Celebration of Learning 2022 Poster Presentations II

Poster presentations II will run from 1-2:15 p.m. in the Gerber Center G?vle rooms.

FYI 102

A. J. Ryd¨¦n : ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Alumnus of 1886

Presented by Grace Finney, William Fischer and Erika Lane; advisor Dr. Thomas Bengtson

A. J. Ryd¨¦n was a graduate of ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø in 1886. We discuss his career, his family history, and his genealogy. We use historic records from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Special Collections, Swedish parish records and other sources.

Johan Alfred Johansson Lind: ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Alumnus of 1886

Presented by Riva Kansakar; advisor Dr. Thomas Bengtson

Alfred Lind was a graduate of ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø in 1887. We discuss his career, his family history, and his genealogy. We use historic records from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø's Special Collections, Swedish parish records, and other sources.

Andrew Forsberg: ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Alumnus of 1886

Presented by Enrique Tuason, Adam Glendenning and Yaw Owusu Ansah; advisor Dr. Thomas Bengtson

Andrew Forsberg was a graduate of ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø in 1886. We discuss his career, his family history, and his genealogy. We use original historic records from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø's Special Collections, Swedish parish records and other sources.

Joel L. Haff: ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Alumnus of 1886

Presented by Donovan Garro, Joseph Ayala and Ethan Keung; advisor Dr. Thomas Bengtson

Joel L. Haff was a graduate of ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø in 1886. We discuss his life, family history, and his genealogy. We use historic records from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Special Collections, Swedish parish records, and other sources.

Joshua Anderson Edquist: ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Alumnus of 1885

Presented by Jillian Hagmann, Abby McKay and Tommy Brooks; advisor Dr. Thomas Bengtson

Joshua Anderson Edquist was a graduate of ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø in 1885. We discuss his career, his family history, and his genealogy. We use historic records from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø's Special Collections, Swedish Parish Records, and other sources.

Nicanor Benelius: ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Alumnus of 1886

Presented by Hannah Maurer and Farah Khan Brinto; advisor Dr. Thomas Bengtson

Nicanor Benelius was a graduate of ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø in 1886. We discuss his life, family history, and genealogy. We use historic records from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø's Special Collections, Swedish parish records, and other sources.

Frank August Bonander: ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Alumnus of 1886

Presented by Isabel Austin, Brooke Borchart and Breonna Culver; advisor Dr. Thomas Bengtson

Frank August Bonander was a graduate of ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø in 1886. We discuss his career, his family history, and his genealogy. We use historic records from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø's Special Collections, Swedish parish records, and other sources.

Economics

The Effectiveness of Protectionist Policies in Developing Countries

Presented by Cameron Duffy; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

I am interested in looking at infant industries and protectionist policies in developing countries. This will build off the topic of trade in developing countries that I will learn in ECON-406. Through a conversation with Dr. Marm¨¦, I have decided to research infant industries in South Korea and Taiwan. Dr. Marm¨¦ also recommended looking into Ha-Joon Chang's "Kicking Away the Ladder" and Robert Wade's "Governing the Market" as potential resources for this paper.

Nigeria: A dynamic story between the oil wealth and the economic development

Presented by Trung Pham; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

The Nigerian economic growth has been heavily impacted by the oil industry in the past five decades, making the country become resource-dependent. We will investigate this strong dynamic relationship; especially when it comes to inadequate infrastructure, trade policies, and some other issues surrounding human capital that have prevented the economy from blooming to its full potential. Finally, focusing on education and trade policy commitment, we will look into the possibility of a sustainable future for Nigeria.

Rule of the Ranas In Nepal: Beneficial or Detrimental?

Presented by Priyanka Malla; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

We learned how Black people were shipped to the U.S. as slaves. We know that the white people exploited Black people and forced them to work in farms and factories for their benefit. Even though not the same, there was a time when a caste of Nepali people called Ranas gained power from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. When Nepal was being ruled by monarchs at that time, the first Rana, Jung Bahadur Rana, came into power and declared himself as Nepal's permanent prime minister and thereon Rana's ruling began. Similar to how the white people dictated and tried to prevent from Black people to rise and revolt against them, the Ranas did the same in Nepal. For this essay, I want to see how Nepal's economic position was at that time. I have some idea on how citizens were oppressed, especially on the basis of caste, so I'd like to know how their life was like at that time. People of Nepal were given very few rights and the kings of Nepal were only people of title but were powerless. This was also the time when British that already conquered India and tried to rule Nepal too. This period of Nepal is also known as the dark age of Nepal.

The Rapid GDP Growth of Botswana Through Diamonds and Strong Fiscal Policy

Presented by John Calabrese; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

Since the 1970s, Botswana has had one of the fastest-growing GDPs per year in the world. It is mainly growing due to a single industry which in this case is mining. Botswana has a very responsible government financially, and has made great fiscal policies over the years. Additionally, it is the least corrupt country in Africa. I write about the growth in diamond mining, the fiscal policies made over the years, and what I predict the future to be like for this country.

Role of Weather, Climate, and Geography in a Country's Development

Presented by Jake Reaban; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

I will do my presentation on the role of weather, climate, and geography in a country's development. By using a regression analysis, I will connect a dependent variable (ex: a country's GDP) with many independent variables (number of major weather events, whether a country has a coastline or not, the fertility of soil, coal/iron reserves, etc.) to see if they are significant.

Education in Developing Countries: Necessity, Dedication, & Funding

Presented by Molli Naber; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

Developing countries have statistically fewer individuals who complete formal education than we see in developed countries. This presentation will delve into necessity, dedication, and funding ¡ª or lack thereof ¡ª in developing countries as well as the benefits that a greater emphasis on education would have on the individual countries' economies in addition to the world economy.

Chinese Investment in African Railway Networks

Presented by Reid Burens; advisors Dr. Chris Marm¨¦ and Dr. Jonna Short

I examine the recent influx of Chinese investment into the infrastructure of Africa. I will be focusing on railways especially. I will examine why China has been funding infrastructure projects around the globe. Some say they are trying to help developing nations while others believe that this investment is a debt trap. Chinese investment into African railways have been some of there biggest success and biggest loses, so I believe that the railways are the best look into this investment funding. Most importantly is how these railways are affecting the nations that they are built in.

War on Tigray: Its Effects on Farming and Agriculture

Presented by Semhal Berhe; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

My research attempts to cover the farming activities of the Tigreyan people in Northern Ethiopia during the current civil war (2020-present) taking place between the Tigray region and the federal army. Agricultural destruction, as well as the termination of other farming activities, has prevailed due to the circumstance Tigray is currently facing. This research analyzes Tigrayan farmers' productivity before the war with regards to population, literacy, technology, atmospheric conditions (other environmental conditions such as locust invasion) and compares it with the agricultural productivity of Ethiopia as a whole.

The Role of Weather, Climate, and Geography in Development

Presented by Prajwal Sakal; advisor Dr. Chris Marm¨¦

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Body Shaming of the Gay Man in Online Dating Platforms

Presented by Erik Pettersson; advisor Dr. Jennifer Heacock-Renaud

Gay men are facing considerably stronger pressure to perform when it comes to looks than their heterosexual counterparts; otherwise they face harassment in general, but specifically for online dating. Certain structural oppressions can be observed for gay men in online dating, and the purpose of this project was to compile these into an art project with the evidence discussed in a supplementary essay. The art project is a painting presenting four compiled Tinder profiles with faceless men of different body types and skin colors to portray and visualize how gay men are often judged solely on their bodies, with little to no regard for their personality. The essay project makes use of different qualitative studies as well as news articles addressing these issues of racism, sizeism, ableism, and ageism in the gay online dating community. With help of these articles, the essay aims to try to explain the underlying causes for these issues in the general society but of course with a focus on the community specifically. The conclusion is that the narrative of how the gay man should present on dating platforms has grown to be toxic through co-existing factors like (but not limited to) toxic hegemonic masculinity, media outlets, pornography, and the design of the dating platforms which feeds into quantifiable-body discourse. Important to note is how the essay brings up how these oppressive forces intersect with the base oppression of these gay men struggling with the oppression of being homosexual. To end, the essay chose to provide hypothetical solutions to these problems. One of those in the hands of the dating platforms creators who could change their platforms to rather than be objectifying be a more friendly space to present yourself and view others through.

Flipped Medicine: A Guide to Deconstructing the Normative Patient Model

Presented by Alison Lawrence; advisor Dr. Jennifer Heacock-Renaud

Medical education is all about models. To learn how to treat patients, we study models of bodies, models of symptoms, and models of procedures because good medicine is patient-centered. But what happens when the models we use are only representative of a specific group of patients? Historically, medicine has centered around a singular model: that of the white, cisgender, heterosexual, abled, middle-class male. While it is known that patients of diverse identities often present differently, medical education continues to use this dominant, normative model as the standard for all patients while ignoring marginalized groups in their descriptions, resulting in worse outcomes for these groups. "Flipped Medicine: a guide to deconstructing the normative patient model" is a handbook that aims to challenge this normative model by educating providers on how to recognize bias in medical resources. The book "flips" traditional medical education on its head by centering four descriptions of common medical contexts around the signs, symptoms, and embodied experiences of folks with marginalized identities. These descriptions include a critical analysis of how the use of one dominant model harms already at-risk patients, followed by suggestions on how providers might rectify these disparities in their own practices.

Bi, Bi, Bi: An Exploration of Modern Day Bisexuality

Presented by Briana L Kunstman; advisor Dr. Jennifer Heacock-Renaud

This project utilizes visuals and analyses to explore modern day sexuality through society's lens. In choosing this specific medium, I hope to enable people to see the representations of bisexuality visually, as this is something that will lend itself to combatting the continuation of stereotypes in our society later on. It is my belief that seeing each of these physical representations will have a more profound and memorable impact on viewers and it will lead to further questioning on how we have come to accept these portrayals of bisexuality. To do this, I engaged in several social media platforms and with TV/ film forums in order to gain knowledge on the stereotypes according to each platform. This social media and TV/film deep dive process took around 7 hours in total. In choosing to do this individually, I avoided reading articles on what other people saw as stereotypes in order to have the most unbiased understanding possible. I created a new account for social media platforms including Tik Tok and Instagram to look under a variety of hashtags. I interacted with nothing and only screenshotted and saved videos that came up pertaining to these topics based on what was under the hashtags. For TV/film and film, I found a list of TV and film characters that were bisexual, did individual research in the fandoms of each show, and looked at forums that discussed character portrayals as well. Overall, this project seeks to analyze today's perception of bisexuality and bring the stereotypes to light in hopes of working to combat them.

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Development and Validation of the Pediatric Spatial Hearing Questionnaire (P-SHQ)

Presented by Amy Bramley, Ella Aldridge, Annette Schneider and Dr. Ann Perreau; advisor Dr. Ann Perreau

The purpose of this study was to develop a pediatric version of the spatial hearing questionnaire (SHQ) that includes assessing speech understanding in background noise and sound localization. Sound localization (or the ability to locate a sound source) is an important auditory function that is difficult for children with hearing loss and often overlooked. Research has shown that children with hearing loss using hearing aids and cochlear implants have problems localizing sound compared to children with normal hearing (Grieco-Calub & Litovsky, 2010). Studies suggest that children like adults localize sound better when using two hearing aids or cochlear implants compared to using only one device (Perreau, Ou et al., 2014) because input is provided to both ears to optimize the binaural pathways to the brain. The SHQ includes 27 items that assess speech recognition in background noise and sound localization. We have modified the SHQ for school-aged children from kindergarten to eighth grade and administered the questionnaire using an online format to parents. To date, we have collected 60 responses that includes approximately 50 parents of children with normal hearing and 10 parents of children with hearing loss.

Upper Mississippi Center

Assessment of the Negative Role Amur Honeysuckle has on Urban Forest Diversity

Presented by Hayley Schlabowske; advisors Dr. Jason Koontz and Dr. Michael Reisner

Lonicera maackii (Amur Honeysuckle), an invasive shrub species, has out-competed native species in urban riparian zones for decades due to its ability to receive more sunlight and it also secretes an allelochemical from its leaves that negatively impacts the ecosystems. Our research question is how does L. maackii affect native plant species in the herbaceous understory? Five forest communities were sampled in Northwest Illinois. Sites were separated into four different categories with L. maackii only, Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) only, Neither invasive species, and sites where both occur. The data show that when comparing the effect L. maackii had on total relative native cover, four out of five sites had lower total native relative cover when L. maackii was present. All five sites had lower non-native Shannon's H when L. maackii was present. We conclude that L. maackii has a significant effect on native plant species in the herbaceous understory. The data correlates to the literature with L. maackii's presence lowering the amount of native plant species cover.

Presence vs. Absence of Lady Beetle Species in Quad City Area Over a 70-Year Period

Presented by Olivia Ruffatto; advisors Dr. Tierney Brosius and Dr. Stephanie Fuhr

Insect declines are of growing concern. Collections can help us understand how particular taxa are being impacted by these declines. We investigated how the diversity of beetles in the family Coccinellidae changed over a 70-year period. Beetles from the ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø teaching collection were identified and entered into a database that included location and date. This data was then compared with data collected in an extensive survey conducted during the summer of 2022. Surveys were conducted by sweep net, visual search, and yellow sticky traps at 35 different sites in seven land-use categorie.The decline of native lady beetle species has been well-documented by other researchers, however, the direct cause remains inconclusive. According to an analysis of our lady beetle collection dating back to the 1950s, we were able to observe a shift in the presence of non-native species such as Harmonia axyridis, and Coccinella Septempunctata and native species such as Anatis mali and Anatis Labiculata. The results of this study are important as we begin to understand the impact non-native species and urbanization on the global insect population. We hope that using a charismatic group like the coccinelids will help draw attention to insects in urban landscapes and how small alterations of the landscape can have a large impact on native diversity.

Geography

Using DEM Differencing to Detect Morphological Change in River Channels and Floodplains

Presented by Carl Schoenfield; advisor Dr. Reuben Heine

This project evaluated the effectiveness of using publicly available LiDAR derived digital elevation models (DEMs) in DEM Differencing to explore the dynamics of sediment transport and storage across a variety of sinuous and straight reaches of the Des Plaines River. By using only publicly available data, this the methods used in this project are at the disposal of all resource managers. I used an established DEM Differencing method on DEM data sets from 2007 and 2017 to locate areas of significant erosion and sedimentation along five reaches of the Des Plaines River in Lake County, Ill. I quantified the amount of material moved within the river channel and included an error analysis to ensure that all measurements of erosion and sedimentation were statistically significant. Though this project found no significant correlations between channel morphological features and erosion-sedimentation patterns, the project showcases potential uses of current publicly available LiDAR data and highlights challenges in using traditional LiDAR in fluvial settings.

Greenspace and Inequality in the Quad Cities: Mapping Urban Heat Islands

Presented by Mark Teschke; advisor Dr. Chris Strunk

Climate change has been heating up the Earth's surface and is becoming an increasing threat to humans. Cities are some of the hottest places because of the land use and density of people. Cities have become increasingly dense and are projected to contain 75% of the world's population in 2050 (Haaland 2015). Urban areas in comparison to rural often have much less green space, more impervious surfaces, a higher concentration of human activity, and more air pollution, all of which contribute to a greater average surface temperature. This is because low albedo surfaces (parking lots, asphalt, etc.) trap in heat from the sun and allow for less vegetation to be planted throughout urban spaces (Kleerekoper 2011). This is called the urban heat island effect. These are a danger to communities because of their contribution to climate change and adverse health effects from increased heat. Heat is the deadliest natural disaster in the United States.Heat islands also create microclimates within the broader urban space that vary from neighborhood to neighborhood and occur unevenly. Urban heat islands are more likely to occur in marginalized and low-income communities.

Sociology and anthropology

Exploring Racism Within Anime

Presented by Hannah Collins; advisor Dr. Adam Kaul

Globalization has impacted anime in the way it is consumed in the United States, and how race is constructed through complex forms of transcultural fusion that highlight occidentalism of the West through the eyes of Japan. These views have slightly changed but have not changed the fact that there is a lack of representation for BIPOC in anime. My paper will examine how globalization has affected the ways in which race is represented in anime and how it is consumed in the U.S. Using anthropology, sociology, Asian studies and media journals, I will examine the complicated history of race in Japan and how racial stereotypes translate into anime as well as the changes being made in the consumption and production of different racial representations in anime. I hope to provide insight on the lack of representation in anime and how these views can be changed.

LGBTQ+ Representation in Media: Mainstream Vs. LGBTQ+ Oriented

Presented by Jessica Smith; advisor Dr. Adam Kaul

Media is a subject that is highly consumed all across the world, making accurate representations of minority groups important. This project is a study of LGBTQ+ characters in mainstream media versus LBGTQ+ oriented media. The project asks how and why characters in each subset differ from one another, and the social constructs that influence their writers. Using methods from sociology and communications, I examine LGBTQ+ figures across different forms of mainstream media and media for the LGBTQ+ community, looking at their writers and audiences and comparing each group to one another. This project offers a unique perspective on the effects society has on representation and how different experiences influence different ideas of what being gay is. The research provides new insights into how the roles of majority and minority in society can greatly influence how one sees another, and how this influences the identity of LGBTQ+ youths all around.

Black American Emigration

Presented by Bessie Barlow; advisor Dr. Adam Kaul

Emigration from the United States has been a common practice since the start of the country. Emigration is when one person leaves their home country and moves to another. Also, since the founding of the country Black people have been discriminated against and treated as second-class citizens. As a result of the racial climate during the time Josephine Baker, James Baldwin, and W.E.B. Du Bois all were Black American emigrants. This paper will demonstrate how Black Americans have emigrated from the United States since slavery and continue to do so now. The aim of this paper is to show that due to race relations, Black Americans have left the United States and continue to leave.

Overpopulation Causes Deforestation to Increase, Leading to Other Sociological Issues

Presented by Rey Castro-Paredes; advisor Dr. Adam Kaul

According to the Worldometer, the current global population is 7.9 billion. The Worldometer is operated by an international team that aims to bring world statistics to a wide range of viewers in a thought-provoking time-sensitive format. It is published by a small independent digital media company based in the U.S. Based on the Worldometer data, the global population is increasing by 1.5 percent per year. Overpopulation has caused deforestation to increase and has created population control policies in China and India. China is heavily overpopulated; according to the Worldometer, it holds 1,448,538,968 people. Overpopulation causes deforestation to increase because people need housing, climate change, firewood fuel, agriculture, and regulations that keep people from poverty. China contributes to the world population by more than 20 percent. India is the second contributor to the world's population. This paper examines China and India's overpopulation and the different policies they use to regulate their population in order to decrease deforestation. The human population left without regulations causes deforestation to increase affecting other social issues.

Mathematics

Breaking Down Barriers

Presented by Matthew Polit; advisor Dr. Andrew Sward

A barrier option is an option whose payoff is conditional upon the underlying asset's price breaching a barrier (or limit) level during the options lifetime. Barriers can be placed at a maximum or minimum amount specified at the time the contract is made. What is the fair market value of these contracts? I have investigated ways to determine these values using the Monte Carlo Method. The Monte Carlo Method takes any given stock and runs it through several simulations called "random walks." These walks are paths the stock could take over a specified amount of time. Using the Monte Carlo Method allows us to value contracts such as the Up-And-Out, Up-And-In, and Down-And-Out. We will be using Stochastic Finance and the virtual environment Python as our tools for the simulations.

Experimental Evaluation of Virtual Keyboard and Survey of Deep Learning Methods for Text Entry Enhancement

Presented by Talha Hassan; advisor Dr. Tauheed Khan Mohd

Advancements in Virtual Reality (VR) along with deep learning techniques have enabled the design of several types of virtual keyboards. Prior research has proposed several types of keyboards. However, there is a need to better understand how its performance compares against standard MiniQWERTY keyboard, to identify specific aspects of performance that are better and others than need to be further optimized. We conducted a controlled experimental study with 12 participants to see how a virtual keyboard compares with a MiniQWERTY keyboard as a text entry tool. Our findings indicate that although there is a speed advantage when users initially use standard MiniQWERTY keyboard, there is a learning effect with virtual keyboard and participants improve over time. Participants also indicated they would learn the Virtual Keyboard quickly on SUS-scale. In the second part of the paper, we reflect on several start-of-the-art approaches in deep learning, e.g. hand pose estimation and landmark detection models and predictive text based on Natural Language Processing techniques that can be used to further enhance the performance of the virtual keyboard.

Power and Telecommunication Lines Detection and Avoidance for Drones

Presented by Dr. Tauheed Khan Mohd and Paul Addai

Power and telecommunication lines are hard to detect using sensors such as ultrasonic sensor, LIDAR etc. These sensors are also expensive and uses some amount of power which reduce flight time. This has made it hard for drone application fields such as delivery to successfully delivery packages to their destination especially in rural areas with a lot of these lines or cables around the streets. This problem has resulted in the ban of drone deliveries in most areas. Our goal is to used computer vision with deep learning to detect power and telecommunication lines. This will limit the number sensors and henceforth reduce the overall production cost of delivery drones. This study will also aim to reduce the risk or probability associated with a drone crashing into power and telecommunication lines. We used the tensorflow, Keras and OpenCV python library to train and test the model for this research with ~1300 image datasets. This approach only works during the day or presence of light. Aside from this downside, the model has performed well in detecting cables given complex situations such as angle, cable thickness, color and length.