2012 Top Scholars and Finalists

Top Scholar

Andrew Falcon and Michael Fleck
"How Does SFA’s Student Investment Roundtable Fund Stack up Against"
Faculty sponsor: Ryan Phelps, Economics and Finance

Finalists

• Mandi Lovett
  "Apartment Rental Prices in Dallas"
  Faculty sponsor: Ryan Phelps, Economics and Finance
   
• Sara Muckleroy, Donovan Pearson, Jeremy Pinkston and Meagan Webb
  "Fitness Involved Teamwork"
  Faculty sponsor: Judith L. Biss, General Business
   
• Alyssa Rains and Natalie Strabala
  "The HEALTH Project"
  Faculty sponsor: Judith L. Biss, General Business
   
• Justin Rodriguez
  "Understanding Student GPA"
  Faculty sponsor: Ryan Phelps, Economics and Finance
   
• Jianheng Zhang
  "Stephen F. Austin State University Student GPA Study"
  Faculty sponsor: Ryan Phelps, Economics and Finance
   

Top Scholar

Amanda Johnson
"Beta-Glucan Reduces Heart Disease by Lowering LDL- Cholesterol"
Faculty sponsor: Darla O'Dwyer, Human Sciences

Finalists

• Bric Alverson
  "Social Media as a Marketing Tool for Community Groups"
  Faculty sponsor: Mary Olle, Human Sciences
   
• Courtnie Bartel, Amber Heeter, Elizabeth Royal and Cassie Welch
  "Assisted Living Design Project"
  Faculty sponsor: Mitzi Perritt, Human Sciences
   
• Brandon Warren
  "Validation of the SenseWear Pro Armband for Energy Expenditure During Resistance Training"
  Faculty sponsor: Mark D. Faries, Kinesiology and Health Sciences
   
• Brooke Brodlowicz
  "Is It Green? A Survey of Flooring Materials"
  Faculty sponsor: Donna Pharris, Human Sciences
   
• Keilea Bullard
  "Biomechanical Analysis of the Cartwheel"
  Faculty sponsor: Delbert Graves, Kinesiology and Health Sciences
   
• Noah Claytor and Robyn Hicks
  "Is Our Knowledge and Opinion Based on the Internet?"
  Faculty sponsor: Kenneth R. Austin, Secondary Education and Educational Leadership
   
• Sarah Feye, Carrie Flowers and Amanda Johnson
  "Creation of a Cookbook for Low S.E.S Clients with Diabetes"
  Faculty sponsor: Carol Bradley, Human Sciences
   
• Kayla King
  "Reflection on Various Interviews about Reading and Reading Comprehension"
  Faculty sponsor: Adrian Decker, Elementary Education
   
• Vanessa Pratt
  "Adaptations to Technology and the Influence on Communication and Cohesion in the Family Context"
  Faculty sponsor: Brandon Burr, Human Sciences
   

Top Scholar

Garrett Nichols
"A Performer’s Analysis of Brahms Sonata in F Minor for Clarinet and Piano"
Faculty sponsors: Chris Ayer and John Cotner, School of Music

Finalists

• Jessica Dunn
  "Pen and Pigment Collaborative Project – Unexpected"
  Faculty sponsor: Peter Andrew, School of Art
   
• Stephen Michael Hanna
  "Let Beauty Awake: Discovering the Beauty of Songs of Travel"
  Faculty sponsor: Jamie Weaver, School of Music
   
• Eneida M. Santiago Velez
  "Infinite Directional"
  Faculty sponsor: Peter Andrew, School of Art
   
• Samantha Walker
  "Giraudoux at the Gates"
  Faculty sponsor: Rick Jones, School of Theatre
   
• Brady Weldon
  "Sing Me to Heaven: The History, Music, and Character of the African"
  Faculty sponsor: Jamie Weaver, School of Music
   

Top Scholar

Sierra Gibbons
"Phytoremediation of Cadmium and Chromium Contaminated Soils"
Faculty sponsor: Kenneth Farrish, Environmental Sciences

Finalists

• Marycruz Bazan and Christopher Kossegi
  "Implementation of the President’s Challenge in a Freshman Seminar Success"
  Faculty sponsor: David Kulhavy, Forestry
   
• Melissa Bozarth and Olivia LaMaster
  "Effects of Humate and Lignite Coal Amendments on Plant Growth in a Coarse Texture Soil"
  Faculty sponsor: Kenneth Farrish, Environmental Sciences
   
• Melissa Ferguson
  "Industrial Ash as a Soil Liming Agent"
  Faculty sponsor: Kenneth Farrish, Environmental Sciences
   
• James Hearn
  "Geographic Information Systems and Cloud Computing"
  Faculty sponsor: Yanli Zhang, Forestry
   
• Kyle Palmer
  "Multi-criteria Site Evaluation Methodology for Oil and Gas Exploration"
  Faculty sponsor: David Kulhavy, Forestry
   
• James Theiss
  "Grand Teton National Park Focused Visitor Survey"
  Faculty sponsors: Pat Stephens Williams, Forestry; Ray Darville, Social and Cultural Analysis
   

Top Scholar

Lindsey Antonini
"ARKTOSK: Language of the Bears"
Faculty sponsor: Jessie Sams, English

Finalists

• Christi Courade
  "Medicating America: Exploring Prescription Drug Abuse in a Rural East Texas"
  Faculty sponsor: Kim Rich-Rice, Social Work
   
• Dasha Evans
  "Bullying within the LGBT Community"
  Faculty sponsor: Kim Rich-Rice, School of Social Work
   
• Megan Fleming
  "Is Hamas Really a Religious Terrorist Group?"
  Faculty sponsor: Michael Tkacik, Government
   
• Wesley Geller
  "Stasi Repression of East German Musician Wolf Biermann"
  Faculty sponsor: Randi Cox, History
   
• Braydon Howard
  "The Effects of Tattoo Size and Location of Rating of Perceived Attractiveness"
  Faculty sponsor: Rhiannon Fante-Konwinski, Psychology
   
• Rebecca Matlock
  "From Struggle to Liberation: A Critical Analysis of the Film The Color Purple"
  Faculty sponsors: Sudeshna Roy, Modern Languages, Cultures, and; Com- munication, d
   
• Kyle Sitka
  "Fallout 3 as a Continuation of Cold War Cultural Language"
  Faculty sponsor: Randi Cox, History
   
• Courtney Snow
  "The Importance of Wedding Rituals in Human Societies"
  Faculty sponsor: Dianne Dentice, Social and Cultural Analysis
   
• Mary Welch
  "The Electric Housewife: Post-War Supermoms and the Modernization of the American Home"
  Faculty sponsor: Dana Cooper, History/Interdisciplinary Studies
   

Top Scholar

Molly Blanchette and Rebecca Collins
"The Heavy Metal Analysis of Lichens and Soils"
Faculty sponsor: Michael A. Janusa, Chemistry

Finalists

• Brittney Cooper and Elton Polvadore
  "Differentation of Capsicum Species via Protein Extraction and SDS-Page Analysis: A two day experiment for undergraduate biochemistry laboratories"
  Faculty sponsor: Michele Harris, Chemistry
   
• Elizabeth Davis, Charlie Knox and Ryan Smith
  "Enantioselective Biotransformation of Prochiral Ketone Using Carrots"
  Faculty sponsor: Michele Harris, Chemistry
   
• Tiffany Lundy
  "A Multiplicative 'Conic'"
  Faculty sponsor: Jeremy Becnel, Mathematics and Statistics
   
• Blake Moyer and Cory Robinson
  "Solids of Revolution Formed by Rotating Functions"
  Faculty sponsor: Jeremy Becnel, Mathematics & Statistics
   
• Jorge Ojeda
  "Raman and Infrared Study of Select Thiadiazole Derivatives"
  Faculty sponsor: Kefa K. Onchoke, Chemistry
   
• Theda Strickler
  "Petrology of Proterzoic to Tertiary Rocks in the Southern Burro Mountains, NM: Insights into Mazatzal to Basin and Range Magmatism and Tectonics"
  Faculty sponsor: Chris A. Barker, Geology
   
• Chris Taliaferro
  "Research in the Teaching Laboratory: Improving the Synthesis of Lidocaine"
  Faculty sponsor: Arlen Jeffery, Chemistry
   
• Madison Timme
  "Habitat Preference for the Purpose of Determining Ecosystem Vulnerability to the Invasive Apple Snail (Pomacea diffusa)"
  Faculty sponsor: Brent Burt, Biology
   
• Merlly Zavala
  "Analysis of Copper and Zinc in Foods"
  Faculty sponsor: Kefa K. Onchoke, Chemistry
   

Finalists

• Juan F. Macias-Velasco
  "Asian Citrus Psyllid (Diaphorina citri) Transcriptome Analysis: Prediction of miRNA Binding Site Variation between Life Stages"
  Faculty sponsor: Blake Bextine, Department of Biology - UT Tyler
   
• Megan McClay
  "Diabetes and Global Health"
  Faculty sponsor: Judith A. King, Nursing Department - Lone Star College-North Harris
   
• Chris M. Powell
  "Influence of SINV on Insecticide-Treated Red Imported Fire Ant"
  Faculty sponsor: Blake Bextine, Department of Biology - UT Tyler