Thursday, April 7 marked BYU’s Eighteenth Annual Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference. With a total of 261 posters from 276 students in the nine departments in the College of Family Home and Social Sciences, the event was a major hit. Students from each department worked with faculty mentors to create engaging and informative research posters, then gained experience presenting to fellow students and other visitors.

After two years of hosting this event virtually, we were thrilled to see all our student presenters in person again. This year’s conference featured a new prize drawing for attendees who spoke to presenters about their posters, as well as students’ choice awards. All awards were presented at the luncheon after the conference.

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

Undergraduate Awards

Place/ Department	Winner(s)	Faculty Mentor(s)	Title
1st Anthropology	Alyssa Terrill Pitts	Scott Ure	Tan Great Salt Lake Gray Ceramic Variant at Snow Farm, Payson, Utah
1st Economics	Mena Villanueva	Riley Wilson	How Does Legal Status Affect Immigrants’ Geographic Mobility? Evidence from DACA
1st Geography	Lilli Jewell, Jakob Rogers, Samantha Botswick	Matt Bekker	Tree Ring Analysis of James Strang’s Michigan Kingdom
1st History	Kaitlyn Hillam	Amy Harris	Youth on the Move: Internal Migration in Early Modern England
2nd History	Lindsey Meza	David-James Gonzales	Unofficial Segregation: The Citrus Industry and Hispanic Segregation in Orange County, CA 1900-1940
3rd History	Dallin Webb, Brayden Lane, Kathryn Blau	Aaron Skabelund	Movies and Memories: Post-War Generational Rifts and Grave of the Fireflies
1st Neuroscience	Hannah Brundage, Serin Lee, Jared McFarlane	Jordan Yorgason, David Thomson	P39 Effects on Accumbal DA in Young vs. Old Mice
1st Political Science	Kesley Townsend, Jordan Gygi, Kelsey Eyre	Chris Karpowitz, Quin Monson	Heretics and Hypocrites: Seeing Religious Guidance Through a Partisan Lens
2nd Political Science	Patricia MacCabe	Celeste Beesley	Bombs, Busts, and Babies: How National and Economic Insecurity Influence Attitudes Towards Childbearing in Taiwan
3rd Political Science	Isaac Overson	Celeste Beesley	The Effect of Oil Wealth on Repression in Venezuela
Political Science Honorable Mention	Grant Baldwin, Chris Vazquez	Adam Dynes	Oh No! I’ve Accidentally Elected a Republican! The Effects of Nonpartisan Local Elections on City Council Partisan Composition
1st Psychology	Angie Bledsoe, Audrey Parker	Melissa Jones, Davey Erekson	Navigating Conflict: What Helps LGBQ Students at a Religiously Conservative University Reconcile Their Faith and Sexuality
2nd Psychology	Ana McCarl, Keeley Russel, Matt Dickinson, Christina Holt, Adam Orton, Joshua Christensen, Mason Pilling	Blake Jones	Hey Kids, What are You Cooking for Dinner?! Pilot Study of an Online Family Meal-Planning Calendar
3rd Psychology	Julia Cole, Anna Jorgenson, Jason M. Hoskin, Leini Jenkins, Spencer Jamison	Wendy Birmingham	To Work or Not to Work: Perceived Stress in Working vs. Stay-at-Home Mothers
Psychology Honorable Mention	Maya Criser, Marinne Hammond, Madison Turner	Patrick Steffen	Measuring Maladaptive Perfectionism in Emerging Adults at BYU Using the Religiosity and Maladaptive Perfectionism Scale (R-MPS)
1st School of Family Life	Corinne Archibald-Sato, Maihcen Ware	Adam Rogers, Ashley Fraser	Knowing Your Roots: The Effects of Ethnic Identity on Adolescent Mental Health and Discrimination
2nd School of Family Life	Sarah Austin, Meiling Jiang, Madeline Meldrum, Sierra Livermore, Holly Harris, J. Andan Sheppard	Sarah Coyne	Born Queer in the Covenant: The Impact of Latter-day Saint Culture on LGBTQIA+ Members
3rd School of Family Life	Clare M. Gibeault, Julie Button, Priscilla Davis	Adam Rogers	Just Calm Down: Parents’ Mental Health Shapes How They Respond to Their Child’s Anxiety
School of Family Life Honorable Mention	Trey M. Aguirre	Adam Rogers	Parental Intervention: Do Parent Relationships Mitigate the Effects of Bullying on Adolescent Children?
1st Sociology	Camilla Cevallos Jalil, Margot Ramfjord	Jane Lopez	The Isolation of Immigrants Due to Low English Language Skills
2nd Sociology	Natalie Herbst Durtschi, Rae Harb	Curtis Child	“Who am I? What do I believe? Where do I fit in?”: BYU Students’ Experiences with Faith Challenges
3rd Sociology	Holly Harris	Kevin Shafer, Mikaela Dufur	A Gendered Comparison of “Early COVID” Changes in Parental Childcare Activities on Parenting Stress
Sociology Honorable Mention	Anya Nowicki	Lance Erickson	Spirituality as a Path Towards a More Meaningful Life

Graduate Awards

Place/ Department	Winner(s)	Faculty Mentor(s)	Title
1st Neuroscience	Joakim Ronstroem, Hillary Wadsworth, Summer Arthur	Jordan Yorgason	Effects on Acute and Chronic Morphine on Lateral Paracapsular Amygdala Circuitry
1st Psychology	Hannah Brown, Audrey Parker	Davey Erekson	Me, Myself, and I: Therapy and Self-Concept Change in College Students
1st School of Family Life	Avalon White	Jeremy Yorgason	Psychological Distress of Spousal Caregivers of Older Adults: The Moderating Role of Marital Quality
2nd School of Family Life	Naomi McAllister	Jocelyn Wikle, Jeremy Yorgason	Pornography Use in the Couple Relationship: Ties to Partner Attachment, Depressive Symptoms, and Sexual Satisfaction
1st Social Work	Rebekah Lauren Hill	Sherinah Saasa, Steven Hoffman	More Borders to Cross: The Financial and Psychological Impact of Immigrant Discrimination During COVID-19
2nd Social Work	Rebecca Allen	David Wood	E-learning and Its Effects on Social Work Students’ Confidence in Delivering Evidence-Based Interventions
3rd Social Work	Heather Berryhill	Stacey Shaw, Steven Hoffman	Back to School: The Impact of Parental Factors on Student Engagement Outcomes Among Resettled Refugee Children in the U.S.
Social Work Honorable Mention	Hannah Brown	Cory Dennis	The Impact of Suicidality and Spirituality on Substance Use Treatment Discharge
1st Sociology	Carlee Guenther Dynes	Hayley Pierce	Mothers Matter: How Mothers’ Experiences Impact Rates of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in Their Daughters

Center Awards

Place/ Department	Winner(s)	Faculty Mentor(s)	Title
1st Civic Engagement	Grant Baldwin, Chris Vasquez	Adam Dynes	Oh No! I’ve Accidentally Elected a Republican! The Effects of Nonpartisan Local Elections on City Council Partisan Composition
1st Diversity, Collaboration, and Inclusion	Catalina Valdez	Mikaela Dufur	Linguistic Bonding: Heritage Language Use and Parent-Child Closeness in Immigrant Families
2nd Diversity, Collaboration, and Inclusion	J. Andan Sheppard	Ashley Fraser, Jocelyn Wikle	Two Peas in a White Pod: White Parents’ Values as a Predictor of Children’s Cross-Race Friends
1st Gerontology	Seth Otto	Ray Merrill	Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening According to Health Professional Counseling and Age in the United States
1st Redd Center for Western Studies	Autumn Welling, Sophia Harris	Ruth Kerry	A City Set on a Mine: Negative Effects of Mining on Utah Communities
2nd Redd Center for Western Studies	Sophia Harris, Autumn Welling	Ruth Kerry	Investigating Characteristics of The Spanish Flu Pandemic (1918-1920) in Utah Mining Communities
3rd Redd Center for Western Studies	Jordan Coburn, Taylor Topham, Morgan Duffy, Hannah Dixon	Carol Ward	STEM Internships for Native American Students: Mentors’ Perspectives

Students’ Choice Awards

Category	Winner(s)	Faculty Mentor(s)	Title
Timeless Topic	Hillary Wadsworth, Elizabeth Anderson, Alyssa Stockard, Spencer Vogel, et al	Jordan Yorgason, Scott Steffensen	Low-Dose Alcohol Enhances Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens
Best Presenter	Emily Collier	Steven Hoffman	Ending the Stigma: How Diagnosis Impacts Mental Health Stigma in University Students
Most Interesting Research	Joakim Ronstroem, Hillary Wadsworth, Summer Arthur	Jordan Yorgason	Effects of Acute and Chronic Morphine on Lateral Paracapsular Amygdala Circuitry
Most Eye-Catching Poster	Gavin Jones, Christina Small, Dallin Otteson, Kyle Bills	Scott Steffensen	Whole-Body Vibration Alleviates Symptoms of Morphine Withdrawal

Join us next semester for our first Fall semester conference on December 8, 2022. Next year’s Winter semester conference will be April 13, 2023.

Learn more about getting involved with a mentored research project.