Undergraduate students from Missouri S&T will travel to Jefferson City, Missouri, to exhibit their latest research projects to state legislators on Thursday, April 4.

These students, who work on research projects under the direction of faculty advisors, will be participating in the annual Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol, an event that welcomes undergraduates from all four campuses in the University of Missouri System. The event is designed to inform Missouri’s lawmakers about research at Missouri universities.

Missouri S&T places an emphasis on providing research opportunities to undergraduate students. The following students will appear at the Missouri State Capitol to represent Missouri S&T:

– Christopher Croft, a senior in mechanical engineering from Jackson, Missouri, will present “Additive Manufacturing of Aluminum Alloys.” The work is directed by Dr. Frank Liou, the Michael and Joyce Bytnar Professor of Product Innovation and Creativity in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

– Lynell Cunningham, a junior in chemistry from Wentzville, Missouri, and Lucas Dyer, a senior in biological sciences from Jefferson City, Missouri, will present “BTree: Protecting Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borers.” The work is directed by Dr. Katie Shannon, associate teaching professor of biological sciences, and Dr. David Westenberg, associate professor of biological sciences.

– Zachary Foulks, a junior in chemistry and biological sciences from Imperial, Missouri, will present “Identification of Brown Recluse Spider Pheromone Using SPME-GC-MS and Novel Bioassay Techniques.” The work is directed by Dr. Honglan Shi, research professor of chemistry.

– Heather Hingst, a junior in geology and geophysics from Hermann, Missouri, will present “A Study of Redeposited Conodonts from Polymict Breccia in the Decaturville Structure, Missouri, USA.” The work is directed by Dr. John Hogan, associate professor of geology and geophysics.

– Emily Johnson, a senior in chemical engineering from Fenton, Missouri, will present “Discovering Mixed Transition Metal Based Selenides as Novel Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts.” The work is directed by Dr. Manashi Nath, associate professor of chemistry.

– Cameron Lerch, a senior in physics from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, will present “Disorder and dynamics in quantum materials.” The work is directed by Dr. Thomas Vojta, chair and Curators’ Distinguished Professor of physics.

– Samuel Merriman, a junior in biological sciences from St. Louis, will present “Testing the Antibacterial Properties of Borate-based Bioactive Glass.” The work is directed by Dr. David Westenberg, associate professor of biological sciences.

– Ana Messmer, a senior in civil engineering from Festus, Missouri, will present “Influence of Pumping on the Scaling Resistance of Flowable Concrete.” The work is directed by Dr. Dimitri Feys, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering.

– Jason Nguyen, a senior in biological sciences from Chesterfield, Missouri, will present “A Synthetic Biology Approach for Anaerobic Digestion of Glycerol to make Ethanol.” The work is directed by Dr. David Westenberg, associate professor of biological sciences.

– Arthur Schneider, a senior in history from Hermann, Missouri, will present “Mapping Slave Uprisings Across the Eighteenth-Century British Atlantic.” The work is directed by Dr. Justin Pope, assistant professor of history and political science.