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More than 150 51Ʒ��undergraduate students took part in the 19th annual College of Arts and Sciences Spring Research Symposium. The symposium was held on May 4, 2018, and was composed of 65 posters, 36 oral presentations and 3 art displays.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Jeanne Hey, Ph.D., stated, “The fact that our symposium had so many presentations, with all departments represented, shows how much undergraduate research is thriving at UNE. We know it’s such a huge part of a students' success after they graduate.”

First prize in the Oral Presentation category went to Audrie Langlais (Biochemistry, ’18) for her project “In vivo Effects of Adipose-Specific Deletion of Jagged 1 in Mice Administered a High Fat Diet.” Ms. Langlais’ work was carried out under the supervision of Deena Small, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics.

The runner-up was Austin Flanigan (Marine Sciences and Applied Mathematics, ’19) for “Preliminary Investigations into the Abiotic Factors Driving Movement and an Initial Population Estimate of Atlantic Sturgeon Within the Saco River Estuary.” Mr. Flanigan’s work was carried out under the supervision of James Sulikowski, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Marine Sciences.

In the Honors Thesis Presentation, Lars Hammer (Marine Sciences, '18) took first place for “Using telemetry to monitor movements and habitat use of juvenile winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) in a southern Maine estuary.” Mr. Hammer conducted his Honors research under the supervision of James Sulikowski, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Marine Sciences.

Olivia Scott (Biological Sciences, ’20) won first place in the Artistic Exhibit category for “Ceramics: Exploring Material and Form.” Charles Thompson, M.F.A. in the Department of Arts, served as Ms. Scott’s advisor for this work.

In the Poster Presentation category, Megan Hall (Political Science and English, '18), Haley Gorman (Sport and Recreation Management, ’18), Lilly Sundgren (Elementary/Middle Education, ’19) and Makaela Rice (Neuroscience, ’19) took top honors with “Topics in Women’s History Poster Presentation.” The students’ winning presentation was carried out under the supervision of Elizabeth De Wolfe, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy.

Lacey Durkee (Psychology, ’18), Emma Wuerdeman (Psychology, ’18) and Allison Symonds (Psychology, ’18) were the runners-up for their project, “The Power of Touch: People High in the Need to Belong Become Approving of Casual Sex Following a Physical Touch Manipulation.” The students carried out their work in the research lab of Julie Longua Peterson, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology.

The second runner-up was Aleeza Barkas (Biochemistry '18) for "Impact of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether on Key Components of the Intrinsic Apoptosis Pathway in C3H10T1/2 Mesenchymal Stem Cells." Her work was carried out under the supervision of Deena Small, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Chemistry and Physics.

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