The Student Symposium, which was held on the Worthen Arena Concourse on April 12 from 1-4pm, had great turnout for its first in-person event since 2019! 125 participants (38 graduate students, 87 undergraduate students) presented 85 scholarly and creative projects, representing all seven academic colleges. While we are showcasing the top presentations here, we first would like to acknowledge all of our participants—each of you dedicated yourselves to going that extra mile to participate in the Symposium on top of all the other activities going on in your lives!

Without further ado, here are the winners of the 27th annual Student Symposium at Ball State:

Inaugural Dr. James & Betsy Pyle Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Science
Emily Danzeisen, Junior, Biology
Creating an Inquiry-Based Lab: Gibbs Free Energy Investigation Using Cobalt(II) Ion
Faculty Mentor: Jason Ribblett

Undergraduate Student Winners
Phillip Betts, Senior, Chemistry
Development of an Enzymatic System for the Synthesis of Pseudouridine
Faculty Mentor: Jordan Froese

Erica Brinkley, Senior, Communication Studies
Junie B. Jones and the Messy, Complicated Portrayal of Gender
Faculty Mentor: Beth Messner

Ethan Lee & Lauren Cloonan, Juniors, Construction Management & Interior Design
Riverside Community Heritage Center
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Angne Alfaro

Graduate Student Winners
Liza Cohen, Psychological Science
A Qualitative Exploration of Therapists’ Work with Low-income Clients
Faculty Mentor: Thomas Holtgraves

Veronica Hamilton, Biology
A Floristic Study Revealing the Biodiversity of Alaskan Peatland Diatoms
Faculty Mentor: Kevin Wyatt

Md Atiqur Rahman, Physics & Astronomy
Observation on the effect of magnetic flux while charge carries in DNA nanostructure
Faculty Mentor: Yong Suk Joe

All the best on the rest of the semester going smoothly! Congratulations again to everyone who participated and made the 2022 event a success!