SAMURS

Welcome to the Sciences and Mathematics Undergraduate Research Symposium!

The University of Washington Tacoma Environmental Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Sustainability, and Mathematics majors host an Environmental Research Symposium, Sciences and Mathematics Undergraduate Research Symposium (SAMURS). This event showcases the capstone research projects of our undergraduate students. The presentations by our undergraduate students, cover a broad range of questions and projects related to the environment, mathematics, sustainability and much more. Projects are conducted in the lab, in the trees, in the mud, in the classroom, at an aquarium, on the water, underwater and on land. Some are original research with a faculty mentor, pushing the boundaries of what is known in their fields. Others participate in internships, where they help community partners further their missions through service. What all these diverse students have in common is the determination and dedication to complete an independent study as part of their undergraduate education. We hope you are inspired and educated by what they have accomplished.

SAMURS Spring 2022 Open to the Public at UW Tacoma Tacoma Paper and Stationary Building (TPS) - No Need to Register to Attend

Click Here to Donate to the Secord Environmental Excellence Operating Account that supports UW Tacoma Sciences and Mathematics student initiatives

For students presenting at SAMURS, please click HERE to upload your documents and view submission deadlines.

Future SAMURS Dates (subject to change):

• Summer 2022: Friday 8/19/2022
• Fall 2022: Friday 12/16/2022
• Spring 2023: Thursday 6/8/2023
• Summer 2023: Friday 8/18/2023

SAMURS 2022 Awards

1st Place Best Overall Poster:

• Awardee: Amber Smith
• Faculty Mentor: Cynthia Updegrave
• Amount Awarded: $200
• Title: Restoring Titlow Park Through Invasive and Native Plant Management

2nd Place Best Overall Poster:

• Awardee: Erica Mortenson
• Faculty Mentor: Cheryl Greengrove
• Amount Awarded: $100
• Title: Longitudinal Study of Temporal and Spatial Variability of Phytoplankton from 2013-2019 in Tofino Inlet, Clayoquot Sound, B.C. Canada

1st Place Best Biomedical Sciences Poster:

• Awardee: Sabrina Bacher
• Faculty Mentor: Anna Groat-Carmona
• Amount Awarded: $200
• Title: Using Perfringolysin O (PFO) to Create a Cell-Free in vitro System to Study Mouse Malaria (Plasmodium yoelii)

2nd Place Best Biomedical Sciences Poster:

• Awardee: Jamyahn White
• Faculty Mentor: Marc Nahmani
• Amount Awarded: $100
• Title: Racial Disparities of African American women with Uterine Fibroids

1st Place Best Environmental Sciences Poster:

• Awardee: Claire O'Connor
• Faculty Mentor: Jeremy Davis
• Amount Awarded: $200
• Title: What Grows on Your Rose? Gall Wasp Communities in Urban and Rural Roses

2nd Place Best Environmental Sciences Poster:

• Awardee: Chloe Nelson
• Faculty Mentor: Cynthia Updegrave
• Amount Awarded: $100
• Title: Restoring Urban Habitat Using a Functional Requirements Approach

Mary Cline Undergraduate Memorial Research Awardees (in alphabetical order)

• Lindsay Flynt, Awarded $750.00 with faculty Bonnie Becker, Project Title 'Dungeness in a Changing Environment'
• Dane Gainey, Awarded $500.00 with faculty Tom Koontz, Project Title 'North Cascades Butterfly Survey'
• Megan Garcia, Awarded $750.00 with faculty Julie Masura, Project Title 'Dash Point State Park Restoration'
• Hailey Germeau, Awarded $750.00 with faculty Jim Gawel, Project Title 'The Role of Invasive New Zealand Snails in the Aquatic Food Web at Spirit Lake, Mount S. Helens

Congratulations to all the awardees and all students who presented at SAMURS!

SAMURS Agenda

Abstracts & Posters

Campi

Student Name	Student Faculty Mentor	Abstract (Click on Abstract Name to Open Abstract)	Poster (Click on Student Picture for Poster)
Al Darraji, Maryam	Marc Nahmani	Spinule-Bearing vs. non Spinule-Bearing Presynaptic Boutons in Developing Visual Cortex
Alicaba, Jaymison	Marc Nahmani	A Review on the Effectiveness of Allergy Immunotherapy
Artz, Cameron	Matthew Kelley	A Spatial Analysis of Urban Runoff Mortality Syndrome in Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Puget Sound
Arvizo, Anjanette	Anna Groat-Carmona	Analyzing the Biochemistry of the Plasmodium BEM46-like Protein (PBLP)
Bacher, Sabrina	Anna Groat-Carmona	Using Perfringolysin O (PFO) to Create a Cell-Free in vitro System to Study Mouse Malaria (Plasmodium yoelii)
Bibaoco, Miguel	Sarah Alaei	Arsenic-induced physiological stress in snails
Braveboy, Jennifer	Megan Schwartz	Zooplankton Biodiversity Is Enhanced by eDNA
Camacho, Nicole	Marc Nahmani	Racial Disparities in HIV clinical trials and their Consequences
Campion, Erin	Julie Masura	Microplastics: 2021 Salish Sea Research
Cerezo, Regine	Sarah Alaei	Looking at the Physiological Stress in Snails from Arsenic Contaminated Lakes
Chavez, Victoria	Cynthia Updegrave	Forested Wetlands Restoration Project in Tacoma, WA
Choi, Jain	Kelly Kim	N-Alkylation of 2 Chloro-quinazolinone for the preparation of Di-substituted Quinazoline derivatives
Cook, Trevor	Alison Gardell	Arsenate Toxicity and Hemoglobin Response in Daphnia magna
Cordova, Alina	Sarah Alaei	Physiological Impact of Freshwater Snails within the Puget Sound
Culbert, Dylan	Sarah Alaei	Assessing Arsenic Accumulation by Periphyton Bacteria from Lake Killarney
Dinh, Thao	Marc Nahmani	New Insights Into the Comorbidity of Coronary Heart Disease and Depression
Doffing, Lauren	Julie Masura	Validation of Pilot Protocol: Damage Scoring of Puget Sound Mollusk Shells
Dolan, Katrina	Sarah Alaei	Physiological Impact of Freshwater Snails within the Puget Sound
Dupuis, Sade	Julie Masura	Microplastic Accumulation in Elliot Bay Washington
Emerson, Madeline	Megan Schwartz	Zooplankton Species Richness Estimates are Increased with eDNA and Metabarcoding
Escamilla, Jhovana	Marc Nahmani	Virus Neutralizing Antibody Therapy for COVID-19
Fisher, Matthew	Kelly Kim	Synthesis of Quinazolinone Derivatives for use in Biological Testing
Gray, Elizabeth	EC Cline	BIDIL
Hackney, Katherine	Erik McDonald	The Effects of Urban Runoff on Coho Salmon Populations in the Puyallup River Watershed: Swan Creek
Hartman, Hayley	Julie Masura	Identification and Quantification of Microplastics in the Sediment of Puget Sound
Hashi, Hashim	Alison Gardell	Effects of Perchlorate on Lipid Accumulation in Daphnia Magna
Hobby, Grant	Kelly Kim	Synthesis of Quinazolinone Derivatives for use in Biological Testing
Huang, Yen-Po	Kelly Kim	Synthetic approaches for quinazolinone amination towards bioactive quinazolinone derivatives
Johnson, Annika	Megan Schwartz	Environmental DNA Sampling of Zooplankton Improves upon Arthropod Biodiversity Identification
Johnson, Alexander	Marc Nahmani	The Effects of Anabolic and Androgenic Steroid on the Heart
Juarez, Sara	Jim Gawel	Evaluating Barriers to Care: Assessing the lack of medical and dental care of the underrepresented populations in Washington
Kirby, Olivia	Julie Masura	2021 Microplastic Analysis of Bed Sediments in Elliott Bay, Near Seattle, WA
Klungle, Jennifer	Marc Nahmani	Connecting the Dots Between Preeclampsia and Subsequent Chronic Kidney Disease
Lam, Julie	Kelly Kim	Synthesis of Substituted Quinazolinones with Applications Toward Chagas Disease
Lane, Kaitlyn	EC Cline	The composition of the gut microbiome affects symptoms of depression
Langeberg, Neal	Matthew Kelley	Winds of Change in the City of Destiny: Modeling Air Pollution Exposure Risk in Urban Environments
Le, Thao	Kelly Kim	N-Alkylation of 2 Chloro-quinazolinone for the preparation of Di-substituted Quinazoline derivatives
Lopez, Jennifer	Marc Nahmani	Drugs can induce a temporary form of Lupus
Manahan, Ish	Kelly Kim	N-Alkylation of 2 Chloro-quinazolinone for the preparation of Di-substituted Quinazoline derivatives
Marshall, Kyle	Kelly Kim	Synthesizing Piperidine Quinazolinone Derivatives for The Treatment of Chagas Disease
Mawhinney, Collin	Marc Nahmani	Rapid weight loss for MMA matches increases potential for traumatic brain injury, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Millen, Austin	Joyce Dinglasan-Panlilio	A Novel Acute Detection Method for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Miller, Bailey	Alison Gardell	Assessment of Sodium Perchlorate as Disrupter of Environmental Sex Determination in Daphnia Magna
Mortenson, Erica	Cheryl Greengrove	Longitudinal Study of Temporal and Spatial Variability of Phytoplankton from 2013-2019 in Tofino Inlet, Clayoquot Sound, B.C. Canada
Nelson, Chloe	Cynthia Updegrave	Restoring Urban Habitat Using a Functional Requirements Approach
Nguyen, Oanh	John Finke	Review of the Validity of Ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment or prevention
Nuon, Victoria	Kelly Kim	Synthesis of Substituted Quinazolinones with Applications Toward Chagas Disease
O'Connor, Claire	Jeremy Davis	What Grows on Your Rose? Gall Wasp Communities in Urban and Rural Roses
Pak, Dorothy	Sarah Alaei	Examining the Physiological Stress Response of Snails Exposed to Environmental Toxins
Paschal, Regan	Alison Gardell	Assessment of Sodium Perchlorate as Disrupter of Environmental Sex Determination in Daphnia Magna
Perry, Tristan	Karen Cowgill	Child Family Health International - Bolivia
Pham, Tyler	Marc Nahmani	The Connection Between the Development of Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Benzene Uptake
Pohle, Sarah	John Finke	Early development of real-time antibody detection system using quartz crystal resonance sensor device
Puryear, Victoria	Sarah Alaei	Arsenic-induced physiological stress in snails
Ramirez, Melissa	Sarah Alaei	Assessing Arsenic Accumulation by Periphyton Bacteria from Lake Killarney
Rezk, Carla	Sarah Alaei	Outer Membrane Vesicle (OMV) Biogenesis and Biofilm Characterization of Periphyton Bacterial Organisms
Rhodes, Audrey	Cynthia Updegrave	The Ecological Restoration of Centennial Grove, Union Bay Natural Area: invasive species removal and reinforcement of natural biodiversity of the Pacific Northwest
Ricks, Kristy	Peter Selkin	Climate Significance of Magnetic Material in Windblown Dust Deposits, Palouse Loess WA
Riviere, Zack	Marc Nahmani	A Proposed Treatment Methodology for Fibromyalgia
Rzonca, Haleigh	Kelly Kim	Quinazolinone Amination en route to Compound Library Preparation for the Study of Chagas
Sharma, Avisha	Sarah Alaei	Arsenic-induced physiological stress in snails
Smith, Amber	Cynthia Updegrave	Restoring Titlow Park Through Invasive and Native Plant Management
Stephenson, Garrett	John Finke	Early development of real-time antibody detection system using quartz crystal resonance sensor device
Tedford, Clara	Marc Nahmani	Gut Microbiome Composition in Relation to Gastrointestinal and Neurobehavioral Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Treece, Emellia	Cynthia Updegrave	Protecting the Future of Pacific Salmon: Wetland and Forest Restoration in A Popular Puget Lowland Park
Turnberg, Summer	Alison Gardell	Physiological Responses of Chinese Mystery Snails (Cipangopaludina chinensis) Following Arsenic Exposure
Uzunoe-Chin, Madeline	Sarah Alaei	Detecting Physiological Stress on Arsenic Contaminated Snails
Valdivia, Alexandra	Marc Nahmani	Tau Targeted Immunotherapy in AD
Vergara, Lizeth	John Finke	Protein Simulation and Visualization Using Programming
Vululleh, Emmanuel	Sarah Alaei	Examining the Physiological Stress Response of Snails Exposed to Environmental Toxins
Wahlstrom, Tim	Peter Selkin	Magnetic Susceptibility - Variance of Magnetic Particles in Urban Soils in Tacoma, WA
Walker, Gianni	Jack Vincent	Conservation of non-canonical start sites in FMR-1
White, Jamyahn	Marc Nahmani	Racial Disparities of African American women with Uterine Fibroids
Wood, Lillian	Sarah Alaei	Detecting Physiological Stress on Arsenic Contaminated Snails