Amberson Rogerson et al: March of the Mangroves: Tropicalization Impacts on Mosquito Lagoon Oyerster Reefs. (20 students in project)
Rachel Martella, Lucas Vivas, Dani Andrews, Heriberto Peña & Mumtahina Riza: Effect of Grammatical Accuracy and Content Accuracy on Eyewitness Message Credibility

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Impact of Senate Bill 1580: Medical Conscience in Florida

Rishi Nair, Nicholas Mistry, Vishanth Murugesan, Hunter Burtha, and Douglas D'Amelio

In 2023, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 1580 (SB 1580), which enshrined protections of medical providers’ conscience into law. Upon enactment, proponents have hailed the bill’s leadership in enabling providers to uphold their personal values and refuse to provide care on such grounds. Opponents have questioned SB 1580’s ability to ensure accessible healthcare by enabling personal beliefs to potentially overshadow the scientific consensus. We analyzed the benefits and drawbacks of this new law in relation to existing research on the impact of medical conscience on health outcomes. SB 1580 draws upon affirmations of the Hippocratic Oath and moral practices that many providers follow, and strongly permits them to exercise personal judgement without government intervention. SB 1580 also ensures that providers are not professionally punished for publicly offering opinions that contradict with the scientific consensus, thereby enabling more robust free speech in healthcare. However, we suggest that SB 1580’s potential to lengthen wait times in high-demand areas necessitates the creation of a provider-managed database, with the goal of increasing patient knowledge about available providers.
March of the Mangroves: Tropicalization Impacts on Mosquito Lagoon Oyster Reefs

Amber Rogerson, Maggie Sago, Jamaris Arcaya Guzman, Morgan Vasser, Stephanie Fletcher, Mariam Sonbol, Ashley Coppola, Holly Barno, Reese Hamlin, Isabella Puzino, Nexus Green, Riley McCool, Sara Kuykendall, Julia Kruger, Dylan Rios, Tanelisse Gonzalez-Garcia, Kristal Prado-Zapata, Jenilee Garcia, and Tyler Callaghan

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, tropical mangroves have spread poleward. Mangroves now impact many other ecosystems, including salt marshes and oyster reefs in central Florida. A study documented a 198% increase in mangrove abundance on intertidal reefs of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) since 1984 in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). The first goal of the field project was to understand the current dimensions, densities, and spatial distributions of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) on intertidal oyster reefs in Mosquito Lagoon (ML;North IRL) compared to an earlier survey. The second goal was to record herbivory damage to leaves of mangrove seedlings on oyster reefs by the mangrove tree crab (Aratus pisonii). Reefs with or without mangrove stands were analyzed to test if presence of adult mangrove stands on reefs increases herbivory. Data was collected across ten reefs in ML in spring 2024 and compared to the same reefs surveyed in spring 2023. Results indicated a 6.2% increase in mangrove stand area from 2023 to 2024. Seedling density on reefs with stands had a significant difference (p = 0.006) than those without. There was an increase in herbivory on reefs with stands from 2023 to 2024, however there was a decrease in herbivory on reefs without stands. As climate change continues to cause ecosystem shifts within the IRL, it is important to understand these relationships among foundational species so resource managers can better predict and protect the future of these vital ecosystems.
Lifes Amazing when LA'ing

George T. Rolle III

A young college student who fears chemistry is offered the chance to assist in teaching the course he once dreaded. This is their story of overcoming the obstacles faced in not only understanding the course but knowing how to prepare for it as well. Throughout his spring semester, he will learn the ins and outs and eventually create a way to educate others.
Effects of List Making and Conscientiousness on Optimistic Time Predictions

Zoe Ryon and Ella Schmidt

The Planning Fallacy describes the tendency of people to underestimate the time it takes to complete a task. One way to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to the Planning Fallacy is by “unpacking” the task, which involves writing a to-do list of the steps required to complete the task. Conscientiousness is highly correlated with time management. We administered a set of two surveys. The first measured conscientiousness using the CCM-5, and the second presented a scenario where the respondent had to imagine they had to get ready for a date by a specific time. Each participant then estimated how much time it would take for them to get ready, but only one group was first directed to make a list of tasks that involve getting ready for the date. We hypothesized that participants who were in the unpacked condition would provide longer time predictions than those in the packed condition, and that participants who score higher on the conscientiousness measure will also provide longer time predictions. Results correspond with the hypothesis, where high conscientiousness results in greater time estimates than low conscientiousness. However, packing and unpacking had no impact on mean time estimates. Overall, results suggest those high in conscientiousness may be less vulnerable to the planning fallacy since they tend to exhibit longer time predictions. This study is the first of its kind in that it assesses personality factors ability to fight against susceptibility to the Planning Fallacy.
Raising the Minds of Tomorrow at Code Ninjas

Lexi Solomonic, Julian Grace, Synthia Dejaje, Quan Tran, and Alexis Willims

Our goal from the first ideas of this project was to use our ability to volunteer to help guide the next generation of students towards a positive and constructive relationship with technology, which is why we chose to volunteer with Code Ninjas. As volunteer Code Senseis, we took on the task of helping out students of ages ranging from 5 to 14 years old in their endeavors to learn computer science skills at Code Ninjas Lake Mary. This included one-on-one instruction, traditional classroom-style teaching, and station-style open house events. The key thing that we all took away from this project was that as adult college students, we hold the power and responsibility to set an example for the younger generation to look up to when it comes to technology usage. Because of this, we should continue do what we can to educate and mentor those in our community that may need it.
What, like it's hard? (It is if you don't have the right foundation!)

Grayson Spillman, Juliana Baez, and Emily Davila

This presentation is about our experience as learning assistants for General Chemistry I and how we observed that student with the best understanding of topics had a solid foundation of chemistry knowledge. Our presentation encourages professors and learning assistants to call attention to and emphasize topics that are part of students chemistry foundation.
Comparison of Gender Ideology Between Persons Who Lived in a Single-Parent vs Two-Parent Household

Cecili Stanley

Purpose of this project was to review the influences of gender ideology. It is noted in today's social sphere, there is an ongoing debate regarding gender roles in and outside of the home. The research was intended to review the effects of gender role ideology between single-parent and two-parent households and verify if male dominance influences gender ideology. On the contrary, the results suggested religion having a greater influence on gender ideology.
House Bill 87: The Taking of Bears Act

Sydney M. Stillman, Hala Hafez, Emelina Brown, Sara Stricklin, and Adriana Chaparro-Gonzalez

The purpose of this project is to bring awareness to a bill that was recently proposed to the Florida Senate. This bill is House Bill 87 titled "The Taking of Bears Act". If passed, it would allow for the legal taking of bears on private property, if an individual feels that the bear is threatening them or their pets safety. This project aims to bring a greater level of understanding to the public about the advantages and disadvantages of House Bill 87 and actions that can be made in response to the bill at hand. The greatest risk of passing this bill would be the potential threat to the Florida black bear population, as well as risk of personal safety. The greatest advantage to passing this bill would be the gained ability to legally defend yourself or your property from a potentially dangerous, or even deadly, encounter with a Florida black bear.
"Addressing Sexual Abuse: Unveiling Hidden Realities"

Shanzida Toha

My inspiration was from my IDS 4939 course where we had to present about a topic that we are devoted towards. It could be conveyed through PowerPoint, video, etc. but for me I chose to write a research paper about the indiscriminate circumstances that influence Sexual Abusers behavior, and how it profoundly directs their course of action. After an endless time spent on gaining data, this sensitive topic sent me to a black hole of no return. With boundless sources of support with the help of the internet I was feeling guilty as to what I could do with this. I was brainstorming of what can I do with this information, and how I can spread it to the public. People talk about sexual abuse incessantly, but with no desire to undertake work. Therefore, I felt it was up to me, since I have seen an open plain field filled with bounty of resources that can help reach thousands of voices with a click of a button. With this in mind I chose to talk about Sexual Abuse because I deemed it to be vital.

Please download the PowerPoint to see my project.
Do General Chemistry Laboratory Really Matters?

Myarisnette Vega Sepulveda

The purpose of my project is to understand based on my experience as a learning assistant to understand and help the community of chemistry laboratory students understand the basic concepts to develop connections for further chemistry courses.
How different forms of communication mediate the alleviation of pediatric dental anxiety

Victoria S. Wilson Ms.

The main purpose of my project was to identify ways that different forms of communication collaborate to alleviate pediatric dental anxiety. While aiming to understand how communication works in the pediatric dental setting, I investigated genres of dental writing through genre analysis. After this, I conducted interviews where I asked questions relating to communication and written forms. My findings highlighted the collaboration and importance of nonverbal, verbal, and written communication when aiming to alleviate pediatric dental anxiety. Through this process, I learned how to read and write an IMRAD article which will continue to benefit me as I continue to read and engage in research for the rest of my career. Further, I learned how to create my methods, collect my own data, write a literature review, and connect my findings back to the ideas of my secondary sources.
Optimizing GFP-GST Rearranged Fusion Protein Expression at 20℃ in E. coli BL21 cells

Alyssa R. Ramirez

Link to video: https://ucf.zoom.us/rec/share/aBJX0KJknmMOUuFrSjovlwOuvT4kLbg-iwCStJrh-oajoZtUlOmJwOVl3hgj0Pt5.oHtFyE-wSzomA05f?startTime=1712587387000

Recording password: Z.cZjgz4

This project seeks to expand upon the findings in Vaccaro’s (2023) study of induction conditions for maximal glutathione-S-transferase green fluorescent protein (GST-GFP) in Escherichia coli. After investigating induction parameters such duration, temperature, and inducer concentration, Vaccaro found that optimal protein expression occurred after inducing growth for 20 hours at 25℃ with an inducer concentration of 1.0 mM. Nevertheless, significant background protein expression was identified at an induction temperature of 20℃ which was attributed to degraded GST-GFP expression. Our research intends to optimize this protocol by utilizing a GFP-GST rearranged fusion protein vector to avoid this truncated protein expression. We aim to accomplish this by expressing the rearranged vector in E. coli, obtaining the GFP-GST protein, measuring reaction velocity, and purifying via affinity and ion exchange chromatography. We will then visualize the protein via SDS-PAGE and Western blotting procedures. We anticipate that rearranging GST-GFP and inducing expression at 20℃ for 20 hours with an inducer concentration of 1.0 mM will reduce the Western blot background expression seen in Vaccaro’s (2023) original work, thus improving the GST-GFP expression and purification protocols for use by researchers attempting to optimize their own protocols involving this recombinant fusion protein.