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The following is just a sample of the projects underway.

COVID-19

Biology major Daniel Maselli '21 is studying proteins from the virus that causes COVID-19 under the guidance of Eric Freundt, OURI director. They hope to better understand the role that SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins play during infection. Maselli is expressing the accessory proteins individually in cells to determine where these proteins localize and how they may be disrupting normal cellular functions.

IMMIGRATION AND BORDER CONTROL

Joni Padden ’22, who is majoring in economics with a minor in political science, is conducting data analysis on U.S. immigration and border control with Michael Coon, associate professor of economics. They are investigating the effects of additional border control and fencing on immigration location and decision making. Padden’s goal is to add to the current pool of literature surrounding U.S. immigration in the hopes of improving and refining the current policy system.

TRANSRACIAL ADOPTION

Communication major Sydney Parkhurst ’22, with Julie Nelson, assistant professor of English and writing, is studying transracial adoption and the psychological effect it has on the adoptee.

"As a transracial adoptee myself (biracial, adopted by white parents) I often felt alone. However, after discovering the words "transracial adoptee," it opened up a community of people to connect with. I feel that this research is important to understand what needs to be done to further educate parents of adoptees while showing other adoptees that they are not alone,” Parkhurst said. “This summer I will be working with Dr. Nelson to write an autoethnography that captures narratives from my life and integrates research into them. I will also be creating a YouTube channel that showcases other adoptee's stories in the form of interviews to bring awareness to the topic."

STAR CLUSTERS

Physics major Sean Knapp ’22 is working with Simon Schuler, associate professor of physics, using stellar spectra to determine the elemental abundances of stars in the M67 open cluster. This star cluster is intriguing because it is about 4 billion (Gyr) years old. Usually, open clusters are not much older than 1 Gyr. M67 is a dense stellar environment full of metal rich stars. Knapp is working to determine stellar parameters such as surface temperature, surface gravity and the composition of stars in the cluster by examining spectral data gathered from telescopes.