News & Events
STEM Student Presentations
The Psychology Department attended the Eastern Psychological Association’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia from 2/29 to 3/2. Attendees included Catherine Alvarado ’24, Maria Medrano ’26, Juliette Pangilinan ’24, Jessica Jazmin Reyes ’24, Melanie Roche ’24, Ange-Marguerite Teko-Agbo ’25, Nayeli Torres ’24, and Ramona Urrutia ’25, Dr. Hanson, Dr. Wisneski, Dr. Bubka, Dr. Hamilton, and Dr. Feinberg.
Four students presented posters at the conference. Ramona Urrutia presented a poster titled “Exploring the Role of the 2020 Election, the January 6th Riots, and Attributions of Blame in Moralization/Demoralization.” Juliette Pangilinan and Melanie Roche presented a poster entitled “Political Candidate Moralization and Perceptions of the January 6th Riot” and Maria Medrano presented a poster entitled “Does a Bizarreness Effect of Color Occur in Free Recall?”
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In addition, eight students (Dr. Laura Twersky research advisor) presented their research on the effects of microplastics at the 2024 The Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey (ICUNJ)- Undergraduate Research Sympsoium at Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ on March 19th. Their presentations were entitled:
- Danilo Rocenovic ’24, Katherine Sanchez ’25 and Shereen Hanna’ 25: “Effects of Microplastic Components , Individually and in Combination, on Neurodevelopment in Xenopus laevis (clawed frog)”
- Barbara Munoz’25 and Carlos Duque Sanchez’25: “Effects of Selected Microplastics and Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals on the Cardiovascular System of Xenopus laevis (clawed frog)”
- Kenia Castellanos’24: “The Effects of Polystyrene, Bisphenol A and Bisphenol S, Individually and in Combination, on Larval Amphibian Tail Regeneration”
- Hadia Iman’25 and Ratiba Megalla ’25: “Effects of Microplastics/Endocrine Disruptors on Skeletal Development”
In photo L to R: Danilo Rocenovic, Katherine Sanchez, and Shereen Hanna
Essowedeou Jeremie Botobikpissi presented a poster titled “Classification Algorithm on a Quantum Computer” at the joint Mathematical Association of America New Jersey Spring Meeting and Garden State Undergraduate Mathematics Conference held March 23, 2024 at Rowan University. Jeremie is a PODER Fellow and LEAPS Scholar, who is majoring in cyber security and minoring in mathematics. Dr. Rebecca Conley was his faculty mentor for the research.
STEM Student Spotlights
Barbara Munoz, Senior Biology Major, recently conducted research on frog embryos to detect heart defects caused by micro plastics. The goal of this project was to determine micro plastics’ potential harm to all species exposed to such pollution in their environments.
Matthew Prothero, Alumni, conducted a research study for his honors thesis on how the addition of ray tracing to video game graphics impacted overall user experience.
Maria Medrano, Sophomore Psychology Major, worked on a study done on the bizarreness effect. The project was on whether or not a bizarreness effect on color occurred in Free Recall.