Mason's Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) is a competitive program designed to give undergraduates an authentic research, creative, or scholarly experience under the guidance of a faculty mentor. With help from their mentor, students from across the university design and implement a research project and present the results at the end of the project. Similar opportunities at other Research I universities are often only available to graduate students. Several years ago, Mason made undergraduate research a priority and the URSP is an important part of this ongoing commitment.
The fall 2016 cohort of researchers will conduct oral presentations this Friday, December 16, to an audience of their fellow students, mentors, interested faculty, family, and friends. Topics range from red pandas to the Zika virus to the Tinder dating app. Forty-one students will present their research projects, including fifteen from the College of Humanities and Social Science.
The college invites everyone to attend and support our budding researchers at their presentations this week, especially undergraduates considering taking part in the URSP during their studies at Mason. The Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR) will host an open house with refreshments and raffle prizes after the conclusion of the presentations.
Students from the college will present the following projects:
Louis Boemerman, Psychology
Measuring Over-commitment and Understanding its Effects on Well-being
Mentor: Lauren Kuykendall, Psychology
Jasmine Dang, Psychology
Predicting "Oops" Errors: Individual Difference in Cognitive Flexibility Predict Performance in a Sustained Attention to Response Task
Mentor: Ivonne Figueroa, Psychology
Rachel Eddowes, Communication
Are You Satisfied with Tinder? Understanding the uses, gratifications, and expectancy violations of swiping right and left
Mentor: Thomas Roccotagliata, Communication
Bradley English, Neuroscience
Can we turn back the Biological Clock?: Investigating Potential AGE Breakers via Molecular Modeling and Simulation
Mentor: Amarda Shehu, Computer Science
Ashley Fortner, Integrative Studies
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Behavior Monitoring Application in the Red Panda
Mentor: Elizabeth Freeman, School of Integrative Studies
Michelle Gaspari, English
Sex Work in Washington DC: an Ethnographic Case Study of HIPS
Mentor: Roger Lancaster, Anthropology
Megan Harbour, Neuroscience
Effects Social Isolation on Traumatic Brain Injury
Mentor: Jane Flinn, Psychology, Neuroscience
Alexis Jenkins, English
Hip Hop in Japan: An Examination of American Cross-Culture Influence on Japan
Mentor: Brian Platt, History and Art History
Ariel Kalotkin, Psychology
Predicting an individual's skill acquisition from cognitive ability and neural activation
Mentor: Melissa Scheldrup, Psychology
Jordan Keller-Martinez, Creative Writing
Plurals
Mentor: Susan Tichy, English, Creative Writing
Taylor Iobst, Neuroscience
The Effects of Excess Zinc and Copper Deficiency on Social Behavior in a Mouse Model of late-onset Alzheimer's Disease at One Year of Age
Mentor: Jane Flinn, Psychology, Neuroscience
Vinicio Perla, Psychology
Latino Adolescent Marijauna and Alcohol Use in Relation to Parenting Closeness, Neighborhood/Community Engagement, and Perception of Harm
Mentor: Adam Winsler, Psychology
Ashley Plaster, Neuroscience
Oscar Program: The Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of George Mason Students in Relations to Zika Virus
Mentor: Julia Painter, Global and Community Health
Waleska Solorzano, Philosophy
Photography as Time Travels
Mentors: Rachel Jones and Kurt Brandhorst, Philosophy
Taylor Williams, Criminology, Law and Society
Degrees of Difficulty and Risk Management
Mentor: Catherine Gallagher, Criminology, Law and Society
The ten- to fifteen-minute, oral presentations will take place in simultaneous, moderated forums in meeting rooms A, B, and C on the third floor of the Johnson Center from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The OSCAR Fall Open House will follow from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the Johnson Center third floor west lounge area. All are welcome to attend.
December 13, 2016
