The Capstone Festival showcased student research projects from the 2021-22 academic year, and awarded top honors in seven categories during a ceremony on May 6. Congratulations to this year’s participants and awardees!
Haley Schwarz presented a poster on “Abundance, Diversity and Growth Rates of Entomopathogenic Fungi Along an Elevational Gradient.”
Results gleaned from research on “The Effect of Serotonin on Anxiety-like Symptoms of Sunburst Platys (Xiphophorous maculatus)” by Zemariah Sanders.
“Proliferation: Plastics, Art, and the Consumer” featured the creations of Heather Korzun.
Marquis Brunson described his work on “Imitation of the ‘Sacred Art of the Ori.’”
Math professor Dr. John Ong gave the Capstone keynote address. Ong will retire this year after 33 years of service to the MBU community.
Award winners were recognized at a ceremony on May 6.
Congratulations, 2022 Awardees
Best Paper Award: STEM
Stella Remigio, a biology major from Waipahu, Hawaii. She hopes to continue academic research in the areas of molecular and cellular biology, and answer important scientific questions throughout her career.
Project Supervisor and Faculty Academic Advisor: Paul Deeble
Type of Project: Senior Project
Type of Presentation: Paper / Quantitative Project
Project Title: Neuroendocrine Cell Conditioned Media Effect on Prostate Cancer Cell Migration: LNCaP and PC-3
Best Paper Award: Humanities
Corrina Hunter, a history major from Martinsburg, West Virginia. Hunter plans to attend graduate school to pursue a teaching career, hoping one day to be a professor.
Type of Project: Senior Project
Type of Presentation: Paper
Project Title: The Black Queer Neighbor: How the effects of the Great Migration on the neighborhoods of New Yorks Manhattan borough in the 1900s led to the erasure of Black queer people and queer people of color from the post-Stonewall gay liberation movement of the 1960s
Best Paper Award: Social Sciences
Mckenna “McK” Mollner, an economics major from King George, Virginia. In the fall they will be entering an MS program in resource economics at the University of Maine and serve as a trainee with the Initiative for One Health and the Environment.
Project Supervisor and Faculty Academic Advisor: Amy Diduch
Type of Project: Honors Thesis
Type of Presentation: Paper / Quantitative Project
Project Title: Cell Phones, Risk, and Day Hikers: An Analysis of the Potential Impact of Cellphones on Search and Rescue Trends in Shenandoah National Park
Best Quantifiable Research Award
Brionny Brown, a biology major from Sanford, North Carolina. She will spend the next two years gaining clinical and medical experience before attending medical school to become a neurosurgeon.
Project Supervisor and Faculty Academic Advisor: Paul Deeble
Type of Project: Senior Project
Type of Presentation: Paper / Quantitative Project
Project Title: The Effect of Caffeine on sAPPα and the Lifespan and Climbing Ability of Drosophila melanogaster Models for Alzheimer’s Disease
Science Poster Award
Haley Schwarz, biology major and VWIL cadet from Las Vegas. She is commissioning into the U.S. Air Force as a second lieutenant, working in nuclear and missile operations.
Project Supervisor and Faculty Academic Advisor: Mary Jane Epps
Type of Project: Senior Project
Type of Presentation: Poster / Quantitative Project
Project Title: Abundance, Diversity and Growth Rates of Entomopathogenic Fungi Along an Elevational Gradient
Best High Impact Practice Presentation Award
Mary Moran, a double major in criminal justice and political science from Lutz, Florida. She will attend Florida A&M School of Law next fall, where she will work toward becoming a lead prosecutor.
Project Supervisor: Paige Reed
Faculty Academic Advisor: Beth Easterling
Type of Project: High Impact Practice Project
Type of Presentation: High Impact Practice Project
Project Title: The Experience at the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office
Best Visual and Performing Art Award
Marquis Brunson, a studio art major from Staunton. He will be attending the Maryland Institute College of Art in the fall.
Project Supervisor: Jim Sconyers
Faculty Academic Advisor: Martha Saunders
Type of Project: Senior Project
Type of Presentation: Musical, theatrical, or other artistic performance
Project Title: Imitation of the “Sacred Art of the Ori”
Juniors winning senior project fellowship awards:
Abigail Adams
Jamie LaGrange
Anna Burkholder