Digital Commons Network^™

Analyzing The Past & Predicting The Future: 120 Years Of Counseling Theories, Holly Lawson, David Jenkins

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Textual or Investigative

Pediatric Concussion Management In The School Setting, Renee Mann, Rachel Joseph

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Textual or Investigative

Stretching The Limits Of Language: Luis Pales Matos, Poetry, And Processes Of Signification, Jieli Kasprzak, Andrew Milacci

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Cold War America In The Fifth Dimension, Madelynn Hobson, David Lindsey Snead

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Effective Learning Strategies And Use Of Culture To Improve L2 Acquistion, Allison Blank, Laura Ziebart, Yan Xie

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Identity Construction In The Work Of Mario Benedetti, Grace Jennings, Andrew F. Milacci

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

The Historic African American United Methodist Church - The Resilence Of African American Religious Life In Anetbellum Virginia, Irene Hoisington, Donna Donald

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Contemporary Monacan Nation Identity Expression: A Music And Cultural Arts Study, Gretchen Cline, Katherine Morehouse

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

Spotify: Strategic Plan And Analysis, Riley T. Sletten

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Spotify is a worldwide music and podcast streaming company. Spotify has the most active users of any audio streaming company in the world and is a key competitor in a growing industry. It is important to evaluate the external environment and internal forces that impact Spotify’s strategic decision-making to identify opportunities and threats that could change the audio streaming landscape. Drawing on industry research, company financial statements, and media reports, this paper analyzes the external and internal environment of Spotify to identify a strategic recommendation for the company going forward. I analyze different business frameworks to evaluate the competitive landscape …

A Stick For A Crib: A Digital Story Inspired By The Northern Cheyenne Culture, Chloe Erin Ortega

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The purpose of this project is to create a digital story book which engages in the cultural preservation and language revitalization of the Northern Cheyenne, the tribe in Eastern Montana where I am an enrolled member. In this presentation, I will describe the steps I took for this project. First, I gathered material from personal experience and analyzed it working with community members, elders, and linguist mentors. For this project, I selected the Northern Cheyenne cultural teaching: “Put a stick above the crib to ward off bad spirits and keep away bad dreams.” I built a story in English, surrounding …

Conservation Nonprofits And Communication Of Values, Madeline Damon, Libby Metcalf, John Chandler

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how effectively conservation nonprofits communicate their values, or beliefs linked to emotional effect, to the public. This study compares the basic values embedded in mission, vision, and values statements (MVVs) to the values embedded in tweets. The similarity between MVVs and tweets will be compared based on organization size in order to identify any relationship between the size of a nonprofit and how well they communicate values. Finally, the values found in tweets and MVVs will be used to identify a current audience each nonprofit connects to most. The primary method of …

What's In A Pronoun: The Effect Of Default Pronouns On Opinions Of Grsm Rights, Rachel N. Cebull

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Tavits and Pérez discovered that usage of gender-neutral pronouns in Sweden correlated with higher acceptance of women and LGBTQ+ individuals, and I decided to see if that effect could be replicated in the USA. In this study, I am replicating Tavits and Pérez’s 2019 study, “Language influences mass opinion toward gender and LGBT equality.” I surveyed a sample of 161 individuals and gave them a priming task where they had to write a few sentences using an assigned set of pronouns. The assigned pronouns were he/him, she/her, they/them, and ze/zir. After that, participants were asked to write about a hypothetical …

Taxation Without Representation: A Lack Of Social Benefits Perpetuates Injustice For Daca Recipients, Mckenna Stahlberg

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

For this research, the main theme will revolve around inequalities for those who are under DACA in the United States. Specifically, it will focus on how this community pays taxes on income, yet are denied social benefits from programs that are tax-funded. This research will be comprised of primary data collection, as well as an analysis of existing literature regarding the issue.

The working thesis statement for this research is as follows. The lack of benefits given to DACA recipients, given average employment, wages, and taxes paid, perpetuates a cycle of inequality. Data about income and tax information, as well …

Improving Population Monitoring Of Wolverines By Integrating Noninvasive Genetic Monitoring And Remote Camera Trapping, Nicole Bealer, Kylie Paul, Jessie Golding, Kristy Pilgrim, Mark Hebblewhite, Kevin Scot Mckelvey

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Wolverines (Gulo gulo) are a rare species of conservation concern that inhabit high-elevation montane climates in North America. Because of their remote habitat and rarity, wolverines are difficult to monitor and there is limited information on the population status of wolverines. Scientists are concerned that wolverines may be adversely affected by climate change as they rely on persistent spring snowpack, which increases the need for effective wolverine monitoring. Wolverines in the Bitterroot National Forest (BNF) were monitored for six years (2014-2020) with noninvasive genetic sampling via hair snag and individual identification via remote camera trap, which allowed for …

The Origin Of Nitrogen Fixation Genes In Cyanobacterium Acaryochloris Marina, Jacob J. Baroch

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Biological nitrogen (N) fixation involves the reduction of atmospheric N₂ to biologically available ammonia (NH₃) and is performed by a wide variety of prokaryotic microorganisms. Fixed N is often the limiting nutrient in ecosystems; therefore, microorganisms that can fix N₂, such as some cyanobacteria, are an important source of biologically available N in N-limited habitats. Acaryochloris marina is a Chlorophyll d-producing cyanobacterium that lives attached to red algae or colonial ascidians along the intertidal zone of marine environments. Through comparative genomics, we recently found that an A. marina clade consisting of three strains – …

Assessing The Role Of Time And Beavers In Driving Recovery Following Restoration, Shawnalee M. Voyles, Daylen Egger, Kory Shoja-Chaghorvand

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Ninemile Creek in Western Montana has been highly degraded by placer mining that took place from the 1800s to 1960s, resulting in a straightened stream disconnected from its floodplain by 10 m tall gravel piles. This degradation decreases water storage and makes the habitat less suitable for aquatic organisms. To improve habitat quality, Trout Unlimited has reconfigured four reaches along the creek starting in 2014 to create a new river channel and connected floodplain with two years between each restoration project. Due to the physical disturbance of reconfiguring the stream channel and building the floodplain, plant communities were reset in …

Reference Models For Riparian Restoration After Dam Removal: The Case Of Rattlesnake Creek, Claire C. Shady

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The use of reference models in ecological restoration is imperative to determining the degree of success in restoring a degraded ecosystem. A reference model represents what condition the project ecosystem would be in had degradation not occurred. Oftentimes restoration projects use a single reference site, or limited variables to guide their questions and project goals. When restoration projects are designed around limited reference sites or variables, they may fail to adequately capture ecosystem complexity. The use of a broad set of variables and reference sites allows a reference model to incorporate a wider range of spatial and temporal variability inherent …

Distant Early Warning In Alarm Responses In Chickadees And Nuthatches – Do Birds Use Their Avian Neighbors As Sentinels?, Graydon William Prosser Hidalgo

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Chickadees and nuthatches are known for their ability to avoid predation through complex alarm calls and communication between species within a flock. Very little is known about their ability to listen to and understand alarm calls of other birds with whom they do not usually associate. My research explores the interspecific listening abilities of chickadees and nuthatches, and specifically if they use Townsend’s solitaires and downy woodpeckers as sentinel species. I conducted experimental call playback experiments at bird feeders in western Montana. I played three different acoustic stimuli on a speaker to mixed-species flocks composed mainly of various species of …

Teaching Methods And The Biology Student’S Perspective Of The Transition To Virtual Learning Due To Covid-19, Alexander R. Stuczynski

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In the spring of 2020, the rise of a novel coronavirus swept across the globe and disrupted anatomy education across the globe. Through previous studies, it is known that the transition from traditionally taught classes to strictly virtual generally negatively impacted students, but it is not known what methods and approaches were best suited to anatomy students. Therefore, it is essential to identify which tools and approaches supported anatomy students and those of which did not support anatomy students via analysis of student perception of the transition. Online surveys were gathered from anatomy students in the BIOH 370 Anatomy and …

Analyzing Interactions Among Migratory Elk And Semi-Permeable Fences On The Blackfeet Reservation, Landon Magee

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Since the beginning of the last decade, the Blackfeet Reservation has experienced intense habitat fragmentation in the northern regions of the reservation, particularly in prime elk habitat that is believed to be along a migration corridor. One source of fragmentation has been the erection of a semi-permeable fence associated with a large bison ranch. The purpose of my study was to preliminarily assess potential interactions of elk (Cervus canadensis) and the semi-permeable bison fence as a precursor for further study. I worked in collaboration with the Blackfeet Fish and Game Department and the University of Montana, who will …

Differential Diagnosis Of Abnormal Muscle Gross Anatomy Of A Male Cadaver, Audrey V. Broffman, Carley R. Carpenter

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The ability of healthcare providers to carefully consider all presentations of illness and injury, draw upon research and knowledge to develop a list of potential diagnoses, and further investigate systems expected to be impacted by these diagnoses, is crucial for accurate identification of a condition and subsequent treatment plans to improve the welfare of patients. In order to determine a possible cause for unusual anatomic changes in multiple regions of the male cadaver used in the University of Montana’s Anatomy and Physiology lab, we performed a differential diagnosis.This research is exempt from IRB approval because the individual is no longer …

Inanna The Queen Of Heaven And The Rise Of Large-Scale Pastoralism In Ancient Mesopotamia, Juliana L. Lutz

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Archaeological evidence indicates that during the 4th millennium BCE ancient Mesopotamia underwent major transformations in its economy, subsistence practices, and sociopolitical organization. I review historical approaches, archaeological studies, translations in cuneiform administrative texts and literature to illuminate the principal role large-scale herding practices played in these structural changes. This research highlights the evolution of pastoralism in ancient Mesopotamia by looking at its pivotal role in the expansion and connectivity of the empire. Moreover, I discuss the importance of pastoralism in the formation of socio-political infrastructure, the interplay between cultic practices and wealth redistribution, as well as its use in consolidating …

Time For Radical Action: The Black Grassroots Freedom Struggle In America's Second City In The Mid-1960s, Stephen Vincent Hayes

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The traditional narrative of the civil rights movement focuses on the South, the influential rights organizations that drew national attention, and the men who led these organizations. It also presupposes nonviolence as the central organizing principle. Consequently, this narrative often ignores important actions and actors that fall outside this limited purview, and our understanding of the movement suffers as a result. My research adds nuance and granular detail to the broad Black freedom struggle. I embarked on a “local studies” examination of Chicago and have investigated two topics: school segregation and housing segregation.

I reached several interpretive conclusions about Chicago. …

Bahá'U'Lláh And The God Of Avicenna, Joshua Hall

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This paper, in three parts, compares the core metaphysical positions of the preeminent 11^th century Islamic philosopher Avicenna with the theological teachings of the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh, born in 19^th century Iran. Part one presents Avicenna’s cosmological argument for God’s existence and analyzes his conception of God’s nature, and shows that Bahá’u’lláh broadly affirms Avicenna’s argument for God’s existence and his basic account of the divine nature. Part two subsequently discusses how Avicenna deduces further attributes of God from the notion of his necessary or unconditioned existence, and likewise attempts to demonstrate that Bahá’u’lláh affirms …

African-American Women In Montana, Molly Putnam

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Despite the significant study of western history and African-American migration throughout the United States, until recent years the experience of African Americans in the West has gone largely untold. This is especially true in regards to African-American women and their contribution to western communities. Through a detailed historical analysis, this paper will identify some of the important African-American women in Montana’s past, shedding light on their experiences and main contributions. The essay leans on reputable primary and secondary sources including applications to the National Register of Historic Places, census data, and the writings of historians such as Dr. Quintard Taylor. …

Dementia Friendly 18: A Program To Increase Community Dementia Awareness, Bailey Rustad, Anne Gradoville

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

The purpose of the Dementia Friendly 18-day email training is to provide participants with a unique and efficient way to learn about dementia through articles and videos in 5 to 15 minutes daily. The content of the presentation will include why and how we got involved in this project, our goals, our methods, the results and feedback received from participants, and ideas for future improvements.

Developing An Experiment For General Chemistry Ii, Tyler Fisher

Campus Research Month

I am presenting on my research in figuring out how the electrochem station works for the chemistry department. My goal is to standardize the machine and then design and create an experiment for General Chemistry II Lab.

Synthesis Of Dibenzophosphole Derivatives, Allan Roy Sison

Campus Research Month

This presentation will demonstrate how dibenzophosphole derivatives are synthesized. There will also be studies on the properties of this complex compound. Our experiment is based on previous studies on dibenzophospholes. We will be using the methods from the previous studies and we will synthesize the derivatives of the dibenzophosphole compound using other compounds such as dibromophenol.

Histology Of Psoriasis, Allan Roy Sison

Campus Research Month

I will be presenting a research study on the comparison of the histology of normal skin versus the histology of individuals with Psoriasis.

"What Lights Up Your "Tech"? - Subtitle: Synthesis Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pah) Using To 2,2-Dibromo-1,1-Binapthalene, Jefferd Daniel

Campus Research Month

The application of this molecule can be used eventually to add several elements like (Bromine, Chlorine, etc.) Previous done research that was conducted was in shortening the process to synthesize PAH. Since then, there has been research conducted to stabilize the compound by closing/linking two of the un-linked benzene rings.

Synthesize phosphyl-paralene, functionalize, and analyze the properties of those molecules and attach its derivatives