94^th Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Academy of Science

April 2, 2022

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ORAL SESSION 1: FIELD BIOLOGY

First Place:  MacKenzie Jenkins, Winthrop University

STRUCTURE OF SALT MARSH PLANT COMMUNITIES: POSSIBLE IMPACTS OF INCREASING SALINITY DUE TO RISING SEA LEVEL

Mentor:  Jennifer Schafer

ORAL SESSION 2: CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

First Place:  Danielle Prisendorf, USC School of Medicine     

A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR BETA AND ITS ROLE IN CARDIAC FIBROSIS AND MYXOMA

Mentor: Mohamad Azhar

Second Place: Andrew Gregory, USC Aiken

INDUCING CELL DEATH IN AN HIV-DEPENDENT EXPRESSION OF PRO-APOPTOTIC BAX USING A MANNER THROUGH BAX EXPRESSION

Mentor: Bill Jackson

ORAL SESSION 3: BIOCHEMISTRY

First Place:  Tyneisha Bradley, USC Aiken

IDENTIFYING THE LOCATION OF ORF1 AND TPASE PROTEINS IN ARABIDOPSIS

Mentor: C. Nathan Hancock

Second Place:  David Weidner, USC Aiken

UNCOVERING THE REGULATORY REGIONS IN MINIATURE INVERTED REPEAT TRANSPOSABLE ELEMENTS

Mentor: C. Nathan Hancock

ORAL SESSION 4: PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

First Place:  Zachary Smith, College of Charleston

GENERAL RELATIVISTIC MAGNETO-HYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS OF ULTRA-LUMINOUS X-RAY OBJECTS

Mentor: Chris Fragile

Second Place:  Joshua Jones, The Citadel

THE BEHAVIOR AT POLYMER SHELL CASINGS COMPARED TO BRASS CASINGS WHEN EXPOSED TO HEAT

Mentor: Kaelynn Leake

ORAL SESSION 5: CHEMISTRY

First Place:  Faith Rosario and Sarah Knisely, Bob Jones University

3,6-DIMETHOXYXANTHONE FROM 2,2’,4,4’- TETRAHYDROXY-BENZOPHENONE VIA MICROWAVE-ASSISTED ANNULATION

Mentor: Robert Lee

Second Place:  Alexander Stensland, The Citadel

CHARACTERIZING 3D ELECTROCHROMIC LBL SELF-ASSEMBLED POLYMER FILMS

Mentor: Kaelyn Leake

ORAL SESSION 6: ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE I

First Place:  Luke Eafano, The Citadel

LAYER BY LAYER DIPPING TO COUNTERACT WING ICING ON PLANES

Mentor: Kaelyn Leake

Second Place:  Malik Fordham, USC Aiken

CENTER OF GRAVITY DESIGN PACKAGING TEST EQUIPMENT

Mentor: Bethany Fralick

ORAL SESSION 7: ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE II

First Place:  Harrison Olsewski, USC Aiken

SAVANNAH RIVER NUCLEAR SOLUTIONS HYDROSTATIC TESTING HAZARDS ANALYSIS

Mentor: Bethany Fralick

Second Place:  John Pretorius, USC Aiken

THERMAL DESIGN OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL PACKAGES

Mentor: Dr. Fralick Giles

POSTER SESSION:  FIELD BIOLOGY

First Place:  Robert Jackson, Francis Marion University

JUVENILE STRIPED BASS (MORONE SAXATILIS) MOVEMENT IN THE GREAT PEE DEE RIVER

Mentor: Jason Doll

Second Place:  Madison Gentilo, Coastal Carolina University

ENVIRONMENTAL BACTERIOPHAGE DETECTION ON COASTAL CAROLINA UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

Mentor: Paul Richardson

POSTER SESSION:  CELLULAR BIOLOGY

First Place:  Jeremy Money, USC Columbia

EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF REDUCED FIG4 EXPRESSION ON AXONAL TRANSPORT AND MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION

Mentor: Jeff Twiss

Second Place:  Jourdan Gruber, USC Aiken

THE EFFECTS OF TBX5A ON THE CRANIOFACIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ZEBRAFISH

Mentor: April DeLaurier

POSTER SESSION:  BIOCHEMISTRY

First Place:  Shoba Swaminathan, USC School of Medicine

INVESTIGATING PROTEIN MODIFICATION BY ITACONATE

Mentor: Norma Frizzell

Second Place:  Megan Collins, USC Aiken

STUDYING THE TRANSPOSITION MECHANISM OF THE MJING MINIATURE INVERTED REPEAT TRANSPOSABLE ELEMENT IN YEAST

Mentor: Nathan Hancock

POSTER SESSION:  PHYSICS

First Place:  David Dorf, College of Charleston

UNIVERSALITY IN NEAR-CRITICAL O2

Mentor: Ana Oprisan

Second Place:  Junior Langa, Clemson University

ENGINEERING NIOBIUM-GERMANIUM INTERFACES FOR VOLTAGE-TUNABLE QUANTUM DEVICES

Mentor: Kasra Sardashti

POSTER SESSION:  MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

First Place:  MacKenzie Thackston, Charleston Southern University

ALU DIMORPHISM AT THE PV92 LOCUS OF CHROMOSOME 16 IS IN EQUILIBRIUM FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENT POPULATION

Mentor: James Brooks

Second Place:  Zara Lacera, USC Aiken          

CHARACTERIZING THE GENES AFFECTING MPING TRANSPOSITION IN YEAST

Mentor: C. Nathan Hancock

POSTER SESSION:  COMPUTER SCIENCE

First Place:  Austin Hartley, USC Aiken           

SRNS ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

Mentor: Marcus Mcghee

Second Place:  Samuel Boyd, USC Aiken

PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER SYSTEM: ALTERNATIVE SETUP TESTING WITH CYBERSECURITY PENTESTING CAPACITY

Mentor: Mackenize Morris

POSTER SESSION:  EXERCISE AND SPORTS SCIENCE

First Place:  Elizabeth Allen and Kimberly Zorn, USC Aiken

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHICALLY MEASURED HEART RATE AND CAFFEINE INTAKE

Mentor: Christopher DeWitt

Second Place:  Michaela Caughman, USC Aiken

THE EFFECT OF GUIDED DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATH TRAINING ON SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH ANXIETY IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

and

Sarah Powell, USC Aiken

THE EFFECT OF GUIDED DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATH TRAINING ON SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Mentor: Andrew Hatchett

POSTER SESSION:  ENGINEERING, MATH, AND METEOROLOGY

First Place:  Sasha Bronovitsky, Coastal Carolina University

CONSOLIDATED CHAMBER DESIGN FOR OLFACTORY CONDITIONING ASSAYS WITH DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Mentor: Fang Ju Lin

Second Place:  William McCloud, College of Charleston

CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLCANIC AEROSOLS: USING AN AFM AND AN SEM TO IDENTIFY THE SURFACE MORPHOLOGY OF ASH

Mentor: Michael Larsen

2022 DWIGHT CAMPER OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD

Korinne Swanson, Coastal Carolina University

Mentor: Paul Richardson