Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation Of 7li + Α Elastic And Inelastic Scattering, Bikash Chauhan

Student Research and Creative Activity Expo

Study of structure of 11B via 7Li + a experiment.

Predicting Water Layer Formation Vs. Entrainment In Dense Phase Co2 Transport Pipelines From Hydrodynamics And Fluid Properties, Favour Bawa

Student Research and Creative Activity Expo

This work presents a mechanistic model that predicts whether free water will remain entrained or form continuous layers in dense-phase CO₂ transport pipelines.

The Role Of Infrastructure In Enterococci Contamination And Human Health In Tampa Bay, Kaileen Alvarado, Ava Borgella

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Coastal microbial contamination is a major threat to public health especially in urbanized estuaries such as Tampa Bay, because elevated Enterococci concentrations can indicate fecal pollution, which can lead to gastrointestinal illnesses including diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. This study investigated how infrastructure and environmental conditions influence Enterococci concentrations across different areas of Tampa Bay watershed, which is home to 3 million people, and visited by 5 million more each year. A multiyear dataset of over 6,600 Enterococci measurements from Tampa Bay Waterkeeper and the City of St. Petersburg Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Program was analyzed using spatial and statistical approaches. …

Using Social Vulnerability And Coastal Flooding Risk To Inform Preparedness Interventions In Hillsborough County, Bessan Abuaish

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Traditional disaster planning strategies often rely on broad countywide approaches that fail to address neighborhood level needs. Identifying communities with overlapping social vulnerability and physical risks can inform more equitable preparedness interventions. To identify neighborhoods with overlapping social vulnerability and coastal flooding risk in Hillsborough County and inform targeted preparedness interventions for vulnerable populations based on physical and socioeconomic risks, Geographic Information Systems mapping was used to overlay 16 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index indicators with coastal flooding risks to isolate 36 high priority census tracts. Socioeconomic factors, age, limited English proficiency, vehicle access, and housing …

Quantifying Iron Recycling In The Nutrient-Rich North Atlantic Ocean, Adam Jackvony

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

The North Atlantic is a volatile region with low iron availability, where diatoms make up a majority of the phytoplankton. Due to iron’s low supply and high demand, it is often retained within the system and reused through iron recycling. Iron recycling helps predict fluctuations in diatom biomass, which directly impacts the biological carbon pump, transporting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the deep ocean. Estimating recycling rate allows for comparisons to other regions that have previously been studied creating a better understanding of the ocean-climate system and how different environmental factors influence the climate. Using assumed source water iron …

Correlation Of Enterococci And Seagrass Population In Tampa Bay, Ethan Kuhn, Riley Sedwick, Veronica Lewis

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

The presence of Enterococci bacteria is commonly used as an indicator of fecal contamination in waterways. Higher enterococci levels usually indicate fecal pollution, but there are various environmental factors that play a role in the persistence and spatial distribution of these bacteria. Past water quality research in Tampa Bay has primarily focused on assessing recreational water safety and environmental health, but there are few studies that use the data to investigate how environmental variables such as aquatic vegetation can affect the concentrations of enterococci bacteria. This study evaluates whether there is a relationship between enterococci levels and seagrass populations across …

Pyrodinium Bahamense Environmental Growth: A Study Of How Local Salinities Affect P. Bahamense Growth And Toxicity, Elsa M. Kusek, Valentina Arnold Villarreal

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Steidinger Scholar Internship at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute provides a unique and valuable research experience for undergraduate students through experiential learning. Over the summer of 2026, we’re integral team members of the Harmful Algal Blooms Biotoxins Team, helping to monitor the presence of Pyrodinium bahamense, a saxitoxin producing dinoflagellate, and its associated toxins in scallop tissues throughout the Pasco County Recreational Scalloping Zone. This monitoring is crucial to protecting human health, preserving Florida's resources, and informing management decisions. To further our understanding of P. bahamense, we explored the impact of salinity on growth, pH, stress, and …

Theoretical Model For A Poroelastic Membrane Under Uniform Load, Minh Duc Nguyen

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Flexible membrane wings appear throughout both natural and engineered flyers — parachutes, sails, birds, and bats — and are known to confer favorable aerodynamic characteristics through deformation in response to the surrounding flow. To date, flexibility and porosity have largely been studied in isolation, yet in a poroelastic membrane the two are coupled: as the membrane extends under load, its pores stretch with the surface. This study takes the first step toward analyzing that coupling by characterizing how the effective elasticity of the membrane depends on its porosity under uniform static pressure. Circular clamped membranes were simulated across a range …

Optimizing Silk Fibroin–Polyethylene Oxide Polymer Blends For Electrospun Nanofibrous Scaffold Fabrication, Lucas Niemas

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Cardiovascular disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, often requiring surgical repair or replacement of damaged tissues. Current cardiovascular substitutes, including synthetic grafts, mechanical valve replacements, and biologically derived tissues, have improved patient outcomes but still face limitations such as thrombosis risk, limited remodeling capacity, mechanical mismatch, and durability concerns. Cardiovascular tissue engineering seeks to address these challenges by developing biomimetic scaffolds that support cell attachment, extracellular matrix synthesis, tissue integration, and in vivo adaptation. Silk fibroin is a promising natural biomaterial because of its biocompatibility, tunable degradation, favorable mechanical properties, and anti-inflammatory potential; however, its low solution …

In Vitro Evaluation Of A 405-Nm Blue-Light–Emitting Antimicrobial Bandage Using Micrococcus Luteus, Daniel W. Wallace, Joseph M. Busher

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Postoperative wound infections remain a major clinical challenge, worsened by rising antibiotic resistance and passive dressings that fail to reduce bacterial growth. Antimicrobial blue light near 405 nanometers shows broad-spectrum bactericidal activity, yet most prior approaches use short, high-intensity illumination from stationary sources rather than continuous, wearable delivery. This study evaluates a wearable 405-nanometer blue-light bandage designed for continuous, low-intensity exposure suited to prolonged wound-adjacent use. Antimicrobial performance was assessed in vitro using Micrococcus luteus, a safe model organism, comparing continuous exposure to matched dark controls. Exposure produced a pronounced, time-dependent reduction in bacterial viability, with near-complete suppression of detectable …

Protocol For Nod Islet Isolation Using A Novel Two-Filter Purification System, Sama Nayakanti

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the inflammation and destruction of pancreatic islets by infiltrating immune cells. As T1D incidence continues to surge worldwide, it is necessary to develop therapies capable of strengthening and protecting islet function.

Our prior research has previously demonstrated the protective antioxidant effects of Cornus officinalis (CO), a medicinal herb with known anti-diabetes properties, using 1.1B4 and NIT-1 transformed pancreatic β-cell lines. Although these cell lines are valuable and cost-efficient β-cell models, they are not fully representative of primary β-cell biology, which may affect their antioxidant response to CO.

To this end, …

Chemical Effects Of Microplastics On Photochemistry In A Coral-Associated Zooxanthella, Meghan A. Hennings, Matz Indergard, John E. Parkinson

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Coral bleaching is the process by which corals lose their symbiotic microalgae in response to stressful conditions. These photosymbionts, known as zooxanthellae, give corals their color and sustain host growth through mutualistic nutritional exchange. Bleaching events are becoming more common and severe, driving research into coral conservation and the resilience of each partner in the symbiosis. Yet it is unknown how certain pollutants, such as microplastics, may affect bleaching outcomes. Previous research in our laboratory has demonstrated that the presence of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics inhibits bleaching recovery in sea anemones (a coral model), but it remains unclear whether the …

Using Sers For Enhanced Pfoa Detection In Algae, Kyra Everette, Dawson Dodd, Theresa Evans-Nguyen

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Due to growing manufacturing processes runoff and environmental pollution, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” bioaccumulate in various waterways, eventually making their way into human bodies. Due to the low intensity signals of forever chemicals, it is notoriously difficult to isolate what cellular processes they impact, especially when using Raman spectroscopy. Here, we employed surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to increase, detect and localize the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). AuNPs were intracellularly produced in Chlorella and Scenedesmus algae cells, which acted as enhancers to the low PFOA signal. The production of AuNPs within these …

Contain The Drain: Analysis Of Storm-Drain Pollution Educational Materials And Public Perception, Adalyn Case, Thelma Banlav

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

It is crucial for local populations to understand their role in stormwater management. This is especially relevant in Tampa Bay due to its role as a major estuary system in Florida, a long-term goal of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP). The TBEP intervention measures residents’ knowledge of their role to prevent pollution from entering storm drains and contribute to the local environmental health. This project will assess the intervention materials’ accuracy utilizing survey responses sourced from local Tampa Bay residents. Responses were coded thematically and analyzed. The study has found the most effective TBEP marketing materials for improving stormwater …

Development Of A Zn(Ii) Based Mof For Directional Photo-Induced Electron Transfer, Mohammad Altaher

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous materials capable of encapsulating photoactive guests for applications in light harvesting, gas storage, and photocatalysis. Here we investigate the attempted co-encapsulation of Ru(II)tris(2,2′-bipyridine)(RuBpy3) and Co(II)tris(2,2′-bipyridine) (CoBpy3) or Os(II)tris(2,2′-bipyridine) (OsBpy3) in an RWLC-3 Zn(II) based MOF, for the development of a solid-state directional photoinduced electron transfer (PET) system. The synthesis of the co-encapsulated RuBpy3 and CoBpy3 MOF (RWLC-3 (RuBpy3:CoBpy3)) was conducted using CoBpy3 in place of RuBpy3 under RWLC-3 synthesis conditions, giving a crystalline suspension with a distinctive powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD). Single crystal x-ray diffraction (SCD) revealed a 2D chain with …

When Intensity Becomes Unpleasant: Content-Dependent Effects Of Arousal On Valence, Allison D. Nguyen, Ananya Ranganagoudar, Charvi Koniki

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Trait worry is associated with heightened negative interpretation of internal arousal, raising the possibility that individuals higher in worry may evaluate high-arousing experiences less positively. The most unpleasant and pleasant experiences are also the most arousing. However, individuals higher in trait worry may evaluate highly arousing experiences more negatively, depending on the content of the stimulus. This study tested whether trait worry moderates arousal and valence ratings and whether this association depends on image content.

Eighty-seven students passively viewed emotional and neutral images and provided arousal and valence ratings for images. Image content categories were generated by an AI classification …

Oaat: Omla-Like Approach Against Tlglock​, Antonio P. Ruiz, Joshua N. Lam

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Due to the rise of outsourced chip manufacturing, methods to protect chip designs and Intellectual Property (IP) are necessary to prevent theft and piracy by malicious actors within these intermediate firms. One such method is Logic Locking (LL), which adds circuitry that “locks” the design with a key so that the circuit only gives the correct output when provided with the correct key. The development of various attacks have allowed older LL methods, which rely on changing the placement policy of XOR/XNOR or MUX key-gates, to be broken. A newer LL solution to address this problem is TLGLock, which simplifies …

From Burnout To Belonging: Reintroducing Joy Through Collaborative Library Culture Change, Jason D. Phillips, Chereeka Garner, Cindy Dancel

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Libraries are often expected to create joy for others, yet many library workers continue to experience burnout, dissatisfaction, and disconnection. This session explores how one academic library implemented a staff-led, administration-supported approach to rebuilding workplace culture through collective, low-cost, and capacity-aware strategies. Centered on the work of an internal advisory group, this model creates structured opportunities for feedback, collaboration, and shared decision-making while introducing small, intentional interventions that foster connection, recognition, and belonging. Rather than relying on individual resilience or one-time morale boosts, this approach emphasizes sustainable, iterative practices that respond to staff needs and organizational realities. Attendees will leave …

Cutaneous Adverse Events Associated With Menin Inhibitors: An Institutional Retrospective Cohort Study, Efe Martins, Emelie Mcquitty, Fiorinda Muhaj

Students Summer in Oncology at Anderson Research (SOAR) 2026

Background

Menin inhibitors are targeted therapies approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with KMT2A rearrangements or NPM1 mutations. Although these agents have shown promising clinical activity, cutaneous adverse events (CAEs) remain poorly characterized. This study describes the clinical presentation, timing, management, and outcomes of CAEs associated with menin inhibitors.

Methods

We performed a single-center retrospective cohort study of patients treated with revumenib or ziftomenib at MD Anderson Cancer Center between January 2024 and July 2026. Electronic medical records were reviewed for patient demographics, treatment characteristics, and documented CAEs. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize …

The Experiences Of Black Student-Athletes Across Different Institutions, Raniya Burkett

Psychology Summer Fellows

Sports, like many social institutions, require athletes to develop social competencies that shape performance, self-presentation, and behavior. Black collegiate athletes frequently experience these pressures and may conform to white supremacist ideals of propriety. Findings from this study will identify barriers to authenticity in athletic spaces and inform strategies to promote greater inclusivity and cultural sensitivity among coaches, teammates, and athletic programs.

Increasing Postpartum Appointment Attendance Rates, Tanya Lister

Doctor of Nursing Practice Posters and Presentations

Background: Postpartum visits provide an opportunity to detect and address potential complications, monitor healing and recovery, and offer guidance and support during the transition into motherhood. Current research shows that appointment reminders increase healthcare appointment attendance rates, whether delivered via text messages or phone calls.

Purpose: The purpose of this academic project was to plan, implement, and evaluate a process change within a single health facility to increase postpartum visit attendance rates.

Methods: This evidence-based scholarly project used telephone calls to remind patients scheduled for postpartum visits of their appointment dates and times. Appointment reminder phone calls were completed the …

Environmental Exposure Risk Education To Enhance Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention And Screening For Nurse Practitioners, Kelsea J. Carrier

Doctor of Nursing Practice Posters and Presentations

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects approximately 36 million adults in the United States, with nearly 90% of individuals unaware of their diagnosis until advanced stages. While diabetes and hypertension remain the primary causes, increasing evidence highlights environmental exposures as significant and underrecognized contributors to CKD onset and progression. Exposures such as heavy metals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), air and water pollution, microplastics, and heat exposure have been linked to impaired renal function. Despite this growing body of evidence, environmental health content remains limited in nursing education, resulting in gaps in environmental health literacy (EHL) among nurse practitioners (NPs) and …

Developing And Testing Visualization Simulations For The Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array (Greta), Blake Mcnulty

Physics and Astronomy Summer Fellows

GRETA is a recently-completed Department of Energy-funded project to construct an array of 120 gamma-ray detectors for use in nuclear physics experiments. The Gretina Array was the successful pilot project to construct 48 of the eventual 120 detectors that would be used in the array. UCGretina is a program that is used to simulate the GRETA array for the purposes of planning experiments and analyzing measurements. My job for this summer, with the advent of the full GRETA system, was to implement the new modular mounting structure for the full GRETA array in the simulation code. This involves creating the …

Digital Age: A Collection Inspired By Nostalgia, Memory, And A Late-2000’S Youth, Syd Libby

Art and Art History Summer Fellows

The cycle of visual culture, objects, and entertainment marketed to children changes rapidly. However, the objects, sounds, music, places and people we attach to as young people tend to hold weight in our lives and shape our understanding of the world. “Digital Age” is a series of paintings, sculptures and fiber works inspired by these feelings of nostalgia for a time that wasn’t really that long ago; around the late 2000’s – early 2010’s. I took this idea of nostalgia and represented it in different forms; both the images of me as a kid, alongside the objects I associate with …

Leveraging High School Students Knowledge Of Obesity Conundrum, Lauren R. Mcconnell, Nalani N. Galindez, Lauren R. Selent

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Adolescent obesity, defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex, affects approximately 21% of US adolescents aged 12 to younger than 18 years. This chronic, progressive disease is associated with significant immediate and long-term health consequences and requires comprehensive, intensive treatment rather than "watchful waiting.Changes in diet, including decreased fast food and soda consumption are necessary to obesity reduction. The purpose of this study is to examine high school students knowledge and attitudes regarding obesity. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was used to identify differences across groups. The independent variable was the grade level of …

Leveraging Compliance With Infection Control Policies Among Healthcare Workers In A Multi-Hospital System, Lauren R. Mcconnell, Ethan C. Anthony, Lauren R. Selent

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Despite the national push, healthcare workers compliance with Standard Precautions (SP) and Transmission-Based Precautions show significant gaps in both understanding and implementation.1 The conundrum of hospital nosocomial infections obfuscates the threat to patient safety.2 The purpose of this study is to examine staff compliance with infection control policies by infection type within a multi-hospital system. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was used to identify differences across groups. The independent variable was the ‘type of isolation’ assigned by the infection control practitioner. The dependent variables were staff adherence to the infection control policies including: 1) Isolation sign on patient’s door ; 2) …

Leveraging Computer Vision-Based Hand Tracking In Smartphone Xr Exposure Scenarios To Enable Controller-Free Interaction, Alex C. Lim, Trang Nguyen

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Extended reality (XR) has emerged as an effective and convenient solution for broadening accessibility to exposure therapy. Smartphone-based XR, though cost-effective, is often constrained by limited interactivity, engendering a passive experience that can compromise the user-immersion and treatment efficacy. To address this limitation, this study presents a novel computer vision–based hand-tracking approach using Google MediaPipe, integrated within a stereoscopic smartphone-based XR system to enable real-time, controller-free interaction in a dog-fetch scenario. Hand landmark coordinates derived from MediaPipe are algorithmically adjusted based on changes in inter-knuckle distances during anterior/posterior movement to approximate depth, at which point interactive spheres are overlayed to …

Sustainable City Design And Policy Impacts: Mental, Health, Productivity, And Quality Of Life, Sawyer B. Bowman

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

As corporations grow larger and consolidate more assets, both human and material, the importance of sustainability in workplace efforts has never been greater. Firms have excised impact over their communities and those employed by said firms, making decisions regarding green operations, triple bottom line considerations, and other sustainable business practices highly needed for the continued operation of firms. As these practices are costly both in the monetary and temporal sense of reality, many firms tend to place sustainability lower on the list of importance as compared to concepts such as productivity or profitability. Based on surveys and interviews with firms …

The Power Of Physical Activity And Sleep: Sex-Specific Pathways To Cognitive Health In Older Adults, Gabriella K. Waldbauer

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Physical activity (PA) and sleep health are associated with cognition. However, limited research has examined the interactive effects of PA and sleep on domain-specific cognitive function in older adults. Although sex differences exist independently across all factors, sex-specific interactive investigations are limited. This study investigated whether the relationship between PA, sleep and cognition varies by sex in older adults. Older adults (N=119; Mage=68.3±5.6; 73 women) completed measures of insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index), physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) and cognition (NIH Toolbox-Cognitive Battery). Multiple regressions examined whether insomnia severity interacted with physical activity in associations with cognition and tested …

The Impact Of Ramadan Fasting On Chronic Disease Management, Abdulwahab Eddib, Aakez Adrak Marjan, Faris Jabbar, Nuzat Indawala

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Every year, 2.06 billion Muslims perform Ramadan fasting, a religious practice involving abstinence from food and drink from dawn to sunset for 30 days. This religious practice changes diet, hydration, sleep, and medication timing, raising clinical concerns for the safety of individuals with chronic diseases who choose to fast. Research reports mixed effects on disease control and treatment safety, emphasizing the need for an overarching analysis of its impact on chronic disease management. This literature review is aimed to examine research on Ramadan and intermittent fasting on chronic disease management and to analyze its effects on disease control, clinical outcomes, …