{"id":55510,"date":"2026-08-18T17:11:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=55510"},"modified":"2026-08-18T17:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:11:19","slug":"science-math-students-shine-in-research-symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/science-math-students-shine-in-research-symposium\/","title":{"rendered":"Science, Math Students Shine in Research Symposium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University students from the College of Science and Mathematics (COSM) presented emerging undergraduate and graduate research in Monday\u2019s Student Research Symposium. Hosted in the Lamar Johanson Science Building, the symposium spotlighted over 50 student research projects, including potentially groundbreaking work in neurological science, bioscience and epidemiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joined by classmates, proud family members and college leadership, students eagerly delivered oral and visual poster presentations throughout the afternoon. A panel of judges composed of COSM faculty evaluated presenters on their research content and ability to concisely and confidently communicate their findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe COSM Student Research Symposium is one of my favorite days of the year, because it\u2019s where you see exactly what our students are capable of when given real mentorship and real research problems to solve,\u201d said Dr. Kevin Johnson, Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. \u201cThe work of these students is sophisticated and represents a genuine collaboration with our faculty. These hands-on experiences are what set our graduates apart, they don’t just learn science and mathematics; they practice it alongside people who care about their success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel Osei\u2019s \u201cCalibration Bridges the Generalizability Gap in Single-trial Detection of Alzheimer\u2019s and Frontotemporal Dementia\u201d studies the subtle but necessary distinctions between the cognitive conditions. Osei, who works as a graduate research assistant in the Bridging Research in AI and Neuroscience (B.R.A.I.N.) Lab, uses artificial intelligence to revolutionize diagnostic processes for clinicians and patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ellie
Ellie Phelps presents “Using Occupancy Modeling to Trace Correlates of Colonization in an Invasive Gecko: Hemidactylus turcicus on an Urban Campus in Central\u00a0Texas”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy research uses brainwave data to help distinguish between Alzheimer\u2019s disease and frontotemporal dementia, two conditions that can look similar clinically but need different treatment approaches,\u201d said Osei. \u201cBetter tools for distinguishing between neurodegenerative diseases could help clinicians make faster, more accurate diagnoses, which matters a lot for patients and families navigating treatment decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building off chemistry department research isolating microplastics with fenugreek seeds, student researchers Asher Boniol and Montana Zapata\u2019s \u201cPortable Optical Trapping\u201d presents another method of minimizing pollutants in bodies of water. Using a custom-built laser system, Boniol and Zapata\u2019s research demonstrates how high concentrations of microplastics can be removed from contaminated water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is exposing it to a laser for a certain time period to eliminate microplastics out of said water sample,\u201d Boniol said. \u201cThis is just proof that this works. We would like to apply this to bigger water samples and filtration systems throughout Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior mathematics student Raven Slabach\u2019s \u201cSocial Vulnerability, Crowding and Age Structure as Predictors of Measles and Influenza Risk\u201d identifies risk factors associated with susceptibility to viral infections, including age, employment status and household crowding. This approach to public health, she says, could be used to mitigate the spread of other viral respiratory illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nathanael
Nathanael Solagratia presents winning research project, “Reducing cross-subject variance in speech-BCI for phoneme recognition”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI use different models to predict measles and influenza outbreaks, mainly a social vulnerability index of 16 factors,\u201d Slabach said. \u201cThe higher the risk, the better we can predict how vulnerable a community is and implement strategies to get on top of those outbreaks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the symposium, students were paired with a faculty mentor, working closely with them to find direction and refine methodology. Students and their mentors worked rigorously to both develop and articulate their complex work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very glad to have these people as our students because they are truly brilliant. I\u2019m also learning alongside them,\u201d said Dr. Hyun Suk Kang, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and faculty mentor. \u201cI think the experience of presenting will be beneficial for them. Science is not just about getting the knowledge but also disseminating the knowledge to society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following extended deliberation, the panel of judges awarded winners within five categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Sadie Shudde and Sandra Rangel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Best Graduate Oral Presentation: Gabriel Osei<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Brenna Fesmire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Best Graduate Poster Presentation and Best Overall: Nathanael Solagratia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University students from the College of Science and Mathematics (COSM) presented emerging undergraduate and graduate research in Monday\u2019s Student Research Symposium. Hosted in the Lamar …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1084,"featured_media":55512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":422,"footnotes":""},"categories":[422,423,425,426,427],"tags":[430,463,441,465],"class_list":["post-55510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morestories","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","category-honors-achievements","category-science-health","tag-academic-affairs","tag-ai","tag-college-of-science-mathematics","tag-division-of-research"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"jdouglas","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/jdouglas\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/08\/COSM-Research-Symposium-08.17.24-CM-3107-300x200.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_morestories<\/a>","Academics & Research<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>","Honors & Achievements<\/a>","Science & Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_morestories<\/span>","Academics & Research<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>","Honors & Achievements<\/span>","Science & Health<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Academic Affairs<\/a>","Artificial Intelligence<\/a>","College of Science & Mathematics<\/a>","Division of Research<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academic Affairs<\/span>","Artificial Intelligence<\/span>","College of Science & Mathematics<\/span>","Division of Research<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 10 hours ago","modified":"Updated 10 hours ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on August 18, 2026","modified":"Updated on August 18, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on August 18, 2026 5:11 pm","modified":"Updated on August 18, 2026 5:11 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55510"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55523,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55510\/revisions\/55523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}