Alina Sokolova mentored by Dr. Leila Zakhirova: “We got 65 pages of content in the first weeks of our research."
Anthony Berndt, mentored by Dr. Leila Zakhirova, shows data from the World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal. A lack of a user-friendly database led Anthony on a journey into coding with Python so that the team could access and work with these datasets.
Jonas Bratholmen, mentored by Dr. Rowena Xia, is learning to code in R to create an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure and compare implicit foreign bias between multicultural/multilingual and monocultural/monolingual people.
Peter Weinzierl mentored by Dr. Joe Whittaker: “I am using a radio telemetry antenna and receiver to locate Richardson’s ground squirrels. These data concerning their location is used to monitor their movement underground.”
Tennyson Kelm and Rebecca Nelson mentored by Dr. Darcie Sell dive deep into research about ambivalent sexism predicting pushback against traditional norms in committed relationships.
Matthew Mondry mentored by Dr. Saroj Thapa: “I am analyzing one of my fluorescent samples under UV light.”
Discovering the Nature of Knots: Parker Webster and Gillian Lee mentored by Dr. Sarah Seger investigate polygons in knot diagrams.
Al Sterling and Alex McPhee mentored by Dr. Mike Bush show a grided Petri dish with the intestinal contents of a small river fish that have been sorted through, where individual insects and insect parts have been counted.
Annika Rickbeil, Claire Leines, and Hannah Sleath mentored by Dr. Susan Lee are developing skills in art history research, analysis, and writing, broadening their experience in the field of art history.
Chantelle Schmidt, mentored by Dr. Jenn Sweatman, conducts research on microplastics in prairie potholes. Chantelle is filtering a sample in a fume hood using a Büchner funnel.
Therese Byankuba, mentored by Dr. Jenn Sweatman, is using a dissecting microscope to visually identify suspected microplastics in samples she has collected.
Jorgan Dietz, mentored by Dr. Mark Jensen, uses solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) fiber to collect volatile compounds from essential oils.
Olivia Shelton, mentored by Dr. Mark Jensen, creates different stock solutions of phthalate. The various solutions will be extracted using deep eutectic solvent (1:2, ChCl:Phenol). The deep eutectic solvent is shown on the stir plate.
Heidy DeLeon Escobar and Drew Frolek, mentored by Dr. Jason Askvig, study how to keep neurons alive in the aging rat brain. Heidy is delivering rubber cement from a syringe around rat brain tissue sample to provide a more effective method of containing antibodies needed for incubation and staining.
Jenna Gierke and Charlene Geraci, mentored by Dr. Mikel Olson, develop films in a dark room to determine whether the protein MMP-9 is present in a rat hippocampus sample. The Olson group is studying whether MMP-9 is involved in long-term memory consolidation and potentially plays a role in memory deficits characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
Fenley Grumann, mentored by Dr. Krys Strand, holds Roxy, a red-tailed boa constrictor. Fenley is researching exotic species to inform animal care procedures and habitats housed at Concordia. Fenley enjoys educating his fellow students and visitors about caring for and respecting animals of all kinds and is a leader of the Exotic Animal Care and Husbandry (EACH) club on campus. Connect with EACH on Instagram cord_each or CobberConnect.
Cody Hospes and Claire Dummer mentored by Dr. Mona Ibrahim provide an example image of an Intro to Psychology classroom board with common course content that is related to, or caused by, the field of Psychology’s Colonialists roots. Famous psychologists (pictured) consist mostly of white men and most study samples are “WEIRD” (whiteboard). Their research involves surveying students with marginalized identities to better understand how Intro to Psychology courses can better promote interest in the field and improve the relevance and applicability of course topics to the students’ lives.
Carter Egesdal, Ellie Chang, and Aaron Kess, mentored by Dr. Jeff Meyer, play the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona People in Zimbabwe. Two main parts are performed, the leading kushaura and the following kutsinhira which fit together to create a dense interlocking texture. Mbira pieces consist of cyclical patterns that can be varied and combined in unique ways.
Jordan Masterson and Kate Hemmer, mentored by Dr. Thelma Berquó, prepare an iron oxide sample which will be tested for different magnetic properties.
Tony Lyons and Elijah Heyer, mentored by Dr. Luiz Manzoni, are consulting numerous machine learning texts to help develop a course on the topic for Concordia.
Riley Duppong, mentored by Dr. Krys Strand, works to build a device for recording, amplifying, and delivering endogenous electrical signals in plants with the goal of helping to enhance plant growth on long-duration missions to the Moon or Mars.
Jackline Peace Nanyonga, mentored by Dr. Krys Strand and Harshana DeSilva Feelixge, collects a colony of yeast from an agar plate to inoculate media. Peace is working on developing new labs for the Cell Biology course.
Riham Jameel, mentored by Dr. Krys Strand, teaches her peers Peace Nanyonga and Fenley Grumann how to use EthoVision behavior tracking software. The team is studying the effect of music enrichment on anxiety and memory in zebrafish.
Aitor Burillo Arellano and Dawson Fleck, mentored by Dr. Graeme Wyllie, test the release of acetaminophen and benzocaine at different times from simulated stomach acid. Aitor demonstrates the process of making the stomach acid simulant.
Reese Anderson, mentored by Dr. Darin Ulness, uses a septum needle to pipette piperidine into a sample vessel, which will be analyzed after being subjected to a laser.
Sean Oakes, mentored by Dr. Darin Ulness, uses a card with IR active paint to ensure that the laser is not hitting surfaces other than the sample cuvette to ensure a safe laser setup without laser scattering.
Gabe Sparks, mentored by Dr. Mark Jensen, inserts a column into a new high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instrument in order to prepare it for use in upcoming Biochemistry labs.
Abigail Thurmer, Gabby Brown, and Sam Zimmerman, mentored by Dwight Mickelson, work on an art installation at the Plains Art Museum. Go see it!
Isaac Wayne (left) and Caroline Cronk (right), mentored by Dr. Ahmed Kamel, collaborate while researching the effects and responses to artificial intelligence in different countries, industries, and communities.
Saige Mattson, working with teammate Olivia Slyter and mentored by Dr. Darren Valenta, is taking notes while watching a stand-up special that discusses mental health issues. They are conducting research on the discussion of suicide in stand-up comedy.
Cael Schlauderaff and Olivia Brault, mentored by Dr. Taylor-Teeples, aim to measure gene expression changes in oak galls compared to unaffected leaves. An insect gall is a modified plant structure in which a developing insect larva controls the growth of the plant by changing the gene expression of the affected tissue. (A) an unaffected Bur Oak leaf, (B) cross section of an unaffected oak leaf midvein, (C) an insect gall caused by a wasp (arrow), and (D) cross section of the gall with arrows marking the chambers where larvae develop.
Anna Novasio (left) and Seema Tian (right), mentored by Dr. Chopper Krogstad, use synthetic chemistry techniques to create compounds aimed at presenting tumor metastasis. The reactions Anna and Seema perform must be in an atmosphere of nitrogen, without oxygen. They use vacuum pumps, nitrogen gas, syringes, reflux condensers and other glassware to carry out these reactions.
