Digital Commons Network^™

The Invisible Injury, Makenzie Mcdonald

Senior Honors Projects

Concussions are one of the most common injuries seen in sports, and often occur during other activities, such as automobile accidents or falls. Yet unlike most other injuries they are invisible to the naked eye. Bumping your head into something normally does not cause any outwardly physical damage, and even if a scrape or bruise does form it is still impossible to tell if there is a traumatic brain injury underneath. However, concussions are a serious and dangerous injury that if left untreated could ultimately be fatal. Someone suffering from a concussion often suffers in silence and what can feel …

Means Of Menstruation, Hannah Eddleston

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Describing The Effect Of Thin Layer Sediment Placement On Coastal Microbial Communities Using Foraminifera Diversity, Elizabeth B. Billings

Senior Honors Projects

Salt marshes are rich ecosystems that play an important role in aquatic food systems and prevent erosion while also providing essential habitats for wildlife. Climate change has resulted in rising sea levels and erosion of these coastal wetlands. Thin Layer Sediment Placement (TLP) is a restoration effort being implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change on coastal ecosystems. The TLP process raises elevation of the marsh and provides substrates for vegetative growth by spraying dredged sediment over existing marsh. The impacts of TLP on microbial populations is not widely understood, therefore metrics are required to study the effects of …

Understanding The Public Perception Of Available Scientific Resources In Coastal Southern Maine, James Gallagher

Senior Honors Projects

I have focused my education as an undergrad towards the effective communication of scientific fact to non-scientific groups. This area of study has recently been dubbed Science Communication and it encompasses the effective articulation, communication, and education of scientific topics to people who haven’t dedicated their lives to scientific study. A major component of effective Scientific Communication is understanding your audience and what kind of communication strategies are best for a chosen demographic.

I grew up in Ocean Park Maine, a small town on the coast of Southern Maine which drove my interest in Marine Science. With my experience in …

What China’S Infrastructure Development Abroad Reveals About Its International Goals, Gillian Hodge

Senior Honors Projects

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has resulted in a variety of investment and infrastructure projects around the world, especially in developing countries. This initiative is unique in its implementation strategy, particularly the hands-on approach China takes to each infrastructure development project. Projects are financed by Chinese national banks and built by Chinese corporations utilizing majority-Chinese labor. These projects are seen by many countries as mutually beneficial; China is able to provide gainful employment and business to its national corporations in exchange for lucrative infrastructure for the host countries in the form of advanced roads, rails, ports, etc. Other countries, especially …

Integration Of Medicinal Fungi Into The Heber W. Youngken Jr. Medicinal Garden, Anthony Makashov

Senior Honors Projects

The Heber W. Youngken Jr. Medicinal Garden is a one-of-a-kind resource that houses close to 300 medicinal plants and is filled to the brim with educational opportunities. For the College of Pharmacy, this garden has been the centerpiece of many classes taught here at the University of Rhode Island and has roots as a physical teaching space. While the garden contains a plethora of plant species, medicinal fungi have yet to have been included in the garden, despite their relevance as both sources of pharmaceutical drug discovery and as natural products with inherent physiological benefits themselves. The purpose of my …

Stigma Surrounding The Use Of Food Insecurity Programs Among College Students, Brianna Kelly

Senior Honors Projects

While addressing food insecurity in college students, a multifactorial approach is crucial in understanding the prevalence of food insecurity and barriers that can further hinder a student from becoming food secure, such as stigma. In the United States, 38.3 million Americans are food insecure (Food Security in the US, 2020). Approximately 40% of college students across the nation reported past-month insecurity in a 2019 study (Frank et al., 2021). A qualitative study among students at the University of North Texas found that due to stigma, many students struggling with food insecurity often did not use federal services or turn to …

How Covid-19 Will Change The Future Of Film And Television In The United States, Isabel Cappo

Senior Honors Projects

March 2020 marked a turning point in U.S. culture as Covid-19 swept across the globe. As of today, the pandemic has taken over six million lives worldwide. Along with the large death toll, Covid has changed so much about the way we interact with others, the way we conduct business and the way we talk about our health. It has even begun to change the film and television we consume and how we consume it. So, what is the future of U.S. film and television in a post Covid-19 society? To answer this question, we can look towards another tragic …

The Importance Of Parent-Teacher Communication And Collaboration And How To Enhance Them For Various Types Of Families, Madeleine O'Neil

Senior Honors Projects

An educator is defined as someone who provides instruction to others. What this definition does not include is how the role of a teacher or educator goes far beyond merely providing instructions and teaching others. In order to be effective, teachers must learn how to adequately communicate and collaborate with their students, other education professionals, and families. Especially in the education field, teachers must learn how to communicate and collaborate with each student’s family to help create positive, productive, and beneficial professional relationships.

Communication should be ongoing and should be carried out in a manner that works for both the …

Combating Recidivism, Shaylin Daley

Senior Honors Projects

SHAYLIN DALEY (Psychology) Combating Recidivism Sponsor: Lisa Holley (Political Science) Many people believe that criminals cannot be helped. It is evident that at least some of society shuns people who break laws and have negative views about the amount of money spent on detaining inmates. Thousands of individuals are released from United States prisons a day. Many of these individuals have no plan in place for their return home and are sent into the streets with nothing except for a jail ID. Most of these people will end up returning to prison. A good sum of these people face problems …

Arguments In Opposition Of The Chinese Exclusion Act, Kaylee Goyette

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Finance And Accounting Dual-Degree Proposal, Meghan Finley

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Make Time For Movement: 5-Minute Exercise Breaks In The Classroom, Catherine O'Donnell

Senior Honors Projects

Picture yourself back in elementary school. Have you ever struggled to finish an assignment no matter how hard you tried? You may have felt antsy, unfocused, or completely exhausted from the constant thinking and brain power it takes to complete a full six hour school day. What could you have done to regain focus and energy to continue learning? An exercise break! As an Elementary Education major and certified Group Exercise fitness instructor, I aspire to combine my passion for teaching and fitness by bringing exercise into the classroom. For my project, I have designed 5-minute movement breaks that follow …

Sex, Suffrage, And Scandalous Ladies Podcast, Emma Hayes

Senior Honors Projects

The podcast, “Sex, Suffrage, and Scandalous Women,” tells stories of activists about whom the average listener may not be familiar. General audiences may not know the women’s impact beyond a basic level. Mainstream history lessons often gloss over the complex and nuanced aspects of feminist movement accomplishments and only trace activism in broad strokes. By disseminating this research in a podcast form I can highlight understudied aspects of women’s history in a way that is digestible and easy to understand. The podcast aims to answer questions about the motives of each movement and theme of activism, as well as the …

Performing From Under Penal Gaze: Examining What Incarcerated People Post To Tiktok, Lily B. Truppi

Senior Honors Projects

The prison walls previously keeping the lives of inmates private from the general population had been largely successful. In recent years, the creation of the internet and the accessibility of social media has transformed the way we can view and interact with the incarcerated population. Since the introduction of the social media app known as TikTok, the experience and lives of inmates have been posted and consumed by a larger portion of the population outside of academia. Within these videos inmates can express themselves through performance of culturally popular trends, their lives within prison, and establish identity in a place …

Sino-Us Trade War, Erin Torgersen

Senior Honors Projects

China and the United States are unquestionably the two wealthiest economies in the world. These two countries alone account for almost half of the world’s wealth. As these nations battle to become the world's most powerful economy, it is no surprise high tensions have developed to complicate their relationship. China’s economy has been rapidly growing, especially in the last two decades as China is making its way towards the top of the list of strongest economies through its abundance of exports and manufacturing. Alternatively, as the U.S.’s economy has slowly decreased in the last few years, the gap between the …

The Met Costume Institute: Evolution, Metamorphosis, And Cultural Phenomenon, Shelby Kanski

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Banana: A Scholarly And Narrative Recollection Of My Experiences As A Korean American Adoptee, Diana Cajolet

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Promoting The Healthy Development Of All Adolescents Through An Equity Lens: Continuing Education For Secondary-Level Educators, Isabella Simone

Senior Honors Projects

American schools, as an institution, have a mission to educate society’s youth in a way that is characterized by, and promotes, equity regarding educational access, opportunities, and outcomes. Doing so promises to support the individual growth and development of all students. Unfortunately, high school students face challenges regarding healthy development — academic, social, and identity-based — during the transition from childhood to adulthood. These challenges include navigating their identity development, achieving academic success, managing school and family demands, and planning for their futures. Barriers to the successful achievement of these challenges include risk factors associated with family relationships, financial standing, …

Big Business, Small Plastic, Hannah Johnson

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Emergency Medicine And Mental Health: Are We Adequately Educating And Training Providers To Care For Mental Health Patients?, Abigail Miller

Senior Honors Projects

Mental health is a significant problem in the United States. In the prehospital setting, it is not prioritized like other medical conditions, and therefore, does not receive the same quality of treatment. Emergency Medical Service providers (EMS providers) play a significant role in caring for people experiencing mental health emergencies, as many of these people come to the hospital via ambulance. EMS providers are responsible for providing quality prehospital care, effectively communicating, and advocating for patients during the transfer of care to emergency department staff. This transfer of care is one of the first steps toward quality treatment and continuity …

Delving Into The Forbidden: Banned And Challenged Literature Syllabus, Grace Burns

Senior Honors Projects

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them,” (Ray Bradbury).

Literature is a mirror which unites even the most unlikely characters, invites us to reflect on our lives, promotes critical thinking and discussion as well as explores the themes of humanity over time. As the world around us changes, then, it is only natural that literature changes along with it. Exposure to literature of many kinds can only aid in the development of a richer appreciation for the world around us and the many lives within it.

Further, the consistent evolution …

A Pathogen Outside Its Host: F. Tularensis Survival In Water, Aisling Macaraeg

Senior Honors Projects

Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative pathogenic bacterium and is the causative agent for tularemia. While our understanding of F. tularensis survival in the environment is limited, it is clear they can persist in freshwater aquatic environments for long periods of time. Currently, there is a gap in knowledge with the understanding of the genes involved with the long-term survival of F. tularensis in an aquatic environment. In the laboratory setting, it has been found that lower temperatures seem to allow longer survival. The aim of this project is to identify laboratory conditions that allow F. tularensis to survive longterm in …

Transgender Gender-Affirming Speech And Voice Treatment Tvc: When Does The Voice Change?, Michaela Cameron

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

The Islands Of Sounds Boardgame, Mackenzie Pontonio

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Burnout Rates Affecting The Future Of Bedside Nursing, Hannah Kramer

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Ambient Temperature Phase Change Launcher, Johnny Molloy

Senior Honors Projects

JOHNNY MOLLOY (Mechanical Engineering) Ambient Temperature Phase Change Launcher Sponsor: Bahram Nassersharif (Mechanical Engineering)

Deployment of payloads stored in watertight cylindrical bodies in underwater environmental conditions are of interest to the marine and naval community. The proposed work will investigate the possibility of using inert carbon dioxide gas compressed into its liquid state and stored under pressure to launch payloads by means of expansion from a cylindrical tube. To suit the needs of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), this launching system must fire from up to 14 ft underwater, have two degrees of freedom, and the payload must not …

A Child's Experience Working Through Grief: A Booklet For School Aged Children Navigating Their Grief Journeys, Alyssa Johnson

Senior Honors Projects

The term grief describes the feelings you experience in response to the death of a person in your life, while the term mourning represents the period in which you feel or express signs of grief or sorrow. A child’s grief experience after the death of a significant person in their life is an often overlooked and understudied topic. The importance of being open and honest with children as they navigate their grief journey is at the forefront of this project. Using research regarding how children process, express, and understand grief, I created, “A Person In My Life Has Died, What …

Food Insecurity And Charitable Food Services: What Do College Students Think About Such Public Health Interventions?, Kaitlyn Driscoll

Senior Honors Projects

Hunger and food insecurity exist across millions of households in the United States. In 2020, an estimated 1 in 8 Americans were food insecure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food required for an individual to maintain an active, healthy life. Food insecurity is associated with an increased prevalence of chronic health conditions and directly affects a student’s ability to learn. Approximately 30% of college students obtaining an education in the United States are currently food insecure. Universities across the country are addressing student hunger via the establishment of on-campus …

The Effectiveness Of Peer To Peer Mentoring In Reducing Symptoms Of Depression And Anxiety In College Students, Ryan Harra

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

University counseling centers are struggling against resource constraints to meet the rising demand for mental health care. Peer-based mentoring programs offer the potential for an alternative approach to mitigate the increasing demand for treatment and improve overall psychological well-being among college students. However, research investigating peer mentoring programs on college campuses is lacking. This study evaluates program feasibility and potential effectiveness in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms among college students that underwent a 4-week peer mentoring program. Results from this preliminary study indicate peer-based programs may be more effective in reducing symptoms of depression (especially anhedonic depression) compared to anxiety. …