Discovery on Display

Ohio Wesleyan Students Present Academic, Creative Work at 2026 Spring Student Symposium

DELAWARE, Ohio - More than 100 Ohio Wesleyan University students shared research and creative work at the OWU Student Symposium, highlighting the breadth, depth, and quality of the work they produced during the 2025-2026 academic year.

The following students presented poster or oral presentations on the following topics at the April 16 symposium. More information is available, including project abstracts, at owu.edu/studentsymposium.

Poster Presentations

• Klevione Brown '28 and River Hamilton '27 presented Anterior Cruciate Ligament Autograft Reconstruction Outcomes in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Critically Appraised Topic, mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Starns.
• Kieren Campbell '27, Stefaniia Minakova '28, Shane Slack '27, and Mariema Thiobou '27 presented Household Well-Being Inside the United States, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Hayden Kelner '27 presented Monitoring Spotted Salamanders and Leaf Out Phenology at Stratford Ecological Center's Vernal Pool, mentored by faculty member Laurie Anderson.
• McCalister Klinzing '28 presented Rewilding in the Central Apennines: Bridging Ecology, Community, and Business, mentored by staff member William Hayes.
• Ella Holtsberry '27, Casey Kaylor '27, Ethan Payne '28, and Simon Rivera '28 presented Business IV Variables, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Shelby Bay '26, Maddie Hoyt '26, and Maria Thibodeaux '27 presented The Effectiveness of an Educational Program on Young Swimmers Water Consumption and Dry Land Exercises, mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Starns.
• Lilly Colbeck '27, Emerson Freas '26, and Frida Ramirez '27 presented The Golden Age in the Modern Day: Adapting Ana Caro's Valor, agravio y mujer, mentored by faculty member Glenda Yael Nieto Cuebas.
• Jaden Hopkins '27, Ryan McGinley '27, Eli Stewart '27, Alex Stoller '27, and Nana Tweneboa-Kodua '27 presented The Recalibration Deep Dive: A Quantitative Study of Labor Hoarding and Wage Stickiness in 2026, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Jennifer Velasquez '27 presented Antimicrobial Properties of Red Oak and White Oak Organic Extracts, mentored by faculty member Andrea Suria.
• Ella Neuenschwander '27 presented How Diet and Energetics Drive Fine-scale Demographic Variation in the Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), mentored by faculty member Eric Gangloff.
• Justin Beekman '27, Ya'Va Harris '27, Jack Novak '27, and Miles Theetge '27 presented Inflation, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Sharvi Arora '26, Emily Holt '27, and Jan Kubacek '26 presented Investigating the Effects of Early Adolescent Stress on Gabaa α3 Subunit Expression, mentored by faculty member Chelsea Vadnie.
• Doyi Kim '27, Sophia Rohr '27, and Ian Sander '27 presented Secrets of the Sailfin: Impact of Social Environment on Gut Microbiome of Sailfin Mollies (Poecilla latipinna), mentored by faculty member Andrea Suria.
• Luke Johnson '27 presented Beyond the Eye Test: A Data-Driven Framework for Quantifying "Hot" and "Cold", mentored by faculty member Scott Linder.
• Devon Haley '26 presented Homefield Advantage in Action: Climbing and Sprinting Performance in Podarcis muralis, mentored by faculty member Eric Gangloff.
• Alex Bzdafka '27 presented Effects of Soil Sodium Concentration on Nectar Sodium Concentrations of Snapdragons, mentored by faculty member Laurie Anderson.
• Wade Beckstrom '27, Jason Mosher '27, and Henry Ross '27 presented Housing Newsletter, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Aidan Weir '27 presented Histology of Fish Reproductive Organs, mentored by faculty member Tami Panhuis.
• Ryan Betts '26, Carson Browning '27, Evaleigh Garnett '26, and Jack Jennings '27 presented Evaluating the Economic Insight Into the Impacts of the Financial Sector, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Olivia Green '27, Daniel Koomson '27, Jada Taylor '28, and Aaron Woods '27 presented Economic Indicators Business IV, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Riley Brokaw '26, Reid Hall '28, Cord Podolan '26, and Tyler Staten '27 presented Inflation: Comparing Expectations and Reality, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Ariana Brown '26 and Brooklyn Upp '27 presented Activity-Cooccurrence of Red Backed Salamanders, mentored by faculty member Eric Gangloff.
• Mia Bucci '28, Lilly Colbeck '27, Peyton Groves '26, and Maria Thibodeaux '27 presented Acquisition of Food in Cuba, mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
• Jacqueline Harper '28, Mallorie Hollis '26, and Kailey Sweet '28 presented Understanding and Forecasting the Labor Market, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Carsyn Hagans '26 present Growing Season Temperature and Tree Size Influence Sap Sugar Concentration in Acer saccharum: A Multi-Year Study, mentored by faculty member Laurie Anderson.
• Maddie Hoyt '26 presented The Effect of Taper on Scapular Positioning in Division III Collegiate Swimmers, presented by faculty mentors Andrew Busch and Elizabeth Starns.
• Cooper Christie '26 presented Examining the Function of a Potential Type VI Secretion System Toxin in a Reproductive Bacterial Symbiont of the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid, mentored by faculty member Andrea Suria.
• Bradley Conley '28, Evan Dunham '26, Chinedu Melenu '26, and Garrett Osborne '28 presented Business III Data Newsletter, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Austin Jackson '26 presented Stock Forecasting: Integrating Models for Stock Prediction, mentored by faculty member Craig Jackson.
• Andrew Inamdar '27 presented Characterizing the Microbiome and Antimicrobial Activity of Mud Crab and Porcelain Crab Eggs, mentored by faculty member Andrea Suria.
• Lauren Dorsel '26 and Camille Payne '26 presented Understanding the Challenges of Disability and Representation: The Case of Food Allergy, mentored by faculty member Franchesca Nestor.
• Lilly Colbeck '27, Lucy Johnson '27, and Emma Pzedpelski '27 presented The State of the Housing Market: An Economic Perspective, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Ranjan Sharma '27 presented Morphology of Benadryl Trip: Structural Character Design in Interactive Fiction, mentored by faculty member Stephanie Merkel.
• Naya Banti '26 presented Iberian Lynx Monitoring and Population Forecasting Using Machine Learning, mentored by faculty member Mehwish Abbasi.
• Owen Dooley '27, Adrian Enrique '27, and Josiah Gross '27 presented Water Acquisition and Safety in Cuba, mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
• Logan Bills '28, Matthew deGraft-Johnson '28, Connor Lasch '27, and Cole Tulgestke '27 presented International Business Newsletter, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Nia Barjatya '27, Susan Benincasa '28, Reagan Shifflett '28, and Carolina Sola '28 presented Forecasting Industrial Sector Performance: Evidence from Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization, Construction Spending, and Durable Goods, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• C.J. Abahazi '27, Zach Hertzberg '28, and Alexander Tovtyn '27 presented Housing Newsletter, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Jeyoung Son '27, Nagomi Katano '28, Stanly Scandell '28, and Inesh Tickoo '26 presented Data Project: International, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.

Oral Presentations

• Pedro Figueiredo '26 presented Bringing Verona to OWU: Romeo & Juliet Publicity Campaign, mentored by faculty member Ashley Kennard.
• Nyx Forsythe '27 presented Casta Paintings: Legacies of Racism and Sexism in Mexico from the Colonial Period to the Present, mentored by faculty member Camilla Querin.
• Jessie Spurling '26 presented Pressure to Conform: How LGBTQ+ Family Socialization Shapes Gender Norms in Emerging Adulthood, mentored by faculty member Krystal Cashen.
• Roland-William McGurr '26 presented Ideologies Which Mere Modernity Cannot Kill: "The Great War in England in 1897", "Dracula", & the Eastern Question, mentored by faculty member Mark Allison.
• Aryaa Subedi '27 presented AI-Driven Dormitory Access: A Facial Recognition Approach, mentored by faculty member Mehwish Abbasi.
• Luke Johnson '27, Kirsten Quinn '28, and Chris Radman Jr. '27 presented Financial Metrics and Trends: Tracking the Key Indicators of Today's Economy, mentored by faculty member Goran Skosples.
• Isabel Allo '26 presented Investigating the Impacts of the United States Food System on Food Insecurity, mentored by faculty member Chris Fink.
• Katalina Abell '28, Lillian Borofsky '28, Hektor Stephens '26, and Ally Wolff '27 presented Comparison of Agricultural Practices in Cuba and the United States, mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.
• Klevione Brown '28 and Lexy Starner '29 presented Food Develops Community in Cuba, mentored by faculty member Elizabeth Nix.

Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan's annual Student Symposium at owu.edu/StudentSymposium and more about the OWU Connection signature program at owu.edu/connection.

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.