Student & Alumni Spotlights
STEM Student Presentations
The Psychology Department attended the Eastern Psychological Association鈥檚 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia from 2/29 to 3/2. Attendees included Catherine Alvarado 鈥24, Maria Medrano 鈥26, Juliette Pangilinan 鈥24, Jessica Jazmin Reyes 鈥24, Melanie Roche 鈥24, Ange-Marguerite Teko-Agbo 鈥25, Nayeli Torres 鈥24, and Ramona Urrutia 鈥25, Dr. Hanson, Dr. Wisneski, Dr. Bubka, Dr. Hamilton, and Dr. Feinberg.
Four students presented posters at the conference. Ramona Urrutia presented a poster titled 鈥淓xploring the Role of the 2020 Election, the January 6th Riots, and Attributions of Blame in Moralization/Demoralization.鈥 Juliette Pangilinan and Melanie Roche presented a poster entitled 鈥淧olitical Candidate Moralization and Perceptions of the January 6th Riot鈥 and Maria Medrano presented a poster entitled 鈥淒oes a Bizarreness Effect of Color Occur in Free Recall?鈥
In addition, eight students (Dr. Laura Twersky research advisor) presented their research on the effects of microplastics at the 2024 The Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey (ICUNJ)- Undergraduate Research Sympsoium at Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ on March 19th. Their presentations were entitled:
- Danilo Rocenovic 鈥24, Katherine Sanchez 鈥25 and Shereen Hanna鈥 25: 鈥淓ffects of Microplastic Components , Individually and in Combination, on Neurodevelopment in Xenopus laevis (clawed frog)鈥.
- Barbara Munoz鈥25 and Carlos Duque Sanchez鈥25: 鈥淓ffects of Selected Microplastics and Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals on the Cardiovascular System of Xenopus laevis (clawed frog)鈥.
- Kenia Castellanos鈥24: 鈥淭he Effects of Polystyrene, Bisphenol A and Bisphenol S, Individually and in Combination, on Larval Amphibian Tail Regeneration鈥.
- Hadia Iman鈥25 and Ratiba Megalla 鈥25: 鈥淓ffects of Microplastics/Endocrine Disruptors on Skeletal Development鈥.
In photo L to R: Danilo Rocenovic, Katherine Sanchez, and Shereen Hanna
Essowedeou Jeremie Botobikpissi聽presented a poster titled 鈥淐lassification Algorithm on a Quantum Computer鈥 at the joint Mathematical Association of America New Jersey Spring Meeting and Garden State Undergraduate Mathematics Conference held March 23, 2024 at Rowan University. Jeremie is a PODER Fellow and LEAPS Scholar, who is majoring in cyber security and minoring in mathematics. Dr. Rebecca Conley was his faculty mentor for the research.
STEM Student Spotlights
Barbara Munoz, Senior Biology Major, recently conducted research on frog embryos to detect heart defects caused by micro plastics. The goal of this project was to determine micro plastics鈥 potential harm to all species exposed to such pollution in their environments.
Matthew Prothero, Alumni, conducted a research study for his honors thesis on how the addition of ray tracing to video game graphics impacted overall user experience.
Maria Medrano, Sophomore Psychology Major, worked on a study done on the bizarreness effect. The project was on whether or not a bizarreness effect on color occurred in Free Recall.