STEM Symposium

Spring Quarter SYMPOSIUM

June 13, 2025

Oral Presentations: Discovery Hall, room 252 | 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM

Poster Session: Collaboratory – Discovery Hall, room 152 | 11:00 am to 12:00 pm

 

8:30 AM Welcome and Introductions:
Dr. Kristina Hillesland, Biology Department Chair

8:35 AM-8:45 AM

Project: Hell Creek Fossil ID Guide

  • Derrick Le, Biology (BS)

Faculty Adviser: Dr. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, UW Seattle – Dept. of Biology

8:45 AM – 9:05 AM

Project: Testing Trap Designs for Conservation of Cantharidin Orienting Arthropods at St. Edward State Park

  • Kingsford Oteng, Biology, (BS)
  • Enerel Naranbaatar, Biology, (BS)
  • Hailey Midgley, Biology, (BS)
  • Frank McCabe, Environmental Studies (BA)
  • Dave Gorbenko, Biology (BS)

Faculty Adviser: Dr. Michele Price

9:05 AM – 9:25 AM

Project: Hidden Worlds on Native Shrubs: Springtime Arthropod Biodiversity of Oregon Grape and Salmonberry in St. Edward State Park

  • Ellie Lombard, Biology (BS)
  • Isis Figueroa Perez, Biology (BS)
  • Rae Hatab, Science, Technology, and Society (BA)
  • Ignatius Piacenza, Biology (BS)
  • Thomas Rich-Tran, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Michele Price

5 minute break 9:25 AM – 9:30 AM

9:30 AM – 9:50 AM

Project: Can Predation by Amoebae Select for Predation-Resistant Bacteria?

  • Basima Sharawi, Pre-major
  • Jack Sims, Biology (BS)
  • Elaine Aguirre, Biology (BS)
  • Margo Glad, Premajor
  • Matt Kinder, Biology (BS)
  • Mark Guiyab, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Elizabeth Ostrowski

9:50 AM – 10:10 AM

Project: How do bacteria evolve to resist predation by amoebae?

  • Kevin Bruntz, Biology (BS)
  • Anoosha Dhahani, Biology (BS)
  • Shahd Fadul, Biology (BS)
  • Ananya Gupta, Biology (BS)
  • Kaleb Miller, Biology (BS)
  • Anwesha Naidu, Biology (BS)

Faculty Adviser: Dr. Elizabeth Ostrowski

10:10 AM – 10:15 AM – 5-minute break

10:15 AM – 10:55 AM

Project: Differences in the evolution of ciproflaxacin resistance predicts some E. coli strains as more evolvable than others

Group one:

  • Arina Arian, Biology (BS)
  • Anna Ivanova, Biology (BS) Minor: Neuroscience

Group two:

  • Khoa To, Biology (BS)
  • Nima Torkmanzadeh, Biology (BS)

Group three:

  • Yaus Baharmast, Biology (BS) Minor: Health Sciences

Group four:

  • Alexa Durzewski, Biology (BS)
  • Rachel Marroquin, Biology (BS)

Group five:

  • Nghi Do, Biology (BS)
  • Angela Monsegue, Biology (BS)

Group six:

  • Maddie Barrett, Biology (BS)
  • Nicole Brendemuhl, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Tim Cooper

Poster Session: Collaboratory – Discovery Hall, room 152 | 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

 

Project: Relationships between functional traits of moss (Homalothecium fulgescens and Rhytidiadelphus loreus), seedling growth (Lupinus succulentus, Pseudotsuga meziesii, Lolium perenne, Castilleja miniata), and fungal (Albugo candida) resistance

  • Newton Austria-Ball, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Cynthia Chang

Project: Designing potential Ligand Drug Molecules to Bind to HIV Reverse Transcriptase using Online Software

  • Venkata Sai Kiran Borra, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Peter Anderson

Project: Effects of High Temperatures on Pieris rapae Caterpillar Consumption

  • Ruhama Gidi, Biology (BS)
  • Hallelujah Hagos, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Jennifer Shlichta, Edmonds College

Project: Investigating Giardia’s Wnt Kinase for Innovative Therapeutic Strategies

  • Asiya Ibrahim, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Han-Wei Shih

Project: Detecting the Presence estimating  Abundance of Kokanee using eDNA

  • Hannah Heilman, Biology (BS)
  • Lola See, Biology (BS)
  • Sophie Orme, Biology (BS)
  • Rae Hatab, Science, Technology, & Society (BA)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Jeff Jensen

Project: Surviving the “Squeeze”:  Impact of seasonal changes in Minimum Dissolved Oxygen and Maximum Temperature on fry to adult survival in Lake Sammamish kokanee

  • Aidan Davis, Premajor
  • Aleksandra Kozielczyk, Premajor
  • Aysha Siddiqui, Conservation and Restoration Science (BS)
  • Tanvi Bedekar, Premajor

Faculty adviser: Dr. Jeff Jensen

Project: Lake Sammamish Kokanee: Correlation of Peak Streamflow and Run Size at Different Life Stages

  • Dan Nguyễn, Biology (BS), Minor: Data Analytics
  • Dione Vongphouthone, Premajor
  • Malak Babiker, Premajor
  • Joey Illanes, Biology (BS)
  • Thien Nguyen, Biology (BS)

Faculty adviser: Dr. Jeff Jensen