Scoping Review On Bilingual Aphasia Assessments, Shea A. Kasenga, Danielle K. Fahey

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

I am writing a Scoping Review on Bilingual Aphasia Assessments, which is a piece of literature that showcases any other pieces of literature or resources that exist regarding a specific topic. In this case, the topic is bilingual aphasia assessments. Aphasia is a speech & language disorder, resulting from a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or another type of brain injury or lesion. This scoping review paper is meant to serve as a resource for Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) to use when evaluating an aphasia patient speaking a less common language. With 7,000 languages spoken around the world, many SLPs need aphasia …

Qualitative Inquiry Of Standardized Patients In Slp Clinical Education, Katelin Nicole Cox

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

What are the outcomes of using standardized patients in SLP education?

Communication Sciences

As the need for speech therapists increases, so does the need for adapting and adopting different methods for instructing graduate students in clinical education. The nursing field has used clinical simulations such as having actors portray patients with various medical problems. Research and evidence have shown this type of training to be an effective way to instruct nursing students. Could the same results be replicated for those in the Speech-Language Pathology field? The methods used to determine the effectiveness of clinical simulations in future SLP training have …

Implicit Bias In Speech-Language Pathology: A Journey Towards Inclusive Care, Jadan L. Garner, Jackie Sullivan

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Despite long-lasting attempts to erase biases between people, this is still an issue that exists, even if subconsciously. The purpose of this research project is to investigate the presence and impact of implicit bias on assessment and treatment of speech disorders among multilingual individuals. This will be done with a specific methodology, called a Matched-Guise Test (MGT). MGT is a survey technique created to unveil covert attitudes toward linguistic varieties, including accents, dialects, and languages. In order to measure this bias, we will hire voice actors who are native English speakers and non-native speakers, to record voice samples that resemble …

Impact Of Nocturnal Oxygen Enrichment On High Elevation Acclimatization, P. James Straw, Alejandro M. Rosales, Christopher W. Collins, Christopher W. Collins, Mark L. Mcglyn, Dustin R. Slivka, Brent C. Ruby

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

To offset sleep disturbances at terrestrial altitude during acclimatization, those at high elevations occasionally use nocturnal oxygen enrichment. However, deliberately dampening the hypoxic stimulus may limit acclimatization. PURPOSE: Determine the impact of nocturnal oxygen enrichment on altitude acclimatization. METHODS: 22 males were assigned to sleep with (O₂+, 32.3±2.5% O₂) or without (O₂-, 20.8±0.1% O₂) nocturnal oxygen enrichment. An 8-day acclimatization protocol occurred at a field-based research site with access to sea level (0m), sleeping dormitories (2800m), and a hikeable route to 4200m. Participants were housed at 2800m and completed 5 daily hikes …

The Physiological Response To Exercise In Postmenopausal Women With And Without A History Of Breast Cancer, Liberty Broughton, Sarah Mueller

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO EXERCISE IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN WITH AND WITHOUT HISTORY OF BREAST CANCER

PURPOSE: Compare the cardiovascular response to acute aerobic exercise in healthy postmenopausal women (HPM) and postmenopausal (PM) women after chemotherapeutic treatment from breast cancer (BPM).

METHODS: 5 PM women with a history of breast cancer and 7 apparently healthy PM women completed two visits to the lab. The first visit consisted of a DEXA scan to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition, and a maximal aerobic capacity test (VO_2max) to establish workload. The second visit measured baseline nude body weight (NBW), …

The Effects Of Temperature On Bromus Tectorum (Cheatgrass) Seed Germination, Patrick White, Abby Mcmurtry, Akasha Faist

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Bromus tectorum (Cheatgrass) is an invasive winter annual grass from Eurasia that heavily impacts the intermountain west of North America. B. tectorum invades and changes the fire cycle by making it more intense and frequent by adding continuous fuels to the landscape. This study explores how heat from seasonal fire paired with extreme cold temperatures impacts B. tectorum germination. The hypothesis is that extreme cold temperatures and temperatures simulating grassland fires will impact B. tectorum seeds by decreasing the germination rate and ultimately affecting abundance. When seeds experience cold and heat treatments independently, a lower germination rate is expected relative …

Evolution Of Thermal Performance In A Geographically Widespread Marine Cyanobacterium, Nathan Ryan Miller

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Temperature is one of the most important factors that affect the growth and activity of organisms. Temperatures of coastal marine environments, in particular, vary greatly based on latitude and the local environment (i.e., bays, estuaries, water depth). The Chlorophyll d-producing cyanobacterium, Acaryochloris marina, is widely distributed in shallow, intertidal marine environments enriched in far-red light, but our understanding of its temperature preferences is limited. In this study, we investigated how different temperatures affect the growth of nine A. marina laboratory strains that were isolated from locations that experience distinct differences in mean sea surface temperature. We hypothesized that the …

Bilingual Lexical Processing Study Using French And English Cognates, Regin Koester

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In this research, we are testing the overlap of bilingual processing using French and English cognates. Bilinguals have acquired two or more languages. Cognates, words of similar or the same definition, are a way to categorize distinct groups of words in the mind of a bilingual, more specifically located in the lexicon. The mental lexicon stores all the words a person knows, connecting the different words for different languages. Cognates have been recognized by bilinguals a significant amount faster than other lexical items. Because of the similarity of cognates in different languages, the processing time of cognates is inherently quicker, …

Effects Of Timber Harvest On Understory Vegetation Succession: A Time Series Study, Reese Poindexter, Trevor Weeks, Chad Bishop

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Timber harvest is a global practice that provides jobs, industry materials, energy, and more, and contributes billions to the global economy. However, it can have long-lasting effects on the ecosystems being harvested. Where most work has focused on the responses of trees, the understanding of post-timber harvest effects on the understory community is an area with much opportunity for understanding how these communities shift over time. The majority of knowledge on how understory vegetation responds and changes post-harvest extends to only a decade or two. In order to paint a better picture of how understory species and communities change after …

How Grammatical Differences Impact Bilingual Cognate Processing Speeds, Ella Peterson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This research investigates people who are proficient in two languages (bilinguals) and the speeds at which they process cognates (words with comparable meaning and pronunciation across languages). Previous research has not examined the effects of cognate grammar on processing speeds. We compared processing speeds of cognates with and without grammar differences in 25 Spanish-English bilingual participants. We found that grammar differences do not impact processing speeds when words are isolated, but that grammar differences facilitate processing speeds when words are placed in sentences. These findings suggest that meaning and form should be prioritized above grammar instruction in second-language education.

Drought-Defying Blooms: Mt. Jumbo Wildflowers Accelerate Flowering In Response To Climate Change, Delia Schmidt, Peter Lesica, Meredith Zettlemoyer

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

As our planet undergoes unprecedented climatic shifts, we are beginning to see profound impacts on ecological processes. For example, in western Montana, we expect warming temperatures, altered precipitation, and increasing drought. Both warmer and drier conditions can affect phenology, or the timing of biological events (e.g., flowering). Indeed, earlier flowering is a well-documented consequence of warming temperatures. However, evidence for phenological shifts in response to changing precipitation remains scarce. Using a 29-year dataset on flowering time in a wildflower community on Mt. Jumbo, Missoula, MT, we examined the impacts of warming temperatures and drought conditions on flowering time in species …

Scripted Dialogue Task For People With Aphasia: Effects Of Verb, Object Pronoun, And Sentence Structure Differences, Ashlynn Everett, Anya Craig, Jeremy Yeaton, Catherine Off, Jenna Griffin

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Purpose: Simple syntactic structures are often difficult to produce correctly for people with aphasia (PWA). There has been variability in the literature about how lexical syntax (i.e., ‘parts of speech’) correlates to production of grammatical errors. We aimed to assess verb and object pronoun errors in English-speaking PWA while reducing working memory demands, using a modified replication of Rossi et. al. (2013).

Methods: We used a scripted dialogue paradigm to assess how (a) declarative (“the man wants to eat the cookies”) and imperative (“eat the cookies”) sentence structures, (b) verbs, and (c) object pronouns differentially affected accuracy of sentence completion. …

Impact Of Topical Capsaicin Cream On Thermoregulation And Perception While Walking In The Cold, Alice L. Held, Jessica L. Moler, Alejandro M. Rosales, Andrew C. Engellant

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Capsaicin, a chili pepper extract, can stimulate increased skin blood flow (SkBF) with a perceived warming sensation on application areas. Larger surface area application may exert a more systemic thermoregulatory response. Capsaicin could assist with maintaining heat transport to the distal extremities, minimizing cold weather injury risk. However, the thermoregulatory and perceptual impact of topical capsaicin cream application prior to exercise in the cold is unknown. METHODS: Following application of either a 0.1% capsaicin or control cream to the upper and lower extremities (10 g total, 40-50% body surface area), 11 participants in shorts and a t-shirt were exposed to …

Earlier Snowmelt Adversely Affects Alpine Plant Reproduction, August Lawson, Megan Demarche, Meredith Zettlemoyer

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Alpine ecosystems, a high-elevation habitat found above treeline, are experiencing rapid rates of climate change. Climate change results in warmer, drier conditions and increasingly early snowmelt. However, we have a limited understanding of how climate change affects alpine plant population dynamics, including flower, fruit, and seed production. Recent evidence suggests that seed production declines as snow melt occurs earlier. In summer 2023, we monitored populations of three alpine plants, Minuartia obtusiloba, Phlox condensata, and Silene acaulis. These three species are long-lived, low-growing cushion plants commonly found in alpine habitats across the globe. We quantified fruit production of these …

The Pharmacist's Role In Reproductive Justice, Ann Killen

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The pharmacist’s role in an outpatient setting is expanding from one focused solely on dispensing medications to one that collaborates with other healthcare professionals to offer clinical services. Pharmacists are professionally equipped to offer consultations regarding reproductive health services, as they are experts in medication therapy management and are easily accessible in community settings. Twenty states in the U.S. currently have laws permitting pharmacists to consult with patients and prescribe birth control, and several other states have similar legislation in progress. In rural states, pharmacists can bridge the gap many patients face in accessing quality reproductive care through this advancement …

The Youth Forest Monitoring Program: Informing High School Students, Prescribed Fire Management, And The Broader Community, Caitlyn Sena, Elizabeth Burke

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The purpose of this project is to explore whether citizen science can fill important prescribed burn research gaps as well as helping local communities better understand prescribed burning in general. The project proposes looking at the Youth Forest Monitoring Program (YFMP)—a high school citizen science program out of the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest—and the data that has been collected on prescribed burn impacts by the program as a case study. The YFMP provides learning experiences to high school students in ecological data collection through commonly applied methods outlined in the Rapid Forest Assessment (RFA). RFA is a relatively …

Understanding The Role Of Maternal-Fetal Tissue Communication In The Evolution Of Genomic Imprinting And Disruption Of Placental Development, Ashlin K. Slanger

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Understanding the role of maternal-fetal tissue communication in the evolution of genomic imprinting and disruption of placental development

Ashlin Slanger¹, John Statz¹, Fernando Rodriguez¹, Jeff Good¹

¹Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana

The placenta is a fast-evolving organ in mammals and has been hypothesized to be a hotspot for the evolution of genomic imprinting. Imprinted expression is a form of gene regulation by which some genes show parent-of-origin dependent allelic expression bias and is critical for successful mammalian development. Studies of placental gene expression in hybridizations between mouse species have shown disruption of placental expression in several genes including …

Thomas Brown Castles: A Portrait Of Service Beyond The Front Lines, Lauren Paige Van Cleaf

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Thomas Brown Castles was born on August 10th, 1922, the seventh child of European Immigrants William and Catherine Irwin Castles. He grew up in a tiny Montana town called Superior, taking in everything it had to offer. Thomas dedicated his life to those around him, serving others in any way he could: local politics, running a family grocery store and serving the United States in World War II. The purpose of this project is to bring to light his powerful actions, while also allowing his experiences to shed light on the 20th-century history of Veterans Affairs and life after the …

Assessing American Attitudes: Welfare Perceptions Over Time By Race, Gender And Education, Liliana H. Silver

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Income and wealth inequality in the United States have skyrocketed since the 1970s, making the country increasingly unequal (Hout 2021; Lee 2023; Piketty and Saez 2014). Researchers disagree on whether overall support for redistribution in the United States has changed in the last several decades (Ashok et al. 2016; Lee 2023; Pittau et al. 2016) but recent studies suggest the country has seen a significant political realignment based on race and education. Education levels are increasingly becoming major determinants in this voter realignment (Kitschelt and Rehm 2019). Much of the literature on attitudes toward welfare exists in political science or …

The Impact Of Past Experiences Of Intimate Partner Violence And Coercion On Abortion Attitudes, Grace M. Bintz, Selina Hardt

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Recent changes to the abortion laws across the United States have had a profound impact on the psychological well-being and overall health of women. The extent and ways that people support or oppose access to abortion may be influenced by personal experiences of sexual violence and coercion. To understand the implications of legal actions towards women’s reproductive health, this study explores associations between abortion attitudes and experiences of reproductive coercion, non-partner sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and perceptions of people actively seeking abortion access. In this study, participants were asked about their personal attitudes towards abortion, and their experiences of …

Sex Workers, Homicide, And Content Analysis, Caitlin Carvalho

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The current analysis is on the language used to describe sex workers who are victims of homicide. It explores the types of words used to describe the victims, specifically the use of the word prostitute. The main objective of this project is to examine the potential biases in the language used in academic and online news articles to describe sex workers who are victims of homicide. The methodology is a content analysis with the only guidelines being that the articles need to include any description of sex workers as victims of homicide. This allows for comparison of contemporary pieces and …

Disinformation's Detriment To Democracy: A Russian-African Case Study, Jorgia R. Hawthorne

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The research project will revolve around Russian disinformation campaigns in Africa and the effects of those campaigns on African democracies. The project will also include explanations of the intersection of reliable information and functioning democracy as well as Russian motivations behind the campaigns.

As a political science and journalism student, I am interested in misinformation/disinformation and how/why it is so influential in the health of a democracy. I’ve done research into these phenomena in the United States, but the Russian attacks in Africa appear to be more coordinated. Additionally, African democracies have become increasingly more unstable and I would like …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Methane Efflux In A Controlled Flooded Forest Inside Biosphere 2, Junior Burks

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Due to its greater radiative forcing potency compared to carbon dioxide, gaseous methane plays a key role in our climate system. Wetland ecosystems constitute a significant portion of the global methane cycle, with one major source of emissions being from annually flooded forests in the Amazon basin. Recent research has shown that tree stems can significantly contribute to the methane flux from waterlogged ecosystems (Pangala et al. 2013, 2017). However, to fully assess the influence of tree stem fluxes on flooded forest methane emissions and the global budget, we need to better understand the spatial and temporal variability of the …

What Goes Around Comes Around, Roger Moore, Nina Vermolen, Mannix Shaffer, Jaiden Stansberry, Carson Cronk, Carson Brandt, Elena Bigart

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

What Goes Around Comes Around

Climate change is a prevalent issue affecting every individual globally. There are many

factors that increase of greenhouse gases, including textile waste. Textiles can have an

extended lifetime, but are often discarded once unwanted or outgrown. One solution to mitigate the negative global impacts of textiles is to apply the circular economy and reuse clothing. Our project not only focuses on defining the circular economy and its implementation, but also highlights waste management, campus sustainability, and education awareness. This project aims to discover how the University of Montana can implement the circular economy in its …

Effect Of El Nino And Sunspot Cycles On Global And Reginal Climate, August Nathan Tolzman

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

While increasing greenhouse gases are causing an increase in global temperatures and precipitation, there is considerable interannual variability in global and regional climate patterns that is not fully understood. This research will be carried out by reading papers on this topic and creating my own graphs with El Nino, sunspot cycles, global climate, reginal climate, and snowpack in Western Montana. The winter of 2023-2024 has been dominated by unusually warm temperatures and a significantly smaller snowpack. A common explanation for these warmer and dryer winters is El Nino events. This year we are experiencing a strong El Nino event along …

Deeply Rooted: The Role Of Indigenized Research Approaches In Camas Restoration Ecology, Tessa Grace Jarden

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Despite being one of the most culturally significant and historically abundant native plants of the Pacific Northwest, common camas (Camassia quamash (Pursh) Greene) has undergone a precipitous decline across its range. This decline, driven primarily by agricultural land-use conversion and wetland drainage, has disproportionately impacted Indigenous peoples for whom camas is a cultural keystone species. For thousands of years prior to colonization, tribes across the Pacific Northwest relied on camas bulbs as a first food and managed camas prairies using Traditional Resource Management (TRM) practices. Camas restoration has emerged as a widespread management priority in recent years, particularly among …

The New Horizon Of Psychedelic Treatment For Mental Health, Emily G. Tschetter

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

For people who have been struggling with mental illness for years, if the limited treatment options of therapy and prescription medication aren’t effective for them, they’re often left feeling hopeless when seeking relief. My project, a feature story that ran in the University of Montana School of Journalism’s Byline Magazine, dove into an emerging treatment for mental illness some Montanans are turning to — psychedelics. I analyzed past news coverage and research on the use of ketamine, psylocibin and MDMA to treat disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, interviewed owners of Montana ketamine treatment centers and interviewed Montanans who …

Interannual Growth-Climate Relationships Of Western Larch After Wildfire In The Northwest United States, Junior Burks

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Montane and mixed-mesic conifer forests in the northwestern United States are burning at rates greater than any time in recent decades, due to the combined impacts of global warming and historical and contemporary land use and land management. Western larch (Larix occidentalis) is a tree of high regional significance, exhibiting a variety of traits that make it resistant and resilient to fire. Because seedlings are generally more sensitive to environmental stressors than adults, the impacts of climate change are expected to be detectable first in juvenile trees. Recent research shows that the natural regeneration of western larch after …

Creation Of A Database And Website For Genome Sequencing Data, Jacqueline Wisdom Olexa

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

As the field of computational genomics continues to expand in both potential and application, it is imperative now than ever to ensure that massive genetic sequencing datasets are properly stored in an accessible manner. This project sought to establish a practical, user-friendly, secure full-stack system for a genomics research lab (the Good Lab; thegoodlab.org) at the University of Montana. A MySQL database and connected web application was ruled the best configuration to maximize utility and accessibility for the lab’s researchers. Building the logical framework for the database, creating the server, and sourcing data occurred over several months. The data ranged …

Once A Loser, Always A Loser: Effects Of Social Defeat In Fruit Flies, Erin Szalda-Petree, Deanna Cuello, Wyatt Ploot

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Animals often behave in ways that align with the underlying social structure of their species. Existing lower in the social hierarchy can have negative consequences for health and well-being, including changes in appetite and depression-like symptoms (Becker et al., 2008). In Drosophila melanogaster, the male social hierarchy is determined by aggressive encounters in which one fly becomes a dominant winner and one becomes a submissive loser. Interestingly, flies that have previously lost a fight are more likely to lose the next one (Yurkovic et al., 2006). This adoption of a “loser” phenotype in turn affects other behaviors such as courtship …