FRESHMAN RESEARCH IMMERSION

POSTER SESSION

November 29, 2017

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Freshman Research Immersion (FRI) is a three-course sequence of CUREs (course-based undergraduate research experience) in STEM disciplines which provides first-year students with an authentic research experience. Working alongside faculty and fellow students on cutting-edge research projects, participants tackle weighty world issues, build powerful relationships and set a course for college and career success.

Currently, FRI has nine research streams with six in life sciences and three additional streams in physical science and engineering disciplines. Each stream has a team of 3-5 faculty sponsors, a research educator, undergraduate peer mentors, and a dedicated laboratory space with research grade equipment.

The first semester research methods course has the following key elements: introduction is to process of identifying interesting problems; reading the scientific literature to determine of what is known and unknown; analyzing data; reporting findings using professional standards of communication; working collaboratively.

In the second semester course, students delve into the research theme of their stream and learn how to use the equipment and protocols of that research stream, such that they write a research proposal and begin a research project.

In the third semester course, students continue their research project and complete the program with a research report and poster.

After FRI, a significant portion of students have continued as FRI undergraduate peer mentors. Also, many of students have continued research with faculty. To date, student teams have presented their research at regional, national and international conferences and in peer-reviewed publications.

FRESHMAN RESEARCH IMMERSION

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BIOGEOCHEMISTRY Jonathan Schmitkons, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Joseph Graney, Thomas Kulp, Tim Lowenstein, Weixing Zhu

Sophomore Researchers Jason Aguirre, Jonathan Agyeno, Julia Berliner, Nicholas Willmart Common Antibiotic Sulfamethoxazole Disrupts Denitrification in Stream Sediment Microcosms ************************************ Diana Knoell, Olivia Lopez, Mark Poggioli, Diego Stokes-Malave, Evan Wallace A Geochemical Analysis and Calcite Saturation Modeling of Meromictic Green Lake in Fayetteville, NY ************************************ Dyllon Leather, Meredith Rogers, Bayleigh Sauerwald, Amy Sheinbaum, Kimberly Weil Microbial Cycling of Arsenic and Antimony in Contaminated and Pristine Environments ************************************ Olivia Castagna, Jessica Childs, Ian Choe, Benjamin Dolowich Determining the Organic and Inorganic Nature of Layers in Petrified Sea Gardens Stromatolites ************************************ Grace Gribbon, Maya Haykal, Aanyah Jhonson-Whyte, Vito Lembo Role of Particle Size on Metal Distribution in Lake Lieberman ************************************

Freshman Researchers Aida Ahmed, Margaret Kimmel, Jacob Parker Urban Land Practices Disrupt the Nitrogen Cycle ************************************ Meghan Cegielski, Elize Chaves, Ryan Flood Taylor, Seth Price, Jenna Ross Understanding Seasonal Changes in Bacterial Behavior and Biotic Calcite Precipitation ************************************ Alex Blumenthal, Sophie Cohen, Matthew Harrison, Maisha Ikra, Raina Searle, William Smisko Exploring the Use of Lichens to Monitor the Environment ************************************ Gabriel Bongiorno, Madison Goodman, Andrew Kennedy, Dulce Medina Rodas, Jonathan Tuvy Sulfur Oxidation by Purple Bacteria in Green Lake State Park ************************************ Brittany Brems, Ryan Cohen, Gabrielle Grillo, Sajid Kabir, Jake McCarthy, Zachary Walker Bacteria, Bioherms, and Green Lake ************************************

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BIOMEDICAL CHEMISTRY Susan Flynn, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Susan Bane, Brian Callahan, Christof Grewer, Wei Qiang

Sophomore Researchers Christina Schneider, Michael Spivak, Matthew Trotta, Jorge Zuniga The Effect of DNA targeting Chemotherapy Drugs on Carbonylation in A549 cells ************************************ Thomas Annesi, Henry Ash, Stephanie Brower, Jacob Buchner, Jacqueline Campbell, Kevin Favaron, William Parezo Determining the Entry Mechanism of Methionine Sulfoximine into C6 Cells ************************************ Colby Germann, Jared Miller, Samuel Pomichter, Nina Pregosin, Nikolai Rylov, Robert Torres Investigating the Third Sodium binding site of the GLT-1 glutamate transporter ************************************ Jessica Brown, Francesco DiNatale, Ashley Garcia, Jemy Paulson, Dori Polovsky Detecting Carbonylation in the Presence of Histone-targeting Chemotherapy Drugs in A549 Cells

********************************* Austin Ablicki, Justin Applegate, Jared Frick, Olivia Kulbacki, Nicholas Vazquez The Effect of Microtubule Destabilizing Chemotherapy Drugs on Carbonylation in A549 cells ************************************

Independent Study Researchers Azva Alvi, Cynthia Elder, Joseph Mauro, Ethan Palamaro, Chi Wu Determining Amyloid Beta Peptide Aggregation ************************************

Freshman Researchers Jessica Barnard, Anna Brennan, Nicholas Catalano, Christopher Coble, Lamorna Coyle Mutation of Mitochondrial Calcium Channel in Neurons and Alzheimer’s Disease ************************************ Charlene Dong, Annalisa Ferrotta, Megan Fey, Alejo Gomez, Brandon Ngo The Interactions between Ascorbic Acid and Amyloid Beta in Relation to Alzheimer’s Disease ************************************ Eden Hirsch, Jaclyn Jew, Harit Ruengsomboon, Samuel Santos Prendergast Reduction of Amyloid Beta Plaques at different stages of Alzheimer’s ************************************Alyssa Leung, Emily Loiaconi, Hannah Malter, James Oldham, Devin Pang The Effect of Alpha-Tocopherol on Cancer Cell Growth and Protein Expression in the MCF-7 Cell Line ************************************ Sarah Kromer, Deepa Mistry, Karen Nganjiyineza, Daniel Powell, Peter Prisinzano The Effectiveness of Fibric Acid Drugs in Reducing the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease for Type 2 Diabetes Patients ************************************ Tashawna Harris, Nicole Kopetz, Kaitlyn Sanders, Liam Shanley, Hunter Shaw, Caitlin Vitro Impacts of MK801 and Riluzole on Glutamate Binding to NMDA Receptors in Neuroblastoma and Prostate Cancer ************************************

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COMMUNITY & GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH Jodi Dowthwaite, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Gary James, Yvonne Johnston, Titilayo Okoror

Freshman Researchers Hebba Ahmad, Dana Al Kuisi, Mahmoud Almady, Katie Carbajal, Catherine Cursio, Michael Grossman Effect of Exercise on Elderly Persons with Sarcopenic Obesity ************************************ Maia Boni, Michael Carpenter, Fatima Imdad, Laura Koszer, Emily Kunzier, Matthew Pelowski The Relationship Between Vitamin D and BMD in Female Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa ************************************

Nashwan Chowdhury, Lauren Levine, Theresa Maddalena, Trinh Nguyen, Jacqueline Pina, Bailey Rosmarin Fat Mass as a Factor in Bone Health in Adolescents ************************************ Jennifer Minassian, Jason Mompeller, Brionna Palmerino, Aryas Safaie, Julia Tran, Nava Wasser Effects of Calcium on Bone Health in Children and Adolescents ************************************ Berkley Sawester, Agnes Sydenstricker, Katrina Weiner, Hannah White Exercise to Improve Pediatric Bone Mass and Density ************************************

ENVIRONMENTAL VISUALIZATION Timothy de Smet, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Carl Lipo, Alex Nikulin, Jeffrey Pietras, Matthew Sanger

Sophomore Researchers Jacob Abramowitz, Nicholas Aglietti, Jasper Baur, Gabriel Campos, Sean Denara, Daniel Finan Detecting PFM-1 Mines Using Drone-based Thermal Imaging ************************************Jason Giunta, Ryan Schaake, Ethan Wilenski, Dylan Witt Detecting Pig Cadaver Clandestine Graves ************************************

Freshman Researchers Nicole Anichich, Marjani Brown, Caitlyn Hayes, Janine Hvizdos, Gwendolyn Lee, Jialin Li Increase in Earthquakes as a Result of Wastewater Injection ************************************

Stacey Bayer, Victoria Boos, Nefia Chacko, Laquan Garvey, Adin Witt Using Remote Sensing to Detect Tree Distress Due to Wooly Adelgid Infestation ************************************Jack Horvath, Joshua Mediavilla, Jessica Moran, Kiara Pena-Augusto, Jacob Wilcox Comparison of Remote Sensing Techniques in the Search for Unmarked Buried Bodies ************************************Judy Li, Ethan Penner, Kevin Reilly, Natalia Romanzo, Samantha Wong Vegetation's Impact on Poverty in the Binghamton Area ************************************Jason Russo, Marina Stern, Jillian Vinci, Jennifer Waterman, Linda Zheng Shovel Testing vs. Remote Sensing at Queen Esther's Site ************************************

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IMAGE & ACOUSTIC SIGNALS ANALYSIS Mehdi Ghayoumi, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Kenneth Chiu, Scott Craver, Mark Fowler, Lijun Yin, Stephen Zahorian

Sophomore Researchers Jordan Levin, Conor Malagraph, Maitri Mangal, Gillian Martin, Isabel Messerrly, Emily Pocreva 3D Object Detection for Visual Impairment ************************************Claire Childs, Eli Dworetzky, Edward Etheridge, Colin Fiutak, Alexander Fogarasi, Layne Gustafson, Joseph Hurysz Using Artificial Occlusion to Facilitate Low-Resource Facial Recognition on Occluded Images ************************************Justin Diaz, Michael Quinn, Jacqueline St. Pierre, Jasper Suhr, Michelle Tan, Cameron Viezel, Bernie Wong Gaze Patterns of Location Recognition/Non-Recognition ************************************Aaron Mizrahi, Evan Moeller, Connor Munro, Chad Nelson, Max Nussbaum Facing Kinect Sensors to Differentiate Biological Gender Unobtrusively through Gait Detection ************************************

Freshman Researchers Jacob Aaronson, Christopher Banvard, Jack Casey, Jake Cope, Miguel Gomez, Andrew Perlowin Interpreting American Sign Language With Microsoft Kinect ************************************ Kate Baumstein, James Coughlin, Paul DeCostanza, Josef Goldberg, Larkin Wisdom Identifying Recyclable Plastic Bottles from Aerial Drone Images Using CNN ************************************ Melissa Donayre, Maeve Farrell, Jackson Hawk, Julio Lazo, Alec Newman Autonomous First Responder ************************************ Samuel Maritato, Lauren Singer, Luz Velazquez, Destiny Walcott Improving Haar Algorithms for Facial Recognition ************************************ Alison Garrity, Theresa Gundel, Tommy Nunez, Peter Penta, Narindra Persaud, John Curtin Aerial Image Processing for Autonomous Robot Navigation ************************************

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MICROBIAL BIOFILMS IN HUMAN HEALTH Caitlin Light, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: David Davies, Claudia Marques, Karin Sauer, Jeffrey Schertzer

Sophomore Researchers Brandon Bullock, Brooke Busi, Andrew Capriglione, Maria Carlucci, Alexis Chase Pseudomonas aeruginosa cis-2-decenoic acid induced biofilm dispersion: regulation of Pseudomonas quinolone signal and outer membrane vesicle production ************************************ Leah Goldberg, Franco Incitti, Joshua Normandeau, Kayla Principe, Yvonne Raychawdhuri Effect of cis-2-Decenoic Acid on Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal and Outer Membrane Vesicle Production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa ************************************ Nicholas Dadario, Jacob Geiser, Emma Glynn, Jennifer Yavid Detecting Native Dispersion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using a Transcriptional Fusion Reporter ************************************ Simone DeBellis, Rebekah Goetz, Ryan Holzhauer, Vinay Ramaswamy, Allison Regan Determining Conservation of moaB in Biofilm Growth and Development ************************************ Madison Gowett, Alexis Gursky, Armaan Khurana, Matthew Schwartz, Puloma Sen The effect of quorum sensing on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus dual-species biofilms ************************************

Freshman Researchers Shannon Daino, Kristen Eichele, Lindsay Mendelson, Nicholas Rojas, Jake Schweitzer, Antonio Torlentino Investigating OMV Biogenesis ************************************ Golda Eichen, Mio Ito, Chun Ting Kao, Kayla Mastropietro, Nigel Viegas Inhibiting Biofilm Formation on Contact Lens Cases Through Metallic Nanoparticles ************************************ Kristina Bell, Christopher Farrell, John Fauvell, Jason Liu, Brianna Mendelson Why So Clingy: Factors that Affect Biofilm Attachment ************************************ Zachery Goess, Angus Johnson, Avery Lieber, Aysha Malawaraarachchi The Effects of External Stressors on Antitoxin Degradation & Persister Formation ************************************ Michelle Pao, Christopher Ranalli, Matthew Roos, Michelle Terry, Chase Tomasino The Great Awakening: Methods for Eradication of Persister Cells in Biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ************************************ Rebecca Aitken, Talia Cheifetz, Steven Coyle, Joseph Migliano Using cyclic-di-GMP to stop the growth and spread of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ************************************

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MOLECULAR & BIOMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Michel Shamoon-Pour, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Ralph Garruto, J. Koji Lum, D. Andrew Merriwether

Sophomore Researchers Gabrielle Celestin, Daniel Del Valle, Alyanna Gallo, Anuli Khairatkar, Kristina Opalecky, Colin Pritchard Prevalence of B. burgdorferi in Peromyscus leucopus and Ixodes scapularis in the Upper Susquehanna River Basin ************************************ Oluwafunmbi Adejola, Edgar Arias Villegas, Katia Brock, Heather Goeller Mitochondrial Diversity in Northern and Western Iranians ************************************ Nathaniel Benjamin, Maital Citron, Christopher Fugina, Mauricio Montes, Molly Moran, Corinna Ronen, Noah Salazar Mitochondrial Diversity in the South Coast of West New Guinea ************************************ Caleb Almeter, Amelia Guyon, Simone Hernandez, Emily Jelen, Sean Velazquez, Paola Velazquez Population Genetics of Highlands of Western New Guinea: A Mitochondrial Perspective ************************************

Freshman Researchers Justin Ames, Hallie Buddendeck, Anthony Germano, Jessica Kellam, Alivia Ruiz Borrelia burgdorferi Invasion and Lyme Disease Symptoms ************************************ Catherine Chinock Ayiku, Amelia Chuisano, Kai Higuchi, Nicole Martini, Alex Montoya A Genetic Study of Prehistoric Migrations in Anatolia ************************************ Anna Derevensky, Bhavreet Dhandi, Vishnu Nair, Dylan Nicholson, Victoria Sallows, Maria Sosa Genetics of Bone Mass Density ************************************ Shannon Erickson, Jared Nasso, Dillon Oswald, Anastassia Shifchik Genetics and Linguistics in Bougainville ************************************ Emilie Ernst, Zoe Heiderstadt, Neha Shaikh, Sarah Tkatsenko, Tingyao Wang Impact of Lyme Disease Co-infections ************************************ Lindsay Blank, Nia Brown-Fonrose, Julia Giacinto, Ariel Makower, Olivia Villano Gene Language Co-Evolution in New Ireland ************************************

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NEUROSCIENCE Corinne Kiessling, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Christopher Bishop, Terrence Deak, Lisa Savage

Sophomore Researchers Isabel Bauer, Louis Cafaro, Robert Elkind, Michelle Walczuk, Benjamin Winchel L-DOPA's Anxiogenic Effects On Parkinsonian Rats ************************************ Cori Dauman, Kaitlynne Forbes, Samantha Gerstman, Molly Heit, Chloe Hettinger, Colleen Magowan Hippocampal Neurochemistry following L-Dopa Treatment in 6-OHDA-Lesioned Rats ************************************ Jasmine Chevez, Julia Gabalski, Jasmin Garcia, Joseph Landers, Deven LoSchiavo, Kyla MacKay The Effect of L-DOPA on Sex Differences in Neuroinflammation in the Striatum in Parkinsonian Rats ************************************ Sophie Ambrosino, Jordyn Appleget, LeeAnn Genussa, Eva Kristoferson, Rachel Marin Monoamines of the Parkinsonian Brain in Males and Females Rats ************************************ Andrea Price, Zachary Quinn, Maxine Riter, Jessica Scott, Brian Shapiro Sex Differences in Expression of Dopamine Pathway Gene Markers in L-Dopa-Induced Dyskinesia ************************************

Freshman Researchers Jacob Harron, Ryan McGuire, Ruthie Orona, Lea Safarpour, Alice Zhang The Impact of Sex on Anxiety ************************************ Aissata Diallo, Cristal Finkenberg, Zachary Herz, Madison Kleppan-Mella, Benjamin Morrison, Jessica Smith Comparing Humans and Amphetamine-Induced Schizophrenic Rat Models Through Behavior and Dopamine Analysis ************************************ Jovannah Gerisma, Jason Howard, Katelyn Lerner, John Russo, Caiti-Erin Talty Comparing and Contrasting Models of Akinesia in 6-OHDA Lesioned Rats ************************************ Rosemary Cannarella, Elizabeth Kilpatrick, Joseph Lepore, Noelle Marcotullio, Sihan Zeng Analysis of Chronic Stress on Spatial Memory Performance of Rats ************************************ Simra Aziz, Julia Davis, Linie Li, Lauren Misata, Hannah Rockwood Interleukins and Schizophrenia ************************************ Mia Cruceta, Carolyn Fon, Allison Goetz, Andrea Liss, Lily Rundquist The Ideal Parkinsonian Model in Rats ************************************

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SMART ENERGY Marissa Civic, PhD, Research Educator

Faculty: Nikolay Dimitrov, Louis Piper, Bruce White, Stan Whittingham

Sophomore Researchers Jeffrey Berling, Steven Blum, Collier Engel, Brianna Hawkins, Matthew Krebs, Tyler Rowe, Alexa Schaffer Fabrication of Inorganic-Organic Bicomposite Thin Films of Strontium Titanate and Poly(3,4 – ethylenedioxythiophene) ************************************ Marissa Cimmino, Evan Kindig, Colin MacHaffie, Evan Moravansky, Ryan Moses, Matthew Troiano, Ian Wang Electrodeposition of Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Heterojunctions ************************************ Alex Brodie, Gabrielle DeSantis, Jennifer Gunning, Nancy Huang, Jake Kaufman, Mairead McCarran, Jordan Shaked Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Lithium-Doped Copper(I) Iodide Compound for Applications as a Transparent Conducting Electrode ************************************

Freshman Researchers Thomas Barlett, Michelle Beaulieu, Yae JIn Kim, Tyler Krell, Xiaoxin Liang, Anmei Rupnick Analyzing the Performance of Perylene Acceptors in Organic Photovoltaic Cells ************************************ Nicole Batista, Scott Brennan, Christine Hurley, Michael Katz, Miranda Owen What Are The Characteristics of Dielectric Constants Under The Influence of Microwaves? ************************************ Colin Clark, Anthony DeMaria, Michael Messina EIS: The Future for Characterizing Heterojunctions ************************************ Dylan Cohen, David Glazer, Bjorn Jawanda, Nathan Ribbeck Comparison of Different Dopants in Titanium Dioxide for Use in Photocatalytic Water Splitting ************************************ Jacob Hard, Bhumesh Kaushal, Jacob Morenberg, Ethan Spielvogel, Brandon Toledo Gallardo Comparison of Fabrication Methods for PEDOT/ZnO, PEDOT/TiO2, PEDOT/Si, PSS:PEDOT/Si, and PSS:PEDOT/ZnO Heterojunctions ************************************

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Funding for Freshman Research Immersion provided by:

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