Symposium Celebrates Student Research

A record 50 students displayed their results from 35 research projects in Winter Hall on April 15. The 18th annual Westmont College Student Research Symposium celebrates the noteworthy accomplishments of students and their work from the divisions of the humanities, social sciences and the natural and behavioral sciences.

“One of the hallmarks of Westmont’s academic program consists in the opportunity for undergraduate students to work directly with faculty on research and scholarly projects,” says Warren Rogers, professor of physics, who coordinated the event.

This year’s research topics included the transmission of blood parasites from female garter snakes to their offspring, variations in light in two-star systems, the effects of charismatic worship on generosity, the role of ethnic identity in prejudice toward immigrants, and improving social behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Six of the 50 students presented their major honors projects at the symposium. These included biology/chemistry double majors Aleah Bond ’14, “N-Substituted Oxazolidinones in the Preparation of Functionalized Chiral Auxiliaries”; and Tjitske Veldstra ’14, “Formation of Beta-Sheet Brils from Octapeptide Mixtures.” Chemistry majors Elizabeth Grossman ’14, “EW-CRDS and Spatial Investigation of Adsorption,” and Becky Winchenbaugh ’15, “Preparation of Chiral Cinnamoyl Esters from Cyclic Carbonates,” also presented.

English major Madeline Celley ’14, “Embodying the Self: Harmonizing Body and Identity in ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘On Beauty,’” and religious studies major Tanner Lowe ’14, “Semitic influence in the Language of the Apocalypse,” also displayed their major honors projects.

Heidi Henes-Van Bergen, chemistry assistant, synthesized the research materials into booklets.