Research Guides: TRU Undergraduate Research Conference 2022: Home

Welcome to the 2022 TRU Undergraduate Research and Innovation Conference

Thank-you to everyone who submitted work to the 2022 TRU Undergraduate Research & Innovation Conference, as well as to those who took the time to view posters and attend virtual lecture sessions.

The 2022 conference has now come to a close. Below you'll find some of the student posters are still available for viewing (those that have full abstracts in the poster list), and while other posters have been pulled, the student name and presentation title will still link to their abstract if you want a better idea what their research was about.

Application details for the 2023 conference (dates to be determined, but towards the end of the Winter 2023 semester) will be posted towards the end of 2022, and we hope that we can return to a larger in-person event in 2023, while keeping some of the things we liked about the virtual format.

2022 Undergraduate Conference Posters

Grace Dehnel: Atomic Resolution Imaging using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) (Supervisor: Anusha Venkatarman)
Carla Figueroa: UV-Visible Spectrophotometric Method for the Determination of Epicatechin in Green and Black Teas Infused with Eight Types of Water (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
Green and black teas are widely consumed worldwide. A major group of components found in these teas are the catechins. These catechins have been shown to demonstrate a variety of antimicrobial properties. Consumption of green and black tea has been found to provide catechins and/or their metabolites throughout the body, which enables the possibility of treatment and prevention of infections. Epicatechin is one of the catechins found in green and black teas. It is a type of natural phenol and antioxidant and has been suggested that it carries multiple functions, such as neuroprotective and anti-aging function, and it is beneficial to the cardiovascular health. In this work, a rapid and simple method using UV-Visible spectrophotometry was developed to quantify and compare the levels of epicatechin in a number of black and green tea samples. In addition, infusions of the teas were made using eight types of water (deionized water, 18 MegOhm water, distilled water, Science laboratory tap water, library tap water, classroom building tap water, residential tap water, spring water), with the goal of examining the effect of type of water used for infusion on the levels of epicatechin of the teas. The developed method was reproducible, accurate and sensitive.
Tyler Floen and Max Walton-Raaby: Modelling the Repair of Protein Radicals by Phenolic Antioxidants (Supervisor: Nelaine Mora-Diez)
Gwen Freeze: The Effect of Nitrate Supplementation on Porphyromonas gingivalis Abundance in the Oral Microbial Community (Supervisors: Mark Rakobowchuk and Eric Bottos)
Katelyn Frymire: Large-Volume Sample Stacking for Improving Sample Enrichment in the Capillary Electrophoretic Determination of Nisin (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
Aman Galymov: Towards Bacteriophage Therapy: Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophages Effective Against Clinical Antibiotic-Resistant Strains of E. coli (Supervisor: Naowarat Cheeptham)
Jeeva Gill: Does Feather Colouration Effect Survival Rate in Mountain Bluebirds? (Supervisors: Matthew Reudink and Nancy Flood)
Mountain bluebirds have incredibly colourful UV-blue colouration that directly reflects individual condition and is a good indicator of mate quality. However, what remains unknown is whether individuals with more colourful plumage are also more likely to survive from one season to the next. Mountain Bluebirds exhibits sexual dichromatism with males exhibiting more vibrant UV-blue colouration than females. Plumage plays a large role in mate choice, as colourful feathers can communicate individual condition or quality to potential mates. My goal was to discover if the birds with more colourful feathers had a higher survival rate compared to those with a more muted colouration. This is because brighter coloured birds are generally linked with having higher fitness. To determine this, we collected feathers from 40 ASY birds ranging from years 2011-2019 and analyzed their colouration using reflectance spectrometry. We then calculated values of hue, chroma, and brightness for each feather and collapsed those variables using principal component analysis (PCA), giving us single PC1 variable to describe their UV-blue colouration. Using a series of general linear mixed models, I determined that neither male nor female tail or rump colouration is associated with survival.
Keilin Gorman: Cannabis Extracts: A Novel Approach Against Multidrug-resistant Biofilms (Supervisor: Naowarat Cheeptham)
Adrianna Griep: Dorsal and Ventral Visual Stream Interactions in a Manual Construction Task (Supervisor: Jenni Karl)
Juliana Hermiston: Analysis of Nitrite Concentration in Blood Plasma Pre and Post Nitrate Supplementation (Supervisor: Mark Rakobowchuk)
Martha Jenkins: A Biology Undergraduate's Creative Writing Essay: "A Scientist's Summer Sail" (Supervisor: Lyn Baldwin)
Martha Jenkins: Geographical and Physicochemical Effects on Microbial Community Structure and Function in the Thompson Rivers and Fraser River (Supervisors: Eric Bottos and Jonathan Van Hamme)
Jaymie Klaver: Immanuel Kant's "Copernican Revolution" in Philosophy (Supervisor: Jenna Woodrow)
Sara Lawrence: Cave Biomineralization: Crystal Formations and Morphologies Created by Cave Bacteria Isolated from Popcorn and Soda Straw Speleothems of Iron Curtain Cave, Chilliwack, BC (Supervisor: Naowarat Cheeptham)
Olivia Lemke: Development and Validation of Soil Incubation Chambers to Manipulate Microbial Dispersal (Supervisor: Eric Bottos)
Yuyang Li: Determination of Potentially Significant Bisphenols in Bottled Teas and Tea Leaves by Capillary Electrophoresis (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
Mathieu Lizee: Biological and Ecological Predictors of Extinction Risk in Bats (Supervisor: Matthew Reudink)
Richard Mageto: ICP-MS Determination of Heavy Metal Content in Wild and Farmed Atlantic Salmon using Ultrasound-assisted Extraction (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
Salmon is widely consumed food in north American cuisine. It’s a great source of protein and omega-3 with low levels of saturated fats. Despite this, salmon can also contain heavy metals that have moved up the food chain. Uptake of heavy metals from the environment is prevalent and the heavy metal concentrations in the salmon flesh can be dangerously high because of bioaccumulation. Upon consumption of salmon, humans can uptake the heavy metals which can have detrimental health effects. This study is aimed at the determination of heavy metal content in wild and farmed Atlantic Salmon using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Ultrasound-assisted extraction is the chosen extraction method for the heavy metals from the salmon flesh. ICP-MS is the method of choice for heavy metal analysis because of its fast analysis time, simultaneous analysis of multiple elements, and low detection limit. The results of this study will add another factor of consideration in deciding between wild and farmed salmon as well as show the current health risk that wild and farmed salmon may pose to the general population.
Sydney Miller: Disentangling Mechanisms of Plumage Colour Evolution in Tyrannidae Flycatchers (Supervisor: Matthew Reudink)
Nicolas Moreno: Roll for Wisdom: Dungeons and Dragons™ Role in Understanding Philosophy (Supervisor: Jenna Woodrow)
Abu Harera Nadeem: Optimization of Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction and Microwave-Assisted Acid Digestion for the Determination of Heavy Metals in Tea Samples (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
James Neurauter: Chemical Characterization of the Composition of Commercial E-liquids and Generated Aerosols (Supervisor: Sharon Brewer)
Electronic smoking devices (e-cigarettes) produce an aerosol intended to provide nicotine to the user by electrically heating an e-liquid. The generation of this ‘vapor’ additionally aerosolizes other chemical components of the e-liquid, representing a novel source of volatile organic compounds and toxins that pose a significant threat to respiratory health in both users and bystanders. As the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes is a relatively new phenomenon, regulation of these products has proved challenging, and manufacturers rarely explicitly list the flavouring additives used in e-liquid formulation. To address the lack of information presented to consumers and the general public, this research strove to investigate the development of analytical methods capable of detecting, identifying, and quantifying chemical components of commercial e-liquids and their generated aerosols using GC-FID and GC-MS instrumentation.
Lauren Okano: Determination of Cannabidiol in Topical Products Using Ultrasound-assisted Extraction and Gas Chromatography-mass Spectrometry (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
Carmen Peterson: Synthesis and Characterization of an Iminophospine Ligand and its Complexation Reactions with Cobalt(II) (Supervisor: Dipesh Prema)
An iminophosphine ligand was synthesized through Schiff Base Condensation of 2-(diphenylphosphino)benzaldehyde and aniline. This ligand, 1-(2-diphenylphosphanylphenyl)-N-phenylmethanimine, is a bidenate nitrogen and phosphorous donor that is stable to atmospheric moisture and oxygen. 1H, 13C, COSY, NOESY, and HSQC Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were used to characterize the ligand, and 1H NMR was used to characterize the products from reactions of the ligand with cobalt(II) chloride. The HSQC NMR showed that the characteristic resonance for the imine hydrogen in the 1H NMR correlates to the characteristic resonance for the imine carbon in the 13C NMR. Crystals of the ligand-cobalt complex were successfully grown by vapour diffusion and the complex’s structure is aimed to be obtained via X-ray crystallography. Catalytic studies will be carried out to explore the complex’s ability to activate N-H bonds in ammonia and amines. This research is important for the development of an effective catalyst that is affordable and environmentally sustainable.
Valentina Santamaria: Growing Old: a Biological Dilemma (Supervisor: Lyn Baldwin)
Jacqueline Schoen: Disentangling the Mechanisms of Tyrannidae Song Evolution (Supervisor: Matthew Reudink)
Malika Sharma: Quantification of Ethanol in Commercial Hand Sanitizers by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry and UV-Visible Spectrometry (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
The emergence of novel bacterial or viral pathogens has always posed serious risks to public health in the world. One of these dangerous pathogens is “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2” or SARS-CoV-2, more commonly known for causing coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, which was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in early 2020. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are recommended in protecting people from viruses like COVID-19. In both healthcare and community settings, alcohol-based hand sanitizers have become a popular alternative to handwashing with soap and water to prevent the spread of bacterial and viral infections, making it one of the essential ways in decreasing healthcare burden. A range of commercial hand sanitizers are available with various combinations of ingredients and modes of delivery. Given the popularity of hand sanitizers during this pandemic, it is important to understand which types of hand sanitizers work best against this novel virus. Hand sanitizer manufacturers are required to ensure that hand sanitizer alcohol concentration meets the requirements set by health agencies. To that end, we have developed analytical methods based on Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and UV-visible spectrometry to quantify the content of ethanol in a number of commercial alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The methods presented in this study provide a quick and reliable way to identify and measure the alcohol concentrations in commercial hand sanitizer products.
Hailey Stovin: Linking Cold Case Files and Missing Persons Cases (Supervisor: Heather Price)
Emma Thibault: Infidelity Drives Plumage Colour Elaboration in Passerine Birds (Supervisor: Matthew Reudink)
Ashley Toor: The Effects of Urbanization and Heavy Metal Deposition on Mountain Chickadees (Supervisor: Matthew Reudink)
Michaela Vandermey: Detection of Heavy Metals in Disposable Face Masks by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor)
The SARS CoV-2 pandemic has caused an increase in face mask wearing in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). However, there is growing concern around the environmental fate and indirect pollution potential of disposable face masks (DFM) as they may contain leachable chemical dyes associated with heavy metals. As there is little data on the potential health and environmental risks caused by DFMs, it is important to determine whether theses masks release hazardous heavy metals. A method was developed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to detect heavy metals that could be present in a number of disposable face masks. Leachate analysis designed in this study allowed the sensitive detection of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, nickel, zinc, selenium, and others. Furthermore, the method was validated to evaluate its precision, accuracy, and limits of detection and quantification. The findings of this study provide insight into the detection of heavy metals in disposable face masks, particularly at low concentration levels. Ultimately, this study would determine the presence or absence of heavy metals and identify any potential human health risks as well as environmental risks they might pose when disposed of improperly.
Lindsay Veale: Animals of Tsay Keh Dene Nation Territory: An Educational Resource Utilizing the Two Ways of Learning in Biology (Supervisor: Matthew Reudink)
Max Walton-Raaby and Tyler Floen: Theoretical Determination of Aqueous pKa Values of Phenols: Predictions for Antioxidants and Cannabinoids (Supervisor: Nelaine Mora-Diez)
Kaleb Williams and R-Rahaman Raza: Bounds on Hadronic Contributions to the Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon (Supervisor: Robin Kleiv)
In 2021, Fermilab reported the results from the Muon g-2 experiment that stunned the scientific community: a 4.2σ discrepancy between theoretical prediction and experimental measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (muon g-2). The unprecedented precision of the experiment makes it unlikely that an error in the experimental design or analysis could lead to the deviation. This hints towards a much more exciting possibility: the standard model, our current most accurate theory of particle physics, may be incomplete. Our research aim is to clarify the discrepancy between theory and experiment by placing bounds on the theoretical uncertainty in the hadronic contributions to the muon g-2 prediction. This will provide an important indirect test of the incompleteness of the standard model.
Foster Wynne: Investigating the Breakdown of 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonamidoalkyl betaine and 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate by Gordonia sp. strain NB4-1Y: Characterization of a novel acyl-CoA thioesterase (Supervisor: Jonathan Van Hamme)
Marissa Yoneda: Combatting Bacterial Biofilm Growth Using Cannabis Extracts (Supervisor: Naowarat Cheeptham)
This study focuses on determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) of cannabinoid extracts on Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus intermedius and Staphylococcus hyicus. To do this, a 96-well MBEC plate was used to grow the biofilms, which were recovered using a sonicator and measured using viable cell count and turbidity. This research is incredibly important in the field of microbiology in treating pathogenic bacterial biofilm infections.
Yue (Cassie) Zhang: A Comparison of Various Forecasting Methods for Canadian COVID-19 data (Supervisor: Wei Lin)
Background: Since the transmission of the novel Coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, was recognized in Canada in early February 2020, its rapid spread has affected people’s lifestyles badly. Therefore, many studies and various modelling methods have been conducted to forecast the transmission dynamics and assess the intervention policies. However, many regional factors can have an influence on the pandemic curve, including different population densities, structures, and non-pharmaceutical interventions policies. To account for these factors, the main aim of this research project is to examine the performance of predictive models for Canadian data based on three different type of models.
Method: We employed three different type of models: Susceptible-Infected-Removed compartment model (SIR), AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average model (ARIMA), and Neural Network model (NN). We applied these model to provincial confirmed cases for different periods (5, 10, and 15 days) during the exponential growth stage of the second wave (August 01, 2020, to October 01, 2020). For each type of model, the best model for data was obtained by reiterating local minimization of the sum of the squares of the errors (MSE). To further examine the model performance over provinces with different regional factors, data from three Canadian provinces were used: Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. Moreover, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were used the measure of model performance comparison.
Result: The three models employed come in different flavors, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Overall, the MAPE scores in the result suggest that the ARIMA model works better generally than other investigated methods in this study. However, different methods display different behaviours across provinces and there is no best method for the three provinces examined. We therefore conclude that the choice of a best predictive model depends on the specific regional situations.

2022 Undergraduate Conference Virtual Lecture Schedule

Lectures have been organized into 3 sessions. In a session, students will present for 10 minutes each. Once all students have presented their research, the session moderator will lead a question and answer period, taking audience questions for the students from the Teams chat. Please REGISTER for the sessions at the links below; your immediate confirmation emails will include the links to the live virtual sessions.

SESSION A: Wednesday March 30, 3:30 - 5:00pm

Please REGISTER at https://tru.libcal.com/calendar/events/urc2022sessionA

Foster Wynne (Supervisor: Jonathan Van Hamme) Investigating the Breakdown of 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonamidoalkyl betaine and 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate by Gordonia sp. strain NB4-1Y: Characterization of a Novel acyl-CoA thioesterase
Abu Harera Nadeem (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor) Optimization of Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction and Microwave-Assisted Acid Digestion for the Determination of Heavy Metals in Tea Samples
Valentina Santamaria (Supervisor: Lyn Baldwin) Growing Old: a Biological Dilemma
Aman Galymov (Supervisor: Naowarat Cheeptham) Towards Bacteriophage Therapy: Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophages Effective Against Clinical Antibiotic-Resistant Strains of E. coli
Yuyang Li (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor) Determination of Potentially Significant Bisphenols in Bottled Teas and Tea Leaves by Capillary Electrophoresis

SESSION B:Thursday March 31, 3:00 - 4:30pm

Please REGISTER at https://tru.libcal.com/calendar/events/urc2022sessionB

Keilin Gorman & Marissa Yoneda (Supervisor: Naowarat Cheeptham) Cannabis Extracts: A Novel Approach Against Multidrug-resistant Biofilms
Hailey Stovin (Supervisor: Heather Price) Linking Cold Case Files and Missing Persons Cases
Yue (Cassie) Zhang (Supervisor: Wei Lin) A Comparison of Various Forecasting Methods for Canadian COVID-19 data
Richard Mageto (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor) ICP-MS Determination of Heavy Metal Content in Wild and Farmed Atlantic Salmon using Ultrasound-assisted Extraction
Nicolas Moreno (Supervisor: Jenna Woodrow) Roll for Wisdom: Dungeons and Dragons™ Role in Understanding Philosophy
Max Walton-Raaby & Tyler Floen (Supervisor: Nelaine Mora-Diez) Theoretical Determination of Aqueous pKa Values of Phenols: Predictions for Antioxidants and Cannabinoids

SESSION C: Friday April 1, 10:00 - 11:30am

Please REGISTER at https://tru.libcal.com/calendar/events/urc2022sessionC

Grace Dehnel (Supervisor: Anusha Venkatarman) Atomic Resolution Imaging using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Lauren Okano (Supervisor: Kingsley Donkor) Determination of Cannabidiol in Topical Products Using Ultrasound-assisted Extraction and Gas Chromatography-mass Spectrometry
Martha Jenkins (Supervisor: Lyn Baldwin) A Biology Undergraduate's Creative Writing Essay: "A Scientist's Summer Sail"
Adrianna Griep (Supervisor: Jenni Karl) Dorsal and Ventral Visual Stream Interactions in a Manual Construction Task
Tyler Floen and Max Walton-Raaby (Supervisor: Nelaine Mora-Diez) Modelling the Repair of Protein Radicals by Phenolic Antioxidants

Undergraduate Conference Code of Conduct
Code of Conduct for virtual conference presentations