33rdAcademic Festival 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024 12–2p.m.
Emerson Dining
Wheaton College | Norton, Massachusetts
WELCOME
This year marks the 33rd Academic Festival.
The formal program will take place on Friday, April 19 from 122pm in Emerson. A selection of other nominated events are also included with times and locations listed on the schedule.
Academic Festival celebrates student excellence in all areas of the college, from performing arts to the sciences.
These students, with the support of committed faculty and staff, have completed projects that reflect their growth, knowledge, and ideas that can change the world. As the college lauds their efforts, we invite you to learn from them.
Enjoy the Festival!
Michaele Whelan, President
Karen McCormack, Provost
POSTER SESSION
BIOLOGY
Mikayla Titus
Genetic characterization of trematode parasites infecting wild mussels from Rhode Island
Caitlin Perrigo
Wings and Windows: How Public Art Can be Used to End Bird Collisions with Windows
Viviana Schroeder
Phylogenetic position of the invasive southern pine beetle from Nantucket Island
Trisha Harithsa
Global phylogeographic structure of Mytilus edulis based on the mtDNA COI marker
Alara Nelson and Daniela Pena
Cilia distribution in regenerating zebrafish tissues
Megan Kelleher, Ben Lyon, and Allison Darling
Cilia patterns in developing tissues seen in four dimensions
Marcus Peterson; Marclina Charles; Alex Minickiello; Rylie Seaberg; Greta Minos; Salvatore Pedevillano; Lizzy Duddy; Dakotah Matta-Teixeira; Jordan Cook; Zoe Bell; Julia Butler; Anya O’Brien; Tali Dalton; Gavin Cullinan; Maddie Hatch; Ashlyn Burt; Levi McElfresh; Katie Halle; Ajahni Jackson; Riley Levrault; Tom Ellsworth; Zach Herron; Thomas Wilson; Isabel Babikova; Becca
Bryson; Juliana Fleischer; Grace Levie; Parker Fullem; Tori Hews; Abby Martin; Jaclyn Vanderhoof
Lessons Learned in Research Experience Teams
CHEMISTRY
Ana Curry
Synthesis and Characterization of Perfluoropinacolate Lanthanide Complexes
Julie Maxwell, Maria Worden, Katie Walz, and Macey Poitras-Cote Greenhouse Gas Dynamics in Vernal Pools
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Charles Darmstadt
Demographic and phenological changes in a Vermont passerine community subject to a warming climate
MAY FELLOWS COLLOQUIUM
Sara Tamara Giraldo; Andres Hernandez
Gomez; Victoria Helena Pereira; Mialy Juliana Randriamiharisoa; Charlotte Monty
NEUROSCIENCE
Ben Goho
The effects of environmental enrichment on social play, anxiety-like behavior and plasticity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
Celeste Berenbaum and Lucas Stenson
Testing the shear heating hypothesis for ridges on Europa
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Lauren Hinckley
Sino-Philippine Relations in the Dispute of the Spratly Islands
POSTER SESSION
PSYCHOLOGY
Julianne Morse
Financial Awareness, Realities, and Attitudes among College Students
Cassidy Fitzpatrick
The role of oxytocin signaling in the ventral tegmental area on the regulation of social and anxiety-like behaviors
SOCIOLOGY
Cat Le
The Impact of Vietnamese American Refugee Experiences on Cultural Maintenance
PRESENTATIONS
CENTER FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION & STUDY ABROAD
Aubrey Stine; Ajahani Jackson; Reka Moscarelli and Abby MacInnes; Marguerite Bartlett; Maya Baranoff; Josephine Mortrude and Jolli Shevitz; Pear Wongwatanawisut
GLAM (GREEK, LATIN & ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN)
Jill Brown; Jimena Chavez-Martell, Maddie Clarke Wright, Owen Dietrich; Mags FoxMoore; Haley Luce; Benjamin Place; Kunbo Sun
Reading of Latin translations
TAYLOR AND LANE SOCIAL JUSTICE
Jada Prinopoulos-Taylor Systemic Racism in Medicine
THEATER
Willemina Wakabayashi
RENT Hair and Makeup Design
HISPANIC STUDIES
Brenna Glasheen; Annika Terry; Sarah Pieratti; Alexis Kublin; Brady Smith; Avery Gluchacki; Rebekah Roth
Natives and Cultures of the Amazonia
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Sara Tamara Giraldo
The Bangsamoro Organic Law as a Regional Stabilizer. Podcast on demand.
SEMESTER IN THE CITY
Ellie Thomas College for Social Innovation Semester Project at Harmony Capital Advisors
DEMONSTRATIONS
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Sayed Ibrahimi Online Task Manager
Katherine Billings; Avery Chan; Bailey Madrzyk; Jack Murray; Ozgur Ozturk; Zoe Robertson; Daniel Short; Jeffrey Stewart; Matthew Sullivan; Nikola Szymanska
Coding Together: Ten seniors working together in two sprints to release a new version of the web app Lexos v4.0 to help scholars run experiments on digitized texts
EXHIBITIONS & PERFORMANCES
VISUAL ART & DESIGN
2024 Senior Visual Art & Design Exhibition: Sonder Open Hours & Tours
This annual exhibition highlights the work of Wheaton’s 21 graduating visual art and design majors. The exhibition is on view through May 18.
Matthew Lambert; Erika Mathieson; Kseniya Budakova; Nicole Matheson; Zoe Krueger; Stephanie Libby; Isabel Mayers; Justin Veilleux; Tesfay Saleh-Batts; Dara Yanoff; Rachel Marion; Matthew Hebda; Amanda Hodgkins; Caroline McCretton; Sarah McGrail; Lily McDowell; Georgiana Nicolosi; Caitlin Perrigo; Erika Plante; Jillian Sullivan; Justin Foong
Beard & Weil Galleries, Watson Fine Arts
1:00–5:00 p.m.
THEATRE & DANCE
A Die is Cast: An Open Rehearsal
Roll up a character and step right into a session of A Die is Cast. Join the senior theatre and dance majors as they embark on an adventure through the world of Dungeons and Dragons: where the real quest is about finding themselves, friendship, laughter, and of course an epic journey.
The cast: Sven Stenroos, Lily Watson, Emily Carmel, Max Van Osdol, and Jack Murray
Kresge Experimental Theatre, Watson Fine Arts
2:00-3:00 p.m.