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.

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SAMURS Agenda - Scroll below to view student abstracts and posters

10:00am Session

• Jordan Monroe &  Daelyn Haws
• Isabelle Tihista
• Cadence Parrish
• Abigail Pineda
• Joanna Lisanets
• Samantha Lewis
• Jaclyn McCoy
• Morgana Johns
• Alannah Johnson

11:00am Session

• Mariam Faris
• Amanda Juchau
• Alexander Pursel
• Cathy Nguyen & Grace Steinhauer
• Fatima Alrangonee
• Victoria Chesnakov
• Karli Hinton
• Harmanjit Dhillon & Ram Tiwari

12:00pm Session

• Natalia Rodriguez
• Alyssa Kraft
• Victoria Reddin
• Kraig Mansfield and Marat Karaev
• Alexis Wilhelm
• Eric Nguyen
• Miriam K. Mironchu
• Navneet Kaur

1:00pm Session

• Rain Wilson & Hannah Price
• Rayan Mousa
• John McPherson
• Carlos Delgado
• Thien-Huong Ngo
• Cassie Tran
• Jonathan Bradley
• Avelina Perez

Abstracts & Posters

Student Name(s)	Student Mentor	Title (Click on title for poster)	Abstract (Click on photo for abstract)
Alrangonee, Fatima	Vincent, Jack	Identification of Conserved Phosphorylation Sites Through Evolutionary Conservation of the Ndc80 Protein in the Kinetochore
Bradley, Jonathan	Alaei, Sarah	Genetic manipulation leading to specific packaging of cellular products in outer membrane vesicles
Chesnakov, Victoria	Finke, John	Knot Protein Research Project
Delgado, Carlos	Nahmani, Marc	Excitatory Spinule Bearing Boutons of the Mouse Hippocampus
Dhillon, Harmanjit	Murphy, Laura	Proposal for Synthesizing Novel Drug to Treat the Neglected Disease Eumycetoma
Faris, Mariam	Vincent, Jack	Identification of Possible Phosphorylation Sites in Okp1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Haws, Daelyn	Finke, John	Structural Modeling and Calculations using Computational Biology
Hinton, Karli	Kim, Kelly	Synthesis of Phenylpropenol Derivatives with Applications to the Study of Human Rhinovirus
Johns, Morgana	Nahmani, Marc	Prevalence and Origins of Synaptic Spinules in Mouse Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Johnson, Alannah	Heinz, Heather	Differences in Veterinary Services Between The Gambia, Africa and Washington, USA
Juchau, Amanda	Vincent, Jack	Identification of a Potential Spindle Assembly Checkpoint Component Via Phosphorylation Motif Conservation
Karaev, Marat	Vincent, Jack	Investigating Critical Functions of Chromosome Segregation by Identifying Potential Sites of Phosphorylation on Centromeric Pro
Kaur, Navneet	Alaei, Sarah	Endonuclease mediated eDNA degradation in a biofilm via OMV’s
Kraft, Alyssa	Vincent, Jack	Effects of environmentally realistic concentrations of neonicotinoid insecticides on an aquatic invertebrate community
Lewis, Samantha	Vincent, Jack	Identification of Possible Phosphorylation Sites within S. cerevisiae derived kinases Mps1 and Ipl1, that are known to phosphory
Lisanets, Joanna	Finke, John	Molecular Dynamics: The Knot Protein Project
Mansfield, Kraig	Vincent, Jack	Investigating Critical Functions of Chromosome Segregation by Identifying Potential Sites of Phosphorylation on Centromeric Pro
McCoy, Jaclyn	Nahmani, Marc	Analysis of Neuronal Synapses Reveals the Relationship Between Presynaptic Boutons and Embedded Spinules
McPherson, John	Groat-Carmona, Anna	Tracking the Maturation of Plasmodium yoelii Sporozoites for Infectivity and Longevity
Mironchuk, Miriam	Kim, Kelly	Substituted Bioactive Quinazolinone Research Project
Monroe, Jordan	Finke, John	Structural Modeling and Calculations using Computational Biology
Mousa, Rayan	Nahmani, Marc	Prevalence in Excitatory Synapses of the Mouse Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Ngo, Thien Huong	Finke, John	Microbiota Dynamics in Patients Treated with Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Recurrent  Clostridium difficile Infection
Nguyen, Cathy	Heller, Jutta	Myc tag Modification of the Plasmodium yoelii Protein PY02678 to Identify its Functions in the Parasite’s Life Cycle
Nguyen, Eric	Kim, Kelly	Phenylpropenoid synthesis via Allylic Oxidation and Esterification with Applications to Human Rhinovirus
Oliva, Kaylee
Parrish, Cadence	Finke, John	Molecular Dynamics Research Experience
Perez, Avelina	Kim, Kelly	Synthesis of Phenylpropenoid Derivatives to Study Antiviral Activity against Human Rhinoviruses
Pineda, Abigail	Alaei, Sarah	Dissociation of S. gordonii Biofilms by P. gingivalis Outer Membrane Vesicles
Price, Hannah	Ryan Card & Ruth Vanderpool	Third Problem's the Charm
Pursel, Alexander	Kim, Kelly	An Efficient Synthetic Pathway of Disubstituted Amide Containing Quinazolinone Analogs
Reddin, Victoria	Dinglasan-Panlilio, Joyce	Analyzing Perfluorinated Alkyl substance (PFAS) in Mussel Tissue
Rodriguez, Natalia	Alaei, Sarah	Interactions Between Porphyromonas gingivalis and Commensal Oral Bacteria in a Biofilm
Steinhauer, Grace	Heller, Jutta	Myc tag Modification of the Plasmodium yoelii Protein PY02678 to Identify its Functions in the Parasite’s Life Cycle
Tihista, Isabelle	Alaei, Sarah	Constructing mutants of Porphyromonas gingivalis to determine relA and rshB involvement in outer membrane vesicle formation
Tiwari, Ram	Murphy, Laura	Proposal for Synthesizing Novel Drug to Treat the Neglected Disease Eumycetoma
Tran, Cassie	Finke, John	Molecular Dynamics Research Experience Simulating Protein Folding
Wihelm, Alexis	Heather Heinz & Cynthia Howson	People for Profit in The Gambia: Exploring the Government’s Role in Human Trafficking and Necessary Aftercare Services for Victims
Wilson, Rain	Ryan Card & Ruth Vanderpool	Third Problem's the Charm

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