A group of 26 students from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Honors College presented their senior capstone projects virtually this week at the spring Honors Thesis Symposia. These seniors chose the thesis for their Honors Senior Capstone—the final requirement in the Honors College curriculum—and have spent at least two semesters planning the projects and researching the topics.
“The Honors Thesis provides students with an opportunity to create and execute a project in their major or minor under the guidance of a faculty mentor,” said UW Oshkosh Honors College Dean Laurence Carlin. “It is a high-impact experience that satisfies the capstone requirement in the Honors College.
Laurence Carlin
“These 26 seniors have worked all year on these projects and the Honors College is proud of them.”
The students’ projects cover a wide range of topics and each worked with at least one faculty adviser. Here are the seniors, their project titles and advisers:
▶︎ Tommy Borta, a social science education major from Wausau, presented Resolving Youth Sports Dropouts through an Educator’s Lens. The project was completed with adviser Kyle Steele.
▶︎ Noah Bruehl, a biomedical science and psychology major from Neenah, presented Using Statistics to Predict Seasonal Reproduction of a Captive-Breeding Hibernator, the Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel. The project was completed with adviser Dana Merriman.
▶︎ Riley Calouette, a political science major from Union Grove, presented Closing the Gender Gap in Criminal Sentencing: The Role of Judge Characteristics. The project was completed with advisers James Krueger and Druscilla Scribner.
▶︎ Lexi Chmielewski, a marketing major from Menomonee Falls, presented The Art of Storytelling. The project was completed with adviser Jeffrey Sachse.
▶︎ Meghan Colley, a nursing major from Bartlett, Illinois, presented An Integrative Review of the Barriers for Intensive Care Unit Nurses Providing Evidence-Based Practice of Delirium Management. The project was completed with adviser Wendy Bauer.
▶︎ Katelyn Collins, a nursing major from Roscoe, Illinois, presented Understanding Student Nurses’ Approaches to Pain Management. The project was completed with adviser Jason Mott.
▶︎ Michael DCamp, a geography and German major from Oshkosh, presented The Ruins of Deutsch-Athen: The Remains of the Wisconsin-German Culture in the Modern Landscape. The project was completed with adviser Heike Alberts.
▶︎ Sydney Draeger, a nursing major from Wausau, presented Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Perspectives of Entry into Practice during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The project was completed with adviser Wendy Bauer.
▶︎ Kendall Enyart, a chemistry major from Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, presented Pig Liver Esterase’s Enantioselectivity during Hydrolysis in Response to Different-Size Malonate Diesters. The project was completed with adviser Brant Kedrowski.
▶︎ Matthew Hanke, a biology major from Theresa, presented The Bacterial Genus, Deinococcus, and Its Evolutionary History as Defined by Comparative Genomics. The project was completed with adviser Sabrina Mueller-Spitz.
▶︎ Adrian Hanrahan, an English major from West Bend, presented Transing the Queer Fanwork: Supernatural Fanfiction and Trans* Representation. The project was completed with adviser Jordan Landry.
▶︎ Liz Jacobson, a psychology major from Fond du Lac, presented Physically Remote, Mentally in Oshkosh: Student Mental Health Concerns in a Pandemic. The project was completed with faculty adviser Damira Grady.
▶︎ Hailey Johnson, a chemistry major from Appleton, presented Finding New Drug Targets to Treat Parasitic Flatworm Infections. The project was completed with adviser John Chan.
▶︎ Brie Keidl, a biomedical science major from Germantown, and Olivia Nedza, a biomedical science major from Oshkosh, presented Predicting In Vivo Fecundity from In Vitro Fecundity of Brugia Pahangi. The project was completed with adviser Shelly Michalski.
▶︎ Bailey Krause, a nursing and Spanish major from Dorchester, presented Disparities in Latina Women’s Healthcare. The project was completed with adviser Isabel Álvarez.
▶︎ Alyssa Nore, a biology major from Sugar Grove, Illinois, presented The Psychology of Healing: Addressing Psychological Health Following Physical Trauma. The project was completed with adviser Jim Koch.
▶︎ Luis Padill, a chemistry major from Wonder Lake, Illinois, presented Synthesis of Cerium/Zinc/Titanium Oxide Nanofibers via Sol-gel and Electrospinning Processes. The project was completed with adviser Nenad Stojilovic.
▶︎ Leah Perreault, an anthropology and psychology major from New Berlin, presented An Examination of the Socio-Spatial Stratification of Troy through Ceramic Style and Composition. The project was completed with adviser Adrienne Frie.
▶︎ Chloe Ricciardelli, a nursing major from Waukesha, presented Barriers to BSN Education among ADN- and Diploma-Prepared Nurses. The project was completed with advisers Teresa Blakeslee and Paula McNiel.
▶︎ Julia Shurtleff, a nursing and Spanish major from Trevor, presented Perceived Marginalization in Male Undergraduate Nursing Students. The project was completed with adviser Heather Englund.
▶︎ Andrew Strasser, a rehabilitation science major from South Milwaukee, presented Impact of COVID-19 on Training Habits and Injury on NCAA Division III Cross Country Runners. The project was completed with adviser Lace Luedke.
▶︎ Morgan Thiele, a nursing major from Poynette, presented A Scoping Review of Patient-Centered Nurse Communication for Self-Management Support in Integrative Health. The project was completed with adviser Wendy Bauer.
▶︎ Alex Trombley, a women’s and gender studies major from Elkhorn, presented LGBTQIA+ Programs for the Youth: Helping Decrease the Bullying Epidemic in Wisconsin One Student at a Time. The project was completed with adviser Liz Cannon.
▶︎ Emma Warr, a biomedical science major from Muskego, presented Dietary Cholesterol Effects on Autoimmune Disease. The project was completed with adviser Sheldon Cooper.
▶︎ Elsa Zank, a music vocal performance and music instrumental performance major from Sun Prairie, presented Gender and the Harp: The Ongoing Impact of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Feminization. The project was completed with adviser Julia Chybowski.
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