Celebration of Creative InquiryBeck Hall Atrium
Wednesday April 9, 2025
3:30-5:30 p.m.

Curious about the stories behind innovative ideas and discoveries? The Celebration of Creative Inquiry (CCI) is an annual event where students from all disciplines share their research, creative projects, and internship experiences. More than just presenting final results, CCI highlights the questions students explored, the challenges they faced, and the insights they uncovered. From scientific breakthroughs to artistic creations, this event showcases the diverse ways students engage with big ideas. Join us to celebrate curiosity, collaboration, and the excitement of discovery.

 Click here for the link of all the abstracts:  

2025 CCI Schedule posted below!

Oral Presentations

Time: 3:30-4:30
Beck 101 and 111 

 Session A: Beck 101

Harragas and Sub-Saharan Migration in Morocco
Claire Schoonmaker 鈥25
Faculty Sponsor: Paschal Kyoore
Department: Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

The Impacts of Human Conflict on Soil Erosion, the Environment and Land Use Change Associated with the Early Modern Period  
Kaisa Whittaker 鈥25, Kendall Wiggins 鈥27 
Faculty Sponsor: Erik Gulbranson
Department: Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences

Bomb Calorimetry and Nutritional Label Accuracy
Samantha Gardow 鈥25
Faculty Sponsor: Amanda Nienow
Department: Chemistry

Syrinx
Sigrid Rohrer 鈥26, Claire Schoonmaker 鈥25, Kailyn Walukas 鈥25 
Faculty Sponsor: Sharon Marquart
Department: Modern Languages, Literatures, and Culture

Chernobyl Crisis 
Cristina Sirbu 鈥25
Faculty Sponsor: Annalise Rivas
Department: Eastern European and Eurasian Studies

Session B: Beck 111

The American Response: Letters to the Editor During the Tet Offensive
Breeana Schmidt 鈥25
Faculty Sponsor: David Obermiller
Department: History

Understanding the Role of Bromodomains in Gene Expression
Abigail Kugler 鈥26, Alexander Bur 鈥30, Laura Murillo 鈥28
Faculty Sponsor: Scott Bur
Department: Chemistry

French Film and Media 鈥 Poubelle ma belle
Matthew Felty 鈥28, Logan Bell 鈥28, Linnea Reinsmoen 鈥28
Faculty Sponsor: Sharon Marquart
Department: Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Groundwater Damages from Enbridge鈥檚 Line 3 Pipeline Construction
Alex Dillon 鈥25
Faculty Sponsor: Laura Triplett
Department: Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences

Impacts of Climate Change on Phosphorus Dynamics, Chlorophyll-a Concentrations and Water Temperature in Minnesota Freshwater Lakes: Implications for Eutrophication and Ecosystem Health 

Macey Whitlock

Faculty Sponsor: Julie Bartley

Department: Geology

Poster Presentations

Time: 3:30-5:00pm in the Beck Atrium

Attentional Focus in Long and Short Distance Track Runners

Lucie Henrich 鈥25, Ellen Becken 鈥25, Reese Blondin 鈥27, Olivia Koeneman 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Lauren Hecht & Hayley Russell

Department: Psychological Science 


Stain Detection Using Artificial Intelligence for Accessibility

Molly Stein 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Guarionex Salivia

Department: Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics 



Two Approaches to Feed Injection Method Development for Injection of Strong HPLC Solvents

Dasha Shyroka 鈥27, Zach Kruger 鈥23, Sarah Carr

Faculty Sponsor(s): Dwight Stoll and Tina Dahlseid

Department: Chemistry


Investigating the Role of sOlincRNAs in Abiotic Stress Response in Arabidopsis Thaliana

Amelia Qualey 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Katie Leehy

Department: Biology


Impact of Ploidy on Antifungal Drug Resistance 

Kassidy Thomas 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Laura Burrack

Department: Biology


Exosome Mediated Decay of mRNA in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Samantha Anderson 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Jeff Dahlseid

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology



How are Belowground Structures Impacted by Enemies in Native vs. Non-native Red Mangroves?

Sigrid Rohrer 鈥26, Marley Michaud 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Amy Kochsiek

Department: Biology 


Comparing Minnesota Native and Invasive Flowering Times from 1880s 鈥2020s 

McKenzie Schwartz 鈥25, Audrey Christiansen 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Naomi Rushing

Department: Biology 


Identifying the features responsible for Nonsense-mediated decay of the CEP3 mRNA

Akwasi Amoah 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Jeffery Dahlseid

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


Exploring the Relationship Between Sleep Hygiene Habits and Fatigue in College Students 

Adison Dack 鈥25, Lakesha Carter 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Heidi Meyer

Department: Nursing


Analysis of Photodegradation Pathways in the Commercial Herbicide Agents Tembotrione and Mesotrione

Beau Supan 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Amanda Nienow

Department: Chemistry


Degradation of Telomere-Related Gene mRNAs by the Nonsense Mediated Decay Pathway

Samara Goltz 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Jeff Dahlseid

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


Effect of Taxol on JNK-1, c-Mos, AFT2, and p38伪 Gene Expression in L2 Sarcoma Cells

Grace Kinkeade 鈥25, Emily Sagstetter 鈥25, Lily Leahy 鈥25, Gabriella Hamvas 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Laura Burrack

Department: Biology


Simplicial Pseudorandom Number Generator Optimization

Branden Hopper 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Guarionex Salivia

Department: Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics


Stromatolite Morphological Diversity and Stratigraphic Position in the Prairie du Chien Group

Miranda Vizoso-Marino 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Julie Bartley

Department: Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences 


The Impact of Source of News on Youth Understanding of News: A Literature Review

Kylie Scott 鈥27, Riley Zebroski 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Karl Larson

Department: Public Health


Documenting the 2024 Election Season at 麻豆视频

Amanda Hukee 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Anna Hulseberg

Department: Library


Visual Nonconscious Memory, Mirroring, and Disruptions to Verbatim Memory

Tobias Polley 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Ackil

Department: Psychological Science


Revisiting Minamata: Class and Stigma around Mercury Poisoning

Jonathan Cordano 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Kate Keller

Department: History


A Comparative Demographic Profile of Native Americans in the U.S.: 1990 鈥 2020s

Abby Housker 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Sun Hee Lee

Department: English


Roman Women and Divorce

Jay Erickson 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Se谩n Easton

Department: Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies


Facebook/Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal: A Rhetorical Analysis

Jillian Elton 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Patricia English-Schneider

Department: Communication Studies


Spring Star

Nikolas Kopek 鈥26, Taylor Kothenbeutel 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Guarionex Salivia

Department: Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics


Restorative Room with Influence from Interior Designer Tyler Karu

Gabriella Stoudt 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Kristen Lowe

Department: Art and Art History


America鈥檚 Forgotten War in the Philippines: A Digital Museum of Memories

Anders Taylor 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Kate Keller

Department: History


鈥淟ate鈥 鈥 A French Film from FRE 251 鈥 Film & Media in France

Kristen Bonneville 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Sharon Marquart

Department: Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures


Paper Trail

Robby Swenson 鈥25, Anders Taylor 鈥25, Tanner Redner 鈥25, Sydney Maller 鈥27, Cuong Pham 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Gaurionex Salivia

Department: Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics


iOS Miles Calculator Development 

Matthew Felty 鈥28

Faculty Sponsor: Gaurionex Salivia

Department: Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics


Understanding Lady Ranelagh鈥檚 Life Through the Lens of a Recipe Book: How They Come to Be, Cease to Exist, and What Keeps Them in Existence? 

Alena Meier 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Lisa Heldke

Department: Philosophy


Exploring the Features that Determine Binding Order of sRNAs to Target mRNAs

Kate Rooker 鈥26, Hannah Babcock 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Janie Frandsen

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


Optimizing Usage of the MBP-MS2 Protein to Investigate the Order of Binding by Small RNAs

Hayley Youngberg 鈥27, Samuel Norsted 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Janie Frandsen

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


The Binding Blueprint: How sRNAs Preferentially Bind to mRNAs

Lindsay Berggren 鈥26, Hannah Ahrens 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Janie Frandsen

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


Automation of MS2-MBP Protein Purification

Abigail Kugler 鈥26, Allison Power 鈥25, Ella Sontowski 鈥26, Gabriella Stoudt 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Janie Frandsen

Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


Sweat, Stress, and Smell: Investigating the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds as a Result of Stress 

Ava Farrell 鈥25, Sophia Smith 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Dwight Stoll

Department: Chemistry


Turia: Conforming to Gender Roles

Rebekah Moll 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Se谩n Easton

Department: Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies


麻豆视频 Fall 2024 Advising & Registration Survey Analysis and Visualization

Department: Orin Brau 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Kyle Chambers

Department: Office of the Provost


Board of Trustees Investment Committee Student Project: Impact and Potential Downside of Equity Market Concentrations

Levi Scmidt 鈥25, Olivia Duraine 鈥25, Stanislav Danaev 鈥25, Evan Ressler 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Kathy Lund Dean

Department: Business and Economics


Fulvia鈥檚 Legacy: Ancient Biases and Modern Interpretations

Claire Brings 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Se谩n Easton

Department: Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies


Surface Change Assessment of the Debris-covered Reschreiter Glacier on Mt. Chimborazo, Ecuador

Name: Marit Isaacson 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Jeff La Frenierre

Department: Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences 


From Flu to Falsehoods: Rhetoric, Responsibility, and the 1918 Influenza Crisis

Name: Elizabeth Orton 鈥25 

Faculty Sponsor: Patricia English

Department: Communication Studies


Bacterial Regulation & sRNA Gene Expression in Escherichia Coli

Name: Amelia Butler 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Janie Frandsen

Department: Chemistry


A Series of Healthcare - Maternal Mortality Rate in African American Women 

Name: Kendra Stanton 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Sharon Marquart

Department:Gender Women Sexuality Studies


Leveraging Large Language Models to Empower Teachers in Course Design: A Scalable AI-Driven Solution for Personalized and Efficient Curriculum Development

Name: Jaxon Jones 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Dongji Feng

Department: Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics


Analysis of E. coli small RNA binding site accessibility 

Name: Julia Canty 鈥27, Katherine Umanksy 鈥27

Faculty Sponsor: Janie Frandsen 

Department: Biochemistry


Towards More Robust Summary Evaluation by Customizing BERTScore with Expected Value Normalization

Name: Frija Reinert 鈥25

Faculty Sponsor: Dongji Feng

Department: Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics


Fulvia鈥檚 role in the final years of the Roman Republic

Name: Malcolm Fares 鈥26

Faculty Sponsor: Sean Easton

Department: Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies

For questions, please contact Amanda Nienow, Director of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, Creativity, and Dialogue (anienow@gustavus.edu

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