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Skidmore College

Ten-week summer research projects

DEFINING PRIVACY NORMS FOR FERTILITY DATA  

Zander Chown 2025 

Aarathi Prasad, Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department 

THE MILITARY IN DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRACY IN THE MILITARY  

Billy Lee, 2023; Ilena Berro Pizzarossa, 2024  

Yelena Biberman, Associate Professor, Political Science Department  

ARE LOCAL VOTERS AS IGNORANT AS POLITICAL SCIENTISTS THINK THEY ARE? 

Bella Bruno, 2025 

Robert C. Turner, Associate Prof, Political Science Department  

THE HOPE OF A HOOP HOUSE 

Emily Chase, 2022 and Julia Danielson, 2022 

Lowery Parker, Visiting Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies and Science Program 

PROLINE ISOMERIZATION COMPENSATES FOR THE EFFECT OF PHOSPHORYLATION IN CONFORMATIONS OF THE DISORDERED RNA POLYMERASE II CTD 

Ray East ‘23, Lizbeth Mendoza ’25, Wei Chen1, Scott Showalter1, Pennsylvania State University1 

Aurelia Ball, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department

EFFECTS OF SHORT-TERM CALORIC RESTRICTION ON CARDIOMETABOLIC MEASURES IN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE INDIVIDUALS   

Brigitte Yunda and Anna Churchill, 2023 

Stephen J Ives, Associate Professor, Health and Human Physiological Sciences Department 

Justin DeBlauw, Visiting Assistant Professor, Health and Human Physiological Sciences Department 

CHEMICAL GENOMICS: EXPERIMENTAL INTERROGATION OF THE GOLGI APPARATUS IN THE GREEN ALGA, PENIUM MARGARITACEUM  

Kaylee Bagdan, 2024  

David Domozych, Professor of Biology and Director of the Skidmore Microscopy Imaging Center, Biology Department  

Josie LoRicco, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Biology  

OXIDATION OF FATTY ACIDS IN THE PRESENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOSENSITIZERS 

Emily Davis, 2023 

Juan G. Navea, Professor, Department Chair, Chemistry Department  

RESURRECTION OF ANCESTRAL ASPARTYL-tRNA SYNTHETASES  

Lindsey Han, 2025 

Kelly Sheppard, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department 

CHARACTERIZING A SUBVOLCANIC MAGMA PLUMBING SYSTEM IN ICELAND 

Caroline Rogers, 2024 

Andrew Horst, Visiting Assistant Professor, Geosciences Department 

PROCESSING PORTRAIT EMOTIONS IN ARTIST LIA COOK’S WOVEN TAPESTRIES AND PHOTOGRAPHS: EFFECT OF MEDIUM, HEMISPHERIC SPECIALIZATION, AND VIEWER EMOTIONAL STATE 

Victoria Thorpe, 2023; Lilia Sattler, 2023; Kelby Wittenberg, 2023 

Denise L. Evert, Associate Professor, Neuroscience Program and Psychology Department 

EFFECTS OF ACID CONCENTRATION AND AQUEOUS WASHES ON TIO2 DOPED WITH FE AND CU  

Johanna Nally, 2024, Ciaran Healey, 2024  

Mayuri Roca, Senior Teaching Professor, Chemistry Department   

DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-COST METHODS FOR ANALYZING IODIDE IN HYDROFRACKING FLOW BACK WATER 

Leonard Ivan Parra Jr, 2024 

Kimberly Frederick, Professor, Chemistry 

PASSIVATION OF GOLD ANTIBODY NANOCONJUGATES FOR A FASTER WESTERN BLOT  

Zack Barnet, 2024  

Mayuri Roca, Senior Teaching Professor, Chemistry Department  

ATMOSPHERIC MOBILITY OF IRON FROM SIMULATED COMBUSTION PARTICLES 

Olivia Kazanjian, 2024 and Lyra Flinn, 2025 

Juan G. Navea, Professor of Chemistry, Chair of the Chemistry Department 

FOOD CAPACITY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH 

Morgan Hidalgo, 2024 

Feryaz Ocakli, Associate Professor, Political Science Department & IA Program 

GENE NERFIN-2 AMELIORATES DIP-α-MEDIATED NEUROMUSCULAR CONNECTIVITY DEFICITS IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER 

Bill Wu, 2023 

Christopher G. Vecsey, Associate Professor, Neuroscience Program 

HIDDEN TREASURES: REDISCOVERING LOST ART FROM THE 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS IN LAKE PLACID, NY 

Maddie Egger, 2023, Evan Little, 2022 

David Howson, Senior Teaching Professor and Arthur Zankel Executive Director of Arts Administration, Arts Administration  

ANALYZING BINDING OF EACH SEGMENT OF A DISORDERED PEPTIDE TO AN SH3 DOMAIN 

Adriana Cuibus, 2024; Ray East, 2023

Aurelia Ball, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department

 

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF GLUCAN PHOSPHATASE STARCH EXCESS4 

Kenyon Weis  

Madushi Raththagala, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department  

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF STARCH EXCESS4 FROM STORAGE CROPS 

Juan Carlos Cruz Vargas, 2023  

Madushi U. Raththagala, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department

INVESTIGATING THE CO-ACTIVATION OF sNPF - AND LEUCOKININ -PRODUCING NEURONS IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER 

Ariana Tucker, 2024; Sophie Sacco, 2024 

Christopher Vecsey, Associate Professor, Neuroscience Program 

DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER AS A MODEL FOR EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SIZED MICROPLASTICS ON CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS 

Anika Eastman, 2025, Sara Burr, 2025, Ethan Hull, 2023 

Bernard Possidente, Professor, Biology Department 

INVESTIGATING ALLOSTERIC REGULATION OF STARCH EXCESS4 USING X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND SITE-DIRECTED MUTAGENESIS  

Sarah Sinnott and Murphy Alcantara, 2024  

Madushi Raththagala, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department  

PURIFICATION OF THE BACILLUS SUBTILIS TRANSAMIDOSOME COMPONENTS 

Aya Awawdeh, 2022  

Kelly Sheppard, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department

OPTOGENETIC STIMULATION OF NEUROPEPTIDE F NEURONS INDUCES SLEEP AND GROOMING BEHAVIOR IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER 

Sophie Sacco, 2024; Ariana Tucker, 2024 

Christopher Vecsey, Associate Professor, Neuroscience Program 

CONCANAVALIN-BASED IN-VITRO SEDIMENTATION ASSAY TO DETERMINE BINDING AFFINITY OF GLUCAN PHOSPHATASES  

Marissa Frenett, 2023, Natasha Machera, 2025 

Madushi Raththagala, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department 

DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT INTENSITY ON SLEEP IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER 

Aaliyah J. Peralta, 2024 

Christopher G. Vecsey, Associate Professor, Neuroscience Program 

AQUEOUS STABILITY AND ELECTROCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MANGANESE COMPOUNDS AS MIMICS OF SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE 

Aidan Spengler, 2024 

Steven Frey, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department

SH3 BINDING PATHWAY AND KINETICS IN THE PRESENCE OF SALT 

Frida Anguiano, 2023

Aurelia Ball, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry 

STABILITY AND REACTIVITY OF A MANGANESE(II) COMPOUND WITH A TRIPODAL, PYRIDINE-CONTAINING LIGAND THAT MIMICS SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE 

Samantha Claussen ‘23 

Steven Frey, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department

DEVELOPMENT OF 3D PRINTED CHIPS FOR NITRATE DETECTION 

Sophie McCullough, 2025 

Kimberley A. Frederick, Professor, Chemistry Department 

DELETION OF SNORD116, A PRADER-WILLI SYNDROME CANDIDATE GENE, DOES NOT AFFECT CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS IN MICE    

Amr Fatafta, Maggie Arms, 2023 

Bernard Possidente, Professor, Biology Department 

STABILITY OF THE HIV VIF-A3F INTERFACE OVER TIME 

Elizabeth Miller, 2023

Aurelia Ball, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry 

DEVELOPMENT OF MULTI-LAYER PAPER MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE FOR ANALYSIS OF PHOSPHATE IN SOIL 

Zoe Gleason, 2025  

Kimberley A. Frederick, Professor, Chemistry Department 

ASTROCYTES PROMOTE SLEEP IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER  

Matthew Grega, 2023  

Chris Vecsey, Associate Professor, Neuroscience Program  

STABILITY OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES FOR AN OPTIMIZED WESTERN BLOT   

Haru Kato, 2024  

Mayuri Roca, Senior Teaching Professor, Chemistry Department

EVALUATION OF THE SUPPORT SYSTEMS ECOMAP FOR LGBTQ+ YOUTH 

Minghuang Wang, 2023  

June Paul, Assistant Professor, Social Work Department  

HETEROGENOUS OZONOLYSIS OF CHEMISORBED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS  

Aida Castelblanco, 2023; Madison Bourassa, 2024  

Juan G. Navea, Professor, Chair, Chemistry Department   

DOES LITHIUM HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM OF A TRANSGENIC DROSOPHILA MODEL OF ALZHEIMERS DISEASE? 

Jessica Auerbach, 2023 

Bernard Possidente, Professor, Biology Department  

4-BENZOYLBENZOIC ACID AS A MOLECULAR PHOTOSENSITIZER IN THE CONVERSION OF NO2 INTO HONO 

Syafira Nurlita’23 and Roman Montenegro’24 

Juan Navea, Professor, Department Chair, Chemistry Department 

ANTHRACIS INDIRCT PATHWATY FOR ASPARAGINYL-TRNA FORMATION 

 

Michelle Sawunyama, 2024 

Kelly Sheppard, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department 

BINDING EFFECTS OF A KEY NEGATIVE CHARGED RESIDUE MUTATION ON THE BINDING PATHWAY OF SH3 DOMAIN COMPLEX AND ARKA PEPTIDE  

Oluebube Onwuzulu, 2024

Aurelia Ball, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department 

PROLINE ISOMERIZATION AND ITS EFFECT ON SH3 BINDING 

Lizbeth Mendoza ‘25 

Aurelia Ball, Associate Professor, Chemistry Department