2017 Senior Honors Projects

University Scholars’ senior honors projects represent advanced work in their individual majors and engage in reflections on their faith and learning. These are the projects of the 2017 University Scholars.

Kira Arias-LaRheir — At-Sea Surveys Determine Recent Population Trends of the Marbled Murrelet, an Endangered Seabird

Leah Bouterse — Costs of Group Locomotion: The Role of Children and Group Members in Mediating Walking Speed Decisions in North American and East African Populations 

Lydia Chaffee — Ruth: A Bible Storatorio 

Mariah Conley — Exploring the Impact of Olfaction on Short-Term and Long-Term Maternal Recognition inPeromyscus californicus

Sean Ferrill — Discovery Learning Plus Direct Instruction Equals Success: Modifying American Math Education in the Algebra Classroom

Braden Gillispie — Empirical Aesthetics and the Philosophy of John Cage: A Literature Review and Experimental Study

Chloe Hanson  — The Cardiovascular Response to Religiosity: How Blood Pressure and Heart Rate are Affected by Attending a Religious Service

Joe Heindel — Explaining the Large Vibrational Frequency Shifts in Water Clusters Using a Many-Body Expansion

Rachel Hollingsworth — Intersections: A Theology and Social Justice Curriculum for Christian High Schools

Emilie Jackson — Palestinian Women’s Credit Union: A Microfinance Strategy for West Bank Refugees 

Erin Kimminau — Language Colonialism and Nonstandard Dialects of English   

Jennie Martin — Encryption Backdoors: A Discussion of Feasibility, Ethics, and the Future of Cryptography 

Leah Mernaugh — Defining Spanglish: A Linguistic Categorization of Spanish-English Code Switching in the United States

Hannah Monson — Women in the White House: Edith Wilson and Hillary Clinton’s Responses to Gender-Based Obstacles While First Ladies

Emma Naden-Johns — From Eschet Chayil to Shamed: A Critical Assessment of the History Between Women and the Conservative Church

Justin Ramsey — The Validity of Historical Narrative and Its Use in Teaching History

Genny Roberts — Epigenetics of Host-Pathogen Interaction: A Case Study of the Methylation Patterns of the Ti Plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 in Response to Acetosyringone

Michaela Rubenstein — Effects of ZooTunes Concert Decibel Levels on the Behavior of Five Species at Woodland Park Zoo

Sam Skillern — Jubilee: Sabbath Economics and the Modern World

Laura Wood — Characterizing Practices and Resources for Inclusive Physics Learning

Jacob Young — Smart Grid Technology in the Developing World