Honors Summer Research Fellows

The Helen Hardin Honors Program is pleased to provide funding for a summer research fellowship to promote research and creative activity among honors students. The purpose of the program is to provide honors students with the time, financial support, and faculty mentoring to pursue meaningful research and creative projects in the summer.

The Honors Program will enhance the experience of the Fellows through a series of enrichment programs, both professional and social, which will include bi-weekly lunch workshops focused on presentation techniques, critical evaluation of research, ethical issues, and how to prepare for graduate or medical school. Additionally, selected Fellows will receive funding to present their research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research and other national or regional honors conferences. By participating in the extensive research requirements of the program and by presenting their research at conferences, Fellows will earn the University’s “Undergraduate Research Scholar” designation on their transcript. Listed below are this year's Summer Research Fellows!

 Joshua Canterbury

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Hussey, Economics

My research will examine the possible connection of pet (dog and cat) over-supply in animal shelter populations on adverse outcomes such as dog attacks, incidences of animal cruelty, and illegal dogfights. I will gather monthly intake data from municipal animal shelters in fifteen cities and use this data as my measure of over-supply. Data concerning abuse of animals by humans, dog attacks, and dog-related fatalities in these cities can be found on several online databases.  I expect to find a correlation between the measures, indicating that pet over-supply is associated with greater adverse outcomes.

Damian Coomes

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Charles Blaha, Psychology

My research applies neurochemical recording procedures to study neurotransmitter pathways in the brain of a mouse model of Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Lurcher mutant mice will undergo stereotaxic surgery in order to microinject a lentiviral vector into a region called the reticulotegmental nuclei which is just outside of the cerebellum. The lentiviral vector will block the reuptake of glutamate, which will increase the concentration of glutamate in the synapses between neurons. I will be studying whether the lentiviral vector significantly increases the neurotransmission of glutamate from the cerebellum to the reticulotegmental nuclei, since the ASD model has a weaker transmission of glutamate in this particular area when compared to normal mice.

Kevin Hayes

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthias Kaelberer, Political Science

The purpose of my research is to explore how the process of violating IPR’s (Intellectual Property Rights) explains the process of developing countries’ modernization, particularly China. I have chosen China because it is the fastest growing developing country in the international system. Like developing countries before it, China is violating the IPR’s of the most advanced economy. Similarly, the United States also developed by violating IPR’s of the most advanced economy in its epoch, the British Empire. IPR policies of developing countries are consistent with mercantilist practices of catch-up countries. By comparing China’s current IPR policy to the United States’ policy two centuries ago my research will develop new insights into the process of development.

William Hunter King

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Erno Lindner, Biomedical Engineering

My research consists of developing a platform to measure urinary partial pressure carbon dioxide (pCO₂) levels to risk assess patients in severe sepsis and shock. Specifically, the research would first attempt to adapt and validate a carbon dioxide sensor for the use of urine carbon dioxide measurements. The research would also seek to develop an Institutional Review Board proposal for a pilot study involving intensive care unit patients with severe sepsis or shock to ascertain whether pCO₂ levels in urine are correlated with development of multi-organ failure and death.

Deanna Long

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Kennedy, Biology

My research focuses on parasitic ticks and their effect on mammalian hosts in Western Tennessee. Diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are detrimental to this area and are responsible for many human deaths. It is essential to study the patterns of the parasites to learn how to better control these diseases, and save lives. By trapping the mammalian hosts such as the Raccoon and the Virginia Opossum, these parasites will be collected and identified, as well as the diseases they may carry.

Nicholas Mastron

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthias Kaelberer, Political Science

For my honors thesis in economics and political science, I will be identifying and evaluating the governmental actions taken by the United Kingdom and Germany during the 2008 Financial Crisis. These two countries practice very different forms of capitalism, and their subsequent responses carried very different trends and results both domestically and internationally. My analysis will focus on the different policy responses and theoretical implications of the those policies. I will demonstrate that the policy differences between the two countries clearly indicate the need to have more economic and political tools in order to stabilize their domestic and regional markets.

Patrick McNicholas

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey Berman, Psychology

I will be examining the relationship between awareness of time and performance on a task. Though there have been many studies that have looked at timed and untimed tests, as well as test anxiety specifically, most of these studies are connected by a common factor: direction of attention. By looking at how the awareness of time might affect ones' concentration determined by the performance of the task at hand, I hope to find out if the salience of time is a positive or negative tool when completing tasks.

Breya Walker

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Frank Andrasik, Pschology

For my honors thesis in psychology, I am investigating the relationship between the level of expertise with the English language (i.e. early/late acquisition of the language) and the ability of native Japanese speakers to discriminate between the /l/ and /r/ phonemes. Brain responses will be recorded that will indicate the native Japanese speakers’ ability to discriminate between the /l/ and /r/ phonemes. These brain responses will ultimately correspond with the native Japanese speakers’ age of acquisition and reveal the level of expertise with the English language. We predict that native Japanese speakers who learned English at a very young age will show the same brain responses as native English speakers. Also, native Japanese speakers who learned English later on in life will show smaller brain responses in comparison to native English speakers. Furthermore, native Japanese speakers who are currently in the process of learning English will show brain responses that fall in between early and late second language English learners in comparison to the native English speakers.

Grace Waters

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joel Bumgardner, Biomedical Engineering

My honors thesis in biomedical engineering creates an innovative design of a unique device for a client with a mobile disability. Mobility disabilities are often specific for each client, and many off the shelf devices do not meet individual needs. This design project provides a custom device to an individual suffering from loss of mobility due to disease or injury that will improve the quality of life and self-sufficiency of the client.  In order to design such a device, collaboration is necessary between me and local engineering firms, other engineering students, disability centers, and the client. Once the design is finished, the design will be produced and tested with the client. When the thesis is completed, the device will be used by the client in their daily life, and can perhaps be recreated for other clients with similar disabilities.

Ryan Wilson

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Firouzeh Sabri, Physics

My research concerns two behavioral parameters of the RTV 655 and thin metal film bilayer system. I'm currently installing software and equipment to obtain resistance measurements as a function of temperature. I will be measuring resistance as the sample's temperature decreases from 20 to -160*C. I have constructed a vacuum chamber to eliminate the problem of frost condensation on the sample. The cooling stage is an INSTEC liquid nitrogen cooled device and is operated by WinTemp mk1000 software. To make the electrical measurements a specialized electrode frame was created to house the sample as it cooled. The frame will be connected to a Keithley 2000 Digital Multimeter, which will be operated by a MatLab or Keithley designed program and record data. Dr. Sabri predicts that the resistance vs. temperature graph will form a hysteresis as it is cooled and then returned to its original temperature. Preliminary tests suggests Dr. Sabri is correct, but more tests must be carried out.

Secondly, optical intensity of the samples reflection pattern will be monitored as a function of temperature. The luminance will be detected by a photodiode sheet and the data will be recorded with MatLab. The Intensity peak distribution and power output will be used to characterize the material as the temperature of the RTV 655 substrate decreases in the same manner as in the resistance measurements.