Honors students speak out for discovery
Undergraduate honors student voices were heard at academic conferences and competitions throughout the nation in 2024-25.
From Staff Reports |
Oliver Orellana, History, Politics and Philosophy student, presents "Driving Social Revolutions in 20th Century Latin America" at Lipscomb's Student Scholars Symposium.
Lipscomb’s undergraduate honors students not only have the opportunity to carry out their own research, they also have the opportunity to share it at academic conferences across the country. Check out where many of our honors students have been sharing their own discoveries over the past year.
National Conferences & Competitions
National Collegiate Honors Council
Department of Biology
Kansas City, Missouri, October 2024
Audrey Birdwell (BA ’25)
“Elucidating the Effect of Carnitine-Dependent Fat Metabolism Inhibition in Breast Cancer Cell Migration.” (Second place poster)
National Conference on Undergraduate Research
Department of Biology
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 2025
Gabriella Longoria
“Investigating the Potential Ability of the TLR4-NF-κB Axis to Reduce Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Expression in Intestinal Epithelial Cells”
Audrey Birdwell (BA ’25)
“Exploring Carnitine-Dependent Mechanisms of Valerobetaine in Breast Cancer Migration Inhibition”
Jackson Head and Morgan Martin
“A Novel Discovery Platform to Elucidate Novel Microbe-derived Metabolites and their Effects on Fatty-acid Metabolism”
Jafer Aljorani
“The Role of Human Alpha Defensin 5 (HD5) in Disrupting Desmoplakin Mediated Epithelial Wound Closure in Crohn’s Colitis”
Maryam Gerges (BS ’25)
“Understanding the role of HD5 in Colonic Epithelial Cell Death”
Kennesaw State Marketing Invitational
College of Business
Kennesaw, Georgia
Bohdan Chumakov, Natalie Blickensderfer, Ramon Nunez and Stacy Whitwell, second place
National Collegiate Digital Marketing Championship
College of Business
Waco, Texas
Natalie Blickensderfer, Nate Wallace, Luke B. Martin, Hanna Brazeal and Angie Toledo, sixth place
Texas Christian University Neeley School of Business Values and Ventures® Competition
College of Business
Fort Worth, Texas
Kendal Matas and Natalie Blickensderfer, second place, $25,000
Fourth year in a row with a Lipscomb student placing in the top ten
Hudson Tucker, History, Politics and Philosophy student, presents "The “No Best World” Argument: A Strong Or Weak Objection to the Possibility of Perfect Goodness."
American Chemical Society Elevating Chemistry Conference
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Denver, Colorado, August 2024
Leila Ais (BS ’25), Abigail Hoermann (BS ’25), Jafer Aljorani
“Multimodal Detection of Toxic Metals in Victorian Era Book Cloth as Part of the Beaman Library Collection”
American Chemical Society Spring Meeting
Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences
San Diego, California, March 2025
Anna Losher and Abigail Davis
“Have you taken your vitamins today? Rapid LC-MS/MS method for the quantitation of B vitamins in human plasma"
Pop Culture Association
Department of English and Modern Languages
New Orleans, Louisiana, May 2025
Miller “Mac” Chamberlain
Poetry collection titled “Schematic for Besting Worry”
Pittcon Conference
Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry & Biochemistry
Boston, Massachusetts, March 2025
Kennedy Brothers
“Development of an LC-MS/MS method for the quantitation of drugs of abuse with blood collection cards for drug enforcement applications” and “Have you taken your vitamins today? Rapid LC-MS/MS method for the quantitation of B vitamins in human plasma”
Sports Journalism Institute
School of Communication
Phoenix, Arizona
Alaina Morris, one of 16 students selected nationwide
Southeast Journalism Conference
School of Communication
Starkville, Mississippi
Micah Barkley, third place, Feature Writing
Jude Spencer, Biology student, presents his poster "What are the global differences in air quality due to the Covid-19 pandemic?"
Lipscomb's Student Scholars Symposium
Oral Presentations
Investigating the Potential Ability of the TLR4-NF-κB Axis to Reduce Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Expression in Intestinal Epithelial Cells
Gabriella Longoria, Biology
The “No Best World” Argument: A Strong Or Weak Objection to the Possibility of Perfect Goodness
Hudson Tucker, History, Politics and Philosophy
Little Women Dramaturgical Research Packet
Elanah Bruce, Theatre
Elucidating the Mechanism of Neprilysin-Regulated Triple Negative Breast Cancer Invasion
Kai Lam and Ellie Griner, Biology
Driving Social Revolutions in 20th Century Latin America
Oliver Orellana, History, Politics and Philosophy
English Loanwords and their Sociolinguistic Impact on the Japanese Language
Zoe Macgill, English and Modern Languages
Rethinking Music Theory Pedagogy
Kathryn Williamsen, Music
Zoe Macgill, English and Modern Languages student, presents "English Loanwords and their Sociolinguistic Impact on the Japanese Language."
Poster Presentations
Elucidating the Effects of HD5 on ACTC1 Expression in Crohn’s Disease
Carolyn Tran (BS '25), Sohir Abdelnour, Joyce Lawson, Ellis Puscas, Biology
What are the global differences in air quality due to the Covid-19 pandemic?
Jude Spencer, Ian McGee, Brandon Solis-Martinez, Biology
Indole improves outcomes of Cronobacter sakazakii infection in C. elegans through ahr-1
Cayden Durrough, Biology
Xibalbay, Guatemala Water Distribution System Design
Nolen Ritzel, Lauren Baker, Robert Trey Owen, Jessamine Reckard, Joelle Noble, Sara Berry-Brown, Civil Engineering
Using Feynman’s Technique to Evaluate Non-elementary Integrals Used in Physics
Dominick Dingus, Christopher Wengert, Madouna Barsoum, Physics
Long term financial analysis for Opry Mills Hotel and Resort
Eli Lockert, Civil Engineering
Unveiling Hidden Hazards: A Complementary Approach to Affordable Nondestructive Heavy Metal Detection
Mario Faragalla, Gulsin Barwari, Mackenzie Brinkoeter, Eimy Lozano-Fuentes, Isabelle Riera, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Syllabus Tone and Student Self-Efficacy
Natalia Calderon-Hernandez, Alan Avila, Psychology