Resilience.
That’s the characteristic 18 University of Wisconsin Oshkosh seniors drew on heavily to pull off developing, implementing and presenting their Honors College capstone projects amid a pandemic.
Laurence Carlin
“The Honors Thesis program is an important opportunity for students to undertake a high-impact research or creative project of their own choosing. Our students routinely tell us how much they appreciate the opportunity and how it helps to prepare them for their post-graduate studies or career,” said Laurence Carlin, UWO Honors College dean.
“When the pandemic arrived, our Honors thesis writers displayed impressive resilience. They adapted their projects and still delivered high-quality results. The Honors College is very proud of these students and the work they accomplished.”
Among the 18 who are presenting their work during the Fall 2020 Honors Thesis Symposia, eight are graduating nursing students who tackled a variety of topics from compassion fatigue to sexual exploitation of children.
The nursing grads and their projects include:
- Alissa Arneson, of Oshkosh, and Elizabeth Mohline, of Appleton, presented Escaping the Mundane: Providing an Engaging Alternative to the Traditional Nursing Lab Simulation. The two worked with faculty adviser Jacqueline Karlin.
- Alissa Kaemmerer, of Hustisford, and Malissa Spim, of Milwaukee, presented A Systematic Review Examining Compassion Fatigue in Nursing Faculty with faculty adviser Shelly Lancaster.
- Kaitlin Kirchberger, of Menomonee Falls, presented Virtual Versus Live OB Skills: A Comparison of Learning Objectives and Outcomes in Undergraduate Nursing Students, with Karlin.
- Alexandrea Miller, of Baraboo, presented Protecting Our Population: Dementia and Caregivers, with faculty adviser Sarah O’Connell.
- Madison Patenaude, of Woodstock, Illinois, presented Understanding Gender Affirmation in Healthcare: The Importance of Educating Nurses on Proper Pronoun Usage To Promote Cultural Competence for LGBTQ+ Patients, with Karlin.
- Jenna Trione, of Salem, presented Commercialized Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Systematic Review of Healthcare Professionals’ Education, with faculty adviser Heather England.
Seven additional graduating seniors presented the following:
- Samantha Boettcher, of Sturtevant, and Kate Delcore, biology, Essential Methods For Production of a Germline Transgenic 13-Lined Ground Squirrel, with faculty adviser Dana Merriman.
- Patrick Lang, of Appleton, accounting, Tax Implications of Choosing a Business Entity, with faculty adviser Christopher Jones.
- Michelle Lokken, of Oshkosh, history, Catherine Conroy: Bridging Gap Between the Labor Movement and the Women’s Rights Movement, 1092-1989, with faculty adviser Jeff Pickron.
- Samara Markle, Stoughton, psychology, An Examination of Behavioral Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder, with faculty adviser Aaron Karst.
- Hannah Mider, Wauconda, Illinois, biology, Seasonal Adjustment to Cold in Nonmigratory Passerine Birds, with faculty adviser Sheldon Cooper.
- Gunnard Sippert, of Oshkosh, mathematics, Ninety Feet of Risk: A Statistical Analysis of Major League Baseball Stolen Base Totals, with faculty adviser Christopher Edwards.
Three additional seniors who will graduate in future semesters shared their projects as well this week. They include:
- Natalie Dillon, of Monroe, English and journalism, Navigating their Past and Media: Body Image Struggles of Female Athletes, with faculty adviser Shuh-Yueh Lee.
- Michael Neumueller, of Wausau, economics and marketing, Killin’ the Flow: How Social Media Interaction Affects Album Sales, with faculty adviser Sarinda Taengnoi Siemers.
- Stacey Sparks, of Neenah, English education, Navigating States of Mind in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, with faculty adviser Pascale Manning.
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