Student creativity and research were on display at The University of Alabama’s 2025 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference, held earlier this month. The event, which has grown alongside undergraduate students’ interest in research, highlights students’ work and helps them polish their communication skills.
Nearly 700 students contributed to the research presented at the conference, for a total of 550 abstracts representing every college on campus. Winners in 12 categories were recognized at an award ceremony held on April 23.
This year’s winners by category include:
Category: Apparel/Textiles/Interior Design/Visual Arts
Beyond the Ride: The Impact of Design on the Disney World Guest Experience
Mamie Patton, Maggie Reaves, Drew Daniel and Kelly Bell
Mentor: Dr. Laurl Self
Breaking Barriers Without Breaking History: ADA Compliance in Historic Buildings
Allison Byron, Abigail Spates, Taylor Stinson and Anna Bounds
Mentor: Dr. Laurl Self
CrossingPoints Collage
Morgan Burnham
Mentor: Dr. Matthew Minicucci
Evaluating Mobile 3D Modeling Applications for Museum Object Digitization: A Beta Test Using a Judith Leiber Minaudière from The Fashion Archive Collection
Alison Byron
Mentors: Kristin Maki, Dr. Marcy L. Koontz
Category: Business/Accounting/Finance/Management/Economics
Challenging Chronic Absenteeism
John Harris
Mentor: Dr. Robert Hammond
The Everdeen Paradox: When You Have to Conform to Be Independent
Emma Cabage, Joe Clark
Mentor: Dr. Louis Marino
Neural Networks for Establishing Loss Reserves
Caleb Eynon
Mentor: Dr. Kenny Wunder
Category: Communication Studies/University Libraries
Communication of Neutrality
Stephen Frank
Mentor: Dr. Benjamin Pyle
Music for the Soul
Jada Ceasar
Mentor: Professor Gray Lloyd
Multiple brand personality disorder? Understanding ‘Big Five’ versus Aaker’s brand personality traits in influencer advertising via direct and indirect personality associations
Madeline Yob
Mentors: Dr. Jameson Hayes and Dr. Steven Holiday
Category: Engineering/Computer Science
Optimizing Mixing Conditions for Non-Aqueous Emulsions as Magnetorheological Fluid Additives: Impact on Flow Characteristics
Sarah Mitchell
Mentor: Dr. Amanda Koh
Designing the fluorinated superfine-activated carbon absorptive membrane for selective removal of long- and short-chain PFAS
Kiley Rousselle
Mentors: Dr. Milad Esfahani
Multiscale Multidomain Modeling Approaches to Thermal Degradation in Battery Systems
Chloe Crooks
Mentor: Dr. Krishna Shah
Category: Health Science/ Human Performance/Nursing/Nutrition
Barriers to Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adult Survivors of Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma
Leah Dorsey
Mentor: Dr. Belinda Mandrell
Body Image, College Transitions, Perceptions of the Self: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Student Health and Wellbeing Concerning Body Image
Quinten Rostron, Dyvia Huitron, Weston Poff
Mentor: Dr. Ruperto Perez
Synthesis and Characterization of Naringenin-Iron Complex Nanoparticles for Overcoming Neuronal Damage
Gabrielle Kowkabany
Mentor: Dr. Yuping Bao
Identifying barriers and facilitators for successful breastfeeding support groups
Emma Taylor, Ella Baggett, Brianna Mills
Mentor: Dr. Jen Nickelson
Category: Humanities
Reframing Freedom: The Evolution of Queer Cinema in the United States and Spain
Isabelle Cahill, Emma Day
Mentor: Dr. Ana Corbalán
Papal Politics and Public Opinion in 17th-Century Rome
Katie Graebner
Mentor: Dr. Fabio Battista
Health Kills: The Fact & Fiction of Spanish Healthcare Strikes
Madison Rogers
Mentor: Dr. Ana Corbalán
Poetry Portfolio
Sophia Sommers
Mentor: Javier Sandoval
Category: Interdisciplinary Studies
The Implementation of Research PACS for Enhanced Medical Image Archival
Hannah Gardner
Mentor: Mr. Rishi Deshpande
Harmony for Health: Exploring Choral Participation as a Mental Health Intervention through the Social Ecological Model
Kyla Collins
Mentor: Dr. Morgan Luttig
Unraveling Amyloid Aggregation using Nanoscale Infrared Spectroscopy
Anna Fritz, Mattison Sharp
Mentor: Dr. Ayanjeet Ghosh
Constructing Programming languages in Python utilizing indigenous syllabics
Alexis Aguillon
Mentor: Gregory Drowning Bear
Category: Life Sciences
Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Dietary Choice and Water Consumption in Drosophila melanogaster
Megan Lawson, Allison John, Katie Traeger
Mentor: Dr. Laura K. Reed
Fluorescent staining of sensory cells in cavefishes (Percopsiformes: Amblyopsidae)
Anna Katherine Prestridge
Mentors: Dr. Pamela Hart and Ali Miller, Ed.S.
The Role of Tudor in Immunosenescence in Drosophila melanogaster
Ellie Gardner
Mentor: Dr. Stanislava Chtarbanova
Transcriptomics analysis of coxsackievirus B3 infection in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain-like endothelial cells
Taryn Keyzer
Mentor: Dr. R. Nathan Correll
Category: Performing Arts
Paper Trails
Emily Rabbideau, Sophia Rabbideau, Natalie Lutman
Mentor: Rebecca Salzer
Concerts for Joy: Examining the Impact of Community Outreach on Music Students and Audiences
Luke Turner
Mentor: Dr. Kevin Chance
Moments till’ Midnight
Casey Looper
Mentors: Dr. Ben Pyle, Dr. Robin Boylorn
Category: Physical Science/Mathematics
Investigation of the DNA Binding Activity of Light-Activated Ruthenium-Ligand Complexes as Anticancer Agents
Elena Kuehner
Mentor: Dr. Elizabeth Papish
Inhibition of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-4 (NDM-4) from Klebsiella pneumoniae
Tatum Smith
Mentor: Dr. Matthew Thompson
Computational Mechanistic Study of the Divergent Synthesis of Functionalized 1,2,4-Triazoles and 1,3,4-Oxadiazoles via [3+2] Annulation
Richard Kulbacki
Mentor: Dr. David A. Dixon
Category: Social Sciences/Education/Human Development
Understanding the Determinants of Re-enfranchisement: An Analysis of Former Voters in Alabama
Eli Moore
Mentor: Dr. Richard Fording
Securitization of Allies
Jack Gibby
Mentor: Dr. Alessandro del Ponte
Stare Decisis Indecisive: How Precedent Has Revoked its Precedent
Brianna McCurdy
Mentor: Dr. Richard Fording