Thesis Award Recipients

2025

Victoria Blake

Fairy Folklore and Classical Mythology in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Major: English
Thesis Director: Ann Christiansen
 

Alissa Boxleitner

"You Can't See Her, But You Can": Myriam Gaube, the Institutional Rape Narrative, and the Politics of Survivorship
Major: English
Thesis Director: Haylee Harrell
 

Tico Hannan

Monitoring Lithium-ion Battery State of Charge, State of Health via Piezoceramic-Induced Low Frequency Stress Waves
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Thesis Director: Gangbing Song
 

Kalena Holeman

Reading the Descent Otherwise: Notes Toward a Black Feminist Analysis of Dante and the Journey in Twentieth-Century Literature of the Black Diaspora
Major: English
Thesis Director: Haylee Harrell
 

Sage Mitchell

"Everything Rises": Creative Playwriting and Queer Theatre History
Major: Theater
Thesis Director: Elizabeth Coen
 

Yugbhai Patel

Prospects for Gluon Imaging at the EIC Using ePIC
Major: Physics
Thesis Director: Rene Bellwied
 

Douglass Pipkin

The Role of Shame and Guilt in Negative Outcomes of Alcohol Use
Major: Psychology
Thesis Director: Clayton Neighbors
 

Cyrus Sadegi

Submerged: Project Nemo/Narrative Based Architecture
Major: Architecture
Thesis Director: Dietmar Froehlich
 

Ian Simon

Beyond Fear: Architectural Solutions for Nuclear Infrastructure
Major: Architecture
Thesis Director: José Roldán Cabellero
 

Ramya Valipe

From Passive Consumption to Aiding and Abetting Terrorism: An Examination of AI-driven Recommendation Algorithms in Relation to the Intent-Consequence Gap
Major: Management Information Systems
Thesis Director: Michelle Belco

Previous Recipients

Raul Caballero Montes

Major: Biology
Mentor: Frank McKeon
 

Melanie Adhikary

Major: English
Mentor: Amanda Ellis
 

Sarah Belew

Major: Psychology
Mentor: Olivia E. Atherton
 

Megan Dagnall

Major: History
Mentor: Debbie Harwell
 

Alivia Mayfield

Major: History
Mentor: José Hernández
 

Andrew Chase

Major: Architecture
Mentor: Deepa Ramaswamy
 

James Valentine

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Gangbing Song

Ashlíta Acuña-Mena

Major: Liberal Studies
Mentor: Zelma Oyarvide Tuthill
 

Triciajane Asuncion

Major: Architecture
Mentor: Sheryl Tucker de Vazquez
 

Tatiana Haddad

Major: Anthropology
Mentor: Susan Rasmussen
 

Andrew Medina

Major: Architecture
Mentor: Dalia Munenzon Titelboim
 

Alfonso Reyes

Major: English, Creative Writing
Mentor: Margot Backus
 

Ritu Sampige

Major: Honors Biomedical Sciences
Mentor: Leslie Frankel
 

Veera Venkata Ramprajwal Vempatti

Major: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Mentor: Lars Grabow

Karina Bhattacharya

Major: Industrial Design
Mentor: Michael Kubo
 

Thomas Carroll

Major: Computer Science
Mentor: Albert M. K. Cheng
 

Giovanna De Vita Sifontes

Major: Biochemistry and Biophysics
Mentor: Eva Harth
 

Jose Emiliano Esparza Pinelo

Major: Biology
Mentor: Mehmet Sen
 

Tara Georgeson

Major: History
Mentor: Norah Gharala
 

Audrey Gale Hall

Major: Religious Studies
Mentor: Caryn Tamber-Rosenau
 

Ambarina Hasta

Major: World Cultures and Literatures
Mentor: Cyrus Contractor
 

Cassidy Lee

Major: Political Science
Mentor: Michelle Belco
 

Fuko Nara

Major: Architecture
Mentor: Ross Wienert
 

Jack O'Connell

Major: History
Mentor: Kristina Neuman
 

David Rincon

Major: Architecture
Mentor: Robert Burrow
 

Andreina Ruiz

Major: Sociology
Mentor: Amanda Baumle

Dua Abidi

Major: History
Mentor: Irene Guenther


Benjamin Diaz Villa

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Ralph Metcalfe


Cristobella Durrette

Major: Creative Work
Mentor: Max Rayneard


Matthew Flores

Major: Poetry
Mentor: Roberto Tejada


Kat Newman

Major: Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Mentor: Guillermo De Los Reyes


Verónica Ordóñez Ferrer

Major: English
Mentor: Ann Christensen


Sangeetha Ranadeeve

Major: Business
Mentor: Elizabeth Anderson Fletcher


Laura Taylor

Major: Geology
Mentor: Emily Beverly


Elena Torre

Major: Computer Science
Mentor: Albert M. K. Cheng


Jaelynn Walls

Major: Art History
Mentor: Nataliee Harren


Naomi Zidon

Major: English
Mentor: Paul Butler

Laila Abbasi

Major: History
Mentor: Sally Vaughn


Amanda Beck

Major: English
Mentor: Marina Trninic


Florencia Caceres Ferreira

Major: English
Mentor: Amanda Ellis


Jacob Foreman

Major: Liberal Studies
Mentor: Margot Backus


Logan French

Major: Geology
Mentor: Virginia Sisson


Shu Ning Hiew

Major: Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Lars Grabow


Wafa-e-fatima Kazmi

Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Mentor: Hayan Charara


Alyssa Lezcano

Major: Psychology
Mentor: Christiane Spitzmueller


Manuel Martinez Alvarenga

Major: History
Mentor: Mark Goldberg


Débora Mroczek

Major: Physics and Mathematics
Mentor: Claudia Ratti


Emma Tan

Major: Liberal Studies
Mentor: Ann Christensen

Kelli Anderson

Tracing the Origins of Medieval Castle Architecture: Were the Normans Innovators or Influenced by Others
Major: History
Mentor: Sally Vaughn


Abdulwausay Ansari

Major: Philosophy
Mentor: Justin Coates


Britnee Chuor

Major: Political Science
Mentor: Elizabeth Simas


Tayler Hedtke

Major: Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Debora Frigi Rodrigues


Robert Laroche

Major: Biology
Mentor: Ricardo Azevedo


William Jacob Little

Major: Political Science
Mentor: Jeremy Bailey


Kevin McCaslin

Major: Hotel and Restaurant Management
Mentor: Yooh Koh


Lydia Mousa

Major: English
Mentor: Chatwara Duran 


Mandana Naviafar

Virginia Woolf and The Narrative Strategies of a Feminine Tradition; A Room of One's Own, Mrs. Dalloway, A Sketch of the Past
Major: English
Mentor: David Mikics


Giulia Schirripa

Major: Art History
Mentor: Natilee O. Harren


Tim Seiter

Major: History
Mentor: David Rainbow


Michelle Tran

Major: Economics
Mentor: Natalia A. Zhivan
 

Emily Watlington

Associations Between Trait and State Levels of Authenticity and Conversation Quality
Major: Psychology
Mentor: Chip Knee

Ahad Azimuddin

Bangladesh 1971: Narratives of a Forgotten Genocide
Major: Honors Biomedical Sciences
Mentor: Irene V. Guenther


Anjay Batra

Understanding Genetic Information as Property: Original Ownership, Transfer, and Innovation in the Field of Genetics
Major: Honors Biomedical Sciences
Mentor: Jessica Roberts


Saraa Husain

Babylon to Baghdad
Major: Architecture
Mentor: William C. Truitt


Marina Ibraheim

The Specificity of Emotion Dysregulation in Adolescents with Borderline Personality Disorder: Comparison with Psychiatric and Healthy Controls
Major: Psychology
Mentor: Carla Sharp


Hadiqa Memon

The Role of Acceptance when Implementing Innovation in Hospitals
Major: Supply Chain Management
Mentor: Elizabeth Anderson Fletcher


Micaela Rodriguez

Experiencing Intersectional Marginality: A First-Generation College Student’s Personal Narrative
Major: Human Development and Family Studies
Mentor: Leslie Ann Frankel


Jacob Rose

Properties of Strongly Interacting Matter
Major: Physics
Mentor: Claudia Ratti


Chathuri Wickramaratne

Confocal Laser Fluorescence Microscopy to Measure Oil Concentration in Treated Produced Water
Major: Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Hanadi Rifai

Rawan Almallahi

Degradation of Bio-Based Epoxy Resins
Major: Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Megan Robertson


Francisco Blanco

Bryostatin-1 Effects on Mammalian Unc13 Isoforms in Hippocampal Derived HT22 Cells
Major: Biology
Mentor: Joydip Das


Stephen Netzley

Linking Safety Climate to Risk Perceptions: A Moderated Model of Accidents, Safety Climate, and Risk Perceptions
Major: Psychology
Mentor: Christiane Spitzmuller


Samantha Noel

Intra-Word Variability in Bilingual Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Cochlear Implants and Their Normal Hearing Peers
Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Mentor: Ferenc Bunta


Alex Paul

The First World War Hunger Blockade of Germany
Major: History
Mentor: Irene Guenther


Ariana Peruzzi

Consequentialism and the Challenge of Love
Major: Philosophy
Mentor: Daniel Coates


Minahil Samee

Optimization of Race Track Trajectories to Minimize Lap Completion Time
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Ralph Metcalfe


Priyanka Savant

The Impact of Implementing Smart Solutions in the Oil and Gas Industry
Major: Management Information Science
Mentor: Richard Scammel


Ane Slabic

U-Th-Pb Chronology of Fish Bone in Petroleum Source Rocks: An Example from the Eagle Ford Group, Texas
Major: Earth & Atmospheric Science
Mentor: Thomas Lapen


Chance Smith

College Students' Opinions on Salient Social Issues: Thesis, Theory, & Pilot Study
Major: Sociology
Mentor: Anthony Dworkin