“Money and Life Satisfaction.”
“Safety of Generic Pharmaceuticals.”
“Wellness in the Workplace.”
Welcome to the rich and varied world of academic scholarship!
These are just some of the subjects that Mount Mercy students and faculty have delved into as they engage in research projects that cross multiple disciplines and academic majors.
Mount Mercy’s Pathways to Scholarship campaign showcased these projects, along with a variety of academic achievements, vibrant poster displays and interactive demonstrations, during the Scholarship Festival on May 1. Learn more about the presentations by clicking the link for each panel.
Panel 1: Projecting Mercy Concerns: Film Adaptations and Social Justice
10:00 - 10:50 a.m., Betty Cherry Heritage Hall
| • Joe Arnold (English): "Core Values in an Unlikely Place: The Godfather Part 1" |
| • Casey Birkicht (English): "Unraveling Gender Stereotypes in Bram Stoker's Dracula" |
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• Stephanie Russell (English): "The Help: Exposing Racial and Social Injustice Through Film" • Robb Tigan (English): "Beneath This Mask there is an Idea: V for Vendetta and the Mercy Concerns |
Panel 2: Exploring the Biological Mechanisms of Disease
11:00 - 11:50 a.m., Betty Cherry Heritage Hall
| • Hanna Stenzel (Biology): "Characterization dual infection and superinfection inhibition in a natural host with scanning confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy" |
| • Meghan Nelson (Biology): "Discovering candidate genes causing glaucoma through protein-protein interation studies between Lyst and Casein Kinase II using the yeast two-hybrid assay" |
| • James Estipona and Alesia Hruska-Hageman (Biology): "Discovery of candidates genes causing glaucoma through the identification of proteins that interact with the protein SH3PXD2B using a yeast two-hybrid screen" |
Panel 3: Rhythms and Patterns: Music, Art, and Mathematics
12:00 - 12:50 p.m., Betty Cherry Heritage Hall
| • Hillary Kaefring (Music): Defining German Lieder and French Art Song: A Pianistic Investigation |
| • Aunna Escobedo (Fine Art): Wandering Reflections |
| • Lauren Hoth (Mathematics): Markov Chains |
Panel 4: Creative Writing: Readings from the Paha Review and the Mount Mercy Creative Writing Contest
1:00 - 1:50 p.m., Betty Cherry Heritage Hall
| • Troy Hess (English/Education): "A Glove" |
| • Cory Nye (English): "Ready, Set, Write" |
| • Nikol Sustrova (English): "White," "Dandelion," and "der Wecker" |
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• Robb Tigan (English): "Red, Black, Green, Yellow" Winners of the Mount Mercy Creative Writing Contest for High School Juniors • Anna Wolle (Cedar Rapids Washington): "The Sound of Horror" • Grace Larew (Iowa City Regina): "One Instead of Two" • Courtney Griggs (Pella Christian): "Whiteout" |
Posters
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., University Center Commons
| • A.J. Jiru, Joe Zach, Hanna Stenzel, Molly First, Samantha Frost (Biology): The war behind your cell phone: A review of rare earth metals in electronics |
| • James Estipona, Jaime Civate, Taylor Helms, Brooklyn Schrader (Biology), Cara Camarillo (Computer Science): Freshwater depletion due to agricultural demands |
| • Tasia Flaucher (Biology), Reed Katzman, Ryne Brimayer, Bryce Altoff (Outdoor Conservation), Alex Karr (Biology/Outdoor Conservation): The facts about fracking |
| • Kodey Salow, Taylor Helms, and Samantha Frost (Biology): Home Range Tracking of Hatchling Terrapene ornata ornate |
| • Lauren Statezni (Biology), Ashley Hoffman (Psychology), Jeremy Glunt (Nursing): The Structure of Pain-Related Psychological Factors |
| • Bethany Cowell (Human Resources): Total Workplace Wellness Poster |
| • Melisa Prier (Nursing): Yoga treatment with acute anxiety patients |
| • Kyla Lindley, Megan Vogel, Allison Roe, and Stephanie Muehlemann (Biology and Psychology): Incremental Validity of Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Regulation in Relation to Testing for Prediction of Test Anxiety |
| • Jessica Glasgow, Kyla Lindley, and Rebecca Schultz (Psychology): The Effect of Positively-versus Negatively-Worded Items on Measurement of Well-Being |
| • Brady Gerber and Blaine Stott (Chemistry): A more sustainable approach to making biodiesel |
| • Mikayla Calloway (Biology): Effects of supplemental salt on water consumption in horses |
| • Aaron Lacy (Biology) and Breanna Fecht (Medical Lab Sciences): Insertional mutagenesis of a hepatotoxin sythase gene in Microcytis aeruginosa |
| • Carrie Kuehn (Outdoor Conservation/English): Microclimatic changes to sand prairies after introduction of conifers |
| • Chris Reed (History) and Bailey Zegers (Nursing): Genetic Engineering of Humans: Pro vs. Con |
| • Thomas Kremer (Journalism/Philosophy) and Kristina Mione (English): Should We Allow Human Cloning? |
| • Brady Gerber, Tasia Flaucher (Biology): The Biology and Ethics of Stem Cell Research |
| • Chelsi Stanford (International Studies) and Tonya Harman (Nursing): Should We Select the Sex of Our Children? |
Brown Bag Discussion: A Multi-perspective Conversation about Gun Violence and the Mercy Concerns
12:00 - 12:50 p.m., University Center, Room 110
Panel 5: The Way We Life: Studies in Social Science
2:00 - 2:50 p.m., University Center, Room 110
| • Amy Burmeister (Nursing) and Nathan Stern (Social Work): Barriers and effects on children of single parent families |
| • Jennifer Erger (Sociology) and Ashley Fisher (Social Work): Money and Life Satisfaction |
| • Nick Crosby (Criminal Justice/Political Science): Gun Control: Effectiveness Depends on Enforcement and Limitations |
Panel 6: Chemical Analysis for Health and Sustainability
2:00 - 2:50 p.m., Betty Cherry Heritage Hall
| • James Estipona and Zachary Fritz (Biology): Are generic pharmaceuticals from across the border safe? |
| • Molly First (Biology): Towards the Characterization of Essential Herpesvirus Interactions |
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• Nicole Morrow (Biology): Synthesis of Palladium-NACNAC Complexes for Use in Heterogeneous catalysis • Samuel Renning (Computer Science): Encryption in a Parallel Programming Environment |
Panel 7: Violence in the System
3:00 - 3:50 p.m., University Center, Room 110
| • Trent Ryan (English): The Structure of the British Raj and the Shaping of Masculinity in E.M. Forster's A Passage to India |
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• Jeffery Meyers (Criminal Justice/Political Science): Gun Control: Ineffective, Counter-Productive, and Unconstitutional • Jessica Moser (History): Iowa's Got Talent: The Cherry Sisters |