2022 Strike a Spark Judging Results
Below is a complete list of the awards for Strike a Spark 2022.
Winners can pick up their awards from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM in Eberly 202A, beginning on Thursday, April 28.
CREATIVE WORKS
Creative Works I, Morning Session
First Place
Stephanie Oplinger, Evolving Bodies
Second Place
Alexis Dombrowsky, Mutualism
Third Place
Hanna Marie Pruchnitsky, Importance of Honeybees
Honorable Mention
Nicole Naumann, Stress Response
Creative Works, II, Afternoon Session
First Place
Megan Tipton, Coyote Beauty
Second Place
Daniel E. Harris, They’re Just Animals
Creative Works III, Asynchronous Session
First Place
Bartholomew Kulus, Rebecca Smitley, & John Seghi, CIS Project Scheduling and
Tracking System
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Oral Presentations, Morning Session
First Place
Cody Barnhart, “Los Angeles County Wildfires”
Second Place
Christina Holstine, “A Review of ‘Structural Basis for the Inhibition of Truncated Islet
Amyloid Polypeptide Aggregation by CU[II]’: Insights into the Bioinorganic Chemistry of Type II Diabetes”
Third Place
Billie Strother, Mara Proie, & Jenna Mervosh, “Disconnection: The Impact of the Lack of
the ‘Freshman Experience’ during the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Oral Presentations, Afternoon Session
First Place
Chelsea Van Divner, “Velocardiofacial Syndrome”
Second Place
Joshua Getchen, “Body Modification as a Function of Identity”
Third Place
Amanda Gillen-Ford, “Japanese Game of Poetry: Hyakunin Isshu”
Oral Presentations, Asynchronous Session
First Place
Payton Hlatky-Walters, “Resistance of Specific Antibiotics in Non-Contaminated
Environments and in Acidic Environments”
POSTERS
College of Education and Liberal Arts, Individual Project
First Place
Sarah Begly, “How Animals Relate to a Person’s Lifestyle”
College of Science and Technology, Individual Project
First Place
Kerry Ann Katz, “The Effects of Invasive Knotweeds (Reynoutria spp.) on Ground-
Dwelling Arthropods”
Second Place
Christine C. Buray, “Identifying Soil Fungi’s Secondary Metabolites Antimicrobial
Resistance Against Bacteria”
Third Place
Micaela Ricco, “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Individuals with Autism Spectrum
Disorder”
Honorable Mention
Stephanie Gfroerer, “Vegetation Surveys for Cavity Nesting Bird Preferences”
College of Education and Liberal Arts, Class Project, Morning Session
First Place
Sarah Seader, “Dracula (1931), Fangs and All: Dracula as the Monster We Know and
Love”
Second Place
Alyssa Lambert-Alonso, “The Application of Criminological Theories on the Motives of
Adam Lanza”
Brady Shore, “How Internet Memes Are Used for Coping”
Honorable Mention
Alexis Shippey, “Personality is More than the Eye Beholds: Moebius Syndrome”
Aeden Jezorski, “One Joke at a Time: Humor Theory and Rick and Morty”
College of Science and Technology, Class Project, Morning Session
First Place
Carlos Ramirez, “Behavioral Analysis of Temperature Sensitiveness Effects on Stress
Response in Ambystoma mexicanum”
Second Place
Jared Colbert, Kolin Buckley, & Leo Ryan, “Autonomous Buoy Project”
Third Place
Alivia Yauger & Lydia Carney, “DNA Fingerprints: Sex Determination and Longevity
on Different Surfaces”
College of Education and Liberal Arts, Class Project, Afternoon Session
First Place
Brianna McDonough, “Humor Reflecting Morality and Providing a Mechanism to Cope
in The Last Lecture”
Carter Stokes, “Kevin’s Hart: Humor Through Life”
Third Place
Brittney Roberts, Amerissa Brambach, Mia Ola, Amanda Anderson, & Levon Williams-
Hughes, “The Great Resignation”
Honorable Mention
Dominic Santia, “What We Have Missed: A Transcendental Analysis of Courage the
Cowardly Dog”
Brady Shore, Lauren Garris, Katlyn Massey, & Madison Minarchin, “Factors Affecting
Decision Making Involving Dreams”
College of Science and Technology, Class Project, Afternoon Session
First Place
Daja Douglas, “A Structural and Biochemical Review of the Notch 1 Transmembrane
Protein”
Second Place
Christina Holstine, “Alpha-galactosidase-A: An Enzyme Review”
Third Place
Savannah Davis, Maya Scarpaci, Abbie Reichelderfer, & Sarah Moehring, “PET Plastic
Degradation by E.coli with I. sakaiensis 201_F6 PETase and MHETase: Plastic
Degradation Genes for More Efficient Bioremediation Efforts”
Joint Student Faculty
First Place
Maria Mellon & Emily Sinsley, “The Effects of Community Inclusion on Supportive
Housing for Adults with Mental Illnesses”
Second Place
Kayla Gamble, “Testing the Effects of Pesticides on Environmental Preference of
Tenebrio molitor”
Third Place
Hannah Burgess, “A Large, Multi-site Test of Self-administered Mindfulness”
Honorable Mention
Victoria Ilko & Dr. Robert Whyte, “Monitoring Soils in Recently Mitigated Wetlands in
Southwest PA”
Asynchronous Session
First Place
Chris Girardi, “Hope After Publication”
Second Place
Autumn Walsh, “Misogyny in Female Prisons: A Literature Review and Narrative
Account”
Graduate
First Place
Alyssa Crooks & Stephanie Cole, “Expulsion Rates Among Pennsylvania Students for
the 2019-2020 School Year Based on Offense Type”
Second Place
Cheyenne Wasko & Kevin Stephanik, “Student Dropout Rates and Substance Use”
Third Place
Demitria Skeriotis, Brittany Underwood, & Riayn Mack, “School-Aged Vaping”