A group of Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC) students conduct intensive independent research in their field of study every summer, a press release stated, and this summer, 31 H-SC students from a variety of majors took a deep dive into independent research under the supervision of a faculty member.

“We have an unusually large summer research program for a school of our size, and we are proud of the opportunities it generates for our students,” H-SC Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research Dr. Mike Wolyniak said in the release.

Officials noted in the release that students who participate in the program build valuable skills for future work in their disciplines.

“Summer research allows students to immerse themselves in scholarly work, perform sophisticated studies that will be presented at academic conferences across the country and develop the independent problem-solving and critical thinking skills that will make them attractive to future employers and graduate or professional schools,” Wolyniak said in the release.

The release cited that this year’s student projects, which encompass scientific, societal and philosophical matters, are listed below:

• Senior Garnet Crocker: A translation of Book I of the Anti-Lucretius of Cardinal Polignac

• Junior Brahm Dean: Synthesis and characterization of chiral, mixed-ligand metal coordination compounds and their evaluation as catalysts for polymeric ring opening reactions of lactides

• Sophomore Titus Dowell: Synthesis and characterization of Schiff-base ligands using “click” chemistry, preparation of their Zn2+ and Fe3+ complexes and evaluation of fluorescence properties of complexes

• Junior Jonathan Duarte: Examining the effect of exposure to nature on directed attention during racial categorization

• Senior Shelby Hanna: Artificial intelligence and the philosophy of war

• Junior Andrew Hay: Using “click” chemistry to synthesize several Schiff-base ligands incorporating guanine for fluorescence detection of zinc and iron

• Junior Douglas Hogan and junior Matthew Rehak: Using Micropterus salmoides mucus to prevent the formation of biofilms in urinary catheters

• Junior Nathan Houser: A study of DNA and RNA sequencing using the Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencer

• Senior Andrew Howell: The continuation of the use of stretch bioreactors to promote C2C12 skeletal muscle growth and maturation on scaffolds

• Sophomore Andrew Jamison: Why the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) failed and how to replace it

• Senior Alexander Jaramillo: Examining the interactive effects of job type, race and facial features on job suitability ratings

• Junior Jonathan Lawson: Turtle Sense product development

• Junior Charles Lemon: Distributed telescope observing in an undergraduate astronomy class

• Sophomore Ronald Lowman: Examining the effect of media framing on attitudes towards minorities

• Junior Jared Medwar: A study of green concrete

• Senior Matthew Moody and senior Michael Moody: A characterization of Porphyromonas endodontalis as it relates to dentistry

• Senior Michael O’Malley: Does the temperature gradient in a trombe wall affect convection?

• Junior Christopher Parrish: The synthesis of a nitrogen fixation gene to enable nitrogenase function in Escherichia coli

• Sophomore Daniel Pearce: The investigation of curcumin by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and the fast flow method

• Senior Keifer Pfister: Private military companies and American foreign policy

• Senior Elijah Strong: Investigating the role of chemokine: Chemokine receptor signaling in melanoma progression

• Senior Brian Tarnai: Evaluating the differences in chemokine receptor expression in the B16-F1 and D5.1G4 melanoma cell lines

• Senior Peyton Tolley: A study of negative lift and downforce

• Junior Brennan Vaught: Synthesis of Schiff-base ligands for investigation of fluorescence of transition metal complexes

• Junior Alexander Washington: The use of pea protein isolate to increase C2C12 skeletal muscle cell maturation

• Sophomore Anthony Weeks: A comparative analysis of three national epics with respect to the birth of two romance languages

• Senior Arthur White: The effect of adjectival order on emphasis and meaning in English and Spanish: A corpus analysis of real language in periodicals and the telenovela

• Senior Charles Wolfe: DFT-MO calculations on asymmetric salen ligands

• Senior Ivan Woodruff: The neurological effects of moderate chronic embryonic caffeine exposure on zebrafish

• Senior Christopher Zoller: The future of flight: Determining the feasibility of electric and hybrid aircraft