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When Ali Shingis ’27, a Nursing major, first came to Elmira College from the Republic of Kazakhstan, he reached out to professors to express his interest in research opportunities. He connected with Dr. Abbi Paulson, Associate Professor of Biology, who introduced him to her work on C. elegans, small (~1 mm), transparent worms useful in Autism Spectrum Disorder research because they have 78% of the more than 100 genes currently linked to autism in humans. Shingis got hooked. He attended a C. elegans meeting at nearby Cornell University and began working in Paulson’s lab at EC with two seniors, Ryan Trenholm '25 and Brett Warden ’25. Together, the trio investigated links between Autism and muscle disorders.
“I believe this research has potential,” shared Shingis, adding that he sees possible connections to the research and his future career in the healthcare industry. Shingis explained he plans to attend medical school after he graduates from EC.
Shingis, Trenholm, and Warden put together an explanation of their research and results. Shingis, representing the trio, presented their findings during the 15th Annual Elmira College Student Research Conference. Although Trenholm and Warden were unable to attend, Shingis won “Best Poster Presentation.”
The trio’s research is representative of the kind of hands-on learning the Research Conference showcases. The Conference gives students in every class an opportunity to practice how to share their work with a broad audience while introducing them to new topics for discovery.
This annual event is sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs and organized by faculty volunteers including Paulson as well as Dr. Ping Zheng, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Dr. Susan Hohenhaus, Associate Professor of Business Administration. This year, 24 students participated.
“This was my first time at the Research Conference. It was really fun,” said Jessica Saji ’28, who is in the Accelerated BS/DO program. She worked with Dr. Michael Selig, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, and two other first-year students from her program to research a sustainable bioplastic that could become a plastic alternative. This work and the tools Saji used in the lab will become handy when she gets to medical school.
“We’re using materials and lab machines that we’re not used to working with,” she explained. “For example, I used a homogenizer to mix different materials together.”
While many of the poster presentations were focused on natural sciences research, some social science students gave speeches on their research. Nico Sackett ’28, a Psychology major, presented on the topic of how our concept of intelligence has evolved.
“Nico Sackett’s talk was really good,” shared Linda Munkhbaatar ’26, a Biochemistry major. “I appreciated it a lot. He commented on class disparities and how they impact what intelligence is.”
A panel of judges awarded special prizes for students based on the clarity and depth of their information:
Justin Hyde '25: Modeling Success Probabilities of Starting Pitchers in Major League Baseball Using Minor League Data
Niko Sacket ’28: The Evolution of Intelligence
Rachel Hevey ’26 and Linda Munkhbaatar ’26: A Comparative Study of Cellulose-Degrading Bacteria: pNPG Assay for β-Glucosidase Activity in Bacterial Cultures
Rediet Fekade '25: Investigating Autism-Linked Genes and Intestinal Barrier Function in C. elegans
Lauralie Grainer ’25 and Victoria Behun ’26: Smart Real-Time Microcontroller-Based Health Monitoring System for Athletes
Jessica Truesdail ’26: Serum Pepsinogen as a Biomarker of Abosmasal Damage in Dairy Cattle during the Periparturient Period
Ronak Patel ’28, Charvi Karaturi ’28, and Vibhuti Jani ’28: Acid Based Lignin Organosolv Extraction and Characterization from Spent Coffee Grounds
MacKenzie Brown ’26: Correlation Between BoLA-DRB3 Allelic Differences and Resistance to Parasitic Infection
Ryan Trenholm ’25, Brett Warden ’25, and Ali Shingis ’28: Exploring the Connection Between Dystrophinopath and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Owen Mascaro ’26 and Sebastian Estell ’28: Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) Utilizing C-Phycocyanin Isolated from Spirulina Biomass as the Photosensitive Element
Alexis Burger ’27 and Jasmine Bowe ’28: Comparison of Distiller’s and Active Baker’s Yeast Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the Production of Homemade Mead
The variety of projects and depth of student research among students in each class year made this year’s Research Conference a true showcase of curiosity, hard work, and learning in action.
