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December 8th, 2023

Graduate Research Symposium: A full-day event recognizing the contributions of graduate students and faculty.

Date Time Location
December 8th 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM McMaster University, CIBC Hall (MUSC 3rd Floor)

 

Event Schedule

Time Event Name
8:30 AM to 9:00 AM Welcome, coffee
9:00 AM to 9:15 AM Opening remarks (Associate Dean, Dean of Science, Dean of Graduate Studies)
9:15 AM to 10:00 AM Keynote speaker (Dr. Francine McCarthy, Brock University)
10:00 AM to 10:20 AM BREAK
10:20 AM to 12:30 PM Student Presentations
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM Lunch & Poster Presentations
2:30 PM to 3:15 PM Keynote speaker (Dr. Michael Sonne, McMaster University & Baseball Scientist for the Chicago Cubs)
3:15 PM to 4:00 PM Awards, Recognition & Closing Remarks

 

Keynote Speakers

 Dr. Francine McCarthy, Brock University

Dr. Francine McCarthy is an Earth Scientist at Brock
University. She has expertise in the reconstruction
and understanding of ancient climate environments.

 

 

Dr. Michael Sonne, Baseball Scientist (Chicago Cubs)

Dr. Michael Sonne is a recent graduate with a PhD in
Kinesiology from McMaster University. He is currently
a baseball scientist for the Major League Baseball
team, the Chicago Cubs. He is responsible for
integrating new technology and biomechanics data
between the field, dugout and analytics team.

 

 

 

Introducing our MC for the day: Kay McCallum!

Profile picture for our MC, Kay McCallumKay is a fourth year PhD candidate in Chemistry and this year’s Vice President/Treasurer for SciGSA.
Their research explores indoor air and surface-gas interactions in museum-relevant environments.
Outside the lab, Kay has been an active member of student-led, departmental, and university-wide
governance organizations to advocate for graduate students across McMaster. Kay enjoys baking,
bookbinding, crochet, and climbing, and is honoured to MC for the incredible researchers at this
year’s Grad Research Symposium!

 

 

 

 

Expandable List

Time Presenter Program Title of Presentation
10:20 – 10:25 AM Stephanie Ali Fairbairn (she/her) Biology Kaiso, Androgen Receptor and Breast Cancer Disparities in Women of African Ancestry
10:25 – 10:30 AM Nicole Gromek (she/her) Physics & Astronomy Calibrating Elemental Abundances in the Coolest Stars
10:30 – 10:35 AM Valerii Chuiko (he/him) Chemistry How to make molecule thing…and reveal its properties?
10:35 – 10:40 AM Hyuna Seo (she/her) Math & Stats Weights in Meta Analyses
10:40 – 10:45 AM Shane Seheult PNB Behavioural & electrophysiological measures of hearing in Abnormally Wobbly Gait (AWG) mutant mice
10:45 – 10:50 AM Aneesa Rabbani SEES Evaluating Backwater versus Upstream Tectonic Controls on the Gravel-Sand Transition, Cretaceous Dunvegan Formation, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
10:50 – 10:55 AM Cade Kuehl (he/him) Kinesiology Disability and the Construction of the ‘Normal’ Body in Health and Fitness
10:55 – 11:00 AM Ge Song (they/them) Math & Stats Bias correction of study weights in meta-analyses with a binary outcome
11:00 – 11:05 AM Ben Dyer (he/him) Physics & Astronomy Measuring Relativistic Electrons in Low Earth Orbit
11:05 – 11:10 AM Mollie Erickson (she/her) PNB Shyness and elevated social anxiety symptoms from childhood to late adolescence predict social anxiety disorder in early adulthood
11:10 – 11:15 AM Polina Gkragkopoulou (she/her) Chemical Biology Protein toxins are weapons of bacterial warfare
11:15 – 11:20 AM Priyanka Hire (she/her) SEES Erosion Sensitivity Analysis for an Urban Watershed using a GIS-based Toolbox
11:20 – 11:25 AM Noah Britt (he/him) PNB Spatial Attention Appears Modulated by Behaviourally Relevant Contexts: A Simulated Driving Study
11:25 – 11:30 AM Lindyann Lessey (she/her) Biology The Opposing Roles of Kaiso and p120ctn in intestinal inflammatory diseases
11:30 – 11:35 AM Nicholas Hoffman (he/him) Chemistry From Design to Deposition: Precursor Synthesis and the Development of New Processes for Atomic Layer Deposition
11:35 – 11:40 AM Tegan Hargreaves (she/her) Neuroscience Brain Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging Predictors of Brief Intervention Response in Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder
11:40 – 11:45 AM Billy Sievers (he/him) Physics Self-intersecting Surfaces inside black holes
11:45 – 11:50 AM Manjot Grewal (she/her) Chemical Biology Bio-renewable Hydrogel Sorbents for Heavy Metal Removal from Wastewater
11:50 – 11:55 AM Michael Agronah CSE Power Analysis for Differential Abundance Microbiome Studies
11:55 – 12:00 PM Caroline Lowisz (she/her) Kinesiology Optimizing insulin sensitivity via exercise and protein supplementation in overweight/obese older adults
12:00 – 12:05 PM Pallavi Mukherjee Chemistry Transition state analysis of NeuB
12:05 – 12:10 PM Yilong Zhai Math & Stats Machine Learning for Data Imputation in Loss Reserving
12:10 – 12:15 PM Karishma Ramdeo (she/her) Kinesiology The effects of the menstrual cycle on synaptic plasticity induced via repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
12:15 – 12:20 PM Sukhvershjit Aulakh Chemical Biology Seeking Novel and Innovative Approaches to Tackle Neurodegenerative Diseases
12:20 – 12:25 PM Niloofar Nalaee SEES A Study on Commuting-Induced Stress, Coping Strategies, and Health Implications in Santiago, Chile
12:25 – 12:30 PM Mellissa Easwaramoorthy Biology Too Hot for Cold Fish: Warming Temperatures on Developing Yellow Perch

Student Program Poster Title
Nick Owens Physics
Andrew Kovachik Physics Slowly Moving Black Holes Can Hide Quantum Gravity
Jury Radkovski (he/him) Physics Scattering amplitudes in high energy limit of projectable Horava Gravity
Thomas Kirby Chemistry Dual carbon nanotubes-based chemiresistive sensor for dissolved gases
Novan Gray (he/him) Chemistry Thioether and Selenoether Complexes of Thorium and Uranium: A Study of Actinide–Chalcogen Bonding
Anjilee Manhas Chemistry Bioinspired Waveguide Encoded Lattice Architectures Inscribed in a Dynamic Lens System
Ali Akbar (he/him) Chemistry Identification and quantification of aqueous disinfectants using an array of carbon nanotube-based chemiresistors
Victor Maldonado (He/Him) Chemistry Exploring the influence of urban grime accumulation on the physical properties and environmental reactivity of common building materials
Alison (Mengchan) Xu (She/Her) Chemistry Assessing potential health impacts of plasticizer emissions during polymer clay jewelry manufacture
Wesley Sanchez (he/him) Chemistry Modeling the Annexin A1-S100A11 Heterotetramer: a Molecular Dynamics Investigation
Haley Monson & Spencer Locke (USRA Poster) Math & Stats The Saturn Ring Defect for Two Colloidal Particles
Silas Vriend (he/him) Math & Stats The standard lens cluster in R2 uniquely minimizes relative perimeter
Yassaman Ommi CSE
Avesta Ahmadi (he/his) CSE Characterization of Plating in Li-ion Cells via Optimal Reconstruction of Relations and Li-NMR Spectroscopy
Leonardo Della Libera (he/him) Chemical Biology Investigating the Aberrant Inhibition of Protein Kinase A by Mutations Causing Hormonal Resistance
Tishani Thiviyakumar (she/her) Neuroscience Mood Fluctuations and Biological Rhythms Across the Menstrual Cycle assessed Using the MAC-PMSS and Actimetry
Giovana Romero (she/her) Neuroscience Cannabis Use and Potential Impact on Psychostimulant Response in Adult ADHD
Allan Roberts (he/him) Biology Developing Learning Modules for Environmental Data Visualization
Shane Taylor (he/him) Biology More than a neurotrophic factor: MANF-1 regulates proteostasis & autophagic flux
Jack Salole (he/him) Biology Reducing the waste in wastewater testing: using the RTgill-W1 permanent cell line to replace fish use
Hanad Adan Biology The Role of Kaiso in TGFß-Mediated Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Younghoon (Daniel) Lee (he/him) Kinesiology Lived Experiences of Acculturation and Identity Exploration: An Ethnographic Study of Newcomer Youths in Community-Based Recreational Sport
Han Bao SEES Environmental Fate and Transport of Methane & Bitumen-Related Organics in a Oil Sands Reclamation Site
Katie Mountjoy (she/her) SEES Aquifer hydrology in the Yucatan Peninsula with an emphasis on the Classic Maya Decline
Brooke Chmiel (she/her) SEES Evaluating the uptake of the CSA B701:17 (R2021) Carer-inclusive and accommodating organizations standard
Kangyu So (He/Him) SEES Forest management practices for preserving carbon and nitrogen sequestration in soils while providing negative climate feedback in a representative coniferous stand plantation
Julie Hartz (she/her) SEES Patterns of Complexity in Biogenic Carbonates
Faith Rahman (she/her/hers) SEES What Have We Learned? Navigating the Climate Change Research Landscape in Nunavut, Canada (2004-2021)
Noah Stegman (he/him) SEES Inter- and Intra- species Transpiration Variation in a Carolinian Deciduous Forest in Southern Ontario
Reshna Nina (she/her) PNB Identifying Military Cultural Competencies in Civilian Sexual Assault Support Programs Serving Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma
Ariel Takach (she/they) PNB A systematic review and meta-analysis of attention bias for racial out-groups in humans
Elias Latchem (he/him) PNB Influence of social rank on learning in group living fish
Joshua Schlichting (he/him) PNB Social justice advocacy through music – Investigating the influence of attendance mode and multimodal information on physiological and self-reported audience reactions