The College of Behavioral and Community Sciences celebrated another record-breaking milestone, with 27 students selected as recipients of the college's Undergraduate Research Scholarship.
The scholarship is funded by the Florida High Tech Corridor and the , an initiative supporting undergraduate research in areas aligned with the passions of the project founders mothers: substance use disorders, nutrition and positive aging.
For a second year, the scholarship event included a poster session during which students gained experience presenting their research, and supporters had an opportunity to learn more about each project.
Catherine Batsche reflects on how the Moms Project first came to life.
Julie Serovich, PhD, dean of the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, welcomed the recipients. They then heard how the Moms Project first came to life from Catherine Batsche, PhD, former associate dean of academic affairs in CBCS, former associate dean of the Florida Mental Health Institute, and daughter of Ellen Nizzi, one of the original mothers behind the Moms Project. Chae Jaynes, PhD, CBCS undergraduate research director, presented each student with their scholarship certificate.
This years recipients and their research projects are as follows:
Applied Behavior Analysis
- Julia Colombo (psychology major, applied behavior analysis minor) mentored by Ray Miltenberger, PhD, BCBA-D, is conducting research on Evaluating a Competition-Based mHealth Intervention to Promote Physical Activity in Dyads.
Behavioral Healthcare
- Gabriella Lynch (double major in psychology), mentored by Judith Biesen, PhD, is conducting research on Family Policy Contexts, Parental Experiences, and Psychological Well-Being: A Cross-National Analysis Using Online Survey Methods.
- Freya OReilly Brookes (double major in criminology), mentored by Kristin Kosyluk, PhD, is conducting research on Healing Through Art: A PhotoVoice Initiative to Reduce Stigma Surrounding Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).
- Joeci Orth, mentored by Biesen, is conducting research on Subjective and Objective Neighborhood Attributes of Intimate Partner Violence Among Adults Over 60.
Criminology:
- Jacob Blankenhorn and Jean Carmona, mentored by Cary Hopkins Hall, MA, and Lori Hall, PhD, are conducting research on Trauma Research in Adaptation, Innovation, and the Life Course.
- Erica Chong, mentored by Caralin Branscum, PhD, is conducting research on Reporting to Title IX: An Examination of Investigatory and Resolution Outcomes.
- Lov穩sa Gunnlaugsd籀ttir (double major in quantitative economics), mentored by George Burruss, PhD, is conducting research on SeniorSafeAI: Using LLM Chatbots to Support Cybercrime Prevention for Older Adults.
- Ryenne McDonald, Megan Mitchell (double major in psychology), JoHanna Fonseca, and Wadline Cherry, mentored by Amber Oderinde, MS; Jaynes; and Mateus Santos, PhD, are conducting research on Aiding in Reentry: A Community-Engaged Research Experience.
- Zoe Meyer and Christian Tapia, mentored by Cary Hopkins Hall, are conducting research on Unheard Voices: Law Enforcement.
- Lila Morgan (double major in political science), mentored by Lori Hall, is conducting research on Human Trafficking Coalition of the Palm Beaches Program Review.
- Karen Morocho (double major in psychology) and Aydah Grabowski, mentored by Bryanna Fox, PhD, are conducting research on Collecting Data Among Incarcerated Individuals.
Health Care Administration:
- Coral Morley, mentored by Lindsay Peterson, PhD, is conducting research on Qualitative Assessment of a Computer-Based Disaster Preparedness Tool Created for Caregivers.
Language, Speech and Hearing Sciences:
- Kaitlyn Ballenberger, mentored by Hana Kim, PhD, is conducting research on Self-Perceived and Measured Communication Performance in Mild Aphasia.
- Nhu Nguyen, a student in the Language, Speech, and Hearing Sciences program, and Meagan Monks, a psychology student (both minors in applied behavior analysis), mentored by Catia Cividini-Motta, PhD, BCBA-D, are conducting research on Evaluation of a Modified Latency-Based Functional Analysis.
- Gianna Rodriguez, mentored by M. Adelaida Restrepo, PhD, CCC-SLP, is conducting research on LDYSQ Project: Early Screening for Dyslexia and Developmental Language Delay.
- Lizet Sanchez, mentored by Restrepo, is conducting research on The Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (EMBRACE).
- Gabriella Vargas, mentored by Michelle Kapolowicz, PhD, is conducting research on The Cognitive Cost of Internal Noise: Evaluating Attention and Speech Perception in Young Adults with Tinnitus.
- Angela Wolfe, mentored by Restrepo, is conducting research on Monolingual and Bilingual Reading Comprehension Project.