College of Health and Human Development, “The Influence of Parental Marital Status on Teen Drinking Outcomes” 
• Vincent Mariani, linguistics, “Emphasis, Certainty, and Interdiction: Particles in Gιsιɖa Anii” 

Oral and Performance 

• First place: Abigail Heilenman, biochemistry and molecular biology, Eberly College of Science, “New Antibiotics Found in Trans-Translation Pathway” 
• Second place: Leah Gallo, anthropology and classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, “An Archaeological Analysis of early Christianity along Paul's Second Missionary Journey in Greece and Anatolia”  

2023 Data Visualization Award sponsored by University Libraries 

• First place, $175 prize: Andrew Kacala, biology, Eberly College of Science, “The Role of Binge Alcohol Consumption on Somatostatin Cell Density and Signaling” 
• Second place, $100 prize: Nate Cherouk, geography, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, “Quantifying Nutritional Yield within Morocco’s Agroforestry Systems” 
• Also recognized: $50 prize: Simran Mukhi, Ben Chang 

The Undergraduate Exhibition is coordinated by Penn State Undergraduate Education.